Environmental Science Final Exam Broward College EVR 1001 Updated 2023 Version with complete solution

Environmental Science Final Exam Broward College EVR 1001 Updated 2023 Version with complete solution What does biodegradable mean? Substance or object capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. What is soil? A complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and billions of living organisms What are soil horizons? Horizontal zones that make up a mature soil. Each soil has a distinct texture and composition that varies with different types of soils. What are the soil horizons? 1. O horizon: (Surface litter layer) freshly fallen leaves, twigs, animal waste, fungi, & other animals. 2. A horizon: (Topsoil) porous mix of organic matter called humus & some inorganic mineral particles. Darker and looser than deeper layers. 3. B horizon: (Subsoil) Contains inorganic minerals, iron, aluminum, & clay from above horizons. 4. C horizon: (Weathered Parent material) partially broken down inorganic minerals lying on unweathered bedrock/parent material. **Most of the soil's organic matter is in the O and A horizon. What are the soil textures? 1. Sand = medium sized particles 2. Silt = fine particles 3. Clay = very fine particles 4. Gravel = coarse particles What is soil erosion? movement of soil components (especially the litter & topsoil) from one place to another. What is soil conservation? Various methods used to reduce soil erosion, most of which involve keeping the soil covered with vegetation. What are the two main agents of soil erosion? Flowing Water & Wind What is the Law of conservation of matter? Matter can neither be created or destroyed. It can change various elements and compounds from one physical or chemical form to another but in no change can we create or destroy any of the atoms involved. What is physical change? Change in the size and shape with no change in chemical composition. What is chemical change? Chemical composition of elements are altered but the same elements exist What does biodiversity mean? The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. What is biological evolution? The process through which the characteristics of organisms change over successive generations, by means of genetic variation and natural selecEnvironmental Science Final Exam Broward College EVR 1001 Updated 2023 Version with complete solution What does biodegradable mean? Substance or object capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. What is soil? A complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and billions of living organisms What are soil horizons? Horizontal zones that make up a mature soil. Each soil has a distinct texture and composition that varies with different types of soils. What are the soil horizons? 1. O horizon: (Surface litter layer) freshly fallen leaves, twigs, animal waste, fungi, & other animals. 2. A horizon: (Topsoil) porous mix of organic matter called humus & some inorganic mineral particles. Darker and looser than deeper layers. 3. B horizon: (Subsoil) Contains inorganic minerals, iron, aluminum, & clay from above horizons. 4. C horizon: (Weathered Parent material) partially broken down inorganic minerals lying on unweathered bedrock/parent material. **Most of the soil's organic matter is in the O and A horizon. What are the soil textures? 1. Sand = medium sized particles 2. Silt = fine particles 3. Clay = very fine particles 4. Gravel = coarse particles What is soil erosion? movement of soil components (especially the litter & topsoil) from one place to another. What is soil conservation? Various methods used to reduce soil erosion, most of which involve keeping the soil covered with vegetation. What are the two main agents of soil erosion? Flowing Water & Wind What is the Law of conservation of matter? Matter can neither be created or destroyed. It can change various elements and compounds from one physical or chemical form to another but in no change can we create or destroy any of the atoms involved. What is physical change? Change in the size and shape with no change in chemical composition. What is chemical change? Chemical composition of elements are altered but the same elements exist What does biodiversity mean? The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. What is biological evolution? The process through which the characteristics of organisms change over successive generations, by means of genetic variation and natural selection. It is most commonly defined as "changes in gene frequencies in populations." What are the different types biomes? (9) 1. Tundra 2.Boreal Forest (Northern Coniferous Forest) 3.Temperate Rain Forest 4.Temperate Deciduous Forest 5.Tropical Rain Forest 6.Mediterranean / Chaparral / Thorn Scrub 7. Grasslands 8.Savannas 9.Temperate Grasslands (Deserts) What are the 3 causes of wildlife extinction? - Local extinction. - Biological extinction - Ecological extinction. What are endangered species? When a species has so few individual survivors that the species could soon become extinct over all or most of its natural range. How does energy flow in a food chain? From bottom to the top. What is environmental science? An interdisciplinary study, combining ideas from natural science (biology, chemistry, geology, etc.) and social sciences (economics, politics, ethics, etc.) to understand how nature works, how we are impacted by nature, and how we impact nature. What are estuaries? The tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream. What are eukaryotes? Any organism whose cells contain a nucleus and other organelles enclosed within membranes. What are prokaryotes? a microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles. Include: - Bacteria. - Cyanobacteria. What is a generalist species? - Can live is a wide variety of places. - Can eat a variety of foods. - Can tolerate a wide variety of environmental conditions. What is a specialist species? - May be able to live in only one type of habitat. - May only use one or a few types of food. - May tolerate a narrow range of climatic or environmental conditions. - More prone to becoming endangered. What is the greenhouse effect? Heats up the earth, allowing it to be warm enough for life. - As unreflected solar radiation interacts with earth, it is degraded to infrared radiation (heat). - Greenhouse gases (such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide & ozone) reduce the flow of heat back into space. - This allows heat to build up like in greenhouse or a car. What is a habitat? The actual location where a species lives. What is human capital? People's physical and mental talents. ** Ex. Worker's labor, manager's direction, investor's ideas and funds. What is interspecific competition? Form of competition in which individuals of different species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem. ** Ex. food or living space. What are keystone species? Species that seem to play very important roles in an ecosystem by altering the environment or by their position in the food web. ** (As a prey regulating species). What are indicator species? Species that serve as early warnings that a community or an ecosystem is being damaged What are the animal kingdoms? (6) 1. Archaebacteria 2. Eubacteria 3. Protista 4. Fungi 5. Plantae 6. Animalia What is local extinction? Occurs when a species is no longer found in an area it once inhabited but it is still found elsewhere in the world. What is biological extinction? Occurs when a species is no longer found anywhere on earth. What is ecological extinction? Occurs when there are so few species left that it can no longer play its ecological role in the communities it is found. What is natural capital? Is the world's stock of natural assets which include: geology, soil, air, water and all living things. What are non-native species? An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental. What are non-renewable resources? Resources that exist in a fixed quantity in the earth's crust. ** Ex. Oil, Shale, Natural Gas. What are Perpetual renewable resources? Resources that there is an infinite amount of. ** Ex. Solar Energy, Wind What are Potentially renewable resources? Resources that can be replenished fairly rapidly (hours to decades) through natural processes. **Ex: Forests, grasslands, wild animals, ground water, fresh air, fertile soils... What is Environmental Justice? The right of every citizen to adequate protection from environmental hazards regardless of age, race, gender, social class, or other factor. What are Old growth forests? Is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance and thereby exhibits unique ecological features and might be classified as a climax community. What is photosynthesis? When a plant captures sunlight to make sugars & other complex organic compounds from inorganic nutrients in the environment. What is Chemosynthesis? Its when some bacteria & other specialized producers can convert simple compounds from their environment into more complex nutrient compounds without sunlight. What is the population change formula? (Births + Immigration) - (Deaths + Emigration) What is Population Ecology? Branch of biology that deals with the number of individuals of a particular species found in an area and how/why those numbers increase or decrease over time. What is resource partitioning? Adaptations some species have made to reduce & avoid competition by dividing up scarce resources by using them in: -different times, -different ways, -or in different places. What is the role of declining death rate in population growth? What is zero population growth? When (Births + Immigration) = (Deaths + Emigration) , Thus population stays the same. What are two indicators of a country's health? 1.Life expectancy = the average number of years a newborn infant can be expected to live. 2. Infant mortality = The number of babies out of every 1000 born who die before their first birthday. What is Environmental resistance? Unfavorable environmental conditions that prevent organisms from reproducing indefinitely at their biotic potential. What are threatened species? Species that are still abundant in its natural range but is declining in numbers & is likely to become endangered. What are direct threats to a tropical rain forest? What is the level of biodiversity of a tropical rain forest? What are underlying causes of wildlife depletion? - Human Population Growth. - Economic systems & policies fail to value environment & ecological services (unsustainable exploitation). - Greater per capita resource use as a result of economic growth & affluence. - Increasing appropriations of Earth's net primary productivity for human use. - Poverty. How many types of ecosystems are there? 1. Biotic (living) 2. Abiotic (non living) What is a Biotic ecosystem? Living components. **(plants, animals, microorganisms) What is a Abiotic ecosystem? Nonliving components. **(water, air, nutrients, & solar energy) What is an organism? Any form of life. What is a Species? Groups of organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behavior, chemistry, and genetics. What is ecology? - The study of how organisms interact with one another and with their non-living environment. - It is the study of what is happening in the ecosphere. What is the Earths structure? 1. Atmosphere 2. Troposphere 3. Stratosphere 4. Lithosphere 5.Hydrosphere 6.Ecosphere What is desertification? The process by which fertile land becomes desert. Typically as a result of: drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture. What are coastal wetlands? What is the food web? A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains. What is fragmentation? The reduction of habitat into smaller and smaller scattered patches. What are inland wetlands? What is the ecological value of inland wetlands? What is the economic value of inland wetlands? What is recycling? What does it mean to reuse? What is the difference between recycling and reusing? What is a swamp? Tree-dominated wetlands with clean water & diversity of mammals and birds. What is a marsh? An area of low-lying land that is flooded in wet seasons or at high tide, and typically remains waterlogged at all times. What is the difference between between a marsh and a swamp? A swamp is a place where the plants that make up the area covered in water are primarily woody plants or trees. A marsh, on the other hand, is defined as having no woody plants. The non-woody plants would be saltmarsh grasses, reeds, or sedges What is a trophic level? The feeding position on the food chain. What is a food chain? The sequence of organisms, each of which is a source of food for the next. What are the four Trophic levels? 