AP Environmental Science Midterm Exam Review

AP Environmental Science Fall Semester Final Exam Review

Students, please know the following items below. The exam is a comprehensive test of previously tested content. It is 100 questions.

Living World

1. Know the major characteristics of the land biomes (read textbook honestly)
2. Tundra: A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation
3. Boreal Forest/Taiga: A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons
4. Temperate rainforest: A coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation
5. Temperate seasonal forest: A biome with warm summers and cold winters with over 1m (39 inches) of precipitation annually
6. Woodland/shrubland: A biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters
7. Temperate grassland/cold desert: A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry summers
8. Tropical rainforest: A warm and wet biome found between 20N and 20S of the equator, with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation
9. Tropical seasonal forest/savanna: A biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons
10. Subtropical desert: A biome prevailing at approximately 30N and 30S with hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation
11. What are the major biogeochemical cycle—nitrogen, carbon, water, phosphorus and sulfur? (include pictures for all)
12. Water cycle: Reservoirs are the atmosphere and hydrosphere; Processes include Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Transpiration; After precipitation water can take various paths including Surface runoff, Glaciers, Seepage, Aquifers/groundwater, Absorption by plants.
13. Carbon cycle: Reservoirs are the geosphere; Processes include photosynthesis, cellular respiration, deposition, lithification (converting loose C-containing sediment into rock)
14. Nitrogen cycle: Reservoirs are the atmosphere; Processes include Nitrogen fixation, Nitrification, Assimilation, Decomposition, Denitrification
15. Phosphorous cycle: Reservoirs are the geosphere; Process is slow in which water runs over rocks and erodes away compounds containing Po4^3- and it can be lost from cycle for long periods when it washes from the land into the ocean.
16. Sulfur cycle: Reservoirs are underground in rocks, minerals, and fossil fuels
17. Know a simple nitrogen cycle including the following terms and molecules. Ammonification, nitrification, denitrification, nitrogen fixation, assimilation, N₂, NH₄⁺, NO₃^-, DNA/amino acids, and label where bacteria take part in the process.
18. Nitrogen fixation: Nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia through bacteria absorption and lightning because plants and animals cannot absorb nitrogen.
19. Nitrification: Converts NH4 into NO2 then into NO3 for plants.
20. Assimilation: Converts the nitrogen into proteins or DNA
21. Decomposition: (Ammonification) As the bodies and wastes decompose, bacteria convert the nitrogen compounds into NH4
22. Denitrification: Bacteria converts NH4 into N2
23. What are ways carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere and put back into the atmosphere? Through deforestation, burning of fossil fuels and wood, and cellular respiration
24. What are the reactants and products for photosynthesis?

Reactants: Carbon dioxide and Water

Products: Sugar(glucose) and Oxygen

1. What are the reactants and products for cellular respiration?

Reactants: Sugar(glucose) and Oxygen

Products: Carbon dioxide and Water and ATP

1. Define abiotic and biotic.

Abiotic: Not derived from living organisms (Includes water, air, temperature, soil, light levels, precipitation, salinity

Biotic: Derived from living organisms (Include producers, consumers, decomposers, plants, animals, bacteria/fungi

1. Define parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, competition, and predation.
2. Parasitism: One species benefits while one is harmed
3. Mutualism: Both species benefit
4. Commensalism: Where one species benefits while the other is unaffected
5. Competition: Neither benefits
6. Predation: One species benefits while the other dies
7. Distinguish between biome, ecosystem, community, population, and individual. Know how levels are organized

Order (Bottom to Top): Individual/Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome (include a picture)

1. Population: multiple individuals or organisms of a single species that live within a particular geographic area.
2. Community: two or more populations of different species that occupy the same space at the same time.
3. Ecosystem: both the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors in a system.
4. Biome: The plants and animals in a biome share common traits that are specific to the individual biome those plants and animals inhabit.
5. 10% rule for energy transfer in food chains

Each trophic level can only give 10% of its energy to the next level.

