Environmental Science for APu00ae

Second Edition
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 Brief Contents

UNIT 1 UNIT 6
Introduction Energy Resources and Consumption

Chapter 1 Environmental Science: Studying Chapter 12 Nonrenewable Energy Sources 397

the State of Our Earth 1 Chapter 13 Achieving Energy Sustainability 431
Chapter 2 Environmental Systems 31 Unit 6 AP® Practice Exam 472
Unit 1 AP Practice Exam
®
61 scienceapplied 6 Should Corn Become Fuel? 476
scienceapplied 1 What Happened to the Missing Salt? 64
UNIT 7
UNIT 2 Pollution
The Living World
Chapter 14 Water Pollution 481
Chapter 3 Ecosystem Ecology 67 Chapter 15 Air Pollution and Stratospheric
Chapter 4 Global Climates and Biomes 103 Ozone Depletion 517
Chapter 5 Evolution of Biodiversity 147 Chapter 16 Waste Generation and Waste
Disposal 553
Unit 2 AP® Practice Exam 180
Chapter 17 Human Health and Environmental
scienceapplied 2 How Should We Prioritize the
Risks 589
Protection of Species Diversity? 184
Unit 7 AP Practice Exam
®
624
UNIT 3 scienceapplied 7 Is Recycling Always Good for the
Environment? 627
Biological and Human Populations
UNIT 8
Chapter 6 Population and Community Ecology 189
Global Change and a Sustainable Future
Chapter 7 The Human Population 225
Unit 3 AP® Practice Exam 252 Chapter 18 Conservation of Biodiversity 631
scienceapplied 3 How Can We Manage Chapter 19 Global Change 663
Overabundant Animal Populations? 255 Chapter 20 Sustainability, Economics, and Equity 701

UNIT 4 Unit 8 AP® Practice Exam 727

scienceapplied 8 Can We Solve the Carbon Crisis Using
Earth Systems and Resources
Cap-and-Trade? 730

Chapter 8 Earth Systems 259

Chapter 9 Water Resources 293 Cumulative AP ® Environmental Science
Practice Exam EXAM-1
Unit 4 AP® Practice Exam 320
scienceapplied 4 Is There a Way to Resolve the Appendix: Reading Graphs APP-1
California Water Wars? 324
Glossary GLO-1
UNIT 5 Index IND-1
Land Use
EULA
Chapter 10 Land, Public and Private 329
Chapter 11 Feeding the World 357
Unit 5 AP® Practice Exam 389
scienceapplied 5 How Do We Define Organic Food? 392

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 Contents

About the Authors xi Module 8 Responses to Disturbances 91

Acknowledgments xii Module 8 Review 95
Working Toward Sustainability Can We Make Golf
Getting the Most from This Book xvii
Greens Greener? 96
Chapter 3 Review 97
UNIT 1 Chapter 3 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 99
Introduction
Chapter 4 Global Climates and Biomes 103
Chapter 1 Environmental Science: Studying Module 9 The Unequal Heating of Earth 105
the State of Our Earth 1 Module 9 Review 109
Module 1 Environmental Science 3 Module 10 Air Currents 110
Module 1 Review 6 Module 10 Review 116
Module 2 Environmental Indicators and Module 11 Ocean Currents 117
Sustainability 7 Module 11 Review 120
do the math Converting Between Hectares and Acres 11 Module 12 Terrestrial Biomes 121
do the math Rates of Forest Clearing 14 Module 12 Review 132
Module 2 Review 17 Module 13 Aquatic Biomes 133
Module 3 Scientific Method 18 Module 13 Review 138
Module 3 Review 25 Working Toward Sustainability Is Your Coffee
Working Toward Sustainability Using Environmental Made in the Shade? 139
Indicators to Make a Better City 26 Chapter 4 Review 141
Chapter 1 Review 27 Chapter 4 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 143
Chapter 1 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 28
Chapter 5 Evolution of Biodiversity 147
Chapter 2 Environmental Systems 31 Module 14 The Biodiversity of Earth 149
Module 4 Systems and Matter 33 do the math Measuring Species Diversity 152
Module 4 Review 42 Module 14 Review 153
Module 5 Energy, Flows, and Feedbacks 43 Module 15 How Evolution Creates Biodiversity 154
do the math Calculating Energy Use and Module 15 Review 163
Converting Units 46 Module 16 Speciation and the Pace of Evolution 164
Module 5 Review 54 Module 16 Review 168
Working Toward SustainabilityManaging Module 17 Evolution of Niches and Species
Environmental Systems in the Florida Everglades 55 Distributions 168
Module 17 Review 173
Chapter 2 Review 56
® Protecting the
Working Toward Sustainability
Chapter 2 AP Environmental Science Practice Exam 58
Unit 1 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 61 Oceans When They Cannot Be Bought 174
scienceapplied 1 What Happened to the Missing Salt? 64 Chapter 5 Review 175
Chapter 5 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 177
Unit 2 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 180
UNIT 2 scienceapplied 2 How Should We Prioritize
The Living World the Protection of Species Diversity? 184

Chapter 3 Ecosystem Ecology 67

Module 6 The Movement of Energy 69 UNIT 3
Module 6 Review 78 Biological and Human Populations
Module 7 The Movement of Matter 79
do the math Raising Mangoes 81 Chapter 6 Population and
Module 7 Review 90 Community Ecology 189

  vii

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 Module 18 The Abundance and Distribution Working Toward Sustainability Is the Water in
of Populations 191 Your Toilet Too Clean? 316
Module 18 Review 195 Chapter 9 Review 317
Module 19 Population Growth Models 196 Chapter 9 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 318
do the math Calculating Exponential Growth 199 Unit 4 AP® Environmental Science
Module 19 Review 203 Practice Exam 320
Module 20 Community Ecology 204 scienceapplied 4 Is There a Way to Resolve
Module 20 Review 211 the California Water Wars? 324
Module 21 Community Succession 212
Module 21 Review 216
Working Toward Sustainability Bringing Back UNIT 5
the Black-footed Ferret 217 Land Use
Chapter 6 Review 218
Chapter 6 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 221
Chapter 10 Land, Public and Private 329
Module 29 Land Use Concepts and Classification 331
Chapter 7 The Human Population 225 Module 29 Review 337
Module 30 Land Management Practices 338
Module 22 Human Population Numbers 227
Module 30 Review 349
do the math Calculating Population Growth 233
Working Toward Sustainability What Are the
Module 22 Review 236
Ingredients for a Successful Neighborhood? 350
Module 23 Economic Development,
Chapter 10 Review 351
Consumption, and Sustainability 237
Chapter 10 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 353
Module 23 Review 246
Working Toward SustainabilityGender Equity
and Population Control in Kerala 247 Chapter 11 Feeding the World 357
Module 31 Human Nutritional Needs 359
Chapter 7 Review 248
Module 31 Review 362
Chapter 7 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 250
®
Unit 3 AP Environmental Science Module 32 Modern Large-Scale Farming Methods 363
Practice Exam 252 do the math Land Needed for Food 365
scienceapplied 3 How Can We Manage Module 32 Review 373
Overabundant Animal Populations? 255 Module 33 Alternatives to Industrial
Farming Methods 374
UNIT 4 Module 33 Review 383
Working Toward Sustainability The Prospect
Earth Systems and Resources
of Perennial Crops 383
Chapter 8 Earth Systems 259 Chapter 11 Review 384
Chapter 11 AP® Environmental Science
Module 24 Mineral Resources and Geology 261
Practice Exam 386
do the math Plate Movement 268
Unit 5 AP® Environmental Science
Module 24 Review 273 Practice Exam 389
Module 25 Weathering and Soil Science 274 scienceapplied 5 How Do We Define Organic Food? 392
Module 25 Review 286
Working Toward Sustainability Mine Reclamation
and Biodiversity 287 UNIT 6
Chapter 8 Review 288 Energy Resources and Consumption
Chapter 8 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 290
Chapter 12 Nonrenewable Energy
Chapter 9 Water Resources 293 Resources 397
Module 26 The Availability of Water 295 Module 34 Patterns of Energy Use 399
Module 26 Review 301
do the math Efficiency of Travel 404
Module 27 Human Alteration of Water Availability 302
do the math Calculating Energy Supply 407
Module 27 Review 307
Module 34 Review 408
Module 28 Human Use of Water Now and
Module 35 Fossil Fuel Resources 409
in the Future 308
Module 35 Review 417
do the math Selecting the Best Washing Machine 314
Module 36 Nuclear Energy Resources 418
Module 28 Review 315

viii  Contents

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 do the math Calculating Half-Lives 422 Module 47 Photochemical Smog and Acid Rain 527
Module 36 Review 425 Module 47 Review 532
Working Toward Sustainability Meet TED: Module 48 Pollution Control Measures 533
The Energy Detective 426 do the math Calculating Annual Sulfur Reductions 536
Chapter 12 Review 427 Module 48 Review 537
Chapter 12 AP® Environmental Science Module 49 Stratospheric Ozone Depletion 538
Practice Exam 428 Module 49 Review 541
Module 50 Indoor Air Pollution 542
Chapter 13 Achieving Energy Sustainability 431 Module 50 Review 545
Module 37 Conservation, Efficiency, Working Toward Sustainability A New Cook
and Renewable Energy 433 Stove Design 546
do the math Energy Star 436 Chapter 15 Review 547
Module 37 Review 439 Chapter 15 AP® Environmental Science
Module 38 Biomass and Water 440 Practice Exam 549
Module 38 Review 448
Module 39 Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Chapter 16 Waste Generation
and Hydrogen 449 and Waste Disposal 553
Module 39 Review 459 Module 51 Only Humans Generate Waste 555
Module 40 Planning Our Energy Future 460 Module 51 Review 560
Module 40 Review 465 Module 52 The Three Rs and Composting 561
Working Toward Sustainability Building an Module 52 Review 567
Alternative Energy Society in Iceland 466 Module 53 Landfills and Incineration 568
Chapter 13 Review 467 do the math How Much Leachate Might Be Collected? 572
Chapter 13 AP® Environmental Science Module 53 Review 574
Practice Exam 469 Module 54 Hazardous Waste 575
Unit 6 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam 472 Module 54 Review 578
scienceapplied 6 Should Corn Become Fuel? 476 Module 55 New Ways to Think About
Solid Waste 579
UNIT 7 Module 55 Review 582
Working Toward Sustainability Recycling
Pollution
E-Waste in Chile 583
Chapter 14 Water Pollution 481 Chapter 16 Review 584
Chapter 16 AP® Environmental Science
Module 41 Wastewater from Humans
Practice Exam 586
and Livestock 483
do the math Building a Manure Lagoon 489
Chapter 17 Human Health and
Module 41 Review 490
Environmental Risks 589
Module 42 Heavy Metals and Other Chemicals 491
Module 42 Review 497 Module 56 Human Disease 591
Module 43 Oil Pollution 498 Module 56 Review 600
Module 43 Review 501 Module 57 Toxicology and Chemical Risks 601
Module 44 Nonchemical Water Pollution 502 do the math Estimating LD50 Values and
Module 44 Review 505 Safe Exposures 607
Module 45 Water Pollution Laws 506 Module 57 Review 611
Module 45 Review 509 Module 58 Risk Analysis 612
Working Toward Sustainability Purifying Water Module 58 Review 617
for Pennies 510 Working Toward Sustainability The Global
Chapter 14 Review 512 Fight Against Malaria 618
Chapter 14 AP® Environmental Science Chapter 17 Review 620
Practice Exam 514 Chapter 17 AP® Environmental Science
Practice Exam 622
Chapter 15 Air Pollution and Stratospheric Unit 7 AP® Environmental Science
Ozone Depletion 517 Practice Exam 624
Module 46 Major Air Pollutants and Their Sources 519 scienceapplied 7 Is Recycling Always Good for the
Module 46 Review 526 Environment? 627

Contents   ix

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 UNIT 8 Chapter 19 Review 696
Chapter 19 AP® Environmental Science
Global Change and a Sustainable Future
Practice Exam 698

