Environmental Science I review
The Earth
Biosphere: Parts of the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere where life exists
Lithosphere: the solid part of Earth
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Igneous Rocks: formed from volcanoes
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Sedimentary Rocks: 80% of rocks on Earth, formed under water, layers
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Metamorphic Rocks: formed by heat and pressure
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Plate Tectonics
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Convergent: two plates collide, forms mountains
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Subduction: ocean plates goes under less dense continental plate, forms volcanoes, earthquakes,
trenches
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Divergent: two plates moving apart, forms mid ocean ridge
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Transform fault: two plates slide past eachother causing an earthquake, ex- San Andreas fault in
California
Hydrosphere: water part of Earth, ex: oceans, lakes, glaciers, streams
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Water Cycle
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Evaporation: Water changes from liquid to gas when temperature increases
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Condensation: Water changes from gas to liquid, formation of clouds
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Precipitation: rain, snow, sleet, hail
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Run-off: Water moves from a high elevation (mountain) into a body of water (ocean, lake)
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Transpiration: The release of water vapor from plants
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Groundwater: Water is absorbed into the ground
Atmosphere: The gases surrounding us
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Weather
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Factors affecting weather: temperature, wind, humidity, cloud cover
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Clouds
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Cirrus: feathery, wispy, end of clear weather
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Cumulus: cottony, good weather
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Stratus: layered, light rain or snow
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Nimbus: rain cloud
Air masses- determined by: The properties are determined by where it develops
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Continental polar: cold and dry
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Maritime polar: cool and moist
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Continental arctic: bitterly cold and dry
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Continental tropical: warm and dry
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Maritime tropical: warm and moist
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Fronts: boundary between two air masses
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Cold: cold air moving towards warm air, blue triangles
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Warm: warm air moving towards cold air, red scallops
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Occluded: cold front overtakes a warm front, alternating cold and warm symbols facing
the same way
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Stationary: warm and cold air pushing against eachother but neither one is strong
enough to move the other, alternating cold and warm symbols facing opposite
directions
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Gases
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Nitrogen: 78%
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Oxygen: 21%
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Argon: 0.9%
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Carbon Dioxide: 0.03%
Layers
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Troposphere: layer surrounding us, where weather occurs, temperature decreases
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Stratosphere: ozone layer
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Ozone: protects us from UV rays
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Mesosphere: temperature decreases
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Thermosphere: temperature increases
Natural Disasters
1. Earthquake: violent shaking of the ground
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Cause: plate boundary, subduction zone or transform fault
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Type of Damage: destruction, building damage, road damage, ruptured pipes, death
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Where they occur: at plate boundaries
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Relationship to tsumanis: causes a tsunami, displaces a large amount of water at subduction zone
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Richter scale: measures magnitude of earthquake, 1-10 (10 the worst)
2. Tsunami
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Cause: displacement of water, earthquake under water
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Type of damage: flooding
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Warning: water recedes
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Safety: Run to higher ground
3. Volcanoes
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Cause: Movement of tectonic plates, subduction zones
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Damage: Lava flows, property destruction
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Where: plate boundaries- subduction zones
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Dormant: A volcano that has not erupted in a long time but has the potential to erupt again
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Active: A volcano that is currently erupting
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Extinct: A volcano that has erupted in the past but will not erupt again
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Magma: Molten rock below Earth’s surface, before it erupts from a volcano
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Lava: Molten rock above Earth’s surface, what is erupting from a volcano
4. Tornado
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How they form: supercell tornado, a cold air mass and a warm air mass combine- the cold air mass drops
below the warm air mass eventually twisting
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Where they form: flat land, Midwest- Tornado Alley
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Type of damage: Mass destruction of anything in its place
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Safety: Basement
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Fujita Scale: measures the intensity of a tornado on a scale of 1-5 (5 the worst)
5. Hurricane
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Where they form: In warm water
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Type of damage: 1. Storm surge- flooding 2. Wind- downed trees, flying debris
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Wind speed : greater than 74mph
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Storm surge: water from ocean gets pushed onto shore causing flooding
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Typhoon: Pacific Ocean
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Cyclone: Indian Ocean
6. Forest Fires
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Cause
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Human: main cause of forest fires, arson, campfires, cigarettes
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Nature: lightening, sun
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Fire Triangle: fuel, oxygen, heat source
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Controlled burning: removes fuel for a fire- undergrowth, brush, leaf litter
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Where they occur: In dry, arid areas such as out West- heat, drought, frequent thunderstorms
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Damage: habitat destruction, property damage
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Benefits: Clearing the forest floor, providing habitat, killing disease, new generations
Ecology
Environment: Every living and nonliving thing that surrounds an organism
Biotic: Living factors, ex: plants, prey, predators, bacteria, fungus
Abiotic: nonliving factors, ex: water, temperature, sunlight, soil,
Organization
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Population: A group of one species living in an area
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Community: All of the different populations living in an area
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Ecosystem: All of the living and nonliving things and how they interact in an area
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Biome: Group of ecosystems that have the same climate and community
Habitat: Where an organism lives
Trophic Levels: feeding levels
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Autotrophs: Organisms that produce their own food for energy, photosynthesis
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Producers: make their own food, through the process of photosynthesis, ex: plants, algae
Heterotrophs: Organisms that cannot produce their own food for energy
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Consumers: Organisms that eat/consume other organisms
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Herbivore: eats plants, primary consumers, ex: deer, cow
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Carnivore: eats meat/other consumers, ex: lion, tiger
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Omnivore: eats both plants and animals, ex: humans, raccoons, bears
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Scavenger: eats dead animals, ex: vultures
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Decomposer: breaks down dead matter and recycles the nutrients back to the soil, ex:
fungus, bacteria
Food Chain: shows the flow of energy in an ecosystem, simple
Food Web: many food chains interconnected
Ecological Pyramids: Energy, Biomass, Numbers, decreases as you move up the pyramid, producers are always the
largest and on the bottom.
