Download Study Guide for Environmental Biology 2206 Raven and Berg: 5th

Study Guide for Environmental Biology 2206
Raven and Berg: 5th Edition Anne Keddy-Hector
The purpose of this study guide is to augment the chapter summaries provided in the
book Environment by Raven and Berg. Here you will find key terms- some of those
listed in the summaries at the end of the chapter and some additional terms. I will also
list questions from each chapter to guide you about the possible essay topics you may
see on each test. Please email me at [email protected], and [email protected] if
you have any questions
UNIT I
Chapter 1: Key Terms and Concepts
Model, data, scientific method, hypothesis, inductive and deductive reasoning, variable,
control, theory, principle, law, risk, risk assessment and risk management, toxicology,
dose, response, lethal dose, effective dose, dose-response curve, carcinogen,
ecological risk assessment, stressors, benefit analysis, eutrophication, stewardship
1. Understand the methods for solving environmental problems using the scientific
method. Be able to make up you own example.
2. Compare and contrast inductive and deductive reasoning
3. Understand the importance of risk assessment in its relation to health effect-both short term and long term, direct and indirect effects
4. Understand the point of the Lake Washington case study. Be able to discuss it in
context to the chapters main themes
5. Understand risk analysis and be able to interpret a graph
6. Make sure you spend time looking at the figures and graphs! Don't memorize the
data, but be able to interpret similar graphs.
Chapter 2
Key Terms and Concepts
Conservation, J.J Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir,
F.D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, EPA, NEPA, environmental impact
statements, economics, external costs, marginal costs, marginal cost of pollution,
optimum amount of pollution, emission charge, waste-charge permits, emission
reduction credits. Salvage logging, environmental ethics, worldview
1. Compare and contrast the leading environmentalists- conservationists. Be able to
discuss their various contributions.
2. Understand the role of the EPA and NEPA with examples
3. Understand the component parts and role of environmental impact statements
and be able to use one in a fictitious example.
4. Compare and contrast the different types of credits and permits etc. Be able to
discuss them in an example. Ex. which type would you try to use if you were a
giant profit hungry corporation? Which kind would you want if you were a mayor
of an environmental city and the giant corporation wants to move into your town?
5. Why is salvage logging better for the environment? Who can use salvage logs?
6. What are the distinguishing features of a deep ecology worldview versus the
Western world view
7. Be able to use the case studies, such as the spotted owl controversy as a means
to explain key points from the chapter. Also decide what you would do if you
were a judge deciding the fate of the loggers versus owl. What would you rule
and why?
8. Discuss cost benefit analysis of pollution control. Be able to draw and discuss a
cost/benefit diagram
Chapter 3 Key Terms and Concepts
Estuaries, abiotic, biotic, ecology, populations, species, community, ecosystems,
atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, energy, kilocalories, potential and kinetic energy,
closed and open systems, thermodynamic laws, entropy, energy flow, producers,
autotrophs, consumers, carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, detritivores, decomposers,
saprotrophs, food web, trophic level food chain, pyramids of numbers, biomass, and
energy, GPP, NPP
1.Understand how organisms fit into different levels of groups: communities,
species, ecosystems etc,.
2.Understand the laws of thermodynamics and their affect on living organisms
3. Compare and contrast food webs, chain and pyramids
4. Understand the types and levels of producers and consumers
5. Compare and contrast GPP and NPP and understand their importance
6. Understand how humans impact food webs and give examples, such as
commercial fishing and the role of krill in the arctic food web.
Chapter 4 Key Terms and Concepts
Community keystone species, predation, coevolution, warning coloration,
symbiosis, mutualism, symbionts, zooxanthellae, mycorrhizae, commensalism,
epiphytes, parasitism, pathogen, competition (intra and interspecific) ecological
niche, habitat, niche: fundamental & realized, limiting factors, competitive
exclusion, resource partitioning, species diversity, ecotone, edge effect,
evolution, adaptation, natural selection, succession, primary and secondary,
pioneer community
1. Be able to define and discuss the different types of species interactions.
Include the type of effect the interaction has on each species.
2. Understand and discuss the types of predator-prey interaction and the
adaptations of the prey
3. Understand the factors that create an ecological niche and how habitat,
resource partitioning g and competitive exclusion affect the niche
4. Understand how succession works, that stages of succession and its ultimate
effects on community structure. Understand how humans affect this process.
