ENSC Exam 1 Study Guide

What is coral bleaching?

A stress response where corals expel their symbiotic algae due to heat or other stressors, causing them to turn white and lose their main energy source.

What is the nexus of art and science?

The intersection where art helps communicate scientific ideas, emotions, and urgency (ex: Chasing Coral using film to show climate impacts).

What is environmental science?

An interdisciplinary field combining natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to study environmental problems and solutions

What is an ecological footprint?

A measure of how much biologically productive land and water is needed to support human consumption and waste.

What does “number of Earths” mean?

How many planet Earths would be needed if everyone lived at a certain consumption level.

Pragmatic conservation

Managing nature for sustainable human use.

Biocentric preservation

Protecting nature for its intrinsic value, regardless of human use.

Modern environmentalism

Focuses on pollution, public health, and regulation (1960s–70s).

Global environmentalism

Addresses worldwide issues like climate change and biodiversity loss.

Sustainability

Meeting present needs without compromising future generations.

Sustainable development

improving well-being and the standard of life over the long-term; that is, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Environmental justice

a recognition that access to a clean, healthy environment is a fundamental right of all human beings.

Environmental racism

decisions that restrict certain people or groups of people to polluted or degraded environments on the basis of race.

Toxic colonialism

Exporting hazardous waste or pollution to poorer countries.

What are the principles of science?

Empiricism, testability, repeatability, falsifiability, and peer review.

Deductive reasoning

deriving testable predictions about specific cases from general principles.

Inductive reasoning

inferring general principles from specific examples

Resiliency

The ability of a community or ecosystem to recover after disturbance.

State shift

a permanent or long-lasting change in a system to a new set of conditions and relations in response to a disturbance.

Constancy

Ability to remain stable over time.

Positive feedback loop

a situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that further enhance that factor or condition.

Negative feedback loop

a situation in which a factor or condition causes changes that reduce that factor or condition.

Throughput

Flow of energy and matter into, through, and out of a system.

Homeostasis

the maintenance of a dynamic, steady state in a living system through opposing, compensating adjustments.

Independent variable

a factor not affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment.

Dependent (response) variable

a variable that is affected by the condition being altered in a manipulative experiment.

What is a system?

networks of interactions among many interdependent factors.

Law of conservation of matter

in any chemical reaction, matter changes form; it is neither created nor destroyed.

Photosynthesis

the biochemical process by which green plants and some bacteria capture light energy and use it to produce chemical bonds. Carbon dioxide and water are consumed while oxygen and simple sugars are produced.

Cellular respiration

the process in which a cell breaks down sugar or other organic compounds to release energy used for cellular work; may be anaerobic or aerobic, depending on the availability of oxygen.

Primary Productivity

The speed at which producers (plants, algae) make energy using sunlight through photosynthesis.

Net productivity

Primary productivity minus the energy producers use for respiration; energy available to consumers.

Carbon Sink

places of carbon accumulation, such as in large forests (organic compounds) or ocean sediments (calcium carbonate); carbon is thus removed from the carbon cycle for moderately long to very long periods of time.

Carbon source

A system that releases more carbon than it absorbs (burning fossil fuels, deforestation).

Species

A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Population

Members of the same species living in the same area.

Biological community

All populations of different species living and interacting in an area.

Habitat

The physical place where an organism lives.

Niche

An organism’s role in its environment, including resource use and interactions.

Ecosystem

an interacting system of organisms and flow of energy and matter.

Ecology

the scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment. it is concerned with the life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual species, as well as the structure and function of natural systems at the level of populations, communities, and ecosystems.

Carbon

A fundamental element that forms the backbone of organic molecules.

Carbon cycle

the circulation and reutilization of carbon atoms, especially via the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

Carbohydrates

Molecules used mainly for quick energy (sugars, starches).

Lipids

Molecules used for long-term energy storage and cell membranes (fats, oils).

Proteins

Molecules made of amino acids that build structures and act as enzymes.

Nucleic acids

Molecules that store and transmit genetic information (DNA, RNA).

