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DSST Environmental Science: Land Use

Subjects : dsst, science
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Soy beans have been genetically modified for better traits. 'Round up Ready' soy beans have made it so that weed killer 'round up' can be sprayed around the plants and kill all the weeds but not the soy bean plants. 'round up ready soy beans' were cr






2. The uniform planting of a single crop






3. Recycle batteries - Send large amounts of metal to scrap yards/businesses instead of to landfills (ex. cars - fridges - dishwashers - etc.) - Recycle old electronics like phones and computers to prevent more mining of minerals like tantalum that are






4. A variation of clear-cutting in which a strip of trees is clear-cut along the contour of the land - with the corridor narrow enough to allow natural regeneration within a few years. After regeneration - another strip is cut above the first - and so o






5. Do not naturally occur in the environment - but are synthesized by man. Since all these compounds have carbon and hydrogen atoms as the basis of their molecule (as do living plants and animals) - they are referred to as organic compounds to form pest






6. A mineral or grouping of minerals from which we extract metals - most metals are found in ore - Copper - iron - lead gold - and aluminum - Used in electronic components of computers - cell phones - DVD players.






7. A severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death






8. Nicotine - Alcohol - Cocaine - if it can kill you - it can kill other living things.






9. Heating ore beyond its melting point and combining it with other metals or chemicals ( process of separating).






10. The golden molecule for plants because it makes them grow - Leagues have special nitrogen fixing bacteria in their rhizomes (roots) - Three covalent bonds for N2. Stronger the covalent bonds - the harder it is to react. Nitrogen gas is inert.






11. Genetically engineered using recombinant DNA






12. Systematically tests different approaches and aims to improve methods and find ideal over time - Advantages: can be highly effective; works with each specific environment; can protect species; can provide minimum impact - Disadvantages: difficult to






13. Shafts are excavated deep into the ground - and networks of tunnels are dug or blasted out to follow deposits of the mineral. requires removal of the overburden - Used for metals ( zinc - lead - nickel - tin - gold - copper) and coal - Most dangerous






14. When sulfide minerals in newly exposed rock surfaces react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulfuric acid - causing runoff as it leaches metals from the rocks






15. Choosing valuable trees only - lots of reseeding - transportation is hard.






16. Natural fertilizers from decomposing solid organic matter; have lots of nitrogen






17. Manages resource harvesting so as to minimize impact on ecosystem and ecological processes that provide the resource - Advantages: can protect certain areas; can restore habitats; considers surroundings; allows timber harvesting while preserving inte






18. Uses the idea that 'the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend' - Battles pests and weeds with organisms that eat or infect them - Can be extremely effective and inexpensive






19. Having not enough of something






20. Completely missing something






21. Can hurt other species - methods used to control other species can become invasive species themselves - Ex. Australia released a virus to kill the excessive rabbits; Australians brought in cane toads to kill beetles on their sugar cane - BUT the toa






22. Combination of different pest management techniques combined in a specific way best for the place they are being used.






23. Corn yield has increased dramatically in the US since the 1920s because it was in the 1920s that GM corn started to be developed






24. Locally-based socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. also refers to a particular network or association of individuals who have pledged to support one or more local farms - with growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits






25. Harvesting only mature trees of certain species and size; usually more expensive then clear-cutting but it is less disruptive for wildlife and often better for forest regeneration






26. Not enough of some vitamin/mineral/essential thing in food






27. Worthless material that surrounds a wanted mineral in an ore deposit.






28. Mining method- mountain's forests are clear-cut and the timber is sold - topsoild is removed - and then the rock is blasted away to expose the coal for extraction. Overburden is placed back on the mountaintop. Primarily for coal in the Appalachian Mo






29. (Insecticides - Herbicides/ Fungicides) - Artificial chemicals used to kill pests/ insects/plants/fungi






30. Organic macromolecules hardest to provide during a famine






31. Makes money - remove resources from its original location - Firewood - Paper - Lumber - Charocoal - Gem - Hunting - Medicine






32. Clear cutting - Strip cutting - selective cutting






33. The surface soil that must be moved away to get at coal seams and mineral deposits






34. Cutting the trees down - burning them. Nutrients from the ash go to soil. You have a farmland for ranching cattle or farming soybeans.






35. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) examine the practices of firms and rate them against criteria for sustainability - Grant sustainable forest certification to forests - companies - and products produced using methods they consider sustainable.






36. - the turning and loosening of soil for the planting of crops






37. A naturally occurring solid element or inorganic compound with a crystal structure - a specific chemical composition - and distinct physical properties.






38. Advantages: removes the least amount of unwanted material so less waste - Disadvantages: potential collapse; sinkholes; acid drainage; pollutes groundwater; risk of injury/death from dynamite blasts - natural gas explosions - inhalation of toxic gass






39. Technology that has vastly increased the amount of food production since the agricultural revolution; currently 1 farmer for every 129 eaters






40. Cheap - But - removes all overburden (trees - soil - rocks - etc.); obliterates natural communities b/c everything has been removed; leads to erosion; causes sulfuric acid run-off;






41. Foods derived from genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques. include selective breeding; plant breeding. Typically - genetically modified food






42. Completely missing something acquired from food; usually protein or vitamin C






43. 1990 Clean Air Act amendments encouraged clean-burning low-sulfur coal led to more mining in Appalachia -dumping ton of debris sinto valley degrades and destroys areas of habitat -social and health impacts. loose rock tumbles down into homes - overl






44. Technology was not able to profitably remove the copper from the malachite






45. Cheapest - easiest transportation removal of lumber - Most environmentally harmful - takes all trees - leaves nothing






46. Cut trees shortly after they go through their fastest stage of growth (which is during their intermediate age) - Advantages: maximizes timber production over time - Disadvantages: trees get cut before they mature; alters forest ecology; eliminates ha






47. Fertilizers - promote plant growth by providing essential nutrients like nitrogen or phosphorus; increases crop yield - Combines/Machinery - allows farmers to work much faster and more efficiently; increases crop yield - Pesticides - kill insects - p






48. Maximum Sustainable Yield - Ecosystem-based Management - Adaptive Management






49. There is now more nitrate in the soil and water than ever - sometimes at unsafe levels - Corn harvests have improved






50. Controversial logging practice where all trees in an area are uniformly cut down - used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that requires an abudnace of sunlight or grow in large - even--age stands