5. Understand what natural selection is and the mechanisms that drive natural
selections. Understand the relation ship between evolution, adaptation and
natural selection
6. What is the edge effect and how does it affect certain species, How do
humans create an edge effect.
7. What is coevolution? How does it affect each species involved (give concrete
examples)
8.Discuss the factors that can lead to high versus low species diversity in a
community.
Chapter 6 Key Terms and Concepts
Biome, tundra, permafrost, taiga and boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest,
leach, temperate grassland, Mediterranean climate, chaparrel, desert, savanna,
tropical rain forest, salinity, plankton, phytoplankton, benthos, flowing versus
standing water ecosystem, littoral zone, limnetic zone, profundal zone, thermal
stratification, thermocline, turnover and blooms, estuary, marsh, intertidal zone,
coral and barrier reefs, fringing reef
1. Be able to define what factors go into making each biome
2. Be able to compare and contrast the major biomes listed above.
Understand what types of species - both plant and animal primarily make
up each biome.
3. Be able to describe the types of adaptations animals use in different
biomes ex. the desert or the tundra
4. Compare and contrast standing water versus flowing water ecosystems
5. Understand how lakes work in terms of warming turnover.
6. Be able to compare and contrast the different aquatic zones
7. Be able to describe the importance of reefs as ecosystems and the effect
of human impact on the reefs.
8. Give several reasons why wetlands are important areas when they are
maintained in their natural state. Give an example of what happens when
humans develop them.
UNIT 2
Chapter 8 Key Terms and Concepts
Population ecology, population density, birth rate, death rate, growth rate, natural
increase, immigration, emigration, biotic potential, exponential population growth,
environmental resistance, carrying capacity (K) r selection, r strategists, K selection. K
strategists, survivorship, density and density independent factors, zero population
growth, demographics, developed versus less developed countries, replacement level
fertility, total fertility rate, demographic transition, the stages of industrialization
1. Understand the basic equation for population growth and understand the four
components discussed in the book. Be able to draw basic population growth
curves (such as an S shaped curve) and be able to explain what is happening at
the different stages.
2. Be able to discuss the case studies (such as Isle Royale) in the bookunderstand what has happened to the populations and the implications of the
growth.
3. Be able to discuss human population growth- how it has changes and what
unique factors have lead it to grow. Why is it impossible to predict future growth
and what can government policies can influence future growth?
4. Discuss age structure in context of population growth and be able to give
concrete examples.
5. Be able to compare and contrast r versus k selected strategies and species
Chapter 9 Key Terms and Concepts
Total fertility rate, nonrenewable versus renewable resources, consumption, types of
overpopulation, urbanization, urban heat island,
1. Discuss the relationship between environmental problems (air, water pollution)
and world hunger and over population
2. How do highly developed countries affect the less developed countries in terms
of their resources. What are the implications for poverty and hunger on a global
level?
3. Compare and contrast the population control measures for 4 difference countries.
Show the strength and weakness of each approach. What approach works best
in the US and why? What is the role of the United Nations?
4. Discuss the environmental problems associated with urbanization including
urban heat islands
5. What is gained by having stable human population size? What is to be lost?
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Concepts
Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fossil fuel, nonrenewable resources, hydrocarbons,
methane, lignite, coal types: bituminous, anthracite and subbituminous, surface and
subsurface mining, lack lung disease, acid mine drainage, Clean Air Amendments of
1990, clean coal technologies, petroleum. Crude oil, petrochemicals and types of gases
(coal, petroleum etc) salt domes, cogeneration, tar sands, oil sands and oil shales,
synfuels, Energy Policy Act of 1992 and subsidies
1. Be able to build a table comparing and contrasting the different types of fossil
fuels that can be used. Include where it is found, how efficient the source is and
the advantages and disadvantages of each.
2. Discuss how long our fossil fuels will last given the current rate of consumption
and what will happen when we run out. Who used the most and why? Discuss
the resources of the US, the Middle East and Russia
3. Discuss the link between fossil fuels and environmental pollution.
4. Outline the current US energy policy. Discuss the pros and cons of the strategy,
including the use of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a source for oil
exploration.
