Test your basic knowledge |

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. 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






2. A fossil fuel composed of organic matter that was compressed under very high pressure to form a dense - solid carbon structure.






3. Long term information is unknown - Can take over surrounding ecosystem - Pest-killing toxin also kills insects that should not and are not meant to be killed such as monarch butterflies - Pollen can be carried to nearby plants by wind thus making th






4. Strip mining - open pit mining - mountain top removal






5. To reclaim is to make things level - and to get something growing and prevent erosion - If the U.S were to try to reclaim - it would cost tax payers about 2 trillion dollars.






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






7. way to enhance nutrient-limited soils - Inorganic fertilizers- mined or synthetically manufactured mineral supplements - Organic fertilizers consist of the remains or wastes of organisms that include animal mancure - organic fertilizers can improve






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






9. Mining method- mining underground coal deposits - in which shafts are dug deeply into the ground and networks of tunnels are dug to follow coal seams.






10. 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






11. Having not enough of something






12. Food assistance given to an area. Can take away the incentive to produce food in that area. Distribution is an issue.






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






14. 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






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






16. About one million people on Earth 10 -000 years ago. (The Agricultural revolution). Worlds population crossed into 7 billion now - It is unlikely that we will double the 7 billion. We will hit 9 to 11 billion people.






17. Goal to guarantee an adequate - safe - nutritious - and reliable food supply available to all people at all times






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






19. More expensive then clear cutting - leaves rows of trees for reseeding/ future harvesting.






20. 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






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






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






23. 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






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






25. A mining technique that involves digging a gigantic hole and removing the desire ORE - along with waste rock that surrounds the ore.






26. Organic macromolecules hardest to provide during a famine






27. In the last 100 years - humans have doubled the amount of organic nitrogen in the biosphere by artificial synthesis of ammonia.






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






29. 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;






30. 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






31. By far the best method for managing pests - Uses chemical pesticides - biocontrol - AND diversity - Not monoculture; things are planted in a mosaic so that if pests attack all of the corn in one area there is still more corn somewhere else - Proven t






32. Now makes up 80% of corn in the US - Benefits: Contains naturally occurring pesticide - Increases production - could feed more people - Grow more per square area - Doesn't spoil as quickly - Bigger - tastier






33. 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






34. 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






35. Completely missing something






36. 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






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






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






39. 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.






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






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






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






43. 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.






44. 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






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






46. 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






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






48. -boosts yields by intensifying irrigation and introducing synthetic fertilizers - while the advent of chemical pesticides reduce competition from weeds and herbivory by crop pests - Industrial agriculture works best under the condition of monoculture






49. Genetically engineered using recombinant DNA






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