Energy Pyramid

Diagram showing how energy decrease as it moves through trophic levels

Base of the energy pyramid

Producers; contain the most energy

Why energy decreases up the pyramid

Energy is lost as heat, metabolism, movement, and waste

10% rule

only about 10% of energy transfers to the next trophic level

Primary consumers

herbivores that eat producers

secondary consumers

carnivores that eat primary consumers

tertiary consumers

carnivores that eat secondary consumers

top of the energy pyramid

apex predators with the test least available energy

why there are fewer organisms at higher trophic levels

less energy is available to support large populations

predation

one organism kills and eats another

Specialist species

species that tolerates a narrow range of conditions or exploits a narrow range of resources

Generalist species

species that can tolerate a wide range of conditions or exploit a wide range of resources.

Evolution

a theory that explains how random changes in genetic material and competition for scarce resources cause species to change gradually.

Natural selection

the mechanism for evolutionary change in which environmental pressures cause certain genetic combinations in a population to become more abundant. Genetic combinations best adapted for present environmental conditions tend to become predominant.

Zone of tolerance

Full range of conditions an organism can survive

Optimal zone

Conditions where organism performs best

Zone of physiological stress

Survival possible, but reduced growth/reproduction

Zone of intolerance

Conditions where survival is impossible

Ecological succession

The natural process by which species gradually change in an ecosystem over time.

Primary succession

An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed.

Secondary succession

Succession that occurs after a disturbance where soil remains (fires, floods, farming). Happens faster than primary succession.

Climax community

A relatively stable, long-lasting community reached in a successional series; usually determined by climate and soil type.

Complexity

The number of species at each trophic level and the number of trophic levels in a community.

symbiosis

the intimate living together of members of two different species; includes mutualism, commensalism, and, in some classifications, parasitism.

commensalism

a symbiotic relationship in which one member is benefited and the second is neither harmed nor benefited.

mutualism

a symbiotic relationship between individuals of two different species in which both species benefit from the association.

parasitism

an organism that lives in or on another organism, deriving nourishment at the expense of its host, usually without killing it.

mimicry

when one species resembles another to avoid predators.

mullerian mimicry

evolution of two species, both of which are unpalatable and have poisonous stingers, or some other defense mechanism, to resemble each other.

batesian mimicry

evolution by one species to resemble the coloration, body shape, or behavior of another species that is protected from predators by a venomous stinger, bad taste, or some other defensive adaptation

territoriality

Behavior where organisms defend a specific area against others of the same species to protect resources like food or mates.

intraspecific competition

in a community, competition for resources among members of the same species.

interspecific competition

In a community, competition for resources between members of different species.

resource partitioning

in a biological community, various populations sharing environmental resources through specialization, thereby reducing direct competition.

inherent value

an intrinsic right to exist

worth

moral value

moral extensionism

over time we have gradually extended our sense of moral value to a wider and wider circle.

instrumental value

they have value because they are useful to someone who matters.

Who said “everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” ?

John Muir

Who said “can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life? they should not be called “insecticides” but “biocides”” ?

Rachel Carson

Who said “we are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. but often it is the powerful, including governments that are responsible.” ?

Wangari Maathai

Who said “the earth and its resources belong of right to its people.” ?

Gifford Pinchot

If everyone in the world lived a lifestyle similar to the average U.S. citizen we would need _____ more planets to support everyone.

4

the position that nature deserves to be protected in its own right is called

biocentric preservation

The fundamental basis of environmental science as a discipline is the

human impact on the earth

A(n) _______ is a tabulation of the demands placed on nature by individuals or nations.

ecological footprint

Evidence of progress in reducing overpopulation and the increased strain on the environment it causes is best illustrated by

a decrease in the average number of children born to each woman

poverty is usually passed on from one generation to the next through

the lack of available opportunities

sustainable development, ideally, improves living conditions

for generations in the future

the branch of philosophy concerned with the distinction between right and wrong and the ultimate worth of actions of things is

ethics

the idea of stewardship is that humans have a/the _______ the environment.

duty to care for

the issue that racial and ethnic minorities face unusually high exposure to environmental hazards is a central argument to

environmental justice

the term “toxic colonialism” has been used in describing

the exportation of toxic wastes to poor communities