Chapter 18 Conservation of Biodiversity 631

Chapter 20 Sustainability, Economics,
Module 59 The Sixth Mass Extinction 633
and Equity 701
Module 59 Review 640
Module 65 Sustainability and Economics 703
Module 60 Causes of Declining Biodiversity 641
Module 65 Review 710
Module 60 Review 649
Module 66 Regulations and Equity 711
Module 61 The Conservation of Biodiversity 650
Module 66 Review 720
Module 61 Review 656
Working Toward Sustainability Swapping Debt Working Toward Sustainability Reuse-A-Sneaker 721
for Nature 657 Chapter 20 Review 723
Chapter 20 AP® Environmental Science
Chapter 18 Review 658
Practice Exam 724
Chapter 18 AP® Environmental Science
Unit 8 AP® Environmental Science
Practice Exam 660
Practice Exam 727
scienceapplied 8 Can We Solve the Carbon
Chapter 19 Global Change 663
Crisis Using Cap-and-Trade? 730
Module 62 Global Climate Change and
the Greenhouse Effect 665 Cumulative AP ® Environmental Science
Module 62 Review 673 Practice Exam EXAM-1
Module 63 The Evidence for Global Warming 674
Appendix: Reading Graphs APP-1
do the math Projecting Future Increases in CO2 675
Module 63 Review 685 Glossary GLO-1
Module 64 Consequences of Global
Index IND-1
Climate Change 686
Module 64 Review 694 EULA
Working Toward SustainabilityCities, States,
and Businesses Lead the Way to Reduce
Greenhouse Gases 695

x Contents

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 About the Authors
Nancy Nutile-McMenemy
Andrew Friedland is Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Envi-
ronmental Studies and former chair of the Environmental Stud-
ies Program at Dartmouth College. He was the founding chair of
the Advanced Placement Test Development Committee (College
Board) for Environmental Science. He has a strong interest in high
school science education, and in the early years of AP® environ-
mental science he participated in many trainer and teacher work-
shops. For more than 10 years, Andy has been a guest lecturer at
the St. Johnsbury Academy Advanced Placement Institute for Sec-
ondary Teachers. He has also served on the College Board AP®
Environmental Science Curriculum Development and Assessment
Committee.
Andy regularly teaches introductory environmental science and
energy courses at Dartmouth and has taught courses in forest bio-
geochemistry, global change, and soil science, as well as foreign
study courses in Kenya. Beginning in 2015, Andy brings his intro-
ductory environmental science course to the massive, open, online
course format through the DartmouthX platform.
Andy received a BA degree in both biology and environmental
studies, and a PhD in earth and environmental science, from the
University of Pennsylvania. For more than three decades, Andy has
been investigating the effects of air pollution on the cycling of
carbon, nitrogen, and lead in high-elevation forests of New
England and the Northeast. Recently, he has been examining the
impact of increased demand for wood as a fuel, and the subsequent
effect on carbon stored deep in forest soils.
Andy has served on panels for the National Science Foundation,
USDA Forest Service, and Science Advisory Board of the
Environmental Protection Agency. He has authored or coauthored
more than 65 peer-reviewed publications and one book, Writing
Successful Science Proposals (Yale University Press).
Andy is passionate about saving energy and has pursued many
energy efficiency endeavors in his home. Recently, he installed a
4 kW solar photovoltaic tracker that follows the Sun during the
day.
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 11
Brian Mattes
Rick Relyea is the David Darrin Senior ‘40 Endowed Chair in
Biology and the executive director of the Darrin Freshwater Insti-
tute at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rick teaches courses in
ecology, evolution, and animal behavior at the undergraduate and
graduate levels. He received a BS in environmental forest biology
from the State University of New York College of Environmental
Science and Forestry, an MS in wildlife management from Texas
Tech University, and a PhD in ecology and evolution from the
­University of Michigan.
Rick is recognized throughout the world for his work in the
fields of ecology, evolution, animal behavior, and ­ecotoxicology.
He has served on multiple scientific panels for the National
Science Foundation and has been an associate editor for the
journals of the Ecological Society of America. For two decades,
he has conducted research on a wide range of topics, including
predator-prey interactions, phenotypic plasticity, eutrophication
of aquatic habitats, sexual selection, disease ecology, long-term
dynamics of populations and communities across the landscape,
and pesticide impacts on aquatic ecosystems. He has authored
more than 110 scientific articles and book chapters, and has
presented research seminars throughout the world. Rick
­recently moved to Rensselaer from the University of Pittsburgh,
where he was named the Chancellor’s Distinguished Researcher
in 2005 and received the Tina and David Bellet Teaching
Excellence Award in 2014.
Rick has a strong interest in high school education. High
school science teachers conduct research in his laboratory and he
offers summer workshops for high school teachers in the fields of
ecology, evolution, and ecotoxicology. Rick also works to bring
cutting-edge research experiments into high school classrooms.
Rick’s commitment to the environment extends to his per-
sonal life. He lives in a home constructed with a passive solar
building design and equipped with active solar panels on the roof.
The solar panels generate so much electricity that he sells the extra
electricity back to the local electric utility every month.
  xi
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the many people at Bedford,
Freeman, and Worth who helped guide us through the
publication process in both the first and second editions
of this book. They have taught us a great deal and have
been crucial to our book becoming greatly appreciated
by so many people. We especially want to acknowledge:
Ann Heath, Jeffrey Dowling, Becky Kohn, Fred
Burns, Janie Pierce-Bratcher, Kerry O’Shaughnessy,
Julia DeRosa, Matt McAdams, Joseph BelBruno, Anna
Skiba-Crafts, Aaron Stoler, Lucas Sanford-Long,
Christine Buese, Vicki Tomaselli, Lee Wilcox, Jerry
Correa, Beth Howe, Cindi Weiss, Karen Misler,
Deborah Goodsite, Ted Szczepanski, and Cathy
Murphy. We thank David Courard-Hauri, Ross Jones,
and Susan Weisberg for contributions to the first edition
of this book.
We also wish to convey our appreciation to the doz-
ens of reviewers who constantly challenged us to write
a clear, correct, and philosophically balanced textbook.
From Andy Friedland . . .
A large number of people have contributed to this
book in a variety of ways. I would like to thank all of
my teachers, students, and colleagues. Professors
Robert Giegengack and Arthur Johnson introduced
me to environmental science as an undergraduate and
graduate student. My current and previous colleagues
in the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth
and elsewhere have contributed in a variety of ways. I
thank Doug Bolger, Michael Cox, Rich Howarth,
Anne Kapuscinski, Karol Kawiaka, Rosi Kerr, Nick
Reo, Bill Roebuck, Jack Shepherd, Chris Sneddon,
Scott Stokoe, Ross Virginia, and D.G. Webster for all
sorts of contributions to my teaching and scholarship
and to this book. Graduate students Chelsea Petrenko
and Justin Richardson have also contributed. Emily
Lacroix and Jacob Ebersole, Dartmouth u­ ndergraduates
xii  
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 12
who have taken courses from me, provided excellent
editorial, proofreading, and writing assistance. Many
other colleagues have had discussions with me or
evaluated sections of text including William Schlesinger,
Ben Carton, Jon Kull, Nat Draper, Bob Hawley, Jim
Labelle, Tim Smith, Charlie Sullivan, Jenna Pollock,
Jim Kaste, Carol Folt, Celia Chen, Matt Ayres, Kathy
Cottingham, and Mark McPeek. Since the time when
AP® Environmental Science was just an idea at a
College Board workshop, Beth Nichols, Tom Corley,
and many others, especially teachers I have since met
at meetings and workshops, have introduced me to the
world of Advanced Placement® teaching.
I wish to acknowledge Dana Meadows and Ned
Perrin, both of whom have since passed away, for
contributions during the early stages of this work.
Terry Tempest Williams has been a tremendous source
of advice and wisdom about topics environmental,
scientific, and practical.
I am grateful to Dick and Janie Pearl for friendship
and support through the Richard and Jane Pearl
Professorship in Environmental Studies. Finally, I
thank Katie, Jared, and Ethan Friedland, and my
mother Selma.
From Rick Relyea . . .
I would like to thank my family—my wife Christine
and my children Isabelle and Wyatt. Too many nights
and weekends were taken from them and given to this
textbook and they never complained. Their presence
and patience continually inspired me to push forward
and complete the project.
I am also grateful to the many people at Bedford,
Freeman, and Worth who helped guide me and taught
me a great deal about the publication process. I would
like to especially thank Jerry Correa for convincing me
to join the first edition of this book.
12/5/14 9:27 AM