5. Discuss oil spills. How do they happen and what are the consequences to the
biotic and abiotic environment. Use the case of the Exxon Valdez and the
Persian Gulf oils spill as examples
Chapter 12 Key Terms and Concepts
Nuclear energy, fusion, fission, atomic mass, atomic number, isotopes, deuterium,
radioisotopes, radioactive, radiation, radioactive decay, radioactive half-life, nuclear fuel
cycle, enrichment, nuclear reactor, fuel rods, fuel assemblies, reactor core, steam
generator, turbine, condenser, control rod, water circuits, breeder nuclear fission, spent
fuel, meltdown, radioactive waste, Nuclear Waste Policy Act, vitrification, storage,
entombment, mutation, oncogenes
1. Describe the history of nuclear energy including key persons and dates in your
account
2. List the component in a typical nuclear reactor and describe how it works. Make sure
to compare and contrast nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.
3. Describe the pros and cons of using nuclear energy. Make sure you give examples
on both sides to illustrate your arguments.
4. Describe what happens to the spent nuclear fuel and the pros and cons of having a
nuclear waste disposal facility near you.
5. Compare and contrast Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. What conditions were
similar or different between the two nuclear facilities and how did that affect the
outcome. What happened to the peoples and organisms around these sites?
6. Discuss radiation. What it is and how does it affect organisms? Include some
likely sources of radiation and give concrete examples to illustrate your
argument.
Chapter 13 Key Terms and Concepts
Wind farms, renewable energy resources, solar energy, hydropower and wind
energy, infrared radiation, passive solar heating, active solar heating, solar cells
and solar cells, fuel cells, biomass, biogas and biogas digesters, methanol,
ethanol, schitosomiasis, tidal energy, geothermal energy, energy conversion and
efficiency, National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, demand side
management, green power
1 Build a table that compares and contrasts the different sources of renewable
energy. Include how effective they are, the advantages and the disadvantages of
each.
2. Compare and contrast fossil fuels versus alternative energy sources. What do
most people use in the world? What do they use in the United States? Why do
Americans resist changes to alternative energy sources?
3. Diagram and label how active solar heating may function in a typical home.
What would passive solar energy add to this?
4. Describe what biomass is and how it can be used to generate electricity. What
places/ countries use biomass effectively?
5 Discuss energy sources that are associated with the marine environment. How
do they work and how feasible are they for countries bordering an ocean. What is
the current status of development of this type of energy.
7. You are the ruler of an imaginary country. You need to make an energy plan that
incorporates at least three renewable energy sources, because your only fossil
fuel (coal) is quickly running out. Your citizens demand the ability to drive their
cars and heat their homes (it snows in your country). Only one side of the country
borders the ocean and the other side is vary far away. Describe what you would
do.
UNIT 3
Chapter 14 Key Terms and Concepts
Reservoirs, hydrogen bond, sublimate, hydrologic cycle, surface water, wetlands,
runoff, drainage basin, watershed, ground water, aquifers( confined and
artesian), water table, aquifer depletion, flood plains, subsidence, saltwater
intrusion, salinization, reclaimed water, sustainable water use, desalination and
distillation, reverse osmosis, microirrigation, xeriscape
1. Describe the 5 difference uses roles and properties of water to explain
why water is essential to all life.
2. Describe the structure of a water molecule and how its structure relates to
its physical properties. Be specific
3. Discuss the problems created by too much or too little water. Also discuss
the solutions to deal with too much or too little water.
4. Discuss the history of water problems of the Aral Sea and its current
condition. What are the future prospects for this sea?
5. Discuss different solutions to making fresh water including reverse
osmosis, desalination. How feasible are there solutions?
6. Discuss water conservation. What can we do in the United States? What
are the obstacles to these water conservation measures?
Chapter 15 Key Terms and Concepts
Desertification, weathering processes, topography, humus, leaching, illuviation, soil
horizons, soil profile, (and the different horizons), casting, nutrient cycling, mycorrhizae,
mycelium, sand, loan, clay, ions, silt, soil erosion, sustainable soil use, agroforestry,
conservation tillage, no-tillage, crop rotation, contour plowing, strip cropping, terracing,
shelter belts, Soil Conservation Act of 1935, the different farm bills compost, mulch
1. List the major components of soil and the role of each in supporting
living organisms. How do differences in soil composition affect
productivity of a region?
