BIOL-2

Midterm Exam Study Guide (Modules 1-5)

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Mod1 (Intro to Env Sci, Ch1):

● Definitions of terms
o Ecology = biotic + abiotic
o Env sci = HUMAN ← → ecosystems /env
o SUSTAINABILITY = can do forever
o Biocapacity = natural limits
o Tragedy of the Commons = damage of resource in free-for-all situations (no
policing)
● Earth = life-support, via
o SOLAR CAPITAL (sunlight)
o NATURAL CAPITAL = natural resources & ecosystem services (water gets
purified)
▪ Natural resources can be renewable (sun, wind, geoT) or not
● IPAT Equation: Env Impact = Popn x Affluence (Consumption) x Tech
o POPULATION STUFF (we will do in Module 6)
o CONSUMPTION STUFF:
▪ MDCs = more-dev countries (more consumption; USA, EU, etc.)
● 17% of global popn, but
● 70% of global consumption
▪ LDCs = less-dev countries (less consumption; China, India, etc.)
● 83% of global popn, but
● 30% of global consumption
▪ Ecological Footprint = per capita ecological impact (IPAT, for P=1)
▪ We are in 6th mass extinction
o TECHNOLOGY (amplifies or lessens/mitigates impacts)
● Lots of env problems, but core = poor env ethics
● Two competing env worldviews: HUMAN- vs EARTH-centered

Mod2 (Scientific Method & Biogeochem Cycles, Ch3):

● Definitions of terms
o Hypothesis
o Theory
o Elements
o Covalent bonds
o pH
o Biomolecules
o Systems
 o Tipping point
● SCIENTIFIC METHOD: how science learns new info (but no ethical info)
o Critical thinking
o Steps:
▪ See phenomenon
▪ Make HYPOTHESIS (= best guess)
▪ Test it with experiments
o CANNOT PROVE THINGS (can disprove/REFUTE; only offers evidence)
▪ THEORIES are the best we get (current info based on all evidence)
o Confirmation bias is a problem
o MODELS: good for stable systems, but require data
● Energy flows in closed systems (Earth), but matter (re-)CYCLES
o LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS (just two)
▪ 1st LAW: matter/E cannot be created or destroyed
● BioGeoChem (BGC) cycles change forms of matter via chem
rxns
o Bio = living
o Geo = Earth
o Chem = atm, oceans, freshwater
▪ 2 LAW: a little E lost at every transfer of matter/E (as heat)
nd

o MATTER = chemicals, made of atoms (smallest units)

▪ Over 100 types (called ELEMENTS --> in Periodic Table)
▪ 6 important in living systems = CHNOPS
● CARBON is hallmark of life!
● CARBON makes COVALENT (strongest) bonds --> strong
molecules that hold up over time (FF)
▪ WATER = H2O; has unique properties necessary for life
● Sticky (cohesion, adhesion)
● Resists temperature changes
● Floats when it freezes
● Excellent solvent (except?)
o pH = potential for H (hydrogen)
o Scale from 0-14
▪ 0 (most acidic)… lower than 7 = acids
▪ 7 (neutral/pure H2O)
▪ 14 (most basic/alkaline)… above 7 = bases
▪ BIOMOLECULES = organic (Carbon backbone + H, etc.) molecules
made by/make up organisms --> VERY STABLE (FF)
● Three classes of these are food groups
o Carbohydrates
o Proteins
o Lipids
● One class is not a food group (no calories) = Nucleic acids
 ● Cycles of breaking them down and putting them back together
● SYSTEMS
o Sets of three components that function together: inputs, throughputs,
outputs
o Two types of feedback loops
▪ Positive = destabilizing; have TIPPING POINTS (don’t know where
they are until passed)
▪ Negative = stabilizing

Mod3 (How Healthy Ecosystems Work, Ch5):

● DEFINITIONS
o Ecology = study of home (ecosystems)
o Tipping points
o Anthropogenic
● EARTH = 4 systems
o ATMOSPHERE
▪ 31 miles thick
▪ Mixed gases: 78% nitrogen (N2) + 21% oxygen (O2)
o HYDROSPHERE
▪ All water on Earth
▪ 97% is saltwater in oceans (71% of surface is ocean)
▪ Rest is freshwater (mostly frozen)
o GEOSPHERE
▪ All solid parts of Earth
▪ Life only on surface (crust)… thin surface soil (6”)
o BIOSPHERE
▪ Where life exists in other three spheres
▪ 97.5% of this is in oceans
● 3 factors make Earth habitable
o Right amt sunlight (solar E)
o Gravity holds atm in place
o BGC cycling
● LIFE has 2 basic goals: survive and reproduce
o 1st goal = survive
▪ 4 things req to survive:
● Energy (different trophic levels)
● Water
● Carbon dioxide or oxygen
● Habitat/shelter (T, matter, pollutants)
▪ 4 biotic relationships
● Trophic (feeding) = predator/prey (+/-)
o Food webs/chains
 o Different levels of “feeding”