High School Focus Group Participants and Reviewers
Our deep appreciation and heartfelt thanks are due to the experienced AP® ­teachers
who participated in focus groups and/or reviewed the manuscript during the
­development of this book. Their contributions have been invaluable.
Cynthia Ahmed, Signature School,
IN
Timothy Allen, Thomas A. Edison
Preparatory High School, OK
Julie Back, Kecoughtan High School,
VA
Maureen Bagwell, Collierville High
School, TN
Fredrick Baldwin, Kendall High
School, NY
Lisa Balzas, Indian Springs School,
AL
Debra Bell, Montgomery High
School, TX
Melinda Bell, Flagstaff Arts and
Leadership Academy, AZ
Karen Benton, South Brunswick
High School, NJ
Richard Benz, Wickliffe High
School, OH
Cindy Birkner, Webber Township
High School, IL
Christine Bouchard, Milford Public
Schools, CT
Gail Boyarsky, East Chapel Hill
High School, NC
Rebecca Bricen, Johnsonburg High
School, PA
Deanna Brunlinger, Elkhorn Area
High School, WI
Kevin Bryan, Woodrow Wilson
Senior High School, CA
Tanya Bunch, Carter High School,
TN
Diane Burrell, Starr’s Mill High
School, GA
Teri Butler, New Hanover High
School, NC
Charles Campbell, Russellville High
School, AR
Sande Caton, Concord High School,
DE
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 13
Andrea Charles, West Side
Leadership Academy, IN
Linda Charpentier, Xavier High
School, CT
Blanca Ching, Fort Hamilton High
School, NY
Ashleigh Coe, Bethesda-Chevy
Chase High School, MD
Bethany Colburn, Randolph High
School, MA
Jonathan D. Cole, Holmdel High
School, NJ
Robert Compton, Walled Lake
Northern High School, MI
Ann Cooper, Oseola High School,
AR
Thomas Cooper, The Walker
School, GA
Joyce Corriere, Hampton High
School, VA
Stephanie Crow, Milford High
School, MI
Stephen Crowley, Winooski High
School, VT
Linda D’Apolito, Trinity School,
NY
Brygida DeRiemaker, Eisenhower
High School, MI
Chand Desai, Martin Luther King
Magnet High School, TN
Michael Douglas, Bronx Prep
Charter School, NY
Nancy Dow, A. Crawford Mosley
High School, FL
Nat Draper, Deep Run High School,
VA
Denis DuBay, Leesville High
School, NC
John Dutton, Shaw High School,
OH
Heather Earp, West Johnston High
School, NC
Reviewers
Kim Eife, Academy of Notre Dame,
PA
Brian Elliot, San Dimas High
School, CA
Christina Engen, Crescenta Valley
High School, CA
Mary Anne Evans, Allendale
Columbia School, NY
Kay Farkas, Rush-Henrietta High
School, NJ
Tim Fennell, LASA at LBJ High
School, TX
Michael Finch, Greene County Tech
High School, AR
Robert Ford, Fairfield College
Preparatory School, CT
Paul Frisch, Fox Lane High School,
NY
Bob Furhman, The Covenant
School, VA
Nivedita (Nita) Ganguly, Oak
Ridge High School, TN
Mike Gaule, Ladywood High
School, MI
Billy Goodman, Passaic Valley
High School, NJ
Amanda Graves, Mt. Tahoma High
School, WA
Barbara Gray, Richmond
Community High School, VA
Jack Greene, Logan High School,
UT
Jeannie Kornfeld, Hanover High
School, NH
Jen Kotkin, St. Philip’s Academy,
NJ
Pat Kretzer, Timber Creek High
School, FL
Michelle Krug, Coral Springs High
School, FL
Jim Kuipers, Chicago Christian
High School, IL
  xiii
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Claire Kull, Career Center, NC
Jay Kurima, O. D. Wyatt High
School, TX
Tom LaHue, Aptos High School,
CA
Cathy Larson, Patuxent High
School, MD
Michael Lauer, Danville High
School, KY
Sonia Laureni, West Orange High
School, NJ
Amy Lawson, Naples High School,
FL
Jim Lehner, The Taft School, CT
Dr. Avon Lewis, Lexington High
School, MA
Marie Lieberman, Ravenscroft
School, NC
John Ligget, Conestoga High School,
PA
Ann Linsley, Bellaire High School,
TX
Mark Little, Broomfield High
School, CO
Leyana Lloyd, Washington Senior
Academy, GA
Larry Lollar, Alice High School, TX
Stephanie Longfellow, Deltona
High School, FL
Sue Ellen Lyons, Holy Cross School,
LA
Theresa Lyster, Camden County
High School, GA
John F. Madden, Ashley Hall
School, SC
Jeremy Magee, Sandy High School,
OR
Mike Mallon, James I. O’Neill
High School, NY
Scott Martin, Deer Creek High
School, OK
Kristi Martinez, Eastlake High
School, WA
Christeena Mathews, The
Philadelphia High School for Girls,
PA
Courtney Mayer, Winston
Churchill High School, TX
Monica Maynard, Schurr High
School, CA
James McAdams, Center Grove
High School, IN
Kristen McClellen, Grand Junction
High School, CO
Sandy McDonough, North Salem
Middle/High School, NY
xiv  Reviewers
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 14
Diane Medford, Los Alamos High
School, NM
Leslie Miller, Flintridge Sacred
Heart Academy, CA
Lonnie Miller, El Diamante High
School, CA
Melody Mingus, Breckinridge
County High School, KY
Myra Morgan, National Math
& Science Initiative, AP ®
Environmental Consultant
Tammy Morgan, Lake Placid High
School, NY
David Moscarelli, Ponaganset High
School, RI
Terri Mountjoy, Greene County
Career Center, OH
Bill Mulhearn, Archmere Academy, DE
Sharna Murphy, Millikan High
School, CA
Jeanine Musgrove, Oakton High
School, VA
Anna Navarro, Veterans Memorial
High School, TX
Barbara Nealon, Southern York
County School District, PA
Dara Nix-Stevenson, American
Hebrew Academy, NC
Bennett O’Connor, Dallas ISD,
TX
Robert Oddo, Horace Greeley High
School, NY
Kate Oitzinger, El Molino High
School, CA
Paul Olson, Redwood High School,
CA
Janet Ort, Hoover High School, AL
Roger Palmer, Bishop Dunne High
School, TX
Annetta Pasquarello, Triton
Regional High School, NJ
Lynn Paulsen, Mayde Creek High
School, TX
Judy Perrella, Academy of the Holy
Names, FL
Carolyn Phillips, Southeastern High
School, IL
Pam Phillips, Hayden High School,
AL
Alanna Piccillo, Palisade High
School, CO
Julie Quinn Kiernan, Cretin-
Durham Hall, NC
Jenny Ramsey, Charlotte Christian
School, NC
Susan Ramsey, VASS, VA
Cristen Rasmussen, Costa Mesa
High School, CA
Alesa Rehmann, Coral Shores High
School, FL
Mark Reilly, Jefferson High School,
IΩ
Kimbell Reitz, Penn High School,
IN
Cheryl Rice, Howard High School,
MD
Sharon Riley, Spring field High
School, OH
Chris Robson, Ironwood Ridge
High School, AZ
James Rodewald, Shaker High
School, NY
Kurt Rogers, Northern Highlands
Regional High School, NJ
Kris Rohrbeck, Almont High
School, MI
David Rouby, Hall High School,
AR
Rebecca Rouch, East Bay High
School, FL
Jennifer Roy, TrekNorth Junior &
Senior High School, MN
Reva Beth Russell, Lehi High
School, UT
Sheila Scanlan, Highland High
School, AZ
Kristi Schertz, Saugus High School,
CA
Greg Schiller, James Monroe High
School, CA
Amy Schwartz, Aragon High
School, CA
Shashi Sharma, Henry Snyder High
School, NJ
Tonya Shires, Edgewood High
School, MD
Pamela Shlachtman, South Dade
Senior High School, FL
Julie Smiley, Winchester Community
High School, IN
Amy Snodgrass, Central High
School, AR
Bill Somerlot, New Albany High
School, OH
Anne Soos, Stuart Country Day
School of the Sacred Heart, NJ
Joan Stevens, Arcadia High School,
CA
Marianne Strickhart, Henry Snyder
High School, NJ
Timothy Strout, Jericho High
School, NY
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Robert Summers, A+ College
Ready, AL
Jeff Sutton, The Harker School, CA
Dave Szaroleta, Salesianum School,
DE
Kristen Thomson, Saratoga High
School, CA
James Timmons, Carrboro High
School, NC
Thomas Tokarski, Woodlands High
School, NY
Susan Tully, Salem Academy
Charter School, MA
Debra Tyson, Brooke Pointe High
School, VA
Melissa Valentine, Elizabeth Seton
High School, MD
College Reviewers
We are also indebted to numerous college instructors, many of whom are also
involved in AP® Environmental Science, for their insights and suggestions through
various stages of development. The content experts who carefully reviewed
Chapters in their area of expertise are designated with an asterisk (*).
M. Stephen Ailstock, PhD, Anne
Arundel Community College
Deniz Z. Altin-Ballero, Georgia
Perimeter College
Daphne Babcock, Collin County
Community College District
Jay L. Banner, University of Texas
at San Antonio
James W. Bartolome, University of
California, Berkeley
Ray Beiersdorfer, Youngstown State
University
Grady Price Blount, Texas A&M
University, Corpus Christi
Dr. Edward M. Brecker, Palm
Beach Community College, Boca
Raton
Anne E. Bunnell, East Carolina
University
Ingrid C. Burke, Colorado State
University
Anya Butt, Central Alabama
Community College
John Callewaert, University of
Michigan *
Kelly Cartwright, College of Lake
County
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 15
Dirk Valk, McKeel Academy, FL
Gene Vann, Head-Royce School,
CA
Rebecca Van Tassell, Herron High
School, IN
Marc Vermeire, Friday Harbor High
School, WA
Naomi Volain, Spring field Central
High School, MA
Betty Walden, Merritt Island High
School, FL
Craig Wallace, North Oldham High
School, KY
Abbie Walston, North Haven High
School, CT
Annette Weeks, Battle Ground
High School, WA
Mary Kay Cassani, Florida Gulf
Coast University
Young D. Choi, Purdue University
Calumet
John C. Clausen, University of
Connecticut *
Richard K. Clements, Chattanooga
State Technical Community
College
Thomas Cobb, Bowling Green State
University, OH
Stephen D. Conrad, Indiana
Wesleyan University
Terence H. Cooper, University of
Minnesota, Saint Mary’s Winona
Campus
Douglas Crawford-Brown,
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Wynn W. Cudmore, Chemeketa
Community College
Katherine Kao Cushing, San Jose
State University
Maxine Dakins, University of
Idaho
Robert Dennison, Heartland
Community College
Pamela Weghorst, Ardrey Kell High
School, NC
Michelle Whitehurst, Powhatan
High School, VA
Jane Whitelock, Easton High
School, MD
Laurie Whitesell, Eli Whitney
Middle School, OK
Robert Whitney, Westview High
School, CA
Carol Widegren, Lincoln Park High
School, IL
Sarrah Williams, Hamden Hall
Country Day School, CT
Robert Willis, Lakeside High
School,GA
Michael Denniston, Georgia
Perimeter College
Roman Dial, Alaska Pacific
University
Robert Dill, Bergen Community
College
Michael L. Draney, University of
Wisconsin, Green Bay
Anita I. Drever, University of
Wyoming *
James Eames, Loyola University
New Orleans
Kathy Evans, Reading Area
Community College
Mark Finley, Heartland Community
College
Dr. Eric J. Fitch, Marietta College
Karen F. Gaines, Northeastern
Illinois University
James E. Gawel, University of
Washington, Tacoma
Carri Gerber, Ohio State
University Agricultural Technical
Institute
Julie Grossman, Saint Mary’s
University of Minnesota, Saint
Mary’s Winona Campus
Reviewers   xv
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Lonnie J. Guralnick, Roger
Williams University
Sue Habeck, Tacoma Community
College
Hilary Hamann, Colorado College
Dr. Sally R. Harms, Wayne State
College
Floyd Hayes, Pacific Union College
Keith R. Hench, Kirkwood
Community College
William Hopkins, Virginia Tech *
Richard Jensen, Hofstra University
Sheryll Jerez, Stephen F. Austin
State University
Shane Jones, College of Lake
County
Caroline A. Karp, Brown University
Erica Kipp, Pace University,
Pleasantville/Briarcliff
Christopher McGrory Klyza,
Middlebury College *
Frank T. Kuserk, Moravian College
Matthew Landis, Middlebury
College *
Kimberly Largen, George Mason
University
Larry L. Lehr, PhD, Baylor
University
Zhaohui Li, University of
Wisconsin, Parkside
Thomas R. MacDonald, University
of San Francisco
Robert Stephen Mahoney, Johnson
& Wales University
Bryan Mark, Ohio State University,
Columbus Campus
Paula J.S. Martin, Juniata College
Robert J. Mason, Tennessee Temple
University
Michael R. Mayfield, Ball State
University
Alan W. McIntosh, University of
Vermont
Dr. Kendra K. McLauchlan,
Kansas State University *
Patricia R. Menchaca, Mount San
Jacinto Community College
Dr. Dorothy Merritts, Franklin and
Marshall College *
Bram Middeldorp, Minneapolis
Community and Technical College
Tamera Minnick, Mesa State
College
xvi  Reviewers
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 16
Mark Mitch, New England College
Ronald Mossman, Miami Dade
College, North
William Nieter, St. John’s
University
Mark Oemke, Alma College
Victor Okereke, PhD, PE,
Morrisville State College
Duke U. Ophori, Montclair State
University
Chris Paradise, Davidson College
Dr. Clayton A. Penniman, Central
Connecticut State University
Christopher G. Peterson, Loyola
University Chicago
Craig D. Phelps, Rutgers, The
State University of New Jersey,
New Brunswick
F.X. Phillips, PhD, McNeese State
University
Rich Poirot, Vermont Department of
Environmental Conservation *
Bradley R. Reynolds, University of
Tennessee, Chattanooga
Amy Rhodes, Smith College *
Marsha Richmond, Wayne State
University
Sam Riffell, Mississippi State
University
Jennifer S. Rivers, Northeastern
Illinois University
Ellison Robinson, Midlands
Technical College
Bill D. Roebuck, Dartmouth
Medical School *
William J. Rogers, West Texas
A&M University
Thomas Rohrer, Central Michigan
University
Aldemaro Romero, Arkansas State
University
William R. Roy, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Steven Rudnick, University of
Massachusetts, Boston
Heather Rueth, Grand Valley State
University
Eleanor M. Saboski, University of
New England
Seema Sah, Florida International
University
Shamili Ajgaonkar Sandiford,
College of DuPage
Robert M. Sanford, University of
Southern Maine
Nan Schmidt, Pima Community
College
Jeffery A. Schneider, State
University of New York at Oswego
Bruce A. Schulte, Georgia Southern
University
Eric Shulenberger, University of
Washington
Michael Simpson, Antioch
University New England *
Annelle Soponis, Reading Area
Community College
Douglas J. Spieles, Denison
University
David Steffy, Jacksonville State
University
Christiane Stidham, State
University of New York at Stony
Brook
Peter F. Strom, Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey, New
Brunswick
Kathryn P. Sutherland, University
of Georgia
Christopher M. Swan, University of
Maryland, Baltimore County *
Melanie Szulczewski, University of
Mary Washington
Jamey Thompson, Hudson Valley
Community College
John A. Tiedemann, Monmouth
University
Conrad Toepfer, Brescia University
Todd Tracy, Northwestern College
Steve Trombulak, Middlebury
College
Zhi Wang, California State
University, Fresno
Jim White, University of Colorado,
Boulder
Rich Wolfson, Middlebury College *
C. Wesley Wood, Auburn
University
David T. Wyatt, Sacramento City
College
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Getting the Most from This Book

Daily life is filled with decisions large and small that affect our environment. From
the food we eat, to the cars we drive or choose not to drive, to the chemicals we
put into the water, soil, and air. The impact of human activity is wide-ranging
and deep. And yet making decisions about the environment is often not easy or
straightforward. Is it better for the environment if we purchase a new, energy-
efficient hybrid car or should we continue using the older car we already own?
Should we remove a dam that provides electricity for 70,000 homes because it
interferes with the migration of salmon? Are there alternatives to fossil fuel for
heating our homes?
The purpose of this book is to give you a working knowledge of the big ideas
of environmental science and help you to prepare for the AP® Environmental
Science Exam. The book is designed to provide you with a strong foundation in
the scientific fundamentals, to introduce you to the policy issues and conflicts that
emerge in the real world, and to offer you an in-depth exploration of all the topics
covered on the advanced placement exam in environmental science.
Like the first edition, Friedland and Relyea Environmental Science for AP®, Sec-
ond Edition, is organized to closely follow the AP® environmental science course
description. Every item on the College Board’s “Topic Outline” is covered thor-
oughly in the text. Look inside the front cover for a detailed alignment guide. The
textbook offers comprehensive coverage of all required AP® course topics and will
help you prepare for success on the exam by:

• providing chapter opening case studies that will help you to see how envi-
ronmental science is grounded in your daily life and in the world around
you
• dividing each chapter into manageable modules that will help you to be or-
ganized and keep up with the challenging pace of the AP® environmental
science course
• using the same terminology, language, and formulas that you will see on the
AP® environmental science exam
• using expertly selected and artistically rendered figures, photographs,
graphs, and visuals that will help you to understand and remember the big
ideas and important concepts that will be on the exam
• providing you with many opportunities to practice for the exam through-
out the year, including end-of-module AP® review questions, chapter AP®
practice exams, unit AP® practice exams, and a cumulative AP® practice
exam at the end

The next few pages offer you a brief tour of the features of this book that have
been designed to help you succeed in the course and on the exam.

xvii

Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 17 12/5/14 9:27 AM

 Explore the world around you through science.
chapter
8 Earth Systems
Module 24 Mineral Resources and Geology
Module 25 Weathering and Soil Science
Are Hybrid Electric Vehicles as Environmentally
Friendly as We Think?
Many people in the environmental sci-
ence community believe that hybrid
electric vehicles (HEV) and all-electric
vehicles are some of the most exciting
innovations of the last decade. Cars
that run on electric power or on
a combination of electricity and
gasoline are much more efficient in
their use of fuel than similarly sized
internal combustion (IC) automo-
biles. Some of these cars use no
gasoline at all, while others are able
to run as much as twice the distance
as a conventional IC car on the same
amount of gasoline.
Although HEV and all-electric vehi-
cles reduce our consumption of liquid
fossil fuels, they do come with environ-
mental trade offs. The construction
of HEV vehicles uses scarce metals,
onent of including neodymium, lithium, and
y hybrid-electric lanthanum. Neodymium is needed to
has adverse
ences. This lithium
Hammond/Panos Pictures)
Module Structure
Chapters are divided into short Modules to
help keep you on pace. Each module opens
with a brief description of what topics will be
covered.
Learning Objectives
A list key ideas at the beginning of the module
help to keep you focused as you read.
xviii  Getting the Most from This Book
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 18
form the magnets used in the electric
motors, and lithium and lanthanum are
used in the compact high-performance
batteries the vehicles require. At present,
Although HEV and all-electric
vehicles reduce our
consumption of liquid fossil
fuels, they do come with
environmental trade offs.
there appears to be enough lanthanum
available in the world to meet the
demand of the Toyota Motor Corporation,
which has manufactured more than
3 million Prius HEV vehicles. Toyota
obtains its lanthanum from China. There
are also supplies of lanthanum in various
geologic deposits in California, Australia,
Running glossary
Important key terms are set in bold type in the text and defined at
the bottom of the page on which they are introduced. Key terms
are also defined in the glossary at the end of the book.
Chapter Opening Case Study
Read the intriguing case study that begins each
chapter and think about the environmental
challenges and trade-offs that are introduced.
The subjects of these studies often will spark
spirited class discussion.
As you can see from case studies like this
one from Chapter 8, it’s not always easy to
make sustainable choices.
Bolivia, Canada, and elsewhere, but
most of these deposits have not yet been
developed for mining. Until this happens,
some scientists believe that the produc-
tion of HEVs and all-electric vehicles
will eventually be limited by the
availability of lanthanum. module
In addition to the scarcity of
34
metals needed to make HEV and
all-electric vehicles, we have to
Patterns of Energy Use
consider how we acquire these
metals. Wherever mining occurs, it
has a number of environmental
consequences. Material extraction
leaves a landscape fragmented by
holes, and road construction necessary
for access to and from the mining site
further alters the habitat. Erosion and In this module we begin our study of nonrenewable energy sources by looking at
water contamination are also common patterns of energy use throughout the world and in the United States. We will see how
results of mining. evaluating energy efficiency can help us determine the best application for different
A typical Toyota Prius HEV uses energy sources. Finally, because electricity accounts for such a large percentage of
approximately 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of
our overall energy use, we will examine the ways in which electricity is generated.
259 Learning Objectives
After reading this module, you should be able to
• describe the use of nonrenewable energy in the world and in the United States.
• explain why different forms of energy are best suited for certain purposes.
• understand the primary ways that electricity is generated in the United States.
Nonrenewable energy is used gaseous components that are easily combusted. Because
worldwide and in the United States fossil fuel cannot be replenished once it is used up, it is
known as a nonrenewable energy resource. Nuclear
Fossil fuels are fuels derived from biological material
fuel, derived from radioactive materials that give off
energy, is another major source of nonrenewable energy
that became fossilized millions of years ago. Fuels from
this source provide most of the energy used in both
on which we depend. The supplies of these energy
types are finite.
developed and developing countries. The vast majority Every country in the world uses energy at different
of the fossil fuels we use—coal, oil, and natural gas— rates and relies on different energy resources. Factors
come from deposits of organic matter that were formed that determine the rate at which energy is used include
50 million to 350 million years ago. As we saw in the resources that are available and affordable. In the
Chapter 3 (see Figure 7.2 on page 83), when organisms past few decades, people have also begun to consider
die, decomposers break down most of the dead biomass environmental impacts in some energy-use decisions.
aerobically, and it quickly reenters the food web.
However, in an anaerobic environment—for example Fossil fuel A fuel derived from biological material
in places such as swamps, river deltas, and the ocean that became fossilized millions of years ago.
floor—a large amount of detritus may build up quickly.
Under these conditions, decomposers cannot break
Nonrenewable energy resource An energy
source with a finite supply, primarily the fossil fuels
down all of the detritus. As this material is buried under and nuclear fuels.
succeeding layers of sediment and exposed to heat and
pressure, the organic compounds within it are chemi-
Nuclear fuel Fuel derived from radioactive materials
that give off energy.
cally transformed into high-energy solid, liquid, and
MODULE 34 ■ Patterns of Energy Use 399
Friedland2e_C12_396-429hr_pv4.0.1.indd 399 10/29/14 4:47 PM
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Math practice makes perfect.

