Environmental Science Mid Term

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Environment

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The biological and physical surroundings in which any given living organism exists.

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Environmental Science

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An interdisciplinary field of research that draws on the natural and social sciences and the humanities in order to understand the natural world and our relationship to it

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Empirical Science

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A scientific approach that investigates the natural world through systematic observation and experimentation

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Applied Science

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Research whose findings are used to help solve practical problems

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Environmental Literacy

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A basic understanding of how ecosystems function and of the impact of our choices on the environment

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trade-offs

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The imperfect and sometimes problematic responses that we must at times choose between when addressing complex problems.

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Triple Bottom line

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The combination of the environmental, social, and economic impacts of our choices

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Living Sustainably

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living within the means of one's environment in a way that does not diminish the environment's ability to support life in the future.

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sustainable development

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economic and social development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same

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carrying capacity

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The population size that an area can support for the long term; depends on resource availability and the rate of per capita resource use by the population

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Ecological Footprint

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The land area needed to provide the resources for, and assimilate the waste of, a person or population

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Anthropogenic

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Caused by or related to human action

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Social Trap

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Decisions by individuals or groups that seem good at the time and produce a short-term benefit but that hurt society in the long run.

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Tragedy of the commons

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The tendency of an individual to abuse commonly held resources in order to maximize his or her own personal interest

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Time Delay

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Actions that produce a benefit today and set into motion events that cause problems later on

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Sliding Reinforcer

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Actions that are beneficial at first but that change conditions such that their benefit declines over time.

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Anthropocentric Worldview

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A human-centered view that assigns intrinsic value only to humans

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Instrumental Value

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An object or species' worth, based on its usefulness to humans

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Biocentric Worldview

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A life-centered approach the views all life as having intrinsic value, regardless of its usefulness to humans

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Intrinsic Value

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An objects right to exist; basically

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Ecocentric Worldview

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A system-centered view that values intact ecosystems, not just the individual parts

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Atmosphere

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The blanket of gases that surrounds Earth and other planets

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Troposphere

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The region of the atmosphere that starts at ground level and extends upwards about 7 miles

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Stratosphere

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The region of the atmosphere that starts at the top of the troposphere and extends up containing the ozone layer

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Ozone

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A molecule with 3 oxygen atoms that absorbs UV radiation in the stratosphere

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UV Radiation

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Radiation emitted by the sun

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Control Group

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The group in an experimental study that the test group's results are compared to; ideally, the control group will differ from the test group in only one way

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Populations

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All the individuals of a species that live in the same geographic area and are able to interact and interbreed.

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population dynamics

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changes over time in population and composition

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population density

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the number of individuals per unit area

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growth factors

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resources individuals need to survive and reproduce that allow a population to grow in number

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resistance factors

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things that directly (predators, disease) or indirectly (competitors) reduce population size

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biotic potential

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the maximum rate at which the population can grow due to births if each member of the population survives and reproduces

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density-dependent factors

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factors, such as predation or disease, whose impact on a population increases as population size goes up (disease)

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density-independent factors

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factors, such as a storm or an avalanche, whose impact on population is not related to population size

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r-selected

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species that have a high biotic potential and that share other characteristics, such as short life span, early maturity, and high fecundity

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k-selected

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species that have a low biotic potential and that share characteristics such as long life span, late maturity, and low fecundity; generally show logistic population growth.

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food web

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linkage of all the food chains together that shows the many connections in the community

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detritivores

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consumers (such as worms, insects, crabs, etc.) that eat dead organic material

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decomposers

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organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter all the way down to constituent atoms or molecules in a form that plants can take back up.

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