Using natural resources is considered a sustainable practice because most natural resources are in limitless supply and cannot be degraded or depleted.

Ecosystem services are services that are supplied by humans for the environment.

In a healthy, functioning ecosystem, chemicals and nutrients are constantly recycled and reused.

One of the main goals of environmental science is to help humans use the environment in a way that is economically profitable.

Point sources of pollution are dispersed and often difficult to identify.

The average individual ecological footprint varies between areas or countries.

The most effective way to deal with pollution is to focus on cleanup efforts.

The human population is growing at a steady rate.

Affluence (wealth) has only harmful environmental effects.

A human-centered worldview states that humans as the owners of Earth, can treat resources as they see fit.

People with differing environmental worldviews may view the same data about environmental issues but draw different conclusions about how to best act in response to the data.

President Theodore Roosevelt played a major role in the conservation movement in the early 20th century.

As a society, living sustainably means protecting Earth's natural capital and living on its natural capital.

Preservation focuses mainly on preserving resources so they can be used by people.

Which of the following is NOT a factor of sustainability?

Which resource does NOT need to be cycled by ecosystems because a continuous, unlimited supply is available?

Suppose you are part of a community with a sustainable yield of fish. Which of the following would be true?

Together, natural resources and ecosystem services are referred to as __________________.

Which of the following qualifies as point-source pollution?

Which of the following is the primary cause of the tragedy of the commons?

Which of the following would decrease the T factor in the IPAT model?

A life-centered worldview is particularly concerned with which of the following?

How does full-cost pricing help create economic sustainability?

Which of the following is NOT a result of affluence that is harmful to the environment?

The main focus of conservation is to ________________.

John Muir, a preservationists, wanted wilderness areas on some public lands to be __________________.

Living off Earth's natural income may be compared to ______________________.

What is one effect of relying on natural income?

The main idea that people are part of, and dependent on, nature represents a(n) ___________________.

Experiments are designed so that the control group differs from the experimental group by one key variable.

The concept of gravity is an example of a scientific law.

A scientific hypothesis must be testable.

Scientists read each other's work only after it is published.

A scientific hypothesis is a scientific theory that has been thoroughly tested.

Matter can exist in three physical states-solid, liquid, and compound.

Two or more atoms can combine to form a molecule.

An acidic solution has a pH greater than 7.

Organic compounds always contain carbon.

Whenever matter undergoes a physical or chemical change, no atoms are created or destroyed.

Energy associated with motion is called potential energy.

In an efficient physical change, more energy comes out than goes in.

Energy is the capacity to do useful work.

An ecological tipping point marks a state in which an ecosystem can sustain itself.

A feedback loop occurs when an output is fed back into a system that leads to changes in that system.

Consider the controlled experiment on runoff from forested and deforested valleys as discussed in Chapter 2. What were the results?

A scientific law is a(n) _____________________-.

After scientists analyze data from an experiment, they can propose a(n) _____________ that they can test.

To be considered _____________, a theory must be supported by multiple sources of evidence.

Because scientists cannot actually precisely measure a process like soil erosion over the entire planet, they must _________________.

The number of _____________ in an atom determines which element it is.

Combinations of two or more different elements held together in fixed proportions are known as ________________.

The acidity of a solution is based on the comparative amounts of hydrogen ions and _____________ ions.

Ions are ________________.

When coal is burned completely in a power plant, the solid carbon in the coal combines with oxygen gas from the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide. What type of change is this?

When coal is burned completely into carbon dioxide and other gases, the total amount of matter of the gases ___________________.

The second law of thermodynamics state that whenever energy is converted from one form to another in a physical or chemical change, you end up with _____________ energy than before.

If you drop a book from your hand to the floor, some of the _______________ energy of the book will be converted to ____________ energy.

In a coal-burning power plant, the coal is an example of a system ______________.

A positive feedback loop ______________.

The air we breathe consists mostly of nitrogen.

Earth's hydrosphere consists of liquid water only.

In a process called photosynthesis, plants capture solar energy in their leaves and use it in combination with carbon dioxide and water to form organic molecules.

Herbivores are secondary consumers.

Oxygen in an ecosystem is consumed by animals but not by plants.

All plants and some animals make up the trophic level of producers.