Do the Math
Among the biggest challenges on the AP® Environmental Science Exam are
questions that ask you to solve environmental science math problems. “Do
the Math” problems help you practice the math skills that you’ll need to
tackle these problems on the exam.

do the Calculating Energy Supply

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a typical home in the United States

math
uses approximately 900 kWh of electricity per month. On an annual basis, this is

900 kWh∕month × 12 months∕year = 10,800 kWh∕year

How many homes can a 500 MW power plant with a 0.9 capacity factor support?
Begin by determining how much electricity the plant can provide per month:

500 MW × 24 hours∕day × 30 days∕month × 0.9 = 324,000 MWh∕month

1 MWh equals 1,000 kWh, so to convert MWh per month into kWh per month,
we multiply by 1,000:

324,000 MWh∕month × 1,000 kWh/MWh = 324,000,000 kWh∕month

So
324,000,000 kWh∙month
= 360,000 homes
900 kWh∙month∙home
On average, a 500 MW power plant can supply roughly 360,000 homes with
electricity.

Your Turn During summer months, in hot regions of the United States, some
homes run air conditioners continuously. How many homes can the same power
plant support if average electricity usage increases to 1,200 kWh/month during
summer months?

Your Turn
Each “Do the Math” box has a “Your Turn” practice problem nuclear
to helpand
youcoal-fired plants running at all times. As
review and practice the math skills introduced. demand for electricity changes during the day or week,
plants that are more easily powered up, such as those
that use natural gas, oil, water, or wood, are used.
%
69

Coal
el

40% Cogeneration
l fu

do the
The use of a fuel to generate electricity and produce
Fossi

Converting Between heat Hectares and Acres also called combined

is known as cogeneration,
heatisand
In the metric system, land area power.
expressed in Cogeneration is a method
hectares. A hectare employed
(ha) is 100 meters

math by 100 meters. In the byStates,

United certainland
users of is
area steam
most for obtaining
commonly greater efficien-
expressed in
Nuclear fuel
acres. cies. If steam used for industrial purposes or to heat
Natural gas 20%There are 2.47 acres in 1 ha. The conversion from hectares is relatively easy
buildings is diverted to turn a turbine first, the user will
28% to do without a calculator; rounding to two significant figures gives us 2.5 acres
achieve greater overall efficiency than by generating
in 1 ha. If a nature preserveheat
is 100 ha,electricity
and what is it size in acres?Cogeneration efficien-
separately.
100
ciesha × be
can 2.5as high=as250
acres 90 acres
percent, whereas steam heat-
ing alone might be 75 percent efficient, and electricity
YourHydroelectric
Turn A particulardams forest
generation alone
is 10,000 might
acres. be 35 percent
Determine its size inefficient.
hectares.
7% There are over 17,000 power plants in the United
Other renewable
Oil
energy sources 4%
States. In 2012, they generated approximately 3.7 billion
1% MWh. FIGURE 34.8 shows the fuels that were used to
indicator, the current loss of biodiversity tells us that In the past we have used science and technology to
Prepare for the Fnatural
Exam
I G U R E systems are facing
3 4 . 8 Fuels used for strains unlikegeneration
electricity any in theinrecent increase the amount of food we can produce on a given
Once you are comfortable past.United
the We States
willwith
look at this
in 2012.
the Coal important
math is the fuel most
skills topic in greater
commonly
introduced, you’ll area of land. World grain production has increased
be prepared
detailforin
used Chapters
electricity 5 andHowever,
generation. 18. the electricity fuel mix in the fairly steadily sinceThe
Cogeneration 1950
use as
of aa result
fuel toof expanded
generate elec-irriga-
for quantitative United problems
Some
on the
Statesmeasures
is changing exam.
ofrapidly due to the increased
biodiversity are given availability
in terms and of tion, fertilization,
tricity and producenewheat.
cropAlso
varieties,
knownand as combined
other innova-
decreasing
land area,price so ofbecoming
natural gas. (Data
familiar with
from U.S. measurements
Department of
of Energy, Energy heat
tions. Atand
thepower.
same time, worldwide production of grain
Information Administration, 2013)
land area is important to understanding them. A hectare per person, also called per capita world grain production,
(ha) is a unit of area used primarily in the measurement of has leveled off. Figure 2.3 shows what might be a slight
Getting the Most from This Book   xix
land. It represents 100 meters by 100 meters. In the downward trend in wheat production since about 1985.
United States we measure land area in terms of square MODULE
In 2008, food shortages 34 ■ around
Patterns ofthe
Energy Use led407
world to
miles and acres. However, the rest of the world measures higher food prices and even riots in some places. Why
land in hectares. “Do the Math: Converting Between did this happen? The amount of grain produced world-
Hectares and Acres” shows you how to do the conversion. wide is influenced by many factors. These factors
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 19 include climatic conditions, the amount and quality of 10/29/14 12/5/14 9:27 AM
Friedland2e_C12_396-429hr_pv4.0.1.indd 407 4:47 PM
 Analyze and interpret visual data.

Photos and Illustrations

whether a population in a particular location is so
The photos denseand that illustrations in this book
it might outstrip aresupply.
its food more than just
pretty pictures. They have
Population been can
density carefully
be achosen and devel-
particularly useful
oped to measure
help youfor comprehend and remember
wildlife managers the key
who must ideas.
set hunting
or fishing limits on a species. For example, managers
may divide the entire population of an animal species
that is hunted or fished into management zones.
Atmospheric
CO2

Management zones may be designated political areas,

such as counties, or areas with natural boundaries,
Exchange
CO2 in the atmosphere
and CO2 dissolved in
such as the majorCombustion
Respiration
Sugars are converted
back into CO2.
water bodies in a state. Wildlife
Volcanic
sources Fossil fuels and
plant matter are
(a) Random distribution water are constantly
exchanged.
managers
Photosynthesis
might offer more hunting or fishing permits
converted into CO2.

for zones with a high-density population and fewer

CO2 is converted
into sugars.

permits for zones with a low-density population.

Consumers
Fires
Producers

Population Distribution
Decomposers
Respiration Consumers
Extraction
In addition to population size and density, population Decomposers
Human extraction
of fossil fuels
brings carbon to
ecologists are interested inBurial how a population occupies
Dissolved CO2 Producers
Earth’s surface,
where it can

space. Population distribution is a description of how

Photosynthesis
be combusted.
Some carbon
can be buried.

Sedimentation individuals are distributed with respect to one another.

Burial18.2 shows three types of population distribu-
Calcium carbonate
Figure precipitates out of the
water as sediments.
Fossil fuels

tions. In some populations, such as a population of trees

(b) Uniform distribution in a natural forest, the distribution of individuals is ran- Sedimentary
rocks

dom (Figure 18.2a). In other words, there is no pattern

to the locations where the individual trees grow.
In other populations, such as a population of trees
F i g u r e 7. 2 The carbon cycle. Producers take up carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis
in
and pass it on to consumers and decomposers. Some inorganic acarbonplantation, the distribution of individuals is
sediments out of the water to form
sedimentary rock while some organic carbon may be buried and become fossil fuels. Respiration by organisms
TABLE 36.1 Comparison of nonrenewable energy fuels
returns carbon to
to the atmosphere.
the atmosphere and water. uniform,
Combustion of fossil fuels and otheror
organicevenly spaced (Figure 18.2b). Uniform
matter returns carbon

Pollutant and distributions are common among territorial animals,

Energy Type Advantages Disadvantages
greenhouse gas
emissions Tablessuch asand
Electricity (cents/kWh) Graphs
Energy return on energy

nesting
investment*
birds that defend areas of similar sizes
Oil/gasoline • Ideal for mobile The best-known and most significant human alteration
• Significant refining • Second highest • Relatively little electricity carbon in their wood, both above and below ground.
4.0 (gasoline)
combustion (high
energy/mass ratio)
of the carbon cycle is the combustionTo
required
• Oil spill potential effect
emitter of CO2
among fossil fuels
aroundfuels. This their
understand
is generated from oil
of fossil nests.
environmental
5.7 (diesel)
The destruction Uniform
of forests by cutting anddistributions
science burningand succeed are onalso
process releases fossilized carbon into the atmosphere, increases the amount of CO in the atmosphere. Unless
• Quick ignition/turn-off
capability
• Cleaner burning than
on habitats near drilling • Hydrocarbons
sites which increases atmospheric carbon the
• Significant dust and
• Hydrogen sulfide observed
exam,
concentrations and you among
enough need
new treesplants
toare engage
planted thatinproduce
to recapture the
the toxic practice
scientific
carbon, chemicals 2

upsets the balance between Earth’s carbon pools and the the destruction of forests will upset the balance of CO .
coal
atmosphere. The excess CO in the of
emissions from fossil
fuels used to to prevent
analyzing
atmosphere acts to To date,other
and large areas ofplants
interpreting aofvariety
forest, including theforestssame
tropical
2 of species
as tables, from
graphs,
2

increase the retention of heat energy in the biosphere. well as North American and European temperate for-
(c) Clumped distribution
power earth-moving
equipment
The result, global warming, is a major
• Human rights/
and growing
concerncharts.
among close
ests, have beento converted
them.into pastures, grasslands, and
environmental scientists and policy makers.
environmental
Tree harvesting is another human activity that
justice issues in In canstillcroplands.
other
diversity,
In addition to destroying a great deal of bio-
this populations,
destruction of forests hasthe added distribution
large of indi-
F i g u r e 1 8 . 2 Population distributions. Populations in nature
affect the
developing countries
that export oil
carbon cycle. Trees store a
viduals is clumpedcarbon
large amount of amounts of
(Figure 18.2c). Clumped distributions,
to the atmosphere. The increases in
• Will probably be much
distribute themselves in three ways. (a) Many of the tree species in this
less available in the next
which are common among schooling fish, flocking
40 years or so 83 MODULE 7 ■ The Movement of Matter
Coal New England forest are randomly distributed, with no apparent pattern
• Energy-dense and
abundant—U.S.
• Mining practices
frequently risk human
• Highest emitter of 5 cents/kWh ■
424
CO2 among energy
MODULE 36
birds, and herding mammals, are often observed
14
Nuclear Energy Resources

in the locations of individuals. (b) Territorial nesting birds, such as these

resources will last at
least 200 years
lives and sources
dramatically alter natural • Sulfur
when living in large groups provides enhanced feeding
Australasian gannets (Morus serrator), exhibit a uniform distribution,
• No refining necessary landscapes • Trace amounts of
Friedland2e_c03_066-101hr_pv6.0.1.indd 83 10/9/14 11:45 AM
• Easy, safe to transport • Coal power plants are
• Economic backbone of slow to reach full
toxic metals such
as mercury opportunities or protection from predators.
in which all individuals maintain a similar distance from one another.
some small towns operating capacity
• A large

(c) Many pairs of eyes are better than one at detecting approaching
contributing factor to
acid rain in the United

predators.
Natural Gas The
• Cogeneration powerclumped
States
• Risk of leaks/distribution
• Methane of these meerkats (Suricata
6–8 cents/kWh
250
8
Population Sex Ratio
250
plants can have explosions • Hydrocarbons
suricatta ) provides them with extra
• Hydrogenprotection. (a: David R. Frazier
Number of individuals

Number of individuals

The sex ratio of a population is the ratio of P.males to

efficiencies up to • Twenty-five times sulfide 200 200 K = 195 aurelia
60% more effective as a
Photolibrary,
• Efficient forInc./Science
cooking, Source;
greenhouse gas than b: Michael Thompson/Earth Scenes/

Animals
home heating, etc.
Animals;
• Fewer impurities than
CO
c: •Clem Haagner/ARDEA)
Not available
2 150
females. In most sexually reproducing species,
Paramecium aurelia
150 the sex
K = 137 P. caudatum
coal or oil everywhere because it
is transported by
pipelines
100 ratio is usually
K = 105 P. aurelia
close to
100 50:50, although sex ratios can
Nuclear Energy • Emits no CO2 once • Very unpopular; • Radioactive waste 12–15 cents/kWh 8
be far from equal in 50some species. In fig wasps, for
K = 64 P. caudatum