Biological Magnification- DDT: The concentration of a toxin increases as is moves through the food chain, highest
concentrations at the top of the food chain, ex: DDT in bald eagles
Biodiversity: The number of different species in an area, more biodiversity=more stable
Niche: an organisms role/job in its environment, two species cannot occupy the same niche
Competitive exclusion: When two organisms try to occupy the same niche, they will compete. One will stay in that
niche and the other will either die or have to occupy a different niche
Fundamental niche: The niche a species can ideally have, can be larger than the realized niche
Realized niche: The niche a species actually occupies, can be smaller than the fundamental niche
Niche diversity: the number of different niches in an ecosystem due to abiotic factors, fluctuating abiotic factors=
many niches (desert), constant abiotic factors=few niches (marsh)
Evolution: a slow gradual change in a species over time
Adaptation: A trait that an organism has that allows it to survive in a changing environment
Specialized Species: A species with a small niche, only one food source. Ex: koala bear and panda bear
Generalized Species : A species with a large niche, many food sources. Ex: mice, roaches
Convergent evolution: two species evolve separately to have similar traits because they have similar niches.
Coevolution: When two species evolve to rely on each other for survival, mutualism, ex: acacia tree and stinging
ants
Relationships
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Predator-prey: predator- the hunter, prey-the hunted
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Parasitism: one organisms feeds off of another organism for survival, one species benefits, the other is
harmed. Ex: tapeworm, malaria, ringworm
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Host: The organism the parasite is feeding off of
Mutualism: two species rely on each other for survival, both benefit, ex: Egyptian Plover and Nile
Croccodile
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Commensalism: One species benefits, the other isn’t harmed or helped, ex: barnacles on a whale
Invasive species: A non-native species that causes harm to the environment
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Why are they dangerous? They outcompete with native species for essential resources
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How do they get here? Accidental (in wood), boats (mass transportation), intentional release (pets that
get too big), tropical plants for garden
Endangered species: A species that is close to extinction
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Main reason for species endangerment? Habitat destruction
Biomes
1. Tundra
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Temperature: average temperature is -18 degrees F (very cold)
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Precipitation: 6-10 inches per year, mostly if the form of snow
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Location: Arctic
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Plants: low growing plants like mosses, lichens
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Animals: Caribou, Arctic Fox, Polar Bears, Snowy Owl
2. Desert
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Temperature: Very hot during the day and cold at night
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why does the temperature vary from day to night? Lack of water vapor- water vapor is a
greenhouse gas (traps heat). When the sun is out during the day, it is very hot, when the sun
goes down at night, there is no water vapor to hold the heat in.
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precipitation: very little- less than 15cm per year
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Location: tropic of cancer, tropic of capricorn
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plants
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succulents: plants that can store water- ex: cactus
animals: Armadillo, Bobcat, Kangaroo rat, Coyote, Desert Tortoise, Desert Toad
3. Grasslands
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temperature: Winter: -40 degrees F, Summer: 70 degrees F
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precipitation: 10-30 inches per year
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Location: midwest
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plants: Buffalo grass, sunflowers, crazy weed, goldenrods
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tall grass prairie: more rainfall
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short grass prairie: less rainfall
animals: Coyotes, Eagles, bobcats, gray wolf, wild turkey, Canada geese
4. Rainforest
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temperature: hot and humid
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precipitation: 50-260 inches per year
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Location: Near the equator
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plants: Bengal Bamboo, coconut trees
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animals: Forest elephant, Bengal Tiger, Chimpanzee, Tamarin, Toucan
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medicine: ¼ of medicine comes from rainforest plants
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layers
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forest floor: completely shaded, poor quality soil, earthworms, fungi
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Understory: trunks of canopy trees, shrubs, plants, small trees, high humidity, constant shade
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Canopy: 6—130 foot trees, shades below, most animals live- a lot of food
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Emergent: 100-240 foot trees, umbrella shaped canopies, small pointed leaves
5. Deciduous Forest
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Temperature: 50 degrees F
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Precipitation: 30-60 inches per year
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Location: Eastern half of North America
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Trees: deciduous- leaves fall off the tree when the temperature is cold (winter)
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Animals: deer, squirrels, mice, raccoons, salamanders, snakes, robins, frogs. Many hibernate during the
winter
6. Alpine Forest
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Temperature: cold
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Location: high altitudes- just below the snow line of a mountainb
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Precipitation: 30 cm per year
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Plants: small groundcover plants- reproduce slowly, able to grow in sandy, rocky soil (poor soil conditions)
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Animals: warm blooded, hibernate, migrate. Alpaca, Chinchilla, condor, mountain goat, snow leopard