6Study Guide for Environmental Biology 2206
Raven and Berg: 6th Edition Anne Keddy-Hector
The purpose of this study guide is to augment the chapter book summaries and prepare you for the unit tests. Below you will find key terms- often those highlighted in bold in the chapter itself, and some of those listed in the chapter summaries. I have also listed a set of questions from each chapter. Make sure you can define all the terms and answer the questions in the study guide. If you can’t- you aren’t ready to take the test, and you should go back and re-read the chapter. Please email me at , and if you have any questions.
UNIT I
Chapter 1: Introducing Environmental Science-Key Terms and Concepts
Poverty, highly developed countries, LDC’s, ecological footprint, model, environmental sustainability, stewardship global commons, positive versus negative feedback mechanisms, data, scientific method, hypothesis, inductive and deductive reasoning, theory scientific assessment, risk analysis
1. What is “the gap” between rich and poor countries?
2. What are the two basic types of resources?
3. Why is resource consumption important?
4. When does people versus consumption overpopulation occur?
5. Why is your ecological footprint important? How does it compare between HDC and LDC’s?
6. What is the IPAT model? Why is the equation valuable?
7. Who is Garrett Hardin and what is the tragedy of the commons?
8. What do positive and negative feedback mechanisms have to do with the sustainability of the environment?
9. What are the methods for solving environmental problems using the scientific method? Be able to make up you own example.
10. People dismiss scientific information saying “oh- that’s just a theory” . Why does the scientific method give more credence to theories about our natural world?
11. Compare and contrast inductive and deductive reasoning
12. Understand the importance of risk analysis in its relation to health effect-- both short term and long term, direct and indirect effects
13. Understand the point of the Lake Washington case study. Be able to discuss it in context to the chapters main themes
14. Understand risk analysis and be able to interpret a graph
15. Going back to the opening pages of this chapter, what does the information about Las Vegas illustrate about a complex ecosystem?
16. Make sure you spend time looking at the figures and graphs!
Chapter 2: Environmental Laws…-Key Terms and Concepts
Conservation, J.J Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, F.D. Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, biocentric preservationist, Rachel Carson, Earth Day, EPA, NEPA, environmental impact statements, cost-benefit analysis, economics, rational actor, externalities, marginal costs, marginal cost of pollution, optimum amount of pollution, marginal cost of abatement, emission charge, tradable credit, cost effectivemness analysis, environmental ethics, worldview (different types)
1. Can you compare and contrast the leading environmentalist/ conservationists and discuss each of their most important contributions.
2. Why is Earth Day an impotent concept? When was it started and by whom?
3. Understand the role of the EPA and NEPA.
4. Understand the component parts and role of environmental impact statements and be able to use one in a fictitious example.
5. What does the Clean Air Act of 1977 and 1990 tell us about how environmental legislation works
6. What are the basic economic precepts that guide public policy (Starting on page 34).
7. Compare and contrast the different types of credits and permits etc. Ex. which type would you 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?
8. What are the environmental problems discussed in the case of Central and Eastern Europe? How did the economic assumptions behind communisms lead to environmental destruction? How did this affect pollution in these countries?
9. What are environmental ethics? How do they affect one’s actions in the world? Be able to give a concrete example.
10. What are the distinguishing features of a deep ecology worldview versus the Western world view
Chapter 3: Ecosystems and Energy - 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.How do organisms fit into different levels of classification: communities, species, ecosystem, populations etc,
2.What are the laws of thermodynamics and what is their affect on living organisms
3. How are food webs, chain and pyramids similar and different? Which is most realistic? What do they tell you about the individuals in the webs, chains and pyramids?
4. What are the types and levels of producers and consumers
5. What is the hippo-Tilapia Connection?
6. What does the case study of Krill tell us about the impact humans can have on a food web?
7. What does the food web in Fig, 3.10 tell you?
8. What is the difference between a pyramid of number, biomass, and energy?
9. Compare and contrast GPP and NPP. What is their importance?
10. What is the human impact on NPP?
Chapter 4: Ecosystems and Living Organisms- Key Terms and Concepts
Evolution, adaptation, natural selection, Kingdoms of Life, community, succession, primary and secondary, coevolution, warning coloration, symbiosis, mutualism, symbionts, predation, zooxanthellae, mycorrhizae, commensalism, parasitism, pathogen, competition (intra and interspecific) ecological niche, habitat, niche: fundamental & realized, limiting resource, competitive exclusion, resource partitioning, keystone species, species richness and diversity, ecotone, edge effect,
** What is the modern synthesis of evolution? Why is it important?
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. What are the different types of predator-prey interaction and the adaptations of the prey?
3. What are t the factors that create an ecological niche and how do habitat, resource partitioning and competitive exclusion affect the niche
4. How does succession work, what are the stages of succession and what are the ultimate effects on community structure? How do humans affect this process?
5. What is natural selection and the mechanisms that drive natural selections? What is 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.What factors that can lead to high versus low species diversity in a community.
9. Read each example (Macarthur’s warblers, Lake Victoria) and be able to answer questions about the cases as they are used as examples in the chapter.