1. Energy and biomass pyramid (insert picture)
2. Why are energy/biomass pyramids so small at the top?

The amount of energy and number of organisms decrease as you go up the pyramid

1. Explain GPP, NPP and respiration (R).
2. GPP: Gross primary productivity is the rate at which an ecosystems producer converts solar energy into chemical energy in the form of biomass found in their tissues; Units are kcal/m^2/yr
3. NPP: Amount of energy potentially available to other organisms in the ecosystem
4. R: The energy used in respiration
5. Formula for NPP

NPP = GPP - R

1. Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, scavengers, detritivores, decomposers

U should know this. Detritivores are animals that feed on dead organic material.

1. Heterotrophs, autotrophs

Heterotrophs are organisms that have to to consume food while autotrophs are organisms that make their own food.

1. Understand the effects of eliminating a species in a food chain.

Example: What would happen to the other species (increase or decrease?) if the desert fox was overhunted and eliminated?

Cacti à kangaroo rats à snakes à desert fox (State this as a normal flashcard)

Biodiversity Review: Know the terms and application

• 1. Biodiversity: the variety of different species
  2. Genetic diversity: the variety of genes within a given species
  3. Evolution: a change in the genetic composition of a population over time
  4. Adaptations: a trait that improves an individual’s fitness
  5. Artificial Selection: the process in which humans determine which individuals breed, typically with a preconceived set of traits in mind
  6. Natural Selection: the process in which the environment determines which individuals survive and reproduce
  7. Fitness: an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce
  8. Mutation: a mutation can arise in a population and if it is not lost it may increase in frequency over time
  9. Gene Flow: the process by which individuals move from one population to another and thereby alter the genetic composition of both populations. It can bring about genetic variation.
  10. Genetic Drift: a change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of random mating
  11. Bottleneck effect: a reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by a reduction in its size. It can reduce genetic variation. It can create low diversity and could lead to decline or extinction.
  12. Founders effect: A change in the genetic composition of a population as a result of descending from a small number of colonizing individuals
  13. Range of ecological tolerance: the limits to the abiotic conditions that a species can tolerate such as humidity, temperature, salinity, and pH (insert picture too)
  14. Limiting factors: restricts growth, abundance, or distribution of a population
  15. Realized Niche: the range of abiotic and biotic conditions under which a species actually lives
  16. Fundamental Niche: The suite of abiotic conditions under which a species can survive, grow, and reproduce
  17. Niche Generalists: A species that can live under a wide range of abiotic or biotic conditions. Fare better under changing conditions because they have a number of alternative habitats and food sources available.

Ex. Cockroaches

• 1. Niche Specialists: a species that is specialized to live in a specific habitat or to feed on a small group of species. Do well when environmental conditions remain relatively constant; however, loss of a favored habitat or food source leaves them with few alternatives for survival

Ex. Tiger Salamanders- must live in fishless ponds

• 1. Resource Partitioning: division of resources in an ecosystem
  2. Ecosystem services: Goods that come from natural resources or services that ecosystems carry out that have measurable economic value to humans.
     1. Provisioning: goods taken directly from ecosystems or made from natural resources (wood, paper, food)
     2. Regulating: natural ecosystems regulate climate/air quality, reducing storm damage and healthcare costs
     3. Cultural: money generated by recreation (parks, camping, tours) or scientific knowledge
     4. Supporting: Natural ecosystems support processes we do ourselves, making them cheaper and easier (bees pollinate crops)
  3. HIPPCO: Habitat Fragmentation/Loss, Invasive Species, Population growth, Pollution (Pollutants), Climate Change, Over Exploitation
  4. Habitat Fragmentation/loss: Breaking of larger, continuous habitats into smaller, isolated patches; disrupts breeding, hunting migration.

Deforestation (lumber, cities, roads) Wetland draining (ag, urbanization) River water level decreased by dams.

• 1. Invasive Species: Invasives such as z. mussel and kudzu vine outcompete native species for food/space, lowering population
  2. Population Growth: Human pop. growth drives habitat loss

Urbanization, ag. expansion to feed more people so remove/fragment habitats.

