APES Unit 8 Study Guide

A farmer needs to kill more than half of the insect crop pests to ensure a profitable harvest. Based on the graph, what is the minimum concentration of pesticide C that the farmer must use to make a profit?

1,500 g/cm3

A sanitary landfill with a surface area of 6000 m? receives a yearly rainfall amount of 300 mm. About 20% of this precipitation is runoff and does not infiltrate the surface. A leachate collection system, which is installed underneath the landfill, is 90% effective at collecting and treating any water that infiltrates the surface of the landfill. Assuming consistent yearly rainfall amounts, what is the volume of leachate, in m3, that the landfill will be able to treat per year?

1296 m3

Large objects, such as sticks and rocks, are screened out and removed during this process.

A

An ecologist examining several different ponds discovers that in one pond all the frogs are female. Which of the following most likely led to the all-female population of frogs?

An endocrine disruptor

Based on the LD50 values, which of the following best describes the toxicity level of the household substances shown in the table?

Antifreeze is more toxic than aspirin.

Which of the following human health issues is linked to exposure to pollutants released during the incineration of plastic waste?

Asthma

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

B

Some toxic compounds are ingested and retained in the tissues. These pollutants pose special risks to humans and other organisms high on the food chain because of which process?

Biomagnification

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

This process results in the biological breakdown of most of the organic matter in the sewage.

C

This pathogen infects the intestine and is spread through contaminated water or food.

Cholera

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

Coal-burning emissions

Which of the following federal laws specifically deals with the cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites?

Comprehensive Environmental Responsibility Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined that all four pesticides could have negative health consequences to humans if applied at high concentrations and has set a maximum application concentration of 500 g/cm3. Based on the data in the graph, which pesticide would be the most effective at that concentration?

D

This process uses chlorine, ultraviolet radiation, or ozone as part of the disinfection of wastewater.

D

Two branches of a river have different sediment loads. Based on the diagram, which of the following most likely led to the differences in the amount of sediment in the two branches of the river?

Deforestation from clear-cutting

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

Erosion from agricultural land

Students conducted an experiment to calculate the LD50 of Chemical X on seedlings. They grew separate groups of seedlings in a range of doses of Chemical X. After several days they calculated the percent mortality at each dose and graphed the results. Which of the following graphs correctly shows how to determine the LD50 of Chemical X on the seedlings?

Graph with the lines at 50 and a little under medium, makes a perfect box at the curve.

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

This pathogen is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes and is found most often in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria

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

Nitrates (NO3)

Which of the following is the greatest component of municipal solid waste in the United States?

Paper

Other than potential negative health effects on humans, which of the following is a disadvantage of using chemical pesticides to eliminate crop pests?

Pesticides may harm organisms other than the target crop pests through biomagnification in the food web

In August of 2014, residents of several Ohio cities that use Lake Erie as a drinking water source were warned not to drink tap water because of the presence of toxins released by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). Which of the following is the most likely cause of recent blooms of blue-green algae in Lake Erie?

Phosphorus contained in agricultural runoff

The graphs below show inputs of several different pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay from four major river systems. Which of the following strategies will best reduce eutrophication in the Chesapeake Bay?

Regulating the use of inorganic fertilizer in the Susquehanna River watershed

Which of the following laws gave the EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from "cradle-to-grave", including the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste?

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

Many synthetic chemicals, such as PUbs, act as estrogen mimics. In an ecosystem, these persistent chemicals would have the greatest effect on which of the following?

Secondary consumers

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

Site C

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 laboratory experiment was done to show the effects of organic waste on the dissolved oxygen (DO) content in water. Five tanks were set up, each containing fresh water and a small amount of single-celled green algae. Specified amounts of organic waste were added to the tanks. The results below show the amount of DO in each tank after a period of one week. Why did the DO after one week decrease as the amount of water increased?

The algae multiplied and then died and decomposed.

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 nave on the reservoir?

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

A laboratory experiment was done to show the effects of organic waste on the dissolved oxygen (DO) content in water. Five tanks were set up, each containing fresh water and a small amount of single-celled green algae. Specified amounts of organic waste were added to the tanks. The results below show the amount of DO in each tank after a period of one week. What is the main purpose for the experiment?

To observe the effect of organic waste on DO

This pathogen infects the respiratory system, typically the lungs, and can spread through the air when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

Tuberculosis

A local citizen science group is monitoring the water quality of a nearby lake. They gather water samples once a week on Wednesday between the hours of 7 A.M. and 9 A.M. from the same location. One day in August they were unable to sample within that time frame and collected the sample at 3 P.M. 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.

Which of the following best describes a supporting ecological service provided by wetlands?

Wetlands provide a habitat for a wide variety of organisms.

Which of the following identifies an unintended result from recycling programs?

When items are placed in recycling that cannot be recycled, the cost of recycling increases.

Eutrophication results in the death of trout and other fish as a result of

asphyxiation from lack of oxygen

Factors that increase the spread of infectious diseases include all of the following EXCEPT

exposure to neurotoxins, which affect the endocrine system

Although the use of DDT was banned in the United States in 1972, a test of the body tissue of an average United States resident today would most likely reveal the presence of DDT because

other countries that export produce to the United States still use DDT

World Air Travel - Of the phenomena that correlate with the data above, the one that is the most direct consequence of the trend in air travel is

the increase in the spread of infectious diseases