2. Describe the different layers of soil know as horizons and discuss
why each is important.
3. What are legumes and why are they so important to soil
productivity?
4. Identify major problems of soil erosion. What are the conditions that
lead to soil erosion and what are the consequences. Also include 3
concrete ways farmers can conserve soil.
5. Discuss the history of the American Dust Bowl. What lead to this
event and how did the Soil conservation act of 1935 relate to this
event? What have we learned from the Dust Bowl?
6. Describe the processes involved in composting. Hat is, how is it
done, and why is it useful. Can urban dwellers compost? If so –
how.
Chapter 16 Key Terms and Concepts
Mineral, sulfides, oxides, types of ore, hydrothermal processes, sedimentation,
evaporation, types of mining (surface, pit, subsurface, ) and types of mines acid mine
drainage, mineral resources, Mine Act of 1977, biomining, reuse, recycling, sustainable
manufacturing, dematerialization
1. Identify and describe the three major ways of extracting
minerals. Define the advantages and disadvantages of each
type of mining
2. Discuss the mining activities of Copper Basin, Tenn. Give
the history of the mining and the effects on the environment.
What are the prospects of reclaiming the land? Have there
been any permanent effects on the environment due to the
mining?
3. Compare the flow of minerals in traditional mining
manufacturing with the flow of minerals in sustainable
manufacturing. What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each?
4. How can we reuse and recycle minerals as a way to
conserve mineral resources? Give concrete and specific
examples to illustrate your points.
Chapter 17 Key Terms and Concepts
Types of diversity (biodiversity, species, ecosystems, genetic) ecosystem services,
extinction types (mass, background) endangered versus threatened species) habitat
fragmentation, adaptive radiation, bell wether species, conservation biology and types
of conservation (in situ versus ex-situ), restoration ecology, Endangered Species Act,
Conservation Strategies, wildlife management, flyways, wildlife ranching/ game farming
1. Identify and discuss the different types of diversity.
How is each unique and how is each important?
2. Explain why island populations are particularly
vulnerable. Compare this with habitat fragmentation.
How are they similar or different?
3. Discuss the differences between threatened,
endangered and extinct. How does human activity
cause these problems? Explain which human activity
is the most dangerous
4. What is the goal of conservation biology and how is it
related to the endangered species act. Can al species
be saved or are their limits? Give lots of concrete
examples.
5. Compare the goals of wildlife management and game
farming to conservation. How are they similar and
how are they different.
Chapter 18 Key Terms and Concepts
All the different Acts by congress (scenic river, wilderness, etc. see book for list),
monocultures, sustainable forest management, wildlife corridors, selective cutting clear
cutting, seed tree cutting, even age harvesting, deforestation, slash and burn
agriculture, conservation easement, carrying capacity, overgrazed, degradation,
wetlands, urbanization, wise-use movement, environmental movement, riparian areas
1.Describe the different Acts that exist in terms of Land resources and Conservation.
Discuss the History of each and the purpose of each Act.
2.Compare and contract the wise-use movement with the environmental movement.
How are they similar or different? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
3.Discuss 4 ways that trees are harvested. What is the advantage and disadvantage of
each system. Are some ways more dangerous in certain ecosystems? Explain how with
concrete examples to illustrate your point.
4.Explain why the definition of a wetland is controversial. What animals benefit most
from a wetland? How do humans interfere or destroy wetlands. What is the
consequence of wetland destruction. Give concrete examples.
5.Describe the case history of the Lahontan cutthroat trout and how it is being
managed. Highlight the unique aspects of this management approach. What are the
advantages and disadvantages and how is it controversial?
Chapter 19 Key Terms and Concepts
Basic food components (lipids, proteins, mineral etc) undernourished, malnourished,
marasmus, kwashiorkor, overnourished, famine, types of agriculture and herding of
animals for food productivity, green revolution, food additive, coloring agents,
preservatives, antioxidants, organic agriculture and integrated pest management,
genetic engineering, the different congressional Act (see the chapter) related to
fisheries
1.What do humans need to have a balanced and nourishing diet? What happened when
we get too much or too little in our diet? Discuss the relationship between economics,
culture and nutrition.
2.What is the green revolution? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages in
agriculture and where it is practiced today.