Population Density
plant is operational generates protests is dangerous for 50
• Offers independence
from imported oil
• High energy density,
• Plants are very
expensive to build
because of legal
hundreds of
thousands of
years 0
example, there may be 0as many as 20 females forcaudatum
Paramecium every
Population density is the number of individuals
ample supply challenges
0 2
• Meltdown could be per
4 • No long-term plan
6
currently in place
male.
8 10 Because
12 14 16 the
18 number0 2 of4 offspring
6 8 10 produced
12 14 16 is
18
catastrophic Days
to manage Days
unit area (or volume, in the case of aquatic organisms)
(a) Low-food supply
• Possible target for
terrorist attacks
radioactive waste
• No air
(b) High-food supply

at a given time. Knowing a population’s density, in experiments.

pollution during
F i g u r e 1 8 . 3 Gause’s (a) Under low-food conditions, the population sizes of two
production
Population
species of Paramecium initially increased rapidly, but then leveled off as their foodThe
density supply number
became of individuals per
addition to its size, can help scientists estimate whether
limiting. (b) When twice as much foodunit areabothatspecies
was provided, a given time.sizes that were
attained population
*Estimates vary widely.
nearly twice as large, but they again leveled off. (Data from Gause, 1932)
a species is rare or abundant. For example, the density Population distribution A description of how
of coyotes (Canis latrans) in some parts of Texas Bird might
populations are often regulated by density-
individuals are distributed to wading birds such as herons. With their food supply
with respect to one another.
independent factors. For example, in the United
be only 1 per square kilometer, but in other Kingdom, of cold winter can freeze the sur- no
partsa particularly longer available, herons would have an increased risk
of starving to death, regardless of whether the heron
Sex ratio The ratio of males to orfemales in a
xx  
424
theGetting
state itthemight
CHAPTER 12
be as
Most from
■
high
This Bookas 12 per square kilometer.
faces of ponds, making amphibians and fish inaccessible
Nonrenewable Energy Resources population is at a low a high density.
population.
Scientists also study population density to determine
Friedland2e_C12_396-429hr_pv4.0.1.indd 424 module 10/29/14 4:48 PM

18 MODULE 18 ■ The Abundance and Distribution of Populations 193

Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 20 12/5/14 9:27 AM
 Review and practice for quizzes and tests.
module
3 main ideas in each module review.
review
In this module, we have seen how specific aspects of the
scientific method are used to conduct field and labora-
tory evaluations of how human activity affects the nat-
ural environment. The scientific method follows a pro-
cess of observations and questions, testable hypotheses
and predictions, and data collection. Results are inter-
Module 3 AP ® Review Questions
1. The first step in the scientific process is
(a) collecting data.
(b) observations and questions.
(c) forming a hypothesis.
(d) disseminating findings.
(e) forming a theory.
Use the following information for questions 2 and 3:
Two new devices for measuring lead contamina-
tion in water are tested for accuracy. Scientists test
each device with seven samples of water known to
contain 400 ppm of lead.Their data is shown below.
Concentration is in parts per billion.
Water
Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6
Device 1 415 417 416 417 415 416
Device 2 398 401 400 402 398 400
2. The data from device 1 is
(a) accurate, but not precise.
(b) precise, but not accurate.
(c) both accurate and precise.
(d) neither accurate nor precise.
(e) not clear enough to support any conclusion
about accuracy or precision.
3. Assuming the devices were used correctly, and
assuming we want to choose a device that
accurately reflects the true concentration of lead in
Chapter Review
At the end of each chapter, take time to review
the main ideas and key terms.
Friedland2e_c01_xxx-029hr1_pv3.1.1.indd 25
Learning Objectives Revisited
Check your notes against summaries of the
learning objectives for each module in the
chapter.
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 21
Module Review
Solidify your understanding by reviewing the
preted and shared with other researchers. Experiments
can be either controlled (manipulated) experiments or
natural experiments that make use of natural events.
There are often challenges in environmental science
including the lack of baseline data and the interactions Exam Prep All Year
with social factors such as human preferences.
Each module ends with multiple-choice ques-
tions similar to those on the AP® exam.
the water samples, which conclusion does the data
support? Practicing your test-taking strategies for
(a) Device 1 is superior to device 2 because it is
more precise. ­multiple-choice questions throughout the year
(b) Device 2 is superior to device 1 because it is
more precise. will pay off when you take the exam.
(c) Device 1 is superior to device 2 because it is
more accurate.
(d) Device 2 is superior to device 1 because it is
more accurate.
(e) Both devices are equally effective at measuring
contaminates.
4. Challenges in the study of environmental science in-
clude all of the following except
7 (a) dangers of studying natural systems.
(b) lack of baseline data.
416 (c) subjectivity of environmental impacts.
399 (d) complexity of natural systems.
(e) complex interactions between humans and the
environment.
5. A control group is
(a) a group with the same conditions as the
experimental group.
(b) a group with conditions found in nature.
(c) a group with a randomly assigned population.
(d) a group with the same conditions as the
experimental group except for the study variable.
(e) a group that is kept at the same conditions
throughout the experiment.
chapter
review
1
Throughout this chapter, we have outlined principles, the past, at present, and, potentially, into the future.
MODULE 3 ■ 25
Reviewtechniques, and methods that will allow us to approach These indicators and other environmental metrics
environmental science from an interdisciplinary per- must be measured using the same scientific process
spective as we evaluate the current condition of Earth used in other fields of science. Environmental science
and the ways that human beings have influenced it. We
identified 8/20/14
that we can use environmental indicators to
does contain some unique challenges because there is
no undisturbed baseline—humans began manipulating
6:04 PM
show the status of specific environmental conditions in Earth long before we have been able to study it.
Key Terms
Fracking Species Hypothesis
Environment Species diversity Null hypothesis
Environmental science Speciation Replication
Ecosystem Background extinction rate Sample size
Biotic Greenhouse gases Accuracy
Abiotic Anthropogenic Precision
Environmentalist Development Uncertainty
Environmental studies Sustainability Theory
Ecosystem services Sustainable development Control group
Environmental indicators Biophilia Natural experiment
Biodiversity Ecological footprint
Genetic diversity Scientific method
Learning Objectives Revisited
Module 1 Environmental Science Module 2 Environmental Indicators and
Sustainability
• Define the field of environmental science and
discuss its importance. • Identify key environmental indicators and
their trends over time.
Environmental science is the study of the interac-
tions among human-dominated systems and natural Five important global-scale environmental indica-
tors are biological diversity, food production, aver-
systems and how those interactions affect environ-
ments. Studying environmental science helps us age global surface temperature and atmospheric CO2
identify, understand, and respond to anthropogenic
changes.
concentrations, human population, and resource
depletion. Biological diversity is decreasing as a
• Identify ways in which humans have altered
result of human actions, most notably habitat
destruction and habitat degradation. Food produc-
and continue to alter our environment.
The impact of humans on natural systems has been
tion appears to be leveling off and may be decreas-
ing. Carbon dioxide concentrations are steadily
significant since early humans hunted some large increasing as a result of fossil fuel combustion and
animal species to extinction. However, technology land conversion. Human population continues to
and population growth have dramatically increased increase and probably will continue to do so
both the rate and the scale of human-induced throughout this century. Resource depletion for
change. most natural resources continues to increase.
CHAPTER 1 ■ Review 27
Getting the Most from This Book   xxi
Friedland2e_c01_xxx-029hr1_pv3.1.1.indd 27 8/20/14 6:04 PM
12/5/14 9:27 AM
 • Define sustainability and explain how it can results, and dissemination of findings. Repetition
be measured using the ecological footprint. ®
of measurements or experiments is critical if one
Prepare and practice for the AP Environmental
Sustainability is the use of Earth’s resources to meet
our current needs without jeopardizing the ability of
is to determine the validity of findings. Hypotheses
are tested and often modified before being
Science Exam.
future generations to meet their own needs. The eco-
logical footprint is the land area required to support a
accepted.
• Describe some of the unique challenges and
person’s (or a country’s) lifestyle. We can use that
limitations of environmental science.
information to say something about how sustainable
® be if it were adopted globally.
that lifestyle would We lack an undisturbed “control planet” with
Chapter AP Environmental Science which Practice
to compareExam conditions on Earth today.
Module 3 Scientific Method Assessments and choices are often subjective
When you finish a chapter take the practicebecause
• Explain the scientific method and its application
examthere to ischeck
no singleyour understanding
measure of environmen-
tal quality Environmental systems are so complex
of the main
to the studyideas. The practice
of environmental problems.exam will that
help theyyou become
are poorly familiar
understood, withpref-
and human the
style The
of questions on ishe
scientific method AP®ofEnvironmental
a process observation, Science
erences Exam.
and policies may affect them as much as do
hypothesis generation, data collection, analysis of natural laws.

Chapter 1 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam

Section 1: Multiple-Choice Questions (c) For the past 130 years, average global surface
temperatures have shown an overall increase that
Multiple-Choice Questions
Choose the best answer for questions 1–11. seems likely to continue.
(d) World population is expected to be between Each chapter exam begins with
1. Which of the following events has increased the
impact of humans on the environment?
8.1 billion and 9.6 billion by 2050.
(e) Some natural resources are available in finite
multiple-choice questions mod-
I. advances in technology amounts and are consumed during a one-time eled after those you’ll see on the
II. reduced human population growth use, whereas other finite resources can be used
III. use of tools for hunting multiple times through recycling.
exam. Many of the questions ask
(a) I only 4. Figure 2.5 (on page 12) shows atmospheric carbon
you to analyze or interpret
(b) I and II only dioxide concentrations over time.The measured tables, graphs, or figures.
(c) II and III only concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is an
(d) I and III only example of
(e) I, II, and III (a) a sample of air from over the Antarctic.
7.2. All of the following would be exclusively (b) an environmental
11. Afterindicator.
analyzing the results of the experiment, the
As described in this chapter, environmental indicatorscaused by
(c) replicate sampling.
anthropogenic activities
(a) always tell us what except
is causing an environmental most appropriate conclusion would be that caffeine
(d) calculating an ecological footprint.
(a) change.
combustion of fossil fuels. (e) how to study(a) increased
seasonal variationthe pulse rates of the 18-year-old males
in Earth’s
(b) can
(b) be usedof
overuse to resources
analyze the health
such ofasnatural
uranium. temperatures. tested.
systems.
(c) forest
(c) are usefulclearing
only whenfor crops.large-scale
studying (b) such
5. Environmental metrics decreased the pulse
as the ecological rates of the 18-year-old
footprint
(d) changes.
air pollution from burning oil. males
are most informative when theytested.
are considered along
(d) do
(e) not provide
forest fires. information regarding with other environmental
(c) will indicators.
increase Whichtheindicator,
pulse rate of any individual that
sustainability. when considered in conjunction with the ecological
(e) take into account only the living components of is tested.
footprint, would provide the most information about
8. Use ecosystems.
Figure 2.3 (on page 11) to calculate the (d) increases the pulse rate and is safe to consume.
environmental impact?
approximate percentage change in world grain (a) biological diversity (e) makes drinks better than decaffeinated beverages.
3. Which statement regarding a global environmental
production
indicator is NOT percorrect?
person between 1950 and 2000. (b) food production
(c) human population
(a) 10 percent of atmospheric
(a) Concentrations (d) 40carbon
percent dioxide (d) CO2 concentration
(b) have
20 percent (e) 50since
been rising quite steadily percent
the
Section 2: Free-response Questions
(e) water quality
(c) Industrial
30 percent Revolution.
(b) World grain production has increased fairly 6. In science, which
steadily since 1950, but worldwide production of
Writeofyour
(a) hypothesis
the following
answer isto
theeach
most part
(d) observation
certain?
clearly. Support your
9. Thegrain populations of some endangered animal
per capita has decreased dramatically over species
(b) idea answers with relevant
(e) theoryinformation and examples.
havethestabilized or increased in numbers after human(c) naturalWhere
same period. law calculations are required, show your work.
intervention. An example of a species that is still endan-
gered and needs further assistance to recover is the 1. Your neighbor has fertilized her lawn. Several weeks
28 CHAPTER 1 ■ Environmental Science: Studying the State of Our Earth later, she is alarmed to see that the surface of her
(a) American bison. (d) American alligator.
(b) peregrine falcon. (e) snow leopard. ornamental pond, which sits at the bottom of the
Free-Response
(c) bald eagle. Questions sloping lawn, is covered with a green layer of algae.
Friedland2e_c01_xxx-029hr1_pv3.1.1.indd 28
(a) Suggest a feasible explanation for the algal bloom
8/20/14 6:04 PM
Chapter exams include two free-response in the pond. (2 points)
Questions 10
questions. and 11are
Points referassigned
to the following experimental
to indicate how (b) Design an experiment that would enable you to
scenario: validate your explanation. Include and label in
a complete, correct answer would be scored on
® your answer:
theAnAP exam.was
experiment The more to
performed practice
determine youthehave
effect in
of (i) a testable hypothesis (2 points)
caffeine answers
writing on the pulse torate of five healthy questions,
free-response 18-year-old males.
the (ii) the variable that you will be testing
Each was
better yougiven will250domLonof the
a beverage
exam.with or without (1 point)
caffeine.The men had their pulse rates measured before (iii) the data to be collected (1 point)
they had the drink (time 0 minutes) and again after they (iv) a description of the experimental
had been sitting at rest for 30 minutes after consuming the procedure (2 points)
drink.The results are shown in the following table. (v) a description of the results that would
validate your hypothesis (1 point)
Caffeine Pulse rate Pulse rate (c) Based on the data from your experiment and
content at time at time your explanation of the problem, think of and
Subject Beverage (mg/mL) 0 minutes 30 minutes suggest one action that your neighbor could take
1 Water 0 60 59 to help the pond recover. (1 point)
2 Caffeine-free 0 55 56
2. The study of environmental science sometimes
soda
involves examining the overuse of environmental
3 Caffeinated 10 58 68 resources.
soda (a) Identify one general effect of overuse of an
4xxii  Coffee, Getting the Most from3 This Book 62 67 environmental resource. (3 points)
decaffeinated (b) For the effect you listed above, describe a more
5 Coffee, regular 45 58 81 sustainable strategy for resource utilization.
(3 points)
(c) Describe how the events from Easter Island can
10. Before the researchers began the experiment, they
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 22
be indicative of environmental issues on Earth 12/5/14 9:27 AM
formulated a null hypothesis.The best null hypothesis
 Unit AP® Environmental
Science Practice Exam Unit 1 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam
The textbook is divided into 8 Section 1: Multiple-Choice Questions 6. The greatest value of the scientific method is best
stated as:
major units. At the end of each Choose the best answer for questions 1–20. (a) The scientific method permits researchers a
unit, you are provided with a lon- 1. Which best describes how humans have altered
rapid method of disseminating findings.
(b) The scientific method removes bias from
ger practice exam containing 20 natural systems? observation of natural phenomenon.
I. Overhunted many large mammals to extinction. (c) The scientific method allows findings to be
multiple-choice questions and 2 II. Created habitat for species to thrive. reproduced and tested.
free-response questions. These III. Emitted greenhouse gases. (d) The scientific method promotes sustainable
development.
(a) I only (d) I and III only
exams give you a chance to review (b) I and II only (e) I, II, and III
(e) The scientific method reduces the complexity of
experimental results.
material across multiple chapters (c) II and III only

