Intro to Environmental Science: Exam 1

the systematic study of our environment as well as our proper role in it

the conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms

climate, soil, water supply, mineral resources

understanding and resolving environmental problems humans have created

>8.1 billion

think about what can sustain the greatest good, for the greatest number of people, for the longest time

aimed to prevent a shortage

gillford pinchot

man and nature

theodore roosevelt and his conservation advisor gillford pinchot

language, religion, agricultural patterns, food, music, etc.

president of the sierra club

believed in biocentric preservation

opposed pinchots, argued why men shouldn’t value himself more than creation, we are all one unit of creation

opposed pinchot; why should men value himself more than creation, we are all one unit of creation

biocentric preservation and pragmatic resource conservation

national forests and parks

student of pinchots

wrote the land ethic

it said we abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us

population growth

military technology turned civilian

public concerned about contamination

-used the word environmentalism

after WW2

awakened the public to environmental threat posed by pesticides in her book silent spring

silent spring

meet present needs and preserve for the future

1968: apollo 8, first photo of earth

1) pragmatic resource conservation

2) moral and aesthetic nature preservation

3) concern about health and ecological damage “environmentalism”

4) global environmental citizenship “sustainable development”

1) resource conservation: economic and practical

2) nature preservation: biocentric and aesthetic

3) environmentalism: chemical and legal

4) sustainable development: global and social

meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

freshwater, plant, timber, animals; things that can regenerate

if they are removed at a slower rate than they are replaced

if they are removed more rapidly than they are replaced

things that do not grow back; minerals, fossil fuel, metal

concerned with what actions are right or wrong

moral obligations to the world around us

sets of basic beliefs, images, and understandings that shape how we see the world around us, determine valid questions

extending moral values to others

a measure of worth of something

intrinsic right to exist or innate worth

items of life forms have worth only because they are of use to or valued by another person

taking care of the resources we have temporary control over

environmental stewardship and human domination over nature in most religions

combines civil with environmental protection to demand a safe and healthy environment for everyone

a process for producing knowledge methodically and logically

testable explanation, a question to test

hypotheses

a description or explanation that is supported by a large number of tests

supported by facts

how likely something is to happen

involves observation of events that have already happened

conditions are deliberately altered for one variable and other variables are held constant

comparing a treatment group to a control group which has not relived the treatment

researcher does not know which group has been treated until after the data has been analyzed

neither the subject nor the researcher knows who is in the treatment group

dependent variable

independent variable

a simple representation of phenomena, allows scientists to study complex systems

a network of interdependent components and processes with materials and energy flowing from one component to another

self contained, exchanges no matter or energy with outside

exchanges matter and energy from surroundings

the energy and matter that flow into, through, and out of a system

self perpetuating, as an increase in a level leads to further increases; fire

suppresses change within a system, helps maintain stability in systems, use up all available oxygen

dynamic state in which system is stable over time

periodic destructive events such as fire or flood

ability of system to recover quickly from disturbance

a severe disturbance in which the system does not return to normal but results in significant changes

(general agreement among informed scholars) stems from a community of scientist who collaborate in a cumulative, self correcting process

(great challenges in explanatory frameworks) occur when a majority of scientists agree that an old explanation no longer works as well as a new one

all organisms of the same kind that are genetically similar enough to breed in nature and produce fertile offspring

all members of a species living in a given area at the same time

all populations of organisms living and interacting in a particular area

the biological community and its physical environment ( water, climate, etc)

photosynthesizers like plants

the amount of biomass produced in a given area in a given period of time

because it is basic to all other growth in an ecosystem

manufacture of biomass by organisms that eat plants

linked feeding series

interconnected food chains, as must consumers have multiple food sources

an organism’s feeding status on the food web

producers

consumers

primary consumers

secondary consumers

recycle dead bodies / waste

energy is lost at each level

100 kg clover

10kg rabbit

10kg fox

10% energy conversion

10% added to next level

90% lost from one level to the next