Page 729 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

mortality Rate of death within a population. forest. These plans were to be explicitly based net energy The quantitative difference between
on the concepts of multiple use and maximum energy returned from a process and energy in-
mosaic In landscape ecology, a spatial configu-
ration of patches arrayed across a landscape. sustainable yield and be open to broad public vested in the process. Positive net energy val-
participation. ues mean that a process produces more energy
mountaintop removal mining A large-scale national monument An area of designated than is invested. See also energy conversion
form of coal mining in which entire mountain- efficiency; EROI.
tops are leveled. The technique exerts extreme public land that may later become a national net metering Process by which homeowners or
park.
environmental impact on surrounding ecosys-
tems and human residents. national park A scenic area set aside for rec- business with photovoltaic systems or wind tur-
reation and enjoyment by the public and man- bines can sell their excess solar energy or wind
Muir, John (1838–1914) Scottish immigrant power to their local utility. Whereas feed-in tar-
to the United States who eventually settled in aged by the National Park Service. The U.S. iffs award producers with prices above market
national park system today numbers 397 sites
California and made the Yosemite Valley his rates, net metering offers market-rate prices.
wilderness home. Today, he is most strongly totaling 84 million acres and includes national net primary production The energy or bio-
historic sites, national recreation areas, national
associated with the preservation ethic. He mass that remains in an ecosystem after auto-
argued that nature deserved protection for its wild and scenic rivers, and other areas. trophs have metabolized enough for their own
own inherent values (an ecocentrist argument) national wildlife refuge An area of public maintenance through cellular respiration. Net
but also claimed that nature facilitated human land set aside to serve as a haven for wildlife primary production is the energy or biomass
happiness and fulfillment (an anthropocentrist and also sometimes to encourage hunting, available for consumption by heterotrophs.
argument). fishing, wildlife observation, photography, Compare gross primary production; second-
environmental education, and other uses. The
multiple use A principle guiding management system of 550 sites is managed by the U.S. Fish ary production.
policy for national forests specifying that for- net primary productivity The rate at which
ests be managed for recreation, wildlife habi- and Wildlife Service. net primary production is produced. See pro-
tat, mineral extraction, water quality, and other natural capital Earth’s accumulated wealth of ductivity; gross primary production; net pri-
uses, as well as for timber extraction. resources.
mary production; secondary production.
municipal solid waste Nonliquid waste that is natural experiment An experiment in which neurotoxin A toxicant that assaults the nerv-
not especially hazardous and that comes from the researcher cannot directly manipulate the ous system. Neurotoxins include heavy metals,
homes, institutions, and small businesses. variables and therefore must observe nature, pesticides, and some chemical weapons devel-
Compare hazardous waste; industrial solid comparing conditions in which variables differ, oped for use in war.
waste. and interpret the results. Compare manipula-
tive experiment. neutron An electrically neutral (uncharged)
mutagen A toxicant that causes mutations in particle in the nucleus of an atom.
the DNA of organisms. natural gas A fossil fuel consisting primarily of
methane (CH ) and including varying amounts new forestry A set of ecosystem-based man-
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mutation An accidental change in DNA that of other volatile hydrocarbons. agement approaches for harvesting timber that
may range in magnitude from the deletion, sub- explicitly mimic natural disturbances. For in-
stitution, or addition of a single nucleotide to a natural rate of population change See rate stance, “sloppy clear-cuts” that leave a variety
change affecting entire sets of chromosomes. of natural increase. of trees standing mimic the changes a forest
Mutations provide the raw material for evolu- natural resource Any of the various substances might experience if hit by a severe windstorm.
tionary change. and energy sources that we take from our envi- new urbanism An approach among architects,
mutualism A relationship in which all partici- ronment and that we need in order to survive. planners, and developers that seeks to design
pating organisms benefit from their interaction. Natural Resources Conservation Service neighborhoods in which homes, businesses,
Compare parasitism. (NRCS) U.S. agency that promotes soil con- schools, and other amenities are within walk-
servation, as well as water quality protection ing distance of one another. Proponents of new
and pollution control. Prior to 1994, known as urbanism aim to combat sprawl by creating
nacelle Compartment in a wind turbine con- the Soil Conservation Service. functional neighborhoods in which families
taining machinery for generating power. can meet most of their needs close to home
natural sciences Academic disciplines that study
natality Rate of birth within a population. without the use of a car.
the natural world. Compare social sciences.
national ambient air quality standards natural selection The process by which traits niche The functional role of a species in a com-
(NAAQS) Maximum allowable concentra- that enhance survival and reproduction are munity.
tions of criteria pollutants in ambient outdoor passed on more frequently to future genera- nitrification The conversion by bacteria of
air, set by the U.S. EPA. ammonium ions (NH ) first into nitrite ions
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tions of organisms than traits that do not, thus 4
–
–
National Environmental Policy Act altering the genetic makeup of populations (NO ) and then into nitrate ions (NO ).
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(NEPA) A U.S. law enacted on January 1, through time. Natural selection acts on genetic nitrogen The chemical element with seven pro-
1970, that created an agency called the Coun- variation and is a primary driver of evolution. tons and seven neutrons. The most abundant
cil on Environmental Quality and required that negative feedback loop A feedback loop in element in the atmosphere, a key element in
an environmental impact statement be prepared which output of one type acts as input that macromolecules, and a crucial plant nutrient.
for any major federal action.
moves the system in the opposite direction. The nitrogen cycle A major nutrient cycle con-
national forest An area of forested public land input and output essentially neutralize each sisting of the routes that nitrogen atoms take
managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The sys- other’s effects, stabilizing the system. Compare through the nested networks of environmental
tem consists of 191 million acres (more than positive feedback loop. systems.
8% of the nation’s land area) in many tracts neoclassical economics A mainstream eco- nitrogen dioxide (NO ) A foul-smelling red-
spread across all but a few states. 2
nomic school of thought that explains market dish brown gas that contributes to smog and
National Forest Management Act Legisla- prices in terms of consumer preferences for acid deposition. It results when atmospheric
tion passed by the U.S. Congress in 1976, units of particular commodities and that uses nitrogen and oxygen react at the high tempera-
mandating that plans for renewable resource cost-benefit analysis. Compare ecological eco- tures created by combustion engines. An EPA
G-14 management be drawn up for every national nomics; environmental economics. criteria pollutant.

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