• 1. Pollution (Pollutants): Oil spills reduce marine original population sizes

Pesticides (glyphosate, atrazine) kill non-target species

• 1. Climate Change: Shifts biomes and therefore species habitats ranges, can change temp. and precip. patterns too rapidly for a species to adapt or migrate, causing pop. decline or extinction
  2. Over Exploitation: Excessive hunting or poaching (faster than reproductive rate) leads to pop. decline & potential extinction
  3. Trophic cascade: ecological event triggered by adding or removing apex predators
  4. Tropic level: Organisms that are same number of energy transfers from source
  5. Food Web: A community of organisms where there are several interrelated food chains
  6. Keystone species: species have a large effect on the types and abundances of other species in an ecosystem. They are low in number and are usually prone to extinction.

Loss of keystone species usually lead to a population crash and other extinctions.

• 1. Invasive species: Species not native to an area, introduced often by human transport.

No natural predators to control pop.

Highly competitive for resources

Generalist species are more likely to be invasive

• 1. Indicator species: species that serve as early warnings that an ecosystem is being damaged because they are affected by a change in one or more key abiotic factors in the environment.
  2. Native species: Species that normally live and thrive in a particular ecosystem
  3. Non-native species: Species that migrate into an ecosystem or are deliberately or accidentally introduced into an ecosystem.

Can be beneficial or invasive.

• 1. Species evenness: the relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area
  2. Species richness: the number of species in a given area
  3. Theory of Island Biogeography: a theory that demonstrates the dual importance of habitat size and distance in determining species richness
  4. primary succession: occurs on surfaces that are initially devoid of soil and has bare rock
  5. secondary succession: occurs in areas that have been disturbed but have not lost their soil
  6. Pioneer Species: ability to colonize new areas rapidly and grow well in full sunshine

Ex. Aspen and cherry trees

• 1. Climax Community: Historically described as the final stage of succession.
  2. Biomass: energy stored as organic matter
  3. Know the impacts that have led to the decline of biodiversity: HIPPCO and Common Sense
  4. Stages of succession: Primary succession, pioneer species, mid-successional species, secondary succession

Populations

1. Calculate the rate of natural increase (population growth rate %) of a country with CDR = 14 and CBR = 20. % growth rate = (CBR –CDR)/10

(20-14)/10 = 0.6 %

1. What is population doubling time (rule of 70)? What is the equation for population doubling time?

70/growth rate %

1. Draw a realistic population growth graph showing carrying capacity, overshoot, die-off, and label where exponential growth occurs on the graph.

(Insert a picture)

1. Explain carrying capacity.

Maximum number of individuals a habitat can support over a given period of time.

1. Why is continuous exponential population growth unrealistic?

Exponential curve is not realistic due to carrying capacity of area.

1. Describe biotic potential.

factors that allow a population of living species to increase in size under ideal conditions potentially leading to exponential growth

1. Describe the difference between an exponential growth and logistic growth graph

Exponential growth graph is J- shaped curve, Growth is independent of population density. Logistic growth graph is -S-shaped curve, growth is not independent of population density, Population growth decreases as density reaches carrying capacity, Graph of individuals vs. time yields an S-curved graph, population will not be steady curve due to resources (prey) and predators

1. Describe the three population dispersion/distribution patterns.

Clumped- individuals are lumped into groups

ex: Flocking brids or herbivore herds due to resources that are clumped or social interactions most common.

Uniform- Individuals are regularly spaced in the environment

ex: Creosote bush due to antagonism between individuals

Random-

Individuals are randomly dispersed in the environment

ex: Dandelions due to random distribution of resources in the environment

1. Identify density independent and dependent factors that influence population growth.

Density dependent factors: disease, predation, competition

Density independent factors: climate/ weather, food limits, pollutants

1. Population change = [(births + immigration) - (deaths + emigration)] (Put every formula there just incase and put it in your calculator)

