APES unit 8 quiz 1

The U.S. has 4.5% of the world's population, but produces ___ of the world's trash.

1/3

Based on the data table above for a stream in Illinois, which site most likely has a construction site immediately upstream from it?

C

The graph above shows the effect of sewage on biological oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in a flowing stream. The smallest fish populations will most probably be found at point

C

Most of what we throw away is...

Packaging containers

What makes up the biggest percentage of our waste in the U.S.?

Paper

Which of the following best describes a way that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) cause harm in the environment?

Persistent organic pollutants are stable pollutants that can accumulate in an organisms' fatty tissues.

Scientists are interested in determining if selenium, from a nearby mine, magnifies in the tissues of fish living in a lake. Which of the following best describes a testable hypothesis for the study?

Selenium will be at a higher concentration in fish tissue than in the tissue of fish prey.

Which of the following statements best describes the concept of phytoremediation?

The use of plants or algae to absorb and accumulate toxic materials from the soil or water.

How might this modification to the sampling procedure affect the results?

Water sampled later in the day may be warmer and therefore have lower dissolved oxygen levels.

What was the main purpose of this experiment?

To observe the effect of organic waste on DO

All of the following are considered toxic metal pollutants EXCEPT

nitrogen

What country leads the world in trash production?

U.S.

Of the following, which is the best example of a point source of water pollution?

Factory waste discharge

Which of the following best explains why top predators can have up to 60 times as much of persistent organic pollutant (POP) as their prey and up to 600 times as much of the pollutant as producers?

POPs accumulate in the body fat of living organisms. POPs increase in concentration as they move up the food chain.

Which of the following is the best description of bioaccumulation?

The absorption of a substance by an organism at a rate greater than the rate of elimination

A point source discharges organic waste into a stream. Which of the following graphs best depicts the expected pattern for dissolved oxygen (DO) in this stream as a function of distance from the discharge point?

(E)

Which of the following best describes why DDT is classified as a persistent organic pollutant?

DDT is very stable, and as much as 50% of the original concentration can remain in the soil 15 years after the initial application.

Which of the following characteristically produces non-point-source pollution?

Erosion from agricultural lands

Which of the following examples includes both a point and a nonpoint source of pollution?

Fertilizer from suburban lawns and waste water from a fracking well.

Mercury concentrations were measured in freshwater shrimp populations in two different ponds, one polluted with mercury and one unpolluted, with a similar food web in each pond. Which of the following best identifies the scientific question that would guide this investigation?

How much mercury accumulates in the tissues of freshwater shrimp living in a polluted pond?

The use of nitrogen-based fertilizers in the Midwestern United States is a major contributing factor to which of the following?

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

Significant increases in water temperature can drastically change dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in a lake. Why does the combined effect of these two environmental changes result in algal blooms?

Low dissolved oxygen leads to death for aerobic organisms, like fish, whose decomposition provides an overabundance of nutrients for the algae, resulting in the large blooms.

Which of the following is true?

Most of our e-waste is shipped to developing countries.

Chemical compound that can cause algal blooms and cultural eutrophication in streams

Nitrates (NO3−)

Which of the following strategies will best reduce eutrophication in the Chesapeake Bay?

Regulating the use of inorganic fertilizer in the Susquehanna River watershed

Why did the DO after one week decrease as the amount of waste increased?

The algae multiplied and then died and decomposed.

In 1986 Country X established regulations to reduce the maximum allowable concentration of chromium in industrial effluents (waste water) from 37 ppm to 25 ppm. In 1994 government research indicated that a chromium concentration of up to 35 ppm in effluents presented an acceptable risk; in the same year the government also discovered that a certain chemical company had been discharging effluents with chromium concentrations of 32 ppm each year since 1981. Based on this information, which of the following statements is correct?

The chemical company did not violate effluent regulations in the 1982-1985 period, but it violated them at some other time.

A massive bluegill fish kill was observed in a lake near a power plant during the winter months. It was determined that the plant was releasing large amounts of hot water into the lake. Which of the following explains what likely caused the death of so many bluegills in the lake?

The influx of warmer water caused an unexpected increase in the metabolic rate of the bluegills, which led to increased physiological stress from limited resource availability.

The water used in this type of power plant is often released back into a reservoir. Which of the following effects could this released water have on the reservoir?

The temperature of the released water causes a decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the reservoir.

Since 1960, in the U.S., which of the following is true?

Total MSW has decreased while per capita MSW has increased

All of the following are commonly used to deal with the side effects of eutrophication in lakes EXCEPT

adding nitrates

Most of our solid waste...

is produced by industry

Which metal poses a health risk to humans who eat large quantities of marine fish such as swordfish and tuna

mercury

At which of the following locations in the stream was there most likely a discharge of excess organic matter into the water?

B

Until 2005 the entire Postawko Creek Watershed in Fremont County consisted of a national forest interspersed with hay meadows and houses on lots with a minimum size of five acres. In 2005 Farmer Cobb opened a dairy farm in the watershed, and the citizens of Fremont County became concerned that the runoff from the dairy farm would negatively impact the water quality of the watershed. Scientists employed by the county collected water quality data at five sites in the watershed; some of the data are compiled in the table above. Based on these data, which site is most likely immediately downstream from the dairy farm?

C

Which of the following best explains why DDT has been found in penguin eggs in the Antarctic?

Chemicals used in one region of Earth can circulate in the biosphere and affect organisms in a distant region.

The largest estuary in the U.S. is located where?

Chesapeake Bay

Which of the following is the most likely route for mercury to enter the food web?

Coal-burning emissions → wet deposition → ocean → plankton → fishes

Based on the diagram, which of the following is an expected consequence of runoff and sewage in an aquatic environment?

Decreased oxygen production by seaweed on the seafloor from an increase in turbidity (less water clarity)