Chapter 8:

Be able to discuss the relationship between the number of births and the number of deaths in a population and how that relationship affects total population change.

-          The number of births is greater than the number of deaths, population increase

-          The number of births is less than the number of deaths, population decrease

-          The number of birth is equal to the number of deaths, zero population growth

-          Rate = birth – death

Be able to explain key features of the demographic transition graph (figure 8.14) such as: what are some of the reasons for the trend in birth and death rates in each of the stages?

-          First stage, the preindustrial stage – birth and death rates are high and have quite same rate, so the population grows slowly.

-          Second stage, transitional stage – death rate is declining, birth rate is still high, so population increase rapidly.

-          Third stage, industrial stage – birth rate declines and death rate is still low, so it slows down the population growth.

-          Forth stage, Postindustrial stage – birth rate is low and decline, death rate is still low and unchanging, so the population grows slowly.

Give examples of countries that might be in each of the stages.

-          Finland : first stage (first human settle until the late 1700s), second stage ( in mid 1800s), third stage (early 1900s), fourth stage

Be able to discuss factors that can affect the number of births and number of deaths in a population.

-          Infant mortality rate: number of infant death (under age 1) per 1000 live births

-          Total fertility rate: the average number of children born to each woman

-          Age structure: the number of proportion of people at each age in a population

Chapter 9:

Global human population is currently growing at an exponential rate. Since exponential growth cannot be sustained forever, what are two possible scenarios for the population curve in the future as it approaches the earth’s carrying capacity?

-          The population may stabilize or crash because of a decrease in birth, an increase in the death rate or a combination of both.

What would cause an ecosystem’s carrying capacity to decrease?

-          Population increases -> the need of foods -> overuse of the land for grazing and crop + extended drought -> productive lands decline -> carrying capacity decrease.

Explain how a country with a smaller population could have a greater environmental impact than a country with a larger population.

Chapter 7:

What are bioaccumulation and biomagnifications?  The difference between them? How are they related?

-          Bioaccumulation: Cells of organism selectively absorb and store a variety of molecules. This allows organisms accumulate nutrients and essential ………… The buildup of a persistent toxic substance in an organism’s body.

-          Biomagnification: the increased concentration of toxic substances in organism at higher trophic levels.

-          The difference between them is that bioaccumulation could occur in primary level by storing toxic over time  while biomagnification occur on higher trophic level by absorb toxic from lower trophic level.

-          Biomagnification occur on higher trophic level after eating its lower trophic level only if bioaccumulation occurs on primary consumer that was eaten by low trophic level or itself.

What is the Story of DDT? How did it affect the environment?  How did it affect people?

-          1940s and 1950s revolution in the development of sophisticated pesticides

-          Synthesis compounds incorporating highly reactive with chlorine or other reactive elements

-          “Magic bullets” for reducing insect vectored decreases and agricultural pest.

-          DDT appeared to have no short term effects on human and animals and was very effective at killing insect

-          DDT was primarily responsible for eliminating malaria and yellow fever as major disease in U.S.

-          DDT was used extensively and is stilled used in developing countries mostly to control disease carrying insect.

-          DDT is a certain pesticide that its toxic substances exhibit persistence.

-          algae and plankton absorb pesticide 0.04ppm -> shrimp 0.16ppm -> American eel 0.28ppm-> Atlantic needlefish 2.07ppm -> ring-billed gull 75.5ppm-> eggs extremely thin and fragile shells.

-          It destroyed species which effected through bioaccumulationa and biomagnification.

-          Human eat food or meat of species that effected by pestricide than it could kill human.

What is the precautionary principle?  How does it relate to pesticides, chemicals and pollution in the environment?

-          The precautionary principle is the idea that no action should be taken or product introduced when the science is inconclusive but unknown risk may exist.

-          For example: when observation and experiments suggested that CFCs harm the ozone layer in the stratosphere, the precautionary principle led to these compounds phase out.

What is the endocrine system and how is it impacted by chemicals in the environment?  What affect does this have on human health?

-          Endocrine system is a system of glands that secrete hormones to regulate bodily function.

-          Endocrine system is impacted by endocrine disruptor that is industrial and agricultural chemicals which exhibit persistence, bioaccumulation, biomagnifications that could kill species in the environment and affect on human health like cancer, disorders, infertility.

Chapter 19:

What challenges do we face in having enough of a food supply to meet our food demand?  What factors are causing our food stocks to diminish?

-          Population & Affluence

-          The factors are causing our food stocks to diminish is famines and poverty

What are some common characteristics of industrial agriculture?  What are some of the costs and benefits associated with it

-          High input of capital and energy

-          Machinery, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticide

-          Less land and labor than traditional agricultural methods

-          The productivity of industrialized agriculture has not been without cost

-          Produce high yield

-          Cause soil degradation, increase pesticide resistance

What is genetic engineering? 

-          The manipulation of genes, for example, by taking a specific gene from a cell of one species and placing it into a cell of an unrelated species, where it is expressed.

Chapter 23:

What do we use pesticides for?

-          We use pesticides to control the environmental pest, such as insects, weeds, or rodents.

-          Removal of insects and rodents

-          Protection of human health from disease spread by insect, rodent, and fungi

-          Protection of crops

What are some of the problems with dependence on pesticides?

-          Decreasing effect of pesticide – generally resistance evolutionary race between pesticide strength and pests

-          Imbalances in ecosystem

-          Persistence, bioaccumulation, biomagnifications

-          Mobility in the environment

What are some alternatives to heavy use of pesticides and how do they work?

-          Agricultural practices that increasing diversity of plants cultivated on a given area of land

-          Making use of agricultural predators – prey relationship to control pest population.

Chapter 17:

Be able to describe the 3 types of biodiversity and why each in important.

-          Genetic diversity: genetic variety within all population of a species

+          Crucial for species long term health and survival, such as, engineering of wheat create genetic uniformly making it susceptible.

-          Species diversity: number of different types of species

+          Ecosystem services: environmental benefit provided by ecosystem function.

+          Forest: watersheds that provide fresh water, reduces severity of floods, reduce soil erosion.

+          Agriculture: crop production

+          Pharmceuticals: medicines derived from plant/animals

+          Industrial productivity such as perfumes, lubricents, paper, medical research

-          Ecosystem diversity: the variety of ecosystem found on Earth, variety of interaction between organisms in natural communication and ecosystem

+          Maintain the overall health of the ecosystem

+         

What is an invasive species and why are they so difficult to manage?

-          Invasive species are foreign species that spread rapidly in a new area where they are free of predators, parasites, or resource limitations that may have controlled their population in their native habitat.

-          They are difficult to manage because

+          Plants species: grow rapidly and out complete native plants

+          Animal species: no natural predators to control population growth

What are ecosystem services and what does biological diversity have to do with providing them?

-          Ecosystem services, important environmental benefit that ecosystems provide to people, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and fertile soil in which to grow crops.

-          The removal of species makes an ecosystem run less smoothly. If enough species are removed, the ecosystem will change. The richness of species provides the ecosystem with resilience, that is, the ability to recover from environmental change or disaster.

Know the characteristics of an endangered species.

-          A species that faces threats that may cause it to become extinct within short period.

-          Having a limited natural range

-          Requiring large territory to survive

-          Being endemic to certain islands

-          Having low reproductive success

-          Requiring specialized breeding areas of food sources

How are human beings adding to the background extinction rates?

-          Extinction rate have been accelerated dramatically due to human action

-          Human influence

+          Destruction of habitat

+          Habitat fragmentation

+          Environment degradation

+          Change in global temperature