and to practice your test-taking
skills.
Cumulative AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam
At the end of the text you will find a cumulative exam with 100 multiple-choice
questions and 4 free-response questions. This exam matches the actual AP
2. Which does NOT describe a benefit of biodiversity?
7. Researchers conducted an experiment to test the
hypothesis that the use of fertilizer near wetlands is
(a) Genetic biodiversity improves the ability of a
population to cope with environmental change.
associated with increased growth of algae. An
appropriate null hypothesis would be:
(b) Ecosystems with higher species diversity are
(a) The use of fertilizer near wetlands is associated
more productive.
with an increase in fish biomass.
(c) Species serve as environmental indicators of
(b) Growth of algae in wetlands is never associated
global-scale problems.
with increased fertilizer use.
(d) Speciation reduces natural rates of species
(c) Application of fertilizers near wetlands is always
extinction.
associated with increased growth of algae.
(e) Humans rely on ecological interactions among
(d) Fertilizer use near wetlands has no association
species to produce ecosystem services.
with growth of algae.
3. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of (e) Fertilizer use near wetlands leads to increased
human population growth? growth of algae as a result of elevated nutrient
(a) Depletion of natural resources concentrations.
(b) Background extinction
(c) Emission of greenhouse gases Questions 8 and 9 refer to the following experiment:
(d) Rise in sea level
(e) Reduction in per capita food supply Researchers designed an experiment to test the hypothe-
sis that air pollution positively correlates with the number
4. An example of sustainable development is of asthma-related problems among humans.To test this
(a) harvesting enough crops to provide the basic hypothesis, they compared medical records obtained from
needs of all humans.
(b) increasing the price of vegetables.
large hospitals
® in 10 major U. S. cities.

Environmental Science exam in length and scope. (c) reducing the use of all major modes of
8. This experiment is an example of a
transportation. (a) controlled study.
(d) creating renewable sources of construction (b) manipulative experiment.
material. (c) laboratory experiment.
(e) enforcing laws that stop future development of (d) replication.
cities. (e) natural experiment.

5. The ecological footprint of a human is 9. Results of the study indicated that cities with more air
cumulative AP® environmental(a)science practice
a measure of how exam
much a human consumes, pollution had a higher number of patients with asthma.
expressed in joules. The most appropriate conclusion from this study is that
(b) a measure of human consumption, expressed in (a) air pollution causes asthma in humans.
Section 1: Multiple-Choice Questions area of land. (b) air pollution is a cause of asthma in humans.
(c) a measure of biodiversity loss stemming from (c) air pollution is associated with asthma in humans.
Choose the best answer for questions 1–100. 4. Which industrial
is a flawprocesses.
of this experiment? (d) there is no association between air pollution and
(d) The
(a) a measure of plant
experiment biomass
lacks removed
a control by a farmer.
treatment. asthma in humans.
(e) 10
(b) a measurement calculated
ppm is a negligible through
increase of COstatistical
2 relative to (e) confounding variables make the results difficult
1. Primary production is an example of methods.concentrations. to interpret.
ambient
I. an ecosystem service.
(c) The hypothesis is actually a null hypothesis.
II. an environmental indicator.
(d) The measured response variable does not relate
III. heterotrophic activity.
to the hypothesis.
(e) N2O gas is not a greenhouse gas.
(a) I only
(b) II only 5. As hypothesized, the researchers found that plants UNIT 1 ■ AP ® Environmental Science Practice Exam 61
(c) I and II exposed to elevated CO2 had increased biomass after 2
(d) II and III weeks, whereas plants exposed to elevated N2O and
(e) I, II, and III CH4 did not exhibit any change in biomass.Which
Section 2: Free-Response Questions
would be a deductive statement based solely on these
2. Which of the following is likely to increase Friedland2e_c02_030-065hr_pv5.0.1.indd
results?
61 10/9/14 5:01 PM

biodiversity within a biome? Write your answer to each part clearly. Support your 2. The country of Costa Rica has an abundance of
answers(a) with
Elevated levelsinformation
relevant of CO2 are and due to global climate
examples. Where climactic, geographic, and biological diversity.
(a) Landscape fragmentation change.
(b) Introduction of an invasive species calculations are required, show your work. However, in the last century intensive farming and
(b) Reduced levels of CO2 due to global climate population growth have led to a 75 percent reduction
(c) Immigration of humans change will decrease red maple production.
(d) Speciation in its forests. In the 1980s, the government of Costa
1. The (c) City of Philadelphia
An observed increaserecently replaced
in red maple one out of
production is Rica began to address concerns about the loss of
(e) A disease epidemic everyprobably
10 trash binsdue to with solar-powered
elevated levels of COtrash2. forest with a series of political and environmental
compactors.
(d) Increases The in compactor is an enclosed
red maple production unit with
in nature are programs. These programs, designed to generate
3. The United States produces 8 million tons of oranges
a doorprobably
that opens notfor duetrash disposal.levels
to elevated The compactor
of N2O or more sustainable economic development, include
in a single year. However, many orange crops are
automatically
CH4. detects when the bin is full and uses a land protection and conservation of biodiversity.
succumbing to a deadly invasive bacteria. If 10,000
solar-powered
(e) CH4 and mechanical
N2O are notcrusher likely to tobecompact the
biologically (a) Costa Rica lies just north of the equator and
hectares of orange cropland are lost in a year to this
contents. When greenhouse
important the compactor gasesneeds to begrowth.
for tree emptied, contains a series of mountain ranges that run the
bacteria, and a single acre can produce 20 tons of
it sends an electronic signal. Use of solar-powered entire length of the country.
oranges, what percentage of the total orange crop is 6. compactors
For radioactive elements,the the capacity
transformation between
has increased of public trash (i) Given its geographic location, what is likely
lost to the disease in a year? (Note that 1 hectare = a parent andreduced
daughterthe atom involves
bins and has number of trash collection to be the prevailing wind pattern across the
2.5 acres.) (a) the creation of ionic bonds.
visits to each bin from 17 times per week to 5 times country? (1 point)
(a) 2 percent (b) week.
a release of neutrons and energy.
per (ii) Describe how mountain ranges contribute to
(b) 6 percent (c) Describe
an increase in positive
total energy.
(a) four externalities of installing the climactic, geographic, and biological
(c) 10 percent (d) solar-powered
the transformation trash of chemical energy
compactors. to
(2 points) diversity observed in Costa Rica. (1 point)
(d) 20 percent potential energy.
(b) Describe six cradle-to-grave components of (b) Given that Costa Rica is bordered by the
(e) 24 percent (e) solar-powered
the transformation trash of heat energy
compactors. (2to kinetic
points) Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, how are weather
energy. one way that the installation of solar-
(c) Suggest patterns in the country likely to be affected by
Questions 4 and 5 refer to the following experiment: powered trash compactors can reverse the effects
7. Which groupblight.
of compounds the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?
A group of scientists wanted to test the effects of increased of urban (2 points)is listed in order of (2 points)
increasing
(d) The price pH?of a regular trash bin is $300, and it has
greenhouse gas concentrations on plant growth. They (a) aOH −
, H2ofO,20 CaCO (c) Describe four ecosystem services that are
hypothesized that elevated levels of CO2 would increase lifespan years.3 The price of a solar- provided through the protection of land and
(b) powered
CaCl, LiCl, trash HClcompactor is $4,000, and it has a
plant biomass after 2 weeks, whereas elevated levels of (c) lifespan
NaOH,ofBaO, OH − how the Costa Rican government may profit
N2O and CH4 would have no effect. To test this 10 years; it also requires approximately from each of them. (4 points)
(d) $150
NaOH, H 2 O, H 2SO 4
in maintenance costs each year. On average,
hypothesis, they placed red maple (Acer rubrum) tree (e) aHF,
trashNaCl, NaOHvisit costs $5 in fuel and $20 in
collection
(d) To promote
Getting economic
the Most This Booka   xxiii
fromsustainability, large
saplings in incubators, and then subjected each sapling to proportion of land was protected through
one of three treatments. The treatments included 10 ppm 8. Youemployee
have installed salary. Based on this information,
a solar-charged battery that can are debt-for-nature programs. Describe debt-for-
of CO2, N2O, or CH4 gas above ambient concentrations. solar-powered
provide trash compactors
4 MJ of electrical energy each economically
day. nature programs and why they are effective.
Each treatment had four replicates. After 2 weeks, they beneficial? (2 points)
Approximately how many 50 W bulbs can you run (2 points)
measured plant biomass. (e) Describe
on the batterytwo waysbulb
if each thatisyou
on might determine
for an average of if
solar-powered
1 hour per day? trash compactors are
(a) environmentally
3 beneficial. (2 points)
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 23 (b) 10 12/5/14 9:27 AM
 3. The primary source of radon is (c) is a result of off-gassing.
(a) electronics. (d) can be prevented by renovations.
(b) indoor fires. (e) occurs most often in wet tropical areas.
(c) household chemical fumes.
(d) rocks and soils. 5. Asbestos
(e) construction materials. (a) is used for insulation.
(b) can be easily removed and treated.
4. Sick building syndrome (c) can be a problem in new construction.
(a) occurs most often in old buildings. (d) causes skin irritation, nausea, and fatigue.
Be inspired by individuals making a difference.
(b) is a primary cause of lung cancer. (e) is commonly used in furniture.

Working Toward Sustainability

working toward sustainability At the end of each chapter read about
A New Cook Stove Design people and organizations that are making
a difference.
fire and moves air through the stove at a rate that to accept a different kind of cooking appliance.
In China, ensures
India, and sub-Saharan
complete Africa, people
combustion. The inresult isTwo innovatorsHowever,
a more from the United a number Statesofdeveloped
studies in the developing world
80 to 90 percent of households cook food using wood, a cook stove for backpackers and other outdoor
efficient
animal manure, and burn, less fuelas use,
crop residues their and
fuel. less release
Since of carbon
enthusiasts who needed suggest that amost
to cook households
hot meal with littleare quite receptive to
women domonoxide
most of theand particulate
cooking, and youngmatter. The stove
children impactweighs using efficient
on the environment. They stoves
described because
their of the benefits of
are with the 0.7women
kg (1.6 pounds).
of the household for much of the stove as needing no improved
gasoline air andquality and reduced
no batteries, both time spent obtaining
time, it is the How
womendid and the
young innovators
children who manage
receiveto generate the for
desirable features fuel.
peopleOther promising
carrying all their ways
belong-to reduce fuel use and
the greatestelectricity?
exposure to carbon
They monoxide
added a and smallparticu-
semiconductor
ings on their that backs. They indoor
improve soon realized that their
air quality include the solar cooker
late matter. When biomass
generates electricity is from
used for the cooking,
heat of thestove,stove.which All could burn in
shown wood,
Figure animal
39.2manure,
on pageor451.
concentrations of particulate
components matter
of the in the
stove home the
except can semiconductor
crop residue, could make an important contribution in
be 200 times higher than the exposure limits recom- the developing world. This stove, called BioLite,
could be manufactured or repaired in a physically
mended by the EPA. A wide range of diseases has been
developing separatesCritical
the solid Thinking
fuel from the Questions
gases that
associated country. The BioLite
with exposure to smoke stovefromwon an international
cooking. form when com- the fuel 1.is burned
Why are and women
allows the andstove to
children often the ones most
Earlier in petition in early
this chapter, 2009 forthat
we described the indoor
lowest air emission
burnstove.
the gases.It In addition, exposed to indoor located
a small electric fan, air pollution in developing
pollution iswas also the
responsible for only
4 millionstove in annually
deaths the competition
inside thethat stove, harnesses energy
countries? from the heat of the
around therequired
world, andno indoor
additional electricity
cooking is a majorinputs to operate.
source of indoor air pollution.
The BioLite stove is commercially available. One 2. How can technology offer solutions to cooking over
There are hundreds open fires?
review of it ofstated
projectsthatunderway
“it charges around
your phone while
the world to enable women to use more efficient
cooking your dinner.”
cooking stoves, ventilate cooking areas, cook outside References
Thereand
whenever possible, arechange
many customs
possibleand hurdles for those who are
practices Bilger, B. 2009. Annals of Invention, Hearth Surgery, The
tryingtheir
that will reduce to exposure
introduce cleaner,
to indoor more efficient cooking
air pollution. New Yorker, December 21, p. 84; http://www.newyorker
The use ofapparatus
an efficient to
cook thestovedeveloping
will have the world.
added Manufacturing .com/reporting/2009/12/21/091221fa_fact_bilger#ixzz
costs mightlessmake
benefit of consuming fuel. the
Thisstove difficult
improves to afford for many.
air qual- 0sMCn DR00.
ity and reduces
Therethehasamount
been someof fuelconcern
needed, which
about has possible reluctance www.biolitestove.com, homepage of BioLite stove.
environmental benefits and also reduces the amount of
time that a woman must spend searching for fuel.
Increasing the efficiency of the combustion process
requires the proper mix of fuel and oxygen. One effec-
Critical Thinking Questions
tive method of ensuring a cleaner burn is the use of a
chapter
small fan to facilitate greater oxygen delivery. However,
because most homes in developing countries with

