HSC 156 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - United States Environmental Protection Agency, Oxygen, Agriculture
HSC 156
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Study Guide for HSC 156 Exam #1
1. What is the difference between a hypothesis, a theory, and a scientific law?
• Hypothesis: Great uncertainty
• Theory: Tested and confirmed but some uncertainty
• Scientific Law: No uncertainty
2. Population growth & increasing consumption per person leads to what?
• Degradation of soils
• Global atmospheric changes
• Loss of biodiversity
3. Explain the concept of sustainability
• To be sustainable we must concern ourselves with how we live as a society and how we spend our money
• Linked with how we use our resources
4. What are 3 types of resources
• Renewable
• Somewhat Renewable
• Non-Renewable
5. What influenced the creation of the environmental movement?
• Realization that the unique, wild aspects of the US were disappearing
• Environmental groups formed, e.g., the Sierra Club
• After W.W.I, technological achievements created an environmental crisis
• 1920s Alice Hamilton fought big industry to stop the addition of lead to gasoline (and lost)
• The Great Depression made conservation popular again
6. What book contributed to the creation of EPA?
• “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson
7. What do we mean by the concept environmental unity?
• All species effects another species
• A change in one part of a system often leads to changes in other things
• EX: the destruction of one species can affect the survival of other species
8. What was the main finding about cichlids of Lake Vitoria?
• British created the term fish farming experiement
• Nile Perch were put into the lake and they ate all the cichlids
• Also, pollution from other lakes and rivers killed the fish
9. What factors influenced the collapse of Easter Island?
• All trees were cut down
• Contributed to erosion, loss of fish, poor crops
10. Explain the terms
• ecosystem
a. Grouping plants. Animals, and microbes that interact in the environment in a way to perpetrate
themselves
b. Biological community and it’s physical environment
• Biome
a. Large region with one distinct CLIMATE and specific for of life adapted to it
i. Desert, Prairie, Rain Forest
• Biosphere
a. All species and environments on Earth
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• Habitat
Kind of place where a species is biologically adapted to living
• Niche
a. A part of habitat that includes what and where an animal feeds on, where it finds shelter, and where it
nests
11. Describe the current status of the Chesapeake Bay:
• It does NOT get high grades for clarity and Oxygen
12. What is a keystone species?
• A species that has a large effect on a community or ecosystem
• The removal or destruction of this species will have serious ecological consequences
• EX: Grey Wolf
13. What is the “competitive exclusion principle?”
• No two species who attempt to compete for the same resources can coexist in the same habitat for very
long
• One species will go extinct or be forced to evolve
14. What are the “Categories of Organisms?”
• Producers (Autotrophs: make their own organic matter)
• Consumers (Heterotroph: must feed on organic matter)
• Detritus Feeders & Decomposers (Also Heterotrophs)
15. What are “abiotic factors?”
• Rainfall, Temperature, Light, Wind, Chemical Nutrients, pH, Fire
16. How do abiotic factors influence ecosystems?
• Abiotic Factors are critical
• Determine where certain plants, animals, and microbes live
17. Explain the concepts of “Optimum, Zones of Stress & Limits of Tolerance”
• Different Species thrive under different conditions
• Optimum is the perfect balance of abiotic factors
• Limits of tolerance=Range of tolerance
18. Explain the Law of Limiting Factors.
• Any one factor being outside the optimal range will cause stress and limit the growth, reproduction, or
even the survival of the population
i. If one abiotic factor is in stress and limited, it can damage the population
19. What two factors determine climate? How is weather different than climate?
• Temperature and Precipitation
• Weather is day to day
• Climate is over a period of time
20. Be able to explain the concepts of energy transfer and energy pyramids
• Starts with the energy that is produced by the sun
• Sun helps plants grow
• Small animals eat the plants
• Large animals eat the small animals
• Energy is lost at each step
• Important that the grass is taking in a lot of energy
i. Need lots of grass to support the rest of them
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
In some undeveloped countries women cannot get an education. So, they get married sooner and have more time to have more babies: according to the un, the recent drop in worldwide fertility rates was due to which two factors, delay in marriage (because of jobs for women) In some countries the world bank improved the economy. She was a nurse in nyc who formed a national birth control league to protest against the illegalization"s of birth control. She then began writing birth control magazines and eventually lead to opening over 80 birth- control clinics in the us: list the 5 key elements to solve the poverty-population crisis. Improving health: education, making contraceptives available, enhancing income. Hsc 156 study guide for exam #2: tropical savana. They add lime and phosphorus to grow corn and soy beans. Industrialized: shifting from animal labor to machinery, increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers (some places are not getting enough rain),