Atmosphere and Water resources

1. Surface water vs. Ground water: Surface water is the fresh water that exists aboveground and includes streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and wetlands. Ground water exists in the multitude of small spaces found within permeable layers of rock and sediment called aquifers.
2. Aquifers: A permeable layer of rock and sediment that contains groundwater.
   1. Confined: An aquifer surrounded by a layer of impermeable rock or clay that impedes water flow.
   2. Unconfined: An aquifer made of porous rock covered by soil out of which water can easily flow.
   3. Water table: The uppermost level at which the water in a given area fully saturates rock or soil.
3. What is a watershed/ drainage basin?: all of the land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland.
4. What are the 5 layers of the atmosphere?: troposphere

stratosphere

mesosphere

thermosphere

exosphere

1. How much of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.: N2: 78%

O2: 21%

CO2: 0.04%

1. Describe the characteristics of each layer of the atmosphere.
   • 1. Troposphere: -densest layer

-nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor occur here

-weather and climate

-convection that constantly circulates air, heat and moisture

-temperature decreases with altitude

• • 1. Stratosphere: -less dense than the troposphere

-Majority of Ozone which acts as a shield by absorbing most of the Sun's UV radiation

-Temp increases with altitude

• • 1. Mesosphere: -less dense than the stratosphere

-meteors burn up in this layer

-Temp decreases with altitude

• • 1. Thermosphere: -less dense than the mesosphere

-Also blocks UV radiation -Aurora Borealis (northern lights)

1. Why is the air less dense at the equator?: Due to the unequal heating of Earth, the equator gets the most heat from the sun. Since the equator is hotter, its air above expands, becomes less dense, and then the warm air rises.
2. Know the rotation of hurricanes in the northern and southern hemisphere: -Northern hurricanes: counterclockwise

-Southern hurricanes: clockwise

1. What is a thermocline?: An oceanic circulation pattern that drives the mixing of surface water and deep water.
2. What is upwelling?: The upward movement of ocean water toward the surface as a result of diverging currents.
3. What is the Coriolis Effect?: The rotation of Earth causes the deflection of objects that are moving directly north or south, a phenomenon.
4. What direction do currents move in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?: -Northern currents: clockwise

-Southern currents: counterclockwise

1. What three factors affect the patterns of ocean surface currents?: Temperature, gravity, prevailing winds, the Coriolis effect, salinity, and the locations of continents.
2. What are convection currents and how do they move?: Global patterns of air movement that are initiated by the unequal heating of the Earth.
3. What is ENSO?: El Nino Southern Oscillation

A reversal of wind and water currents in the South Pacific that occur every 3-5 years around the Christmas holiday.

1. Compare and contrast the conditions and locations of El Nino and La Nina.: During El Niño, the southern tier of Alaska and the U.S. Pacific Northwest tend to be warmer than average, whereas the U.S. southern tier of state—from California to the Carolinas—tends to be cooler and wetter than average. During La Niña, these deviations from the average are approximately (but not exactly) reversed and are most similar to a normal year.
2. Describe each layer of the soil horizon and know the order.: O Horizon

A Horizon

E Horizon

B Horizon

C Horizon

1. O Horizon: The organic horizon at the surface of many soils, composed of organic detritus in various stages of decomposition.
2. A Horizon: Frequently the top layer of soil, a zone of organic material and minerals that have been mixed together. Also known as topsoil.
3. E Horizon: A zone of leaching, or eluviation, found in some acidic soils under the O horizon or, less often, the A horizon.
   B Horizon: A soil horizon composed primarily of mineral material with very little organic matter.
4. C Horizon: The least-weathered soil horizon, which always occurs beneath the B horizon and is similar to the parent material.
5. Describe what happens at each of the following plate boundaries:
   1. Convergent Boundaries: An area where plates move toward one another and collide. Can result in mountains, island arcs, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
   2. Divergent Boundaries: An area beneath the ocean where tectonic plates move away from each other. Can result in seafloor spreading, rift valleys, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
   3. Transform Boundaries: An area where tectonic plates move sideways past each other. Can result in earthquakes.
6. Explain soil texture, permeability, and porosity.:

Soil permeability: How quickly soil drains. Sand packs together loosely so water can move easily. Clay packs together tightly so water can't move easily. Silt is intermediate of both.