15
Working Toward Sustainability provides questions that give you a chance to hone
significant indoor air pollution problems do not have
BioLite cookstove. This small stove, and others like it, has the
potential to reduce the amount of firewood needed to cook a meal, and
access to electricity, some sort of internal source of
your critical thinking and writing skills.
energy for the fan is needed.
lower the amount of indoor air pollution emitted as well. (Jonathan den
Hartog; courtesy of Jonathan Cedar, www.BioLiteStove.com)

approximately 285 billion kilograms of dissolved salts

546 R E ■V AirI EPollution
CHAPTER 15
W and Stratospherictoday, so at the rate of stream flow before the diversion,
Ozone Depletion

Science in the itthat realmuch salt:world.

would have taken about 47,500 years to accumulate

In this chapter, we examined the major air pollutants atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone depletion has occurred
285 billion kg ÷ 6 million kg/year = 47,500 years
and their natural and anthropogenic sources. We found
Friedland2e_c15_516-551hr_pv3.0.1.indd 546 because of the release of chlorofluorocarbons 10/29/14 4:47 PM (CFCs)
that photochemical smog and Does acidic deposition are two agree
our calculation fromwith
refrigeration
the saltand air-conditioning units. Due to an
air pollution problems that haveinhad Monodifferent
Lake?outcomes, international agreement, the Montreal Protocol on
at least for now. Smog is still a problem in manybelieve
Earth scientists locations Substances
that no water That out
has flowed of the Ozone Layer, thereScience
Deplete was a
Applied
around the world while acidicthedeposition
Mono Lake has become
basin since significant reduction
it was formed about in the Fuse i g uof
r eCFCs
S A 1 . 2and stratospheric
Research at Mono Lake. This photo shows a
less of a problem in North America 120,000and Europe.
years There that
ago. Assuming ozone depletion
Earth’s has been scientist
climate hasn’t reduced. Indoor
collecting airsample
a water pollution
at Mono Lake. (Henry Bortman/NASA)
are a variety of measures for changed significantly
controlling over thatis time
air pollution and that
a problem thatwater
occurs around the world, although At the end of each unit, the “Science
including pollution preventioninputs to Mono
and devices Lake
that have not with
remove changed drastically
causes over that differ between developing
and pollutants Applied” feature offers you an oppor-
1pollutants from smokestacks before that time period, into
it is released whatthecan weandcalculate
developedabout how
countries.
much salt should be in the water of MonoTracyLake? Questions
Packer Photography/Getty Images tunity to read about how the science
At today’s input rate, how much salt should be in 1. How did Los Angeles inadvertently conduct an
you are learning is used to make deci-

scienceapplied
the water of Mono Lake today? experiment at Mono Lake?
Key Terms sions about environmental issues.
2. What chemical principle causes terminal lakes to
6 million kg/year × 120,000 years = 720 billion kg become more salty?
of dissolved salt
Air pollution versus 285 Photochemical
billion kg estimated smog recently. Primary 3. What is the reason for the discrepancy between the
pollutant
two calculations of salt content in Mono Lake?
Particulate matter (PM) Los Angeles–type smog Secondary pollutant
Particulates The calculated Brownsalt smog contents do not match. HowThermal can inversion
Particles we explain the discrepancy?
Sulfurous smog InversionFree-response
layer Question
Haze The lake’s toweringsmog
London-type tufa formations, prominently Asbestos Water that flows into Mono Lake contains a much
What Happened to the Missing Salt?
Photochemical oxidant
Ozone (O3)
featured in the
Gray smog
Chapter Industrial
2, hold the
photograph
smog
at the
answer: Many of the salts that
beginning of smaller
Sick building syndrome concentration of salt than the water already in
the lake. This inflow tends to stratify, or float on top
entered Mono Lake over time (including calcium, of existing water, because fresh water is less dense that
Smog Volatile organic compound (VOC)
At the beginning of the twentieth century, sodium,
the City andof magnesium)
water from streams have must precipitated—that
be equal to the output is, ofsaltwaterwater. As salt from the lower layer dissolves into
Los Angeles needed more water for its solidified—out
inhabitants. As ofthrough the water evaporation.
to form the tufa rock. In this the upper layer, nutrients from the bottom of the lake
we saw at the beginning of Chapter 2, inway, 1913the the salts
city have been removed from the water, but CHAPTER 15 the Review This547exchange of nutrients is
designed a plan to redirect water away from Mono Lake How did the salt balance change also rise to ■ surface.
not from the Mono Lake system as a whole. Our analy- critical for the growth of algae in the surface waters.
in California. Before the Los Angeles Aqueduct was at Mono Lake?
built, approximately 120 billion liters ofsisstream
of salts in Mono
water Lake is complete when we account
Although we can make the assumption that theRecent water research suggests that the reduction of water
(31 billion gallons) flowed into Mono Lake for intheansalts
aver-removedin MonofromLake the lake
is inassteady
tufa. state
FIgUREin aSA1.1 diversion
typical year, the from Mono Lake had unexpected results:
age year. The City of Los Angeles altered summarizes
the waterthesesalt inputs to and
balance in theoutputs fromBythe
lake is not. Monosome of the
applying
Friedland2e_c15_516-551hr_pv3.0.1.indd 547
balance of Mono Lake and at the same Lake time system.
caused a Andprinciples
they show In 1995, the reduction of stream diversions
10/29/14 4:47 PM from
we ushavehow we can
learned in theapply
first envi-
two chapters, we
series of changes to the Mono Lake system that led to
ronmental science cantomake learnobservations
about natural and drawprocesses in
conclusions Mono Lake, combined with greater than average
about
an increase in the salt concentration in Mono
systems,Lake.and understand
what has how probablyhumanshappenedimpact at Mono
naturalLake. The quantities of fresh water from snowmelt runoff,
To understand the problems at Monosystems,Lake, ecosys-
in this casestream water that water
by diverting entered(FIgURE
Mono Lake SA1.2contained
). led to a rapid rise in water level. The large volume
salt,
tem scientists had to examine water and chemical as all natural waters do. The salt content of this water of fresh water from streams led to a long-term
flows in natural waterways. Looking at the water and flowing into Mono Lake varied, but a typical literstratification of of the lake, with fresh water on the
salt budgets of Mono Lake gave rise to observations, lake water averaged 50 mg of salt. Note that 50 mg/L
Practice Free-Response Questions
conclusions, and new studies on how human activities is equivalent to 50 parts per million.
Output:
Evaporation
surface and salt water on the bottom. Relative to
baseline data taken before the initial stream diver-
influence lakes. In a way, the City of Los Angeles con- To calculate the total amount of salt that entered
of water
Input: sions, stratification has severely reduced the rate at
ducted an experiment of what happens if you stop
flow of water into a terminal lake.
the
Science Applied includes a free-response question related to the topic in
Stream water
and dissolved
Mono Lake each year, we can
tion of salt, 50 mg per liter ofbehind)
multiply
(leaving saltsthe concentra-
water, by the numberwhich of nutrients rise from the bottom of the lake.
Long-term projections based on mathematical
the article.
What is a terminal lake? salts liters of water flowing into the lake, before
ed by the City of Los Angeles: 120 billion liters per year:
it was divert-
models suggest that the current degree of stratifi-
Mono Lake is a terminal lake because it is at the lowest cation will persist for decades.
point of the landscape: Water flows into the lake from 50 mg/L salt × 120 billion L/year = 6 trillion
rivers and streams and from precipitation, but does not mg salt/year (a) List three potential consequences of reduced lake
flow out. However, in a typical year before Los Angeles mixing. (3 points)
1 million kg
xxiv   began Getting
diverting the
water,Most from
the water levelThis
did notBook
rise or fall
at Mono Lake. The water exiting a terminal lake must
6 trillion mg salt/year ×
1 trillion mg
= 6 million (b) Describe two adaptive management strategies
kg salt/year that could reduce lake stratification in Mono
balance with the water entering. If it does not, the lake Lake. (3 points)
will eventually either dry out or overflow its banks. But This is the annual input of salt by weight to Mono Lake. (c) What is the chemical property of water that
Dissolved
if the water level stays constant, and since Mono Lakesalts
is The lake today containsTufa abouttowers
285 billion kilograms allows salt to dissolve? (2 points)
a terminal lake with no surface exits for liquid water, of dissolved salt, based on measurements and estimates
F i gprovides
u r e S Aan 1 .1 The Mono Lake
conducted System. In this terminal lake
recently.
(d) Why would the mixing of salt water with fresh
how is the water in balance? Mono Lake
system,
excellent lesson in the mass balance of water: If inputs
the size are from stream
At thewater
yearlywhile
rateoutputs
of salt are
input we have just calculated, water be considered an example of increased
evaporated
water
of the pool does not change, then outputs must equal
Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 24
only. All salts how long would it take to accumulate that much salt, entropy? (2 points)
remain in the lake.
12/5/14 9:27 AM
inputs. In this case, roughly the same amount of water starting with no salt in the lake? We have just deter-
 F R I E D L A N D a n d R E LY E A
Environmental Science
for AP®

SECOND EDITION

Friedland2e_FM_i-xxv_hr1_pv2.0.1.indd 25 12/5/14 9:27 AM

 A hydraulic fracturing site like this one near
Canton, Pennsylvania, can contain many
features that are seen prominently here
including a concrete pad, a drilling rig, and
many storage containers. (Les Stone/Corbis)

Friedland2e_c01_xxvi-029hr7_pv3.1.1.indd 26 12/5/14 11:13 AM

 chapter

1 Environmental Science:
Studying the State of
Our Earth

Module 1 Environmental Science

Module 2 Environmental Indicators and Sustainability
Module 3 Scientific Method

To Frack, Or Not to Frack

The United States—like other devel-
oped countries—is highly dependent
on fuels such as coal and oil that come
from the remains of ancient plants and
animals. However, the use of these fos-
sil fuels is responsible for many envi-
ronmental problems that include land
degradation and the release of pollut-
ants into the air and water. Natural
gas, also known as methane, is the
least harmful producer of air pollution
among the fossil fuels; it burns more
completely and cleanly than coal or oil,
and it contains fewer impurities.
Due to advances in technology, oil and
mining companies have recently
increased their reliance on fracking.
­ now available in the United States at a
F­ racking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is
a method of oil and gas extraction that
uses high-pressure fluids to force open
existing cracks in rocks deep under-
ground. This technique allows extraction
Footage of flames shooting
from kitchen faucets became
popular on YouTube.
of natural gas from locations that were
previously so ­difficult to reach that extrac-
tion was economically unfeasible. As a re-
sult, large quantities of natural gas are
lower cost than before. A decade ago, 40
percent of ­energy in the United States was
used to generate electricity with half of that
energy coming from coal. As a result of
fracking, electricity generation now uses
less coal and more natural gas. Since
coal emits more air pollutants—includ-
ing carbon dioxide—than does natural
gas, increased fracking initially ap-
peared to be beneficial to the envi-
ronment.
Fracking Hydraulic ­fracturing, a
method of oil and gas extraction
that uses high-pressure fluids to
force open cracks in rocks deep
underground.

Friedland2e_c01_xxvi-029hr7_pv3.1.1.indd 1 12/5/14 11:13 AM

 However, reports soon began ap-
pearing both in the popular press and
in scientific journals about the negative
consequences of fracking. Large
amounts of water are used in the frack-
ing process with millions of gallons of
water taken out of local streams and
rivers and pumped down into each gas
well. A portion of this water is later re-
moved from the well and must be
properly treated after use to avoid con-
taminating local water bodies.
A variety of chemicals are added to
the fracking fluid to facilitate the re-
lease of natural gas. Mining companies
are not required to publicly identify all
of these chemicals. Environmental sci-
entists and concerned citizens began
to wonder if fracking was responsible
for chemical contamination of under-
ground water and, in one case, the
­poisoning of livestock. Some drinking-
water wells near fracking sites became
contaminated with natural gas, and
homeowners and public health officials
asked if fracking was the culprit. Water
with high concentrations of natural gas
can be flammable, and footage of
flames shooting from kitchen faucets
after someone ignited the water be-
came popular on YouTube, in docu-
mentaries, and in feature films.
However, it wasn’t clear if fracking
caused natural gas to contaminate well
water or if some of these wells con-
tained natural gas long before fracking
began. Several reputable studies
showed that drinking-water wells near
some fracking sites were contaminat-
ed, with natural gas concentrations in
the nearby wells being much higher
than in more distant wells. These is-
sues need further study, which may
take years.
Scientists have begun to assess how
much natural gas escapes during the
fracking and gas extraction process. As
we will learn in Chapter 19, methane is
a greenhouse gas and is much more ef-
ficient at trapping heat from Earth than
carbon dioxide, which is the greenhouse
gas most commonly produced by hu-
man activity. As the number of potential
environmental issues associated with
fracking began to increase, environ-
mental scientists and activists began to
ask whether fracking was making the
greenhouse problem and other environ-
mental problems worse. By 2014, it ap-
peared that opponents of fracking were
as numerous as supporters.
Certainly, using natural gas is better
for the environment than coal, though
using less fossil fuel—or using no
fossil fuel at all—would be even better.
However, at present it is difficult to
know whether the benefits of using
natural gas outweigh the problems that
extraction causes. Many years may
pass before the extent and nature of
harm from fracking is known.
The story of natural gas fracking pro-
vides a good introduction to the study of
environmental science. It shows us that
human activities that are initially
­perceived as causing little harm to the
environment can in fact have adverse
effects, and that we may not recognize
these effects until we better understand
the science surrounding the issue. It
also illustrates the difficulty in obtaining
absolute answers to questions about the
environment and demonstrates that
­environmental science can be contro-
versial. Finally, it shows us that making
assessments and choosing appropriate
actions in environmental science are not
always as clear-cut as they first appear.
Sources:
S. G. Osborn et al., Methane contamination of
drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling
and hydraulic fracturing, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 108 (2011):
8172–8176; Drilling down. Multiple authors in
2011 and 2012. New York Times, viewed at:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us
/DRILLING_DOWN_SERIES.html.

