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114 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Stages of Primary Succession
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Stage I: Lichen Pioneer Community
Stage II: Moss Stage III: Herbaceous Plants Stage IV: Shrubs Stage V: Trees Stage VI: Climax Forest |
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Stages of Secondary Succession
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Stage I: Annual Weeds
Stage II: Perennial Weeds Stage III: Shrubs Stage IV: Young Forest Stage V: Climax Forest |
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Dynamic Equilibrium
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Property of constant adjustments to change, maintaining overall balance of ecosystem
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Commensalism
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Subpart of Symbiosis: 2 species, 1 benefits, the other is neutral
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Mutualism
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Subpart of Symbiosis: Both organisms benefit
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Biotic Potential
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Max growth rate a population can achieve given unlimited resources and ideal environmental conditions
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Environmental Resistance
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Limiting factors controlling population growth
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Carrying Capacity
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Population best supported over "k" = carrying capacity
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Macroconsumers
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Herbivores (Primary Consumers)
Carnivores (Secondary Consumers) Tertiary Consumers (carnivores that eat 2ndary consumers) Omnivores |
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Microconsumers
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Detritovores: feed on tissues of dead, waste, or living. Digest materials outside bodies. Reduce and recycle organic material
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Keystone Species
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Thomas Paine's idea. A species whose presence in the ecosystem increases biodiversity. Ex: starfish
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Gross Primary Productivity
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Total amount of Energy fixed by autotrophs over a given period of time
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Net Primary Productivity
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Amount of Energy available to organisms other than autotrophs
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Pyramid of Energy
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Depicts production, use, and transfer of energy from one trophic level to another.
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10% Rule
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Only 10% of energy is transferred through food. The other 90% is usually lost as heat
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Percolation
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Movement of water through porus materia like land or soil
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Ecological Succession
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Process by which an ecosystem matures. Gradual, sequential, and somewhat predictable change
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Biosphere
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Anything that can support life
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Abiotic
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Non-living things
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Biotic
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Living organisms
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Speciation
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Separation of populations into independently evolving species which no longer interbreed because of accumulated genetic differences
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Primary Succession
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Development of a new ecosystem in an area previously devoid of organisms. Like on bare rock
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Natural Selection
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Enables individuals with traits that better adapt them to survive and outnumber others (can lead to speciation)
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Resource
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anything that serves a need
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Perpetual Resource
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Inexhaustable resource (solar energy)
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Renewable Resource
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Can be replaced (water)
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Nonrenewable Resource
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Exists in finite supply or is replaced by environment VERY slowly
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Deductive Logic
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Scientific Method: "if...then" statement
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Species
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All organisms of the same group that can interbreed
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Population
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Same group species that live, interbreed, and interact in the same geographic area
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Community
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All populations that live and interact with one another in a given area at a given time
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Ecosystem
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Self-sustaining, self-regulating community of organisms interacting with the physical environment within a defined geographical area
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Biome
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Major regional groupings of plants and animals, classified according to dominant vegetation type
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First Law of Thermodynamics
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During physical/chemical change, energy is neither created nor destroyed
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Secondary Succession
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Regrowth of an ecosystem after a disturbance, faster than primary.
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Second Law of Thermodynamics
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With each change in form, energy is degraded to a less useful form and given off to the surroundings, usually as low quality heat
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Entropy
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Energy always flows from high quality, concentrated, and organized forms to low quality, randomly-dispersed and disorganized form. Entropy up = disorder up
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Matter
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Anything that has mass and takes up space
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Elements
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Substances that cannot be changed into simpler substances by chemical means
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Atom
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Smallest unit of an element that retains the unique characteristics of element
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Molecule
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Smallest particle of a substance that has the composition and chemical properties of that substance and is capable of individual existence
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Organic
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Anything with carbon
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Biomass
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Mass of living things in a certain area (weight)
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Properties of an Organism
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Lives at expense of environment
Has cellular structure Exhibits movement Grows and Reproduces Responds to stimuli Grows and evolves |
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Aspects of "good science"
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Be objective
Repeatability Sufficiently replicated Organization and quality of design |
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Independent Variable
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The Condition under study (my example = beach location)
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Dependent Variable
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One that changed due to Independent Variable (my example = bacteria levels)
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Sources of Energy in an Ecosystem
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Solar radiation, less that 1% of energy is absorbed by plants
Earths core, gives off heat trapped from formation of the earth |
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Autotrophs
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Plants: with water, nutrients, and an Energy source, they produce compounds necessary for survival
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Trophic
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Means food
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Phototrophs
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PLants: use solar energy to convery water and carbon dioxide into glucose
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Chemoautotrophs
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Some bacteria: use energy from inorganic compounds to make and store carbons, this takes place without sunlight
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Heterotrophs
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Consumers: eat others or digest wastes of others, cannot make their own food
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Anthropogenic
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Human induced
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Acute Pollution
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Immediate effects, readily detected. ex-oil spill
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Chronic Pollution
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Long term, effects not noticed for years (delay=lag time)
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Bioaccumulation
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Storage of chemicals in an organism in higher concentrations than are normally found in the environment ex-DDT in phytoplankton
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Biomagnification
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Accumulation of chemicals in organisms in increasingly higher concentrations at successive trophic levels ex-fish eats phytoplankton with DDT
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Applied Ecology
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Scientific discipline that measures and attempts to predict the ecological consequences of human activities and to recommend ways to limit damahge to and restore ecosystems
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Disturbance Ecology
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Study of the impact of particular stresses on particular organisms, populations, and ecosystems. Ex-try to determine effects of climate change on fish population
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Restoration Ecology
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Concerned with repairing damage to ecosystems caused by us. Restore as close to natural state as possible
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Landscape Ecology
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Holistic study of a geographic area: distribution of ecosystems, movement of plants, animals, nutrients, and energy. How ecosystems function, interact, and change.