3.Discuss the effects of food processing. What is the difference between organic and
nonorganic foods. What happened to foods that have additive or have been genetically
altered. What are the advantages and disadvantages to altering natural foods?
4. Describe the environmental impacts of different types of agriculture, Given the need
for food on a global scale, what realistic solutions exist for our need to balance food
production and environmental degradation.
5. Compare and contrast fishing and aquaculture. Discuss how the various fisheries
Acts have changes the way people fish. What is the ultimate effect on the aquatic
environment?
6.Compare the different types of vegetarian diets discussed in the book. Why is it more
energy efficient for people to have a vegetarian diet> What are the environmental
impacts of the three different diets? Can one be a vegetarian and still have a nourishing,
balanced diet?
UNIT 4
Chapter 20 Key Terms and Concepts
Industrial smog, photochemical smog, radon, asbestos, primary and secondary air
pollutants, global distillation effect
1.What are early warning signs of pollutants
2.What are the major toxic air pollutants
3.Why is Mexico City so important in the context of air pollution
4.What are the most important atmospheric gases, and why are they important
5.What is the role of the stratosphere
6.What factors may be aiding global climate change and increasing temperatures
Chapter 21 Key Terms and Concepts
Global warning, UV radiation, ozone-depletion chemicals, CFC'S carbon tetrachloride,
methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, halons, greenhouse effect, nitrous oxide acid
deposition, wet and dry deposition
1. What is the point of tree planting efforts in Guatemala?
2. What are the causes and outcomes of global warming
3. What are the positive and negative effects of global warming
4. How can companies, such as fast food restaurants have and effect on CFC's
5. What is the best way to solve acid deposition
6. How does acid deposition develop
7. What are the effects of UV radiation
8. How do chemicals affect ozone depletion
9. What is the link between iron and ocean pollution
Chapter 22 Key Terms and Concepts
Sewage, solid waste, sediment pollution, eutrophic, oligotrophic, endocrine disrupters,
fecal coliform test, BOD, enrichment, hypoxia, methane, soil pollution, salinization
1. Why is raw sewage so hard on aquatic environments
2. What happens to lakes with too many or not enough nutrients
3. What is the role of fertilizers in aquatic environments
4. What is the importance of fecal coliform in the aquatic environment
5. What effects do organic versus inorganic compounds have on the aquatic
environment
6. What is the difference between point source and nonpoint source pollution
7. What is soil remediation and how do you do it
Chapter 23 Key Terms and Concepts
List the pesticides and all the different types
1. Go through the chapter and make a modified table of pesticides: model it after the
books table (but simplify theirs!) to include
a)different types of pesticides: herbicides(simple versus broad-leafed) , fungicides,
carbamates etc.
b) what are they made of,
c) who do they kill,
d)and what are their effects on the environment and on people
2. Make sure you understand the difference between broad categories of pesticides,
such as herbicides versus botanicals.
3. What are the effects of monocultures on pesticides
4. What is bioamplification (magnification) and how does it relate to pesticides
5. What areas of the world use the most pesticides
6. What is the relation between pest, predators and pesticides
7. What are the long term versus short term affects of pesticides on humans
8. What was the Bhopal disaster
9. What are non pesticide solutions to pests?
Chapter 24 Key Terms and Concepts
Sanitary landfill, solid waste, bio and photodegradable, incinerators, PCB's composting,
environmental justice
1. Who makes the primary amounts of solid waste?
2. What is the role of plastics in modern solid waste
3. Why are tires a problem for disposal
4. What is the advantage/disadvantage with:
5. Incinerators, composting, landfills, old dumps,
6. What makes a successful recycling or reuse program? Be able to use identify specific
examples from the book
7. What are the basic types of hazardous waste and how are they dangerous
8. What happened at Hanford Nuclear Reservation and what are superfund sites
Chapter 25 Key Terms and Concepts
Sustainability, carrying capacity, consumption, conservation tillage, stable population,
global alliance
1. Understand how may people live in poverty in the world
2. Understand the basics of how we can create a sustainable society
3. Understand how carrying capacity affects wold population
4. Understand how important biodiversity is to sustainability
5. Understand what changes in personal attitudes and practices are needed
6. Understand the need for creating a global alliance to create sustainable communities