Chapter 6: Major Ecosystems of the World-Key Terms and Concepts
Climate, biome, tundra, permafrost, taiga and boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, leach, temperate grassland, Mediterranean climate, chaparral, desert, savanna, tropical rain forest, salinity, plankton, phytoplankton, benthos, flowing versus standing water ecosystem, littoral zone, limnetic zone, profundal zone, thermal stratification, thermocline, spring 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. What is vertical zonation and why is it important (see Fig 6.12)
5. Compare and contrast standing water versus flowing water ecosystems
6. Understand how lakes work in terms of warming turnover.
7. Be able to compare and contrast the different aquatic zones
8. Be able to describe the importance of reefs as ecosystems and the effect of human impact on the reefs. How are cold water reefs different from warm water reefs?
9. 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.
10. What is the importance of the Chesapeake Bay case study?
11. What kind of impacts do humans have on the ocean?
12. Know Fig 6.25 and the major threats to the ocean
13. What is leaned in the case study of the everglades about the interaction of life zones? What is the Everglade Restoration plan?
Chapter 7: Human Health and Toxicology- Key Terms and Concepts
Body mass index, emerging and reemerging diseases, pandemic, biological amplification, persistence, DDT, endocrine disrupters, hormones, dose, response, dose-response curve, toxicology, carcinogen, synergistic and antagonistic effects, boomerang paradigm, risk, risk assessment, cost benefit analysis of risk, precautionary principle
1. What are the major differences between health issues in HDC’s and LDC’s?
2. Global polio eradication and pandemic influenzas are two very important issues of the lat 50 years. Please read about both and be able to answer questions.
3. What is the difference between an emerging and reemerging disease. Be able to cite several of each. Why is the difference important from an environmental perspective?
4. What does DDT tell us about bioamplification?
5. Why are endocrine disrupters important to people? How do the chemical affect our hormones? Why would this be important especially in children (read about pesticides)?
6. Why is it critical that you understand about carcinogens? What are common carcinogens?
7. Why is it important to understand how chemicals and drugs interact with one another?
8. What does the case study about the ocean tell us about toxic pollution in the ocean and human health?
9. What does risk assessment have to do with your everyday human health? Why is unbiased science so important to accurate risk assessment?
10. Why is the precautionary principle so essential to the way governments deal with toxicology and risky substances? (Think about cigarettes or pregnant women drinking alcohol)
11. What does a cost/benefit analysis tell you about risk? Why is the precautionary principle a sound way to approach new technology or substances when dealing with the lives of the public and the environment?
UNIT 2
Chapter 8 Population Change- Key Terms and Concepts
Population ecology, population density, birth rate, death rate, growth rate, natural increase, immigration, emigration, exponential and logistical population growth, carrying capacity (K) r selection, r strategists, K selection. K strategists, survivorship, life tables, density and density independent factors, zero population growth, demographics, developed versus less developed countries, replacement level fertility, total fertility rate, demographic stages and transition, age structure
1. What are the basic equations for population growth and what are the four components discussed in the book. Be able to draw basic population growth curves (such as an S, J shaped curve) and be able to explain what is happening at the different stages.
2. What are the 3 types of survivorship curves? Which animals follow which type of curve?
3. Be able to discuss the case studies (such as Isle Royale) in the book- understand what has happened to the predator-prey populations and the implications of the growth.
4. How has human growth changed and what unique factors have lead to its growth pattern. Why is it impossible to predict future growth and what can government policies can influence future growth?
5. Discuss age structure in context of population growth and be able to give concrete examples.
6. What do you know about demographics in the US and how does one factor, immigration, have such an important effect?
5. Be able to compare and contrast r versus k selected strategies and species
Chapter 9: Addressing Population Issues- Key Terms and Concepts
NOTE: There are no specific terms, but several important concepts and case studies for this chapter
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 China, Nigeria, India and Mexico. 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. What is the Millennium Summit and what are its 8 goals? How is the world meeting these goals?
5. List the ways the culture of a country can affect population growth.
6. List the types of birth control that are available (or at least study the table in the chapter)
7. What is gained by having stable human population size? What is to be lost?
Chapter 10: The Urban World- Key Terms and Concepts
Urbanization, mega cities and urban agglomerations, squatter settlements, brownfields, urban heat island, dust domes, compact development, land use planning, suburban sprawl, sustainable cities, smart growth
1. What is the problem with mega cities and urban agglomerations?
2. Why are squatter settlements a problem?
3. List the kinds of pollution that cities make (such as heat, noise, brownfields) and why are they are problem?
4. What is smart growth? How could it affect the types of pollution you listed above?
5. What does the case study of Brazil tell us about compact development?
6. What is green architecture? How is it helpful?
Chapter 11: Fossil Fuels- Key Terms and Concepts
Energy density, energy efficiency, fossil fuel, nonrenewable resources, hydrocarbons, Natural gas, methane, lignite, coal types: bituminous, anthracite and subbituminous, surface and subsurface mining, black lung disease, acid mine drainage, acid deposition, scrubbers, Clean Air Amendments of 1990, clean coal technologies, petroleum. Crude oil, petrochemicals and types of gases (coal, petroleum etc) salt domes, 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.