Text Questions from Environmental Science, 10th ed. by G. Tyler Miller
Chapter 1
What does living sustainably mean (p.3)? How rapidly is the human population growing (p.3)? What is GNI, or GNP (p.5)? What is GDP (p.5)? What are developed countries, developing countries (p.6)? Where are most developing countries located (p.6)? Why do poor people often have many children (p.6)? Why is solar energy called a perpetual resource (p.7)? What is a renewable resource & what are two examples (p.7)? What is a sustainable yield (p.7)? What is the 'Tragedy of the Commons'? (p.7)? What is an ecological footprint (p.8)? How does the per capita ecological footprint of U.S. citizens compared to that of citizens of other countries (p.8)? What are nonrenewable resources and what are 3 examples (p.8)? What is pollution (p.9)? What are 3 unwanted effects of pollutants (p.9)? What are the 2 basic approaches to dealing with pollution (p.9)? Why do environmentalists and some economists urge an emphasis on prevention (p.9)? The environmental impact of a population depends on what 3 factors (p.10)?
Chapter 2 - What is a planetary management worldview (p.37)? What are the basic environmental beliefs of this worldview (Figure 2-16; p.37)? Why do some believe that any human-centered worldview will fail (p.38)? What is the 'environmental-wisdom worldview' (p.39) & what are the major beliefs of those with this worldview (Figure 2-16; p.37)?
Chapter 4 - What is a species (p.66)? What is a population, habitat (p.67)? What is a community, ecosystem (p.68)? What are the 3 interconnected factors that life on Earth depends on (p.69)? What is photosynthesis (p.69)? What are biomes (p.70)? What is climate (p.70)? What are producers or autotrophs (p.73)? What are consumers (p.73)?What are decomposers, detritivores, omnivores (p.73)? What is a food chain, a trophic level, a food web (p.76; Fig. 4-17)?What are the two basic principles of ecosystem sustainability (p.89)?
Chapter 5 - What is evolution (p.93-94)? What is an ecological niche (p.98)? What is a generalist species, a specialist species (p.98)? Is it better to be a generalist than a specialist (p.99)? What are two common misconceptions about evolution (p.99-100)? What is speciation & what is the most common mechanism of speciation (p.100; Figure 5-8)? What is extinction & what are the three major factors that have affected the earth's long-term patterns of speciation and extinction (p.101-102)? How have extinction rates changed during the 20th century (p.103)?
Chapter 6 - What is climate and what are the two main factors determining a region's climate (p.107)? What are the most important factors in producing tropical, temperate, or polar deserts, gransslands, and forests (p.113)? What is a desert (p.115)? What are the two 'themes' for survival in the desert (p.116)? What are the characteristics of succulent plants (p.116)? Be able to list at least four ways in which humans adversely affect the world's deserts (Figure 6-15; p.116). Why do deserts take a long time to recover from disturbances (p.116)? What is a grassland (p.116)? How do grasslands persist (p.116)? Know that the major human impacts on the world's grasslands are conversion to cropland and overgrazing by livestock (Figure 6-19; p.119). What are the three main types of forests (p.120)? How much of the Earth's land surface is covered by tropical rain forests (p.120)? What % of earth's terrestrial species occupy habitats in tropical rain forests (p.120)? Where do temperate deciduous forests grow (p.121)? What species dominate the temperate deciduous forest biome (p.121)? Where are evergreen coniferous forests (or boreal forests or taigas) found & what species dominate these forests (p.122-123)? What impacts do humans have on the world's forests (Figure 6-24; p.124)?
Chapter 7 - What are the most species-rich environments (p.142)? What are native species, exotic species (p.143)? What are indicator species (p.144)? What's been happening to populations of amphibians since 1980 (p.144)? What are three reasons why scientists are concerned about the decline of amphibian populations (p.144)? What are keystone species & what is one example of a keystone species (p.145)? Why should we care about alligators (p.146)? Why are sharks important (p.149)? What is the precautionary principle (p.157)?
Chapter 8 - What 4 variables govern changes in population size (p.161)? How does a population gain & lose individuals (p.161)? What is biotic potential (p.161)? What is environmental resistance, carrying capacity (p.161)? What factors affect carrying capacity (p.163)? Know that a limiting factor that exerts its effect on a population regardless of population density is a density-independent factor (p.164). What are some examples of density-independent factors (p.164)? Know that a limiting factor that becomes more influential as population increases is called a density-dependent factor (p.164). What are some examples of density-dependent factors (p.164)? What is conservation biology (p.168)? What are the three underlying principles upon which conservation biology rests (p.168)? Be able to provide three examples of how have humans modified natural ecosystems (p.168-169)? How can we create more ecologically and economically sustainable societies that live within their ecological means (p.170)?