APES Unit 8

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

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

An individual is exposed to the water in the stream from which the sample show in the graph was taken. If the individual was exposed to the highest dose of the bacteria, which of the following bacteria would have the lowest probability of causing illness if ingested?

C. jejuni

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

Comprehensive Environmental Responsibility Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)

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 would encourage recycling?

Decreasing taxes on recycled material

Endocrine disruptors directly affect which of the following in an organism?

Hormones

Of the following, which is the most serious immediate problem associated with sanitary landfills?

Leachate contamination of groundwater

Step P. Water is passed through a screen to remove debris. Step Q. Pathogenic organisms are killed by chlorination, UV, or ozone. Step R. Suspended particles clump and settle out. Step S. A floccing agent, such as alum, is added to the water. The processes described above are steps in the purification and treatment of municipal wastewater. The steps are listed in random order. Which of the following lists the steps in the correct sequence?

P → S → R → Q

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.

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

Secondary consumers

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.

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.

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

adding nitrates

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

asphyxiation from lack of oxygen

Which of the following is most likely to result from destruction of wetlands surrounding a river?

An increased frequency of flooding of the river valley

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.

Mandates the restoration and maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters

Clean Water Act

Which of the following water quality tests would best indicate if sewage from the wastewater treatment plant has contaminated the Moose River?

Fecal coliform measured at site B

For a certain insecticide, the LD-50 dosage level for rats is determined to be 250 milligrams per kilogram of body mass. On the basis of this information, which of the following is the best prediction regarding the consequences of receiving this dosage of the insecticide?

Five hundred out of every one thousand rats would die

The dangers of disposing of toxic chemicals underground came to public attention in which of the following locations?

Love Canal, NY

A pesticide was applied to a population of roaches, and it was determined that the LD50 was 55 mg/kg. If the average mass of a roach was 0.02kg, which of the following approaches will determine the dose in mg per roach?

55mg/1 kg × 0.02kg

Researchers are evaluating the waste treatment facility located on the Moose River in the northeastern United States. They are sampling the river and its tributaries at several locations, as shown on the map below. Water from which of the following locations on the map would best serve as a control group for the study?

A

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

Researchers suspect that sewage leaked into the Moose River. Rates for which of the following diseases should be used to determine whether the human population using the river as a source of drinking water was exposed to sewage?

Dysentery

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

Erosion from agricultural land

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

Factory effluent

The presence of which of the following contaminants would be the strongest reason for judging municipal sewage sludge unfit for use as fertilizer?

Heavy metals

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

An experiment was carried out to determine the lethal dose of ammonium sulfate on mung bean germination. True statements about the experimental design include which of the following? The control group has neither the seeds nor the ammonium sulfate. The independent variable is the concentration of the ammonium sulfate. The dependent variable is the number of seeds that failed to germinate.

II and III only

Critics of incineration of municipal solid waste suggests that it may not be the best solution for the future, for which of the following reasons?

Incineration contributes to air pollution

Which of the following is the most likely consequence of runoff transporting chemicals that are endocrine disruptors to a pond?

Increased frequency of birth defects in fish populations in the pond

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 a point source pollutant that would likely affect the ecosystem health of a coral reef?

Oil released from the broken hull of a shipwrecked tanked

Which of the following solutions would best address the issues of greatest concern in the community?

Planting mangrove forests

Which of the following correctly orders the methods of solid-waste management in terms of energy required?

Reduce Reuse Recycle (Least --> Most)

If all four of the bacteria species shown in the graph are equally likely to contaminate agricultural products at a dose of 10^2 CFU, regulating which of the following species would have the greatest effect in reducing the likelihood of illness in humans?

Salmonella

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 waste increased?

The algae multiplied and then died and decomposed.

Some studies have indicated that global amphibian populations are declining and that exposure to herbicides in agricultural runoff is implicated in the decline. Which of the following is the most likely explanation of how herbicides affect amphibians?

The herbicides act as endocrine disruptors

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.

Which of the following is true of sewage treatment plants in the United States?

They are not designed to remove pharmaceutical chemicals from wastewater.

Cholera is an acute infection of the digestive system that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Infected individuals can experience a range of symptoms, including diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps, low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and extreme thirst. If symptoms persist and severe dehydration results, an infected individual can die within hours of symptom onset. The diagram below shows how cholera is transmitted. Based on the diagram above, which of the following is the most likely reason that V. cholerae can spread rapidly through a population?

V. cholerae is a microscopic bacterium that can survive in various aquatic environments for prolonged periods of time and can cause a delayed onset of visible symptoms.

Most plastics pose a special problem in the waste stream because they

decompose slowly, if at all, and persist as solid waste

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

exposure to neurotoxins, which affect the endocrine system

Three common methods employed in the cleanup of oil spills are

large floating booms, skimmer boats, and genetically engineered bacteria

Of the following strategies to decrease the landfill volume of packaging material from food and other consumer products, the most energy efficient is

promoting the use of reusable containers for consumer goods

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