o = make all food

▪ TOTAL is called “net primary production”
o Detritovores eat dead stuff = recyclers
o 10% E transferred up each step
o Biomagnification of pollutants
● Competition: share resource or winner-takes-all
● Symbiotic
● Cooperation (+/+)
nd
o 2 goal = reproduce
● Ecosystem-level “survival”
o Ecological Succession, 2 types
▪ Primary = rare, starts from nothing
▪ Secondary = common, happens after biological disturbance (fire,
flood)
o Ecosystem Resilience (to biological disturbances)
▪ Ability to bounce back from natural changes, not manmade
▪ TIPPING POINTS: system can no longer recover

Mod4 (Terrestrial Biomes & Major Aquatic Systems, we expand on Ch5 coverage)
● DEFINITIONS
o Biomes = huge terrestrial ecosystems, defn by T + precip
o Ecotones = boundaries of biomes
o Keystone species = species that is critical to its whole ecosystem
(stability)
o Niche = role species play in their ecosystems
o Deciduous vs evergreen (trees)
o Precipitation
 o Unbiome
o Estuary
o Upwelling
o Downwelling
o Thermohaline circulation
o Eutrophication
o Anoxia
o Dead zones
● BIOMES characterized by CLIMATE [T + precip] + dominant producers (plants)
o Climate change threatens!

Producer Important
T Precip Biome Name
examples Features
Any Very dry Cactuses DRY Desert
FIRE +
Warm Very dry grazing Savanna = Tropical
Grasses
year-round summers favors Grassland
grasses
Warm FIRE +
summers grazing Prairie = Temperate
Can be dry Grasses
Cold favors Grassland
winters grasses
HIGHEST
Warm Wettest TERR.
Tall trees Tropical Rainforests
year-round (>2m/yr) BIODIV.
(palm oil)
Warm
Snow/Ice
summers Highest in Deciduous
adapted Temperate Forests
Cold summer trees
trees
winters
LARGEST
TERR.
Cold Highest in Evergreen Coniferous (Boreal) Forests
BIOME;
year-round summer trees = Taiga
FIRE-depend
ent
COLDEST
Highest in Low-growing NO TREES
TERR. Tundra (alpine + arctic)
summer plants Permafrost
BIOME
COLDEST
NO
(but not --- N/A (UNBIOMES = ice caps)
vegetation
biome)

● Highest biodiversity in tropical rainforests (TERR.) + coral reefs (AQ)

 ● MAJOR AQUATIC SYSTEMS
o Marine biomes: coastal (incl. estuaries) and open OCEAN
▪ Seawater is mostly pure H2O with 3.5% dissolved salts
▪ Dissolved gases mostly CO2; O2 is low (~5%) --> decrease when
water is heated
▪ One global ocean that mixes via:
● Upwelling (brings up nutrients, mostly coastal --> increases
primary productivity)
● Downwelling (cold salty water sinks) --> THERMOHALINE
CIRCULATION --> Drives global ocean conveyor belt (GOCB)
● Surface winds drive gyres, also part of GOCB
▪ Light only penetrates top ~200m = PHOTIC ZONE --> all
photosynthesis, AKA primary production here!
▪ Open ocean zones, from top to bottom:
● Photic zone (AKA epipelagic): 0-200m
● Mesopelagic (dark, but animals do vertical migration up into
photic for food at night): 200-1000m
● Deep Sea (still contains life due to chemosynthesis): deeper
than 1000m
▪ Nearshore (coastal) zones = intertidal and subtidal
● More human interaction/impact
o Freshwater biomes:
▪ Still systems = lakes & ponds (and polar ice caps)
● Concentrate nutrients and pollutants
● Eutrophication is problem
● NOTE: freshwater also in underground aquifers and polar ice
caps (starting to grow algae!)
▪ Flowing systems = streams & rivers
● Large rivers transport eroded material, pollution from land to
sea, but 40% of world’s largest rivers have been dammed
o Lake Mead (where SoCal gets most of its water) is
LOW
o EUTROPHICATION = too much fertilizer/nutrient (N, P) in aq systems
▪ Too much primary production for animals to consume
▪ Decomposing producers consume O2 --> ANOXIA --> DEAD
ZONES
● Lots of coastal aq systems have dead zones, even CA

Mod6 (Climate Change: Our Biggest Threat, Ch18):

