Ecology & Planetary Stress
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55 Terms
Q: What is an ecosystem?
A: A community of organisms and the physical environment in which they live.
Q: Difference between population and community?
A:
Population: Individuals of the same species in the same area.
Community: All species’ populations interacting in one area.
Q: What is the biosphere?
A: All ecosystems on Earth.
Q: What is a habitat?
A: The location where a species lives with chemical & physical conditions that support survival.
Q: What is biotic potential?
A: The maximum population growth under ideal conditions.
Q: How do you calculate doubling time?
A: Divide 72 by the annual % growth rate.
Q: What is environmental resistance?
A: Factors that kill organisms or prevent reproduction (e.g., predation, disease, lack of resources).
Q: What is carrying capacity?
A: The population size the environment can support indefinitely.
Q: What makes a species “invasive”?
A: Non‑native species that spreads rapidly due to lack of predators or controls.
Q: What is a niche?
A: An organism’s role in a community.
Q: What causes competition in ecosystems?
A: Overlapping niches and limited resources.
Q: What is competitive exclusion?
A: When one species outcompetes another completely.
Q: What is ecological succession?
A: Natural changes in species over time that lead to a mature, stable community.
Q: What do the laws of thermodynamics say about energy?
A:
Energy can't be created/destroyed.
Energy transfer loses usable energy as heat.
Q: Difference between producers and consumers?
A:
Producers: Make their own food (photosynthesis).
Consumers: Eat other organisms for energy.
Q: What are the four types of consumers?
A: Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores, Decomposers.
Q: How much energy moves to the next trophic level?
A: Only 10% is passed on; 90% is lost.
Q: What is cycled in biogeochemical cycles?
A: Matter (water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) moves between organisms, air, soil, and rocks.
Q: How do humans affect the water cycle?
A: Wetland loss & water pollution.
Q: How do humans impact the carbon cycle?
A: Burning fossil fuels increases CO₂ → causes global warming.
Q: What are key nitrogen cycle processes?
A: Fixation → Nitrification → Denitrification.
Q: What problem does excess phosphorus cause?
A: Algal blooms → decomposers use too much oxygen → aquatic life dies (eutrophication).
Q: What caused rapid human population growth?
A: Agriculture, industry, medicine, better housing & transportation.
Q: What is replacement fertility rate?
A: 2.1 children per woman.
Q: What do age structure diagrams show?
A: Whether a population will grow, shrink, or stay stable.
LICs → pyramid (fast growth)
MICs → balanced (stable growth)
Q: What are the major concerns related to air pollution?
A: Global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, acid precipitation, smog production.
Q: What are greenhouse gases?
A: Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping.
Q: Give examples of greenhouse gases.
A: Water vapor, CO₂, methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), CFCs, halons.
Q: What human activities increase CO₂ levels?
A: Deforestation and burning fossil fuels.
Q: What is the greenhouse effect?
A: Gases let sunlight in but trap heat, warming the Earth.
Q: Why is ozone important in the stratosphere?
A: It protects Earth from harmful UV radiation.
Q: What destroys stratospheric ozone?
A: CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).
Q: What is the main concern of ozone depletion?
A: Increased UV exposure leading to health and environmental damage.
Q: What causes acid precipitation?
A: Sulfur dioxide + nitrogen oxides + water vapor → sulfuric & nitric acid.
Q: What areas are most affected by acid rain in North America?
A: Northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada.
Q: What is smog?
A: Smoke + fog; caused mainly by burning fossil fuels.
Q: What is a thermal inversion?
A: Atmospheric conditions that trap smog at ground level.
Q: What are three major ways humans harm water supply?
A:
Overuse of water
Runoff from paved surfaces
Pollution of water sources
Q: How much of Earth’s water is fresh water?
A: Less than 1%.
Q: What is a Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO)?
A: When storm water mixes with sewage and overwhelms water systems.
Q: What is eutrophication?
A: Excess nutrients → plant overgrowth → low oxygen → animal deaths.
Q: What is biological magnification?
A: Toxins increase in concentration at higher levels of the food chain.
Q: What are common groundwater contaminants?
A: Pesticides, fertilizers, radioactive waste, carbon tetrachloride.
Q: Where does most ocean oil pollution come from?
A: 50% natural seepage, 30% land runoff, 20% accidents at sea.
Q: Why is plastic a major ocean pollutant?
A: It decomposes extremely slowly, forming floating garbage patches.
Q: What is desertification?
A: Degraded land becoming desert-like due to overuse.
Q: What are examples of renewable energy?
A: Solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass.
Q: What are examples of nonrenewable energy?
A: Coal, oil, natural gas.
Q: What is biodiversity?
A: The variety of living organisms on Earth.
Q: How do humans reduce biodiversity?
A: Pollution, overfishing, farming, logging, habitat destruction.
Q: Why is biodiversity important to humans?
A: Medicine, food sources, oxygen production, ecosystem stability.
Q: What is sustainable development?
A: Meeting present needs without harming future generations’ ability to meet theirs.
Q: What is GDP?
A: Money value of all goods/services produced yearly in a country.
Q: What is GPI?
A: GDP plus environmental & social costs.
Q: Name ways to support sustainable development.
A:
• Consume less
• Recycle more
• Save energy
• Reduce poverty
• Support sustainable agriculture
• Protect ecosystems
Note 
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