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Flashcards in ENVS FINAL Deck (54)
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1
Q

What are the 2 zones in a lake?

A
  1. Littoral zone 2. Open water
2
Q

Oligotrophic

A

deep; low productivity; high oxygen levels (low decomposition)

3
Q

Eutrophic

A

shallow; high productivity; low oxygen levels

4
Q

Mesotrophic

A

intermediate in all features

5
Q

BOD

A

Biological Oxygen Demand

6
Q

What are the sources of Phosphorus?

A

sewage, agriculture runoff, detergents

7
Q

What are the 3 types of sewage?

A
  1. Domestic (from homes) 2. Industrial 3. Storm runoff (from roads)
8
Q

Primary Treatment

A

mechanical process-removes suspended solids

9
Q

How much do the best primary treatments remove?

A

90% solids; 15% P; 50% BOD; 55% Fecal coliforms

10
Q

Secondary Treatment

A

biological processes; culturing aerobic bacteria to break down sewage in a closed tank

11
Q

How much do primary and secondary treatments remove?

A

30-50% P; 80-90% BOD; 90-99% Fecal coliforms

12
Q

Tertiary treatment

A

Reduces phosphorous by 90% (from second treatment)

13
Q

What are other pollutants to water?

A

industrial; pharmacological agents; endocrine disruptors; pesticides

14
Q

Sludge

A

biosolids; spread on fields, incinerated; 27 kg/person/year produced

15
Q

Instream Flow Needs

A

how much water we should leave in the river; based on water quality, health of fish population, riparian diversity, maintenance of river channel

16
Q

Worldwide, how much water is wasted?

A

65-70%

17
Q

What are advantages of dams? (4)

A
  1. control floods 2. use water for crops all through the summer 3. recreational fish population 4. power
18
Q

What are disadvantages of dams? (7)

A
  1. can cause earthquakes because water is heavy 2. loss of habitat 3. risk-if dam breaks 4. silt shadow downstream of dam (less silt for plants) 5. decreased productivity of fish 6. expensive to build 7. loss of water through evaporation
19
Q

Agroecosystems

A

ecosystem managed for agricultural production; domesticated plants and animals; reliant on the same ecosystem processes

20
Q

What is sustainable agriculture based on?

A
  1. primary production-sun 2. soil (renewable-nutrient cycle) 3. water
21
Q

What are the 7 factors of site productivity?

A
  1. Soil fertility 2. Soil organic matter 3. Bulk density 4. Resistance to erosion 5. Moisture status 6. Salinization 7. Prevalence of weeds
22
Q

Organic pesticides

A

plant extracts; organochlorines (DDT, 2, 4-D); glyphosate

23
Q

Inorganic pesticides

A

contain lead, arsenic, mercury

24
Q

Biological pesticides

A

bacterial, viral, hormonal

25
Q

Advantages of pesticides (6)

A
  1. save lives (from insect borne diseases) 2. increased food prod’n 3. decreased food costs 4.decrease food spoilage 5.increase farm profits 6.fast, effective, economical
26
Q

What would the perfect pesticide be? (4)

A
  1. kill target species only 2. degrade into harmless products 3. cheaper than doing nothing 4. no genetic resistance
27
Q

Disadvantages of pesticides (4)

A
  1. Human health 2. Wildlife threat 3. Hit more than the target 4. Genetic resistance
28
Q

1st Generation Pesticides

A

poisons (lead, arsenic, mercury), plant extracts

29
Q

2nd Generation Pesticides

A

synthetic compounds (DDT)

30
Q

3rd Generation Pesticides

A

Biological compounds; insect hormones; birth control for insect pests

31
Q

Integrated Pest Management (5)

A

biological controls; manage habitat-crop rotation; encourage natural predators and parasites; only spray when pests meet a threshold; use of crop varieties that are resistant to pests

32
Q

What are other alternatives to pesticides?

A

hot water; mechanical (vacuum up pests); chicken and geese

33
Q

What are the different cutting methods?

A

clear cut; selection harvest; shelterwood harvest; strip cuts; clear cut

34
Q

Selection harvest

A

cut relatively mature trees; fastest regeneration

35
Q

Shelterwood harvest

A

gradual clear cut (over 15-20 years)

36
Q

Strip cuts

A

long, narrow strip is clear cut; regeneration gets going relatively easily

37
Q

What are impacts of cutting? (6)

A

modify nutrients; more roads=more disturbance; weeds; affect wildlife; more competition for birds in other areas; soil erosion

38
Q

Extant

A

still in existence

39
Q

Extinct

A

a condition in which a species or other taxon no longer occurs anywhere on the Earth

40
Q

Extirpated

A

A condition in which a species or other taxon no longer occurs in some place or region, but still survives elsewhere

41
Q

Endemic

A

species with a local geographic distribution

42
Q

What are the 4 greatest causes of extinction?

A
  1. habitat loss 2. over-harvest 3. exotics/invasive species 4. pollution
43
Q

COSEWIC

A

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

44
Q

What % of Canadian land area is protected?

A

9%

45
Q

What % of Alberta land is protected?

A

12.3%

46
Q

Remediation

A

repair some damage

47
Q

Reclamation

A

reclaim and make it function ecologically

48
Q

Restoration

A

replace biodiversity and functionality of what it was before

49
Q

Food-web magnification

A

The tendency for top predators in a food web to have the highest residues of certain chemicals, especially organochlorines.

50
Q

Bio-accumulation

A

The occurrence of chemicals in much higher concentrations in organisms than in the ambient environment. Herbivores will have a higher concentration than plants

51
Q

Food-web magnification

A

The tendency for top predators in a food web to have the highest residues of certain chemicals, especially organochlorines. Progressive with age.

52
Q

Pesticide treadmill

A

The inherent reliance of modern agriculture and public-health programs on pesticides, often in increasing quantities, to deal with pest problems

53
Q

Nutrient capital

A

The amount of nutrients present in a site in soil, living organisms, and dead organic matter

54
Q

Biodegradation

A

The breakdown of organic molecules into simpler compounds through the metabolic actions of microorganisms