● Definitions of (lots of!) terms
 o Climate vs Weather
o Differential solar heating
o Coriolis effect, Circulation cells, and Climate bands
o Global ocean conveyor belt and Oceanic gyres
o Goldilocks temperature
o Greenhouse gases (GHG) and Greenhouse effect (GHE)
o Anthropogenic global warming (AGW)
o Milankovitch cycles
o Carbonic acid and Ocean acidification, Acid rain
o Carbon budget: Carbon sources vs Carbon sinks
o Albedo
o Tipping point
o Climate skeptics/deniers
o Climate change mitigation
● Earth’s climate established by:
o “Goldilocks” conditions for overall temperatures (T)
▪ Distance from sun
▪ Size of Earth --> gravity --> holds onto perfect-sized atmosphere
▪ Composition of atm (gases, especially GHG) --> Greenhouse effect
--> holds onto HEAT (+59°F versus no GHE)
● 4 main GHGs = CO2, H2O, CH4, O3 (know names too)
● Humans add massive amts of CO2 to atm --> ↑GHE --> AGW
o Seasons (due to Earth’s tilt) --> helps homogenize Earth’s T over time
o Spin --> Coriolis effect --> Circulation cells in atm --> Climate bands every
30°, north and south from equator (0°) to poles (90°N and 90°S)
▪ Wet @ equator
▪ Dry @ 30°N/S --> We’re @ ~34°N, so we have dry/arid climate
▪ Wet @ 60°N/S
▪ Dry @ 90°N/S (poles)
o Global ocean conveyor belt = gyres + thermohaline circulation (driven by
downwelling) --> helps homogenize Earth’s T from equator to poles
o Milankovitch cycles (wobble in our tilt, variations in distance from sun)
o Surface reflectivity = albedo
▪ Ice and snow are high albedo --> reflect lots of solar E back into
space
▪ Water and land are low albedo --> absorb solar E --> more heating
▪ As Earth GHE warms us, ice/snow melt --> ↓albedo of whole planet
● Drivers of (forcings on) climate change (better term = global climate
intensification, GCI)
o Naturally happens due to alternation between glacial/interglacial phases
(solar forcing)… volcanic activity can also affect climate (not now, though)
o Current GCI due to two drivers (forcings):
 1. Natural warming cycle: we are in an interglacial phase
(Milankovitch = changes in solar forcings) for another ~50,000 years
2. Anthropogenic global warming (AGW)
● [CO2]atm is main driver of global T (look at graphs in lecture ppt)
= “carbon forcing”
● Human activities increase [CO2]atm by:
o Adding sources of CO2 to global carbon budget
▪ Mostly: Fossil fuel combustion
▪ Methane releases from many activities
o Removing sinks of CO2 from global carbon budget
▪ Almost entirely: Deforestation
Fastest warming in >800,000 years of climate records tells us AGW
is the main driver of current GCI
● Effects of climate change (GCI)
o Altered water cycle (droughts, monsoons, pattern shifts) --> water
security?
o More extreme/variable climate (summer heatwaves, storms including
hurricanes and tornadoes) --> ↑forest fires, ↑smog, etc.
o Altered biomes! (species migrations, including humans, away from equator
toward poles) --> abiotic and biotic shifts in conditions & resources -->
wars?
o CO2 combines with H2O to form carbonic acid (H2CO3) --> Acid rain &
ocean acidification --> Devastating and not fully understood effects on
terrestrial and marine organisms & ecosystems/biomes
o Tipping points (we cannot fully predict/understand)
▪ Melting ice/snow -->
● Sea level rise --> forced migrations of humans and other
species inland/upland from coastlines; loss of ag land
● ↓Albedo --> ↑GHE
● ↓Downwelling --> Slowing global ocean conveyor belt -->
o ↑T diffs between equator and poles --> shifting climatic
“normals”
o ↓Mixing top-to-bottom in ocean --> Deep sea anoxia -->
(Known cause of Permian) mass extinction!
▪ Melting permafrost --> ↑CH4 release into atm --> ↑GHE
▪ Acid rain --> ↓Forests acting as carbon sinks --> ↑GHE
● Climate skeptics/deniers are either (a) PAID by those who profit from activities
that cause AGW or (b) ignorant of climate facts
● Climate Change by the numbers:
o Must limit warming to 1°C (1.5°C is almost certainly too high!)
o 565 GtC = max amt of CO2 we can add to atm by 2050 (or too much?!)
o 2795 GtC = amt of C still in fossil fuel reserves (we CANNOT USE all this!)
o 450 ppm [CO2]atm = (est.) tipping point (we are now at 413 ppm!)
● Mitigating climate change
o Reduce fossil fuel consumption by making FF use COST MORE than
sustainable alternatives
▪ Reduce subsidies to FF-based activities; increase subsidies to solar,
wind, geothermal
▪ Cap & Trade (Carbon credits)
o Reverse deforestation: PLANT MORE TREES!
o Address social impacts and inequities
o Prepare personally