T
he process of scientific inquiry builds on previous work and careful, sometimes
lengthy, investigations. For example, we will eventually accumulate a body of
knowledge on the effects of hydraulic fracturing of natural gas, but until we have
this knowledge, we will not be able to make a fully informed decision about the policies
of energy extraction. In the meantime, we may need to make interim decisions based
on incomplete information. This uncertainty is one feature—and an exciting aspect—of
environmental science.
To investigate important topics such as the extraction and use of fossil fuels, environ-
mental science relies on a number of indicators, methodologies, and tools. This c
­ hapter
introduces you to the study of the environment and outlines some of the important foun-
dations and assumptions you will use throughout your study.

2  CHAPTER 1 ■ Environmental Science: Studying the State of Our Earth

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 module

Environmental Science 1
Humans are dependent on Earth’s air, water, and soil for our existence. However,
we have altered the planet in many ways, both large and small. The study of
environmental science can help us understand how humans have changed the
planet and identify ways of responding to those changes.

Learning Objectives
After reading this module you should be able to

• define the field of environmental science and discuss its importance.

• identify ways in which humans have altered and continue to alter our e­ nvironment.

Environmental science offers ponents that influence one another by exchanging

energy or materials. We have already seen that a
important insights into our world change in one part of a system—for example, fracking
and how we influence it in a particular geologic formation—can cause changes
throughout the entire system, such as in a nearby well
that supplies drinking water.
Stop reading for a moment and look up to observe
An environmental system may be completely
your surroundings. Consider the air you breathe, the
human-made, like a subway system, or it may be
heating or cooling system that keeps you at a comfort-
natural, like weather. The scope of an environmental
able temperature, and the natural or artificial light that
scientist’s work can vary from looking at a small popu-
helps you see. Our environment is the sum of all the
lation of individuals, to multiple populations that make
conditions surrounding us that influence life. These
up a species, to a community of interacting species, or
conditions include living organisms as well as nonliv-
to even larger systems, such as the global climate sys-
ing components such as soil, temperature, and water.
tem. Some environmental scientists are interested in
The influence of humans is an important part of the
regional problems. The specific case of fracking at a
environment as well. The environment we live in
particular location in the United States, for example, is
determines how healthy we are, how fast we grow,
a regional problem. Other environmental scientists
how easy it is to move around, and even how much
food we can obtain. One environment may be strik-
ingly different from another—a hot, dry desert versus
a cool, humid tropical rainforest, or a coral reef teem- Environment The sum of all the conditions
ing with marine life versus a crowded city street. ­surrounding us that influence life.
We are about to begin an examination of environ-
Environmental science The field of study that looks
mental science, the field of study that looks at inter- at interactions among human systems and those found
actions among human systems and those found in in nature.
nature. By system we mean any set of interacting com-

MODULE 1 ■ Environmental Science   3

Friedland2e_c01_xxvi-029hr7_pv3.1.1.indd 3 12/5/14 11:13 AM

 So what does the study of environmental science
gy and ecology actually include? As FIGURE 1.1 shows, environmental
Biolo
To science encompasses topics from many scientific disci-
ics xic
olo
no
m plines, such as chemistry, biology, and Earth science.

En
Environmental science is itself a subset of the broader

gy
o

vir
Ec

on
A
field known as environmental studies, which

tm
En

icy

me
osp
includes additional subjects such as environmental
pol
viro

ntal
h er i
policy, economics, literature, and ethics. Throughout
Politics and
nmental social scie

sciences
c sciences
the course of this book you will become familiar with
Environmental these and many other disciplines.
studies We have seen that environmental science is a
deeply interdisciplinary field. It is also a rapidly grow-

istr y
Eth

ing area of study. As human activities continue to

em
ic

affect the environment, environmental science can

s

Ch
nc

help us understand the consequences of our interac-

es

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tions with our planet and help us make better decisions

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F I G U R E 1 .1 Environmental studies. The study of environmental

Humans alter natural systems
science uses knowledge from many disciplines.
Think of the last time you walked in a wooded area.
Did you notice any dead or fallen trees? Chances are
work on global issues, such as species extinction and that even if you did, you were not aware that living
climate change. and nonliving components were interacting all around
Many environmental scientists study a specific type you. Perhaps an insect pest killed the tree you saw and
of natural system known as an ecosystem. An ecosystem many others of the same species. Over time, dead trees
is a particular location on Earth with interacting com- in a forest lose moisture. The increase in dry wood
ponents that include living, or biotic, components and makes the forest more vulnerable to intense wildfires.
nonliving, or abiotic, components. But the process doesn’t stop there. Wildfires trigger
As a student of environmental science, you should the germination of certain tree seeds, some of which
recognize that environmental science is different from lie dormant until after a fire. And so what began with
environmentalism, which is a social movement that seeks the activity of insects leads to a transformation of the
to protect the environment through lobbying, activ- forest. In this way, biotic factors interact with abiotic
ism, and education. An environmentalist is a person factors to influence the future of the forest. All of these
who participates in environmentalism. In contrast, an factors are part of a system.
environmental scientist, like any scientist, follows the Systems can vary in size. A large system may con-
process of observation, hypothesis testing, and field tain many smaller systems within it. FIGURE 1.2 shows
and laboratory research. We’ll learn more about the an example of complex, interconnecting systems that
process of science later in this chapter. operate at multiple space and time scales: the fisheries
of the North Atlantic. A physiologist who wants to
study how codfish survive in the North Atlantic’s
Ecosystem A particular location on Earth with freezing waters must consider all the biological
interacting biotic and abiotic components. ­adaptations of the cod that enable it to be part of one
Biotic Living. system. In this case, the fish and its internal organs are
Abiotic Nonliving. the system being studied. In the same environment, a
marine biologist might study the predator-prey rela-
Environmentalist A person who participates in
tionship between cod and herring. That relationship
environmentalism, a social movement that seeks
to protect the environment through lobbying,
constitutes another system, which includes two fish
activism, and education. species and the environment they live in. At an even
larger scale, a scientist might examine a system that
Environmental studies The field of study that
includes all of these systems as well as people, fishing
includes environmental science and additional
subjects such as environmental policy,
technology, policy, and law. The global environment
economics, literature, and ethics. is composed of both small-scale and large-scale
­systems.

4  CHAPTER 1 ■ Environmental Science: Studying the State of Our Earth

Friedland2e_c01_xxvi-029hr7_pv3.1.1.indd 4 12/5/14 11:13 AM

 To a physiologist,
unintentionally—for example, by our activities that gen-
a cod is a system. erate pollution. Even where we don’t manipulate the
environment directly, the simple fact that there are so
many of us affects our surroundings.
Humans and our direct ancestors (other members of
the genus Homo) have lived on Earth for about 2.5 million
years. During this time, and especially during the last
10,000 to 20,000 years, we have shaped and influenced
our environment. As tool-using, social animals, we have
continued to develop a capacity to directly alter our
environment in substantial ways. Homo ­sapiens—
genetically modern humans—evolved to be successful
hunters; when they entered a new environment, they
To a marine
often hunted large animal species to extinction. In fact,
Herring biologist, the early humans are thought to be responsible for the
Cod
predator-prey extinction of mammoths, mastodons, giant ground
relationship sloths, and many types of birds. More recently, hunting
between two fish
species forms a in North America led to the extinction of the passenger
system. pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) and nearly caused the loss
of the American bison (Bison bison).
But the picture isn’t all bleak. Human activities
FPO have also created opportunities for certain species to
thrive. For example, for thousands of years Native
Americans on the Great Plains used fire to capture
For an animals for food. The fires they set kept trees from
Current
oceanographer,
the system might encroaching on the plains, which in turn created a
consist of ocean window for an entire ecosystem to develop. Because
currents and their of human activity, this ecosystem—the tallgrass
effects on fish ­prairie—is now home to numerous unique species.
populations.
During the last two centuries, the rapid and wide-
spread development of technology, coupled with
dramatic human population growth, has substantially
increased both the rate and the scale of our global
environmental impact. Modern cities with electricity,
running water, sewer systems, Internet connections,
and public transportation systems have improved
human well-being, but they have come at a cost.
Because cities cover land that was once natural habi-
A fisheries manager tat, species that relied on that habitat must adapt,
is interested in a
larger system,
relocate, or go extinct. Human-induced changes in
consisting of fish climate—for example, in patterns of temperature and
populations as well precipitation—affect the health of natural systems on
as human activities a global scale. Current changes in land use and cli-
and laws.
mate are rapidly outpacing the rate at which natural
systems can evolve. Some species have not “kept up”
F I G U R E 1 . 2 Systems within systems. The boundaries of and can no longer compete in the human-modified
an environmental system may be defined by the researcher’s point of
environment.
view. Physiologists, marine biologists, oceanographers, and fisheries
Moreover, as the number of people on the planet
managers would all describe the North Atlantic Ocean fisheries system
differently.
has grown, their effect has multiplied. Six thousand
people can live in a relatively small area with only
minimal effects on the environment. But when
Humans manipulate the systems in their environment roughly 4 million people live in a modern city like Los
more than any other species. We convert land from its Angeles, their combined activity will cause environ-
natural state into urban, suburban, and agricultural areas. mental damage that will inevitably pollute the water,
We change the chemistry of our air, water, and soil, both air, and soil as well as introduce other adverse conse-
intentionally—for example, by adding fertilizers—and quences (FIGURE 1.3).

MODULE 1 ■ Environmental Science   5

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 (a) (b)

F I G U R E 1 . 3 Human impact on Earth. It is impossible for millions of people to inhabit an area without
altering it. (a) In 1880, fewer than 6,000 people lived in Los Angeles. (b) In 2013, Los Angeles had a population
of 3.9 million people, and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area was home to nearly 13 million people.
(a: The Granger Collection, New York; b: LA/AeroPhotos/Alamy)

module

1
REVIEW

In this module we have seen that the study of
environmental science helps us understand the role
humans have played in the natural environment,
and how that role has changed over time. There are
specific approaches to the study of environmental
science, some of which utilize terms and concepts
from other disciplines. To study environmental sci-
ence, we utilize specific techniques and environ-
mental indicators, the focus of the next module.

Module 1 AP ® Review Questions

1. Impacts of fracking include 3. Which of the following is NOT true about
I contamination of ground water. ecosystems?
II increased use of coal. (a) They include biotic components.
III lower natural gas prices. (b) They can be a wide range of sizes.
(a) I only (c) They include no human components.
(b) I and II only (d) Many interactions among species occur in them.
(c) II and III only (e) They include abiotic components.
(d) I and III only
(e) I, II, and III 4. Each of the following is an example of how humans
have negatively affected the environment except
2. Which of the following is an abiotic component? (a) hunting large mammals.
(a) an eagle (b) conversion of arid land to agricultural use.
(b) a rock (c) the use of fire to create the Great Plains.
(c) a tree (d) slash-and-burn forest clearing.
(d) a human (e) fertilizer additions to lakes and rivers.
(e) a virus

6  CHAPTER 1 ■ Environmental Science: Studying the State of Our Earth

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 module

Environmental Indicators 2
and Sustainability
As we study the way humans have altered the natural world, it is important to have
techniques for measuring and quantifying human impact. Environmental indicators
allow us to assess the impact of humans on Earth. The use of these indicators help
us determine whether or not the quality of the natural environment is improving and
inform discussions on the sustainability of humans on the planet.

Learning Objectives
After reading this module you should be able to

• identify key environmental indicators and their trends over time.

• define sustainability and explain how it can be measured using the ecological
footprint.

Environmental scientists monitor
natural systems for signs of stress
One critical question that environmental scientists
investigate is whether the planet’s natural life-support
systems are being degraded by human-induced c­ hanges.
Natural environments provide what we refer to as
ecosystem services—the processes by which life-
supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fish-
eries, and agricultural crops are produced. Although
we often take a healthy ecosystem for granted, we
notice when an ecosystem is degraded or stressed
because it is unable to provide the same services or
produce the same goods. To understand the extent of
our effect on the environment, we need to be able to
measure the health of Earth’s ecosystems.
To describe the health and quality of natural s­ystems,
environmental scientists use environmental indicators. Just
as body temperature and heart rate can indicate ­whether
a person is healthy or sick, e­ nvironmental ­indicators
describe the current state of an environmental system.
These indicators do not always tell us what is causing a
change, but they do tell us when we might need to look
more deeply into a particular issue. Environmental indi-
cators provide valuable information about natural sys-
tems on both small and large scales. Some of these
indicators and the chapters in which they are covered
are listed in TABLE 2.1.
In this book we will focus on the five global-scale
environmental indicators listed in TABLE 2.2: biological
diversity, food production, average global surface tem-
perature and carbon dioxide concentrations in the
atmosphere, human population, and resource depletion.
Throughout the text we will cover each of these five
indicators in greater detail. Here we take a first look.
Ecosystem services The processes by which life-
supporting resources such as clean water, timber,
fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced.
Environmental indicator An indicator that describes
the current state of an environmental system.

MODULE 2 ■ Environmental Indicators and Sustainability   7

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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN