ENVS Chpt 10

Robert Costanza of the University of Vermont estimates the world's forests provide us with ecological services worth how much per year?

$4.7 trillion

We can all help sustain terrestrial biodiversity through various measures. Which of the following methods is least effective in sustaining biodiversity?

Eliminate local plants from your household garden

Researchers have suggested four principles for carrying out most forms of ecological restoration and rehabilitation. Which one of the following is not one of these principles?

Encourage the development of economic zones in the ecosystem

Four of the following are important ecological services provided by forests; one is not. Choose the one that is not.

Releases atmospheric carbon

A majority of the loss of the tropical forests has occurred over the past 200 years.

false

Unfenced grasslands in tropical and temperate climates that supply forage for grazing animals are called ____.

rangeland

What term refers to land officially designated as an area where natural communities have not been seriously disturbed by humans, and where harmful human activities are limited by law?

wilderness

Forests cover about ____% of the U.S. land area.

30

Forests, both natural and planted, occupy how much of the earth's land surface, other than Greenland and Antarctica?

31%

Robert Costanza of the University of Vermont estimates the monetary worth of the earth's ecological services per year at which of the following?

33.2 trillion

In the United States, about ____% of the forests are protected.

40

According to the World Resources Institute, if the current rates continue, how much of the world's remaining forests will be lost in the next two decades?

40%

Over the past 8,000 years, human activities have reduced the earth's original forest cover by about _____ %, with most of that coming in the last 60 years.

47

Which of the following is true of tree plantations?

They are not biologically diverse

A tree plantation is also called a(n) ____.

commercial forest

Four of the following are ways to grow and harvest trees more sustainably; one is not. Choose the one that is not.

increase road building into uncut areas

Which of the following is a harmful effect of even carefully designed logging roads?

increased erosion

Overgrazing occurs when too many animals graze for too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland area. Overgrazing causes all of the following except ____.

increased retention of water

Many biologists and wildlife conservationists believe that the best way to keep from hastening the extinction of wild species through human activities is to protect threatened habitats and ecosystem services. This is referred to as ____.

the ecosystem approach

Burning tropical forests accounts for how much of the human-created greenhouse gas emissions?

17%

About ____ of the wood harvested globally each year is burned directly for fuel or converted to charcoal fuel.

50%

Which of method is effective in reducing tropical deforestation?

All of these

With only 2% of its forests remaining, which of the following countries has gone from tropical paradise to ecological disaster?

Haiti

In 1995-1996, gray wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park. Since then, which of the following has occurred?

Shade trees growing along streams have encourages larger trout populations

Which of the following is true of surface fires?

They free mineral nutrients that are locked up in vegetation and litter

What is not considered a major problem for U.S. public parks today?

agricultural runoff

One of the reasons for cutting trees is to provide pulp for making paper. However, paper can be made from a number of other sources. What is not a viable source of paper?

animal fats

Areas especially rich in plant species that are found nowhere else and are in great danger of extinction are called ____.

biodiversity hotspots

Conservationists around the world are using a design in which an inner core of a reserve is surrounded by two protective areas. This design is known as ____.

buffer zone concept

Tropical forests in the Amazon basin and other South American countries are primarily being cleared or burned for ____.

cattle grazing and soybean plantations

One preservation strategy for the remaining grasslands in the Southwestern U.S. involves land trust groups that pay ranchers for ____, which are deed restrictions that bar future owners from developing the land.

conservation easements

Costa Rica is considered a superpower of biodiversity, with an estimated 500,000 plant and animal species. This biodiversity is chiefly a result of the ____.

country's geographic location and its government's strong conservation efforts

The temporary or permanent removal of large expanses of forest for agriculture, or other uses, is called ____.

deforestation

Which of the following is a disadvantage of clear-cutting?

destroys and fragments wildlife habitats

What term refers to the process of repairing damage caused by humans to the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by ecosystems?

ecological restoration

Ecologists warn that human population growth, economic development, and poverty are exerting increasing pressure on the earth's ecosystems and on the ____ it provides.

ecosystem services

Which of the following is not an economic service provided by forests?

erosion reduction

Even moderate levels of grazing are unhealthy for grasslands.

false

In the last 8,000 years, humans have reduced the earth's original forest cover by about 23%.

false

Parks in developing countries possess the least biodiversity of all parks.

false

Sixty percent of the world's forests are old-growth forests.

false

Tree farms are more biologically diverse than second-growth forests.

false

A second-growth forest is a(n) ____.

forest resulting from secondary succession

Protected areas linking isolated reserves is a design called ____.

habitat corridors

Hemp requires fewer pesticides and yield more pulp per hectare. What other source of pulp provides this benefit?

kenaf

Most conservation biologists believe the most important reasons for protecting wilderness and other areas from exploitation and degradation involve the ____.

long-term needs of all species

What is probably the biggest problem for U.S. national parks today?

popularity

Widespread human-influenced fires in tropical forests, such as the Amazon Rainforest, change weather patterns by raising temperatures and reducing rainfall resulting in droughts, which in turn makes forests more likely to burn. This is an example of a ____.

positive feedback loop

Michael Rosenzweig suggests we need to learn how to share with other species the spaces we dominate. He calls this new form of conservation biology ____.

reconciliation ecology

Four of the following are measures to speed up ecosystem recovery; one is not. Choose the one that is not.

secondary succession

Removing intermediate-aged or mature trees from a forest is known as ____.

selective cutting

Ecologists and forest fire experts recommend several strategies for reducing fire-related harm to forests and people. What is one of those strategies?

set small, contained surface fires in highest-risk forest areas

A 1997 report estimated the value of the ecological services provided to humans by forests to be at least $4.7 trillion.

true

Efforts are under way to make charcoal out of fibers left over from processing sugar cane.

true

Forest fires are not a major threat to forest ecosystems as part of a natural cycle.

true

Forests covering approximately 30% of the U.S. land area supply about two-thirds of the nation's surface water.

true

If current deforestation rates continue about 40% of all the world's remaining intact forests will have been logged or converted to other uses in 20 years.

true

Only 5% of U.S. land is protected as wilderness, and most of that is in Alaska.

true

Only about 1% of national parks in less-developed countries are protected.

true

Someday, tree plantations may supply most of the world's demand for industrial wood.

true

Up to 60% of the wood consumed in the U.S. is wasted unnecessarily.

true

Forests provide habitats for about ____ of the earth's terrestrial species.

two-thirds

An old-growth forest is a(n) ____.

uncut or regenerated primary forest undisturbed for at least 200 hundred years

Which of the following is a method of grassland restoration?

use of portable fencing to confine cattle to ungrazed areas

Surface fires ____.

usually burn only undergrowth and leaf litter on the forest floor