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Agroecology
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Study of purely ecological phenomena with in crop fields or agroecosystems
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Ecotoxicology
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Study of toxins on population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystems
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Conservation biology
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dedicated to protecting, maintaining, and restoring the Earth biological diversity
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Staples
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The foods we NEED to live: carbs, protein, fats
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Desertification
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land degredation in arid, dry, and sub-humid regions resulting mainly from adverse human impacts
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Extinction Vortext
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Small population, inbreeding, loss of genetic variability, smaller population
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Genetic Diversity
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Diversity within a population
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Species Diversity
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Diversity within an ecosystem
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Community/Ecosystem Diversity
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Diversity across an entire region
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Endemic Species
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Plant/animal confined to/exclusive to a specific area
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Gene
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Hereditary information in cellular form
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Genotype
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Unique to each, their genetic makeup
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Genepool
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All genes present in a population
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Community Level Disturbance
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Disturbance in a community, examples: resource competition, vegetation structure
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Ecosystem Level Disturbance
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Major changes to the ecosystem. examples: hydrology, soil chemistry, suceptability to fire
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Kinetic Energy
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energy due to motion or movement
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Potential Energy
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Energy in storage
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Energy Efficiency
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measure of the percentage of the total energy input that does useful work and is not converted to degrasde energy
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Fossil Fuels
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Fossilized remains of organic matter, when burned the chemical bonds break and energy is released. Examples: Coal, petroleum, natural gas
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Anthracite
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Hard coal, has the highest carbon content, most efficient, releases most heat when burned
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Bituminous
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Soft coal, most common. High levels of sulfer
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Most abundant natural gas
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methane
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Associated Gas
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Natural gas that is found in sites with petroleum
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Nonassociated Gas
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Found alone, it seeps through rock until it is trapped against impervious rock
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Fission
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The splitting of the bonds in an atom. This happens when an atom is bombarded with a free neuron. Spurrs a chain reaction with the release of all the new free neurons
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Isotope
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Different form of an element. Same number of protons, different number of neutrons. Example: U-235 (uranium used in nuclear energy)
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Passive Solar System
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Relies only on natural forces of conduction and radiation to disribute heat. Absorbs during the day and redistributes at night. Like a greenhouse
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Active Solar System
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Uses fans or pumps driven by electricity to enhance collection and distribution of suns heat
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Postconsumer Waste
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Waste that has already been consumed and used...recyling that has been bought
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Preconsumer Waste
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Waste from production that goes through the process again, has not been bought and used by a consumer
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Critical Mass
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Amount of fissionable material needed top sustain the reaction
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Consumptive
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An activity that depletes the resource in the process (logging, mining)
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Nonconsumptive
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An activity that does not deplete the resource. Example: tourism, photography
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Even-aged harvesting
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timber harvesting that replaces the forest with a stand in which all the trees are about the same age
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Uneven-aged harvesting
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timber harvesting technique. involves three or more cuts spaced over the average ligetime of trees in a particular area
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Mutagenic
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Causes genetic defects
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Carcinogenic
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Causes cancer
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Teratogenic
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Effects the unborn fetus = birth defects
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Endocrine Disrupters
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Messes with hormones, problems with growth development and reproduction
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Minamata Disease
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In Japan, happened with mercury. Effected the fish, people, and cats
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Electrolysis
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Break down toxic matter through electric currents
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Neutralization
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If acidic, add a base
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Precipitaion
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Transforms chemicals in liquid form to solids
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Bioremediation
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Natural process to keep organic wastes aerated and moist so they break down faster. Need to set up ideal conditions
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Olgiatrophic Lake
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Young Lake, usually much colder which slows progression. Typically very deep with rocky bottoms. Not very productive with fish or nutrients
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Eutrophic Lake
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"Old" Lake. Much warmer that olgiatrophic lakes, and much more productive
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Limnetic Zone
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In freshwater, the zone where light penetrates, and plants live
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Profundal Zone
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Freshwater: zone where no light penetrates, no plants
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Thermocline
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The area that separates the warmer top temperature water from the cold bottom water
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Traditional Economy
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People grow and make their own goods, families and communities self sufficient. Decisions on individual and community
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Pure Command Economy
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Government makes all decisions
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Pure Market Economy
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Economic decisions made by the buyers/sellers. based on supply/demand
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