Soil texture: the soil quality that is based on the proportions of soil particles

Soil porosity: the amount of pores, or open space, between soil particles.

1. Be able to use the soil texture triangle.: (insert picture)
2. What is the difference between weathering and erosion?: Weathering is the breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface. (physical and chemical breakdown). Erosion is the physical removal of rock fragments from a landscape or ecosystem. (Transports the weathered fragments)
3. Describe three types of weathering and give specific examples of each.:

Physical Weathering: The mechanical breakdown of rocks and minerals. Caused by water, wind, or variations in temperature.

Biological Weathering: Physical weathering can also be caused by biological agents (like plant roots).

Chemical Weathering: The breakdown of rocks and minerals by chemical reactions, the dissolving of chemical elements from rocks, or both.

1. What are Gyres?: The large-scale patterns of water circulation that move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
2. What is coastal upwelling and how does it affect fisheries of the west coast of South America during El Nino and La Nina?: Reduce upwelling off the South American coast decreasing productivity and fish populations.

Land and Water resources

1. What is monoculture?:

The cultivation of a single crop in each area

1. How does monoculture affect crop biodiversity?

Reduction in biodiversity due to soil erosion and pollution from insecticides and pesticides

1. What is a GMO crop?

A plant, animal, or microorganism that has had its genetic material (DNA) changed using technology

1. How do GMO crops affect biodiversity?

A reduction in the insects that serve as a source of food for another kind of wildlife such as birds

1. What are the advantages of GMO’s as food sources?

Disease- and drought-resistant plants that require fewer environmental resources (such as water and fertilizer) Less use of pesticides. Increased supply of food with reduced cost and longer shelf life. Faster growing plants and animals.

1. What are the disadvantages of GMO’s as food sources?

Toxicity. Genetically engineered foods are inherently unstable. ...Allergic Reactions. ...Antibiotic Resistance. ...Immuno-suppression. ...Cancer. ...Loss of Nutrition

1. What was the Green Revolution?

the increase in agricultural production that has been made possible using new types of crops and new farming methods, especially in developing countries

1. Which animal raised for the food industry requires the most land and water?

Beef Cattle

1. Define organic farming.

A method of agricultural production that excludes the use of synthetic substances, such as pesticides, synthetic medicines or fertilisers, and genetically modified organisms

1. What are the benefits and disadvantages of organic farming?

Promotes sustainable development Healthy and tasty food Inexpensive process It uses organic inputs.

1. What is integrated pest management (IPM)?

An effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices

1. What are the four controls associated with IPM? What are examples of each?

What are examples of each? biological, cultural, physical/mechanical and chemical management tools

EX:

• Biological: A stink bug is causing severe damage to lychee flowers and small fruit in an orchard. A beneficial wasp is naturally present but is killing only 10% of the stink bug eggs.
• Cultural: properly selecting and rotating crops, sanitizing and solarizing the soil, choosing the best planting and harvest times, using resistant varieties and certified plants, taking advantage of allelopathy, and intercropping
• Physical: physical methods or mechanical devices such as knocking pests off of plants with a spray of water, using barriers and traps, cultivating, soil solarization, or heat treatments
• Chemicals: herbicides, which are used to control plants, and rodenticides, which are used to control rodents. There are many kinds of insecticides

1. What are some advantages and disadvantages of integrated pest management?

Protects non-target species through reduced impact of pest management activities. Reduces the need for pesticides by using several pest management methods. Reduces or eliminates issues related to pesticide residue. Reduces or eliminates re-entry interval restrictions.

1. What are the environmental and societal disadvantages to using conventional pesticides?

They include domestic animal contaminations and deaths, loss of natural antagonists to pests, pesticide resistance, Honeybee and pollination decline, losses to adjacent crops, fishery and bird losses, and contamination of groundwater.