A sequence of organisms, each which serves as a source of nutrients or energy for the next, is called a food chain.

Gross primary productivity (GPP) is a measure of how efficiently producers convert the sun's energy into food energy.

Net primary productivity (NPP) subtracts the energy that producers use themselves from their overall energy output of converting the suns' energy to food energy.

Carbon dioxide is one of the end products of cellular respiration.

The water cycle can be viewed as a cycle of natural renewal of water quality.

Carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels affects the temperature of Earth's atmosphere through the greenhouse effect.

Most mathematical computer models that ecologists use to simulate ecosystem interactions can be tested on a smart phone or laptop computer.

Ecologists use geographic information system (GIS) software to store data and display it in the form of maps, tables, and graphs.

One of the major planetary boundaries that scientists think has already been crossed is ocean acidification.

The ozone layer, which filters out about 95% of the sun's harmful UV radiation, is found in the ______________.

In the biosphere, __________________.

Which members of the ecosystem transform glucose into carbon dioxide?

Cows eating grass are categorized as which trophic level?

Organisms that feed on the wastes or dead bodies of other organisms are best described as _____.

Aerobic respiration uses _____ to convert glucose (or other organic nutrient molecules) into carbon

dioxide and water.

With each transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next, about _____ of the energy is lost.

Which of the following is correct?

Which equation best represents NPP, or net primary productivity?

When precipitation reaches a land surface, it can result either in infiltration that replenishes

groundwater or in _____ that ends up in lakes and rivers.

Humans are altering the carbon cycle by _____.

Nitrogen in the atmosphere exists in the form of _____.

Carrying out a controlled experiment by isolating and changing a variable in one part of a forest and

comparing the results with nearby unchanged areas is an example of _____.

Mathematical models can be useful for researching ecosystems that are otherwise difficult to study,

such as_____.

Which of the following is not a planetary boundary that could tip in the wrong direction and cause

severe damage to Earth?

The term “biodiversity” refers to the variety of life on Earth.

As biodiversity within an ecosystem increases, that ecosystem’s ability to withstand environmental

changes also increases.

Changes to Earth’s biodiversity do not impact human economies or survival.

Many species of frogs and other amphibians are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions.

A species’ ecological niche refers to the range of habitats where it may be found.

Nonnative species may cause problems when they are introduced into an ecosystem.

Specialist species can respond more easily to changing environmental conditions than can generalist

species.

When an ecosystem loses a keystone species, such as the American alligator, that often leads to the loss

of other species from that ecosystem.

No fossil evidence remains from ancient species that lacked bones.

Adaptations are traits an organism may develop over its lifetime that increase its chances for survival.

Species that reproduce slowly take longer to adapt through the process of natural selection.

According to the scientific theory of biological evolution, natural selection accounts for some but not

all species that have evolved on Earth.

One or more new species can arise when two populations from the same species are separated from

each other by distance for a long enough period of time.

Throughout most of Earth’s history, the rate of species extinctions has been very high.

Artificial selection can only be done in a high-tech laboratory setting.

The variety of different ways in which species within an ecosystem perform “jobs” that benefit the

ecosystem and make it more resilient in the face of change is called _____.

_____ diversity increases the chances that individuals will possess favorable traits needed to survive

changing environmental conditions.

_____ is one ecosystem service that is supported by biodiversity.

By controlling the spread of vegetation and the balance of certain fish species, the American alligator

serve as a(n) _____ in its ecosystem.

What term refers to a species that can live in many different places, eat a variety of foods, and often

tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions?

A species that can serve as a “biological smoke alarm” regarding damage to its ecosystem is called

a(n) _____.

A species that originates in an ecosystem and has adapted to conditions there is called a(n) _____.

Scientists estimate that the fossils found thus far represent about _____ of all species that have

ever lived.

The process of natural selection favors individuals that _____.

Adaptation through natural selection is limited because it requires _____.

Along with Charles Darwin, Wallace also proposed the concept of _____ as a mechanism for

biological evolution.

Each of Earth’s mass extinctions _____.

Reproductive isolation is a condition that leads to _____.

Species found in only one area are called _____ and are more vulnerable to extinction than species

found in many areas.

Selective breeding is one way to carry out _____.