1. First trophic level = producers 2. Second trophic level = primary consumers/ herbivores 3. Third trophic level = secondary consumers/ carnivores 4. Fourth trophic level = tertiary consumer/ top predator What are Detrivores? (consumers) Animals that eat parts of dead organisms, cast off fragments, and/or waste of living organisms. Extract nutrients from partially decomposed organic matter in leaf litter, plant debris, or animal dung. What are Herbivores? (consumers) Any animal that eats only vegetation or plants (i.e. that eats no meat) What are omnivores? (consumers) An animal which is able to consume both plants (like a herbivore) and meat (like a carnivore) What are carnivores? (consumers) Any animal that eats meat as the main part of its diet What are Tertiary consumers? (consumers) Carnivores that feed on other carnivores. What are Scavengers? (consumers) Animals that eat dead organisms that died naturally or were killed by other organisms. What are Decomposers? (consumers) Bacteria & fungi that complete the breakdown & recycling of organic matter from remains or waste of all organisms. What is extinction? The elimination of a species. What is a Ecological niche? The species' way of life or functional role in an ecosystem. What is a realized niche? The part of the fundamental niche that a species occupies because of competition. ** Ex. top or bottom What is a fundamental niche? The full potential range of chemical, physical, & biological conditions & resources a species could theoretically live in if there were no direct competition from other species. ** If there is overlap between species' niches, this leads to interspecific competition. What is the water cycle? 1. Evaporation: Liquid water to water vapor. 2. Transpiration: Evaporation from leaves, water extracted from soil by roots & transported through plant. 3. Condensation: Cooling and conversion of water vapor to droplets of liquid water. What is the Law of Conservation of Energy? (First Law of thermodynamics) In all physical and chemical changes, energy is neither created nor destroyed but it may be converted from one form to another. What is the second Law of Energy? (Second Law of thermodynamics) When energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded to a lower quality, more dispersed, less useful energy. It always costs energy to change energy. What are the two types of energy? 1. Kinetic energy 2. Potential energy What is kinetic energy? Energy matter has because of its mass and speed or velocity. It is energy in action or motion. What is potential energy? Stored energy that is potentially available for use. Energy something has because of its position or the position of its parts. Can become kinetic when something happens to put it into action. What is climate? The average long-term weather of an area. What is weather? Short term properties of the troposphere such as temperature, pressure, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, & wind direction, at a given time & place. What is thermal invasion? Layer of dense cool air trapped under a layer of less dense, warm air. This prevents upward-flowing air currents from developing. What is acid deposition? The falling of acids & acid-forming compounds from the atmosphere to the earth's surface. What is symbiosis? Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both. What is mutualism? (symbiosis) Mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups. What is commensialsm? (symbiosis) An association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm. What is a aquifer? Underground reservoirs that stores groundwater. ** Usually porous rock or gravel What is Ground water? The supply of freshwater under the Earth's surface that is stored in underground aquifers. What is the Biscayne aquifer? The aquifer for miami where we get our freshwater What is coral reef bleaching? When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. ** What is a biome? Large regions of land, each characterized by a distinct climate and life-form (esp. vegetation) adapted to that climate. What is ecological succession? The gradual and fairly predictable change in species composition of a given area over time. The set of species that occurs in an area gradually changes overtime as resources change (light availability, soil nutrients, etc.) What are the two types of ecological succession? 1. Primary Succession = The gradual establishment of biotic communities in an area that either: • Has not been occupied by life before. • Something catastrophic happened that removes all living things and the soil. • Starts in an essentially lifeless area. 2. Secondary Succession = Begins in an area where the natural community has been disturbed, removed, or destroyed but some soil or bottom sediment remains: • Abandoned farmlands • Burned or cut forests • Land that has been dammed or flooded • Some soil sediment is present so new vegetation can start in a week. What is preservation? Setting aside undisturbed areas, maintaining them in a pristine state and protecting them from human activities that might alter their natural state. What is extinction? The elimination of a species. This is a normal process of the natural world, species die out & are replaced by others. What is surface water? Water found in streams lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and wetlands. What is water run-off? The movement of freshwater from precipitation and snowmelt to rivers, lakes, wetlands, & oceans. ** This replenishes the surface water. What is a watershed? The area of land drained by a single river or stream. **The drainage basin. What is aquifer depletion? -The removal of groundwater faster than it can be recharged by precipitation. -Lowering the water table. What are the two types of lakes? 1. Oligotrophic lake. 2. Eutrophic lake. What is a Oligotrophic lake? Lakes with: - Clear water. - Low nutrient levels. - Good light penetration. - High dissolved oxygen. - Usually deep waters. - Low algal growth. What is a Eutrophic lake? - Lakes enriched with nutrients like phosphorous. - Poor light penetration. - Low dissolved oxygen. - Usually shallow water. - High algal growth. What is Salinization? The gradual accumulation of salt in a soil, often as a result of improper irrigation methods. ** Irrigation water contains a small amount of dissolved salts. Age structure diagrams 1. Declining population / 2. Increasing population / 3. Same population | |