1. What are the different categories of pesticides and what are they used for?

Herbicides kill weeds and other plants that grow where they are not wanted. Insect growth regulators disrupt the molting, maturing from pupal stage to adult, or other life processes of insects. Insecticides kill insects and other arthropods. Miticides (also called acaricides) kill mites that feed on plants and animals

1. What is aquaculture?

breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants

1. What are the pros and cons of aquaculture?

Pro: Provides Fish for Consumption Without Overfishing.

Con: Can Lead to Invasive Species Damaging Ecosystems. Pro: Can Pair with Hydroponic Plant Growth for a Closed System. Con: Can Damage the Local Gene Pool if Farmed Fish Escape

1. What are the pros and cons of catching fish from the wild?

wild fish do have a significantly higher level of mercury than farm-raised alternatives, more expensive have less calories and higher levels of essential vitamins that include potassium, zinc and iron

1. What are the different techniques of fishing and how do they effect the environment?

Purse seining, longlining, and many other types of fishing can also result in a lot of bycatch, the capture of unintended species

1. What is bycatch?

the unwanted fish and other marine creatures caught during commercial fishing for a different species

1. Which methods of fishing have more bycatch than others?

Longlines, trawling and the use of gillnets are the fishing methods that most commonly result in bycatch

1. Describe the different methods of Irrigation?
2. Furrow Irrigation: Works by delivering large amounts of water through small, parallel channels that run through the field
3. Drip Irrigation: Uses porous tubes above or below ground that gradually deliver water to the roots of individual plants.
4. Center-Pivot Irrigation: Involves a piece of equipment that rotates around a single point, creating a circle-shaped irrigation field
5. Flood Irrigation: Involves flooding an entire field with water and letting the water soak in evenly.
6. Spray Irrigation: Water is pumped from a well into an apparatus that contains a series of spray nozzles that spray water across the field,
7. What are some methods of soil conservation? How do they help?

crop rotation, reduced tillage, mulching, cover cropping and cross-slope farming, help stop erosion

1. Compare CAFO’s and grazing methods of raising livestock.

Grazing on rangelands spreads out animal waste (AKA poop) a lot more than CAFOs, which leads to less extreme land pollution. The grazing method also allows the cows some breathing room, so they don't have to deal with extreme confinement in poorly kept spaces

1. What is tragedy of the commons and examples of it.

Situations that lead to environmental degradation.

It holds an abundant but finite supply of fish. Crucially, nobody owns the ocean, and it is very difficult for one nation to prevent another one from fishing

1. Vocabulary such as: range lands, pasture lands, cage free, free range, organic and certified humane
   1. Range Lands: Extensive area of land that is occupied by native herbaceous or shrubby vegetation
   2. Pasture Lands: Primarily used for the production of adapted, domesticated forage plants for livestock
   3. Cage Free: Animals are not kept in battery cages
   4. Free Range: Animals receive a certain minimum amount of outdoor access
   5. Organic: Animals are raised with organic food and are not given antibiotics
   6. Certified Humane: Animals are allowed to perform natural behavior such as nesting
2. Types of erosion
3. Sheet erosion: lowers the fertility of the soil, because it removes the most productive layer
4. Splash erosion: or rain drop impact, is the erosion of valuable topsoil through the process of heavy rainfall
5. Rill erosion: occurs when surface runoff water accumulates in small channels and appears mainly on hills
6. Gully erosion: occurs when runoff flows strongly and is concentrated in one location
7. What is needed for plant growth

Space to grow, the right temperature, light, water, air, nutrients, and time

Land and Water resources Part 2

• Types of mining:

1. Open-pit mining is the activity of removing the earth to access the mineral deposits and continuing to do it vertically in an open-pit. Open-pit mines are often used to extract gold, silver, and copper. This method is advantageous as the process includes powerful mining assets such as trucks.
2. Surface mining is the oldest form of resource exploitation. Common minerals extracted using surface mining are some of the most mined including coal, iron and bauxite.
3. Subsurface Mining is mining that occurs below the surface of Earth. It is more expensive and risks poor ventilation 🡪 toxic gas exposure, mine shaft collapse, lung cancer, and fires/explosions.
4. Placer mining is used to sift out minerals from sediments in river channels, beach sands, or other similar sorts of environments.
5. The second underground coal mining system is long wall mining. Long wall mining is best suited for ore deposits that are horizontally distributed and where there is continuity of the deposits.
6. Dredging is the process of mining materials from the bottom of a body of water, including rivers, lakes, and oceans.
7. Strip mining is when the land is cleared of vegetation and rocks before being dugout. It is mainly used for extracting coal and other hard materials.
8. Mountain top removal is removing the entire top of a mountain with expolsives.

• Types of deforestation:

1. Selective cutting: Harvested individually from diverse forests.
2. Clear cutting: Entire forest can be cut down.
3. Strip/ stand cutting: Portion of forest harvested.

• Ore, mineral, tailing, mine reclamation, land subsidence, water table, smelter and lateral recharge

1. Ore- a naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be profitably extracted.
2. Mineral- naturally occurring inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure.
3. Tailing- the residue of something, especially ore
4. Mine reclamation- process of modifying land that has been mined to ecologically functional or economically usable state
5. Land subsidence- gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface owing to subsurface movement of earth materials
6. Water table- the level below which the ground is saturated with water.
7. Smelter- an installation or factory for smelting a metal from its ore.
8. Lateral recharge-water moving horizontally along gradients into an aquifer. It happens when water from the surface, such as rain or snowmelt, infiltrates the soil and moves laterally towards a water-bearing layer called an aquifer.
9. What is most underground water used for in the US?:

Agricultural irrigation

1. What strategy is used to reduce the risk of uncontrolled natural fires?

ridding a forest of dead leaves, tree limbs, and other debris, a prescribed burn can help prevent a destructive wildfire. Green firebreaks, or strategically planted strips of low-flammability vegetation.

1. What are ways that smart growth uses to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution?

these strategies involve charging drivers more for their use of roadways when travel demand is highest. They include assigning higher tolls for driving during peak hours or collecting higher fees for parking in the most convenient curb spaces at the busiest times.

1. What is urban sprawl? What does it not cause?

Urban sprawl: the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

- It does not cause smart growth.

1. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, what is required before a federally funded project can begin?

federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions.

1. What does Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 require?

requires that mining companies post a bond sufficient to cover the cost of reclaiming the site. This is meant to ensure that the mining site will be reclaimed even if the company goes out of business or fails to clean up the land for some other reason.

1. What are some strategies that promote smart growth in a city?

Mix land uses. Take advantage of compact building design. Create a range of housing opportunities and choices. Create walkable neighborhoods. Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas. Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities. Provide a variety of transportation choices. Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost effective. Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.

1. What is/are some negative impacts of subsurface mining?:

poor ventilation leading to toxic gas exposure, mine shaft collapse, injury from falling rock, lung cancer, fires, explosions.

1. How do forest help with global climate regulation?

Forests contribute to higher wind speeds. Forests increase rainfall through transpiration.

1. What are some environmental consequences of clear cutting?

erosion, landslides and contamination of our water supply with sediment and the toxic herbicides used in the clearcutting process. Clearcutting also compacts the ground and decreases the soil's ability to retain water, ultimately reducing our supply of clean water.

1. What are some ways to reduce urban runoff?

Rain gardens, green roofs, disconnected downspouts, permeable pavement, and soil amendments have all been implemented to improve water capture and soil infiltration at the scale of individual parcels.

1. What type of trees grow best when selective cutting is the method of harvest?

Trees that need plenty of sunlight.

1. What are some major human-related causes of deforestation worldwide?

agricultural expansion, wood extraction (e.g., logging or wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal), and infrastructure expansion such as road building and urbanization.

1. What is a positive effect of clear-cutting?

creates wide, open spaces with lots of sun exposure. This allows the most sunlight to reach tree seedlings that require full-sun conditions to thrive. Clearcutting also creates forest clearings that are habitat for some species of songbirds, deer and elk.

1. Creating walkable neighborhoods is a characteristic of what?

Smart Growth