NRES 103 Final Exam
The exorbitantly high cost of pumping water thousands of miles is the thing that prevents it from happening
False
One thing that the timber holdings in the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes Fisheries had in common was that
they both seemed limitless
The lamprey moved slowly through Lake Erie because
-it was relatively shallow -it was relatively warm -it lacked suitable spawning streams
The deadliest fire in U.S. history was
The Peshtigo Fire
Most invasive species are introduced
by humans
The Great Lakes region is uniquely positioned to stop future invasions because
every overseas freighter must pass through the St. Lambert Lock
The Clean Water Act
-focused on point-source pollution -ignored nonpoint pollution
Canada is supportive of efforts to close the Seaway to ocean-going freighters.
False
What prevented water-bound organisms from migrating from the ocean to the upper Great Lakes?
Niagara Falls
Compared to the Erie Canal, the Welland Canal
accommodated longer and wider ships
Another ballast hitch-hiker, the Eurasian ruffe, became a very successful invader in the Great Lakes, largely due to
an extremely high reproductive rate
What is the process by which toxins reach higher levels in species that are higher up the food chain?
bioaccumulation
The amount of cargo to pass through the Seaway currently
could be carried by two freight trains per day
In the scientific method, predictions are generated from hypotheses, then tested with
data
Since the mid-1970s, the amount of cargo passing through the Seaway annually has
declined
The west-to-east flow of the Great Lakes is due to differences in
elevation
The first European to explore the St. Lawrence River was Jacques Cartier, but after 1000 miles he had to turn back because his party
encountered impassible rapids
When a bighead carp was caught beyond the barrier and just miles from Lake Michigan
five states took USACE and Illinois to court
In the film Saving the Great Lakes from Toxic Algae, Jeff Reutters from the Stone Lab recommends that if we are going to reduce the possibility of poisoned drinking water in the Lake Erie region, we should first
focus on water treatment plants
In recent decades, what is the primary factor that has led to an exponential increase in the movement of invasive species?
global connectivity
Successful invasive species often lack predators in their new environment, and also tend to be
habitat generalists
Alewives became the primary food source of lake trout, but also
harmed the reproductive potential of the trout
The listing of the lake sturgeon as endangered illustrates the point that environmental impacts especially impact species that
have a low reproductive rate
At this point in time, what is the biggest problem facing the Great Lakes?
human ignorance
Zebra mussels impact native mussels directly
inhibiting their ability to open their shells
A key difference between non-native (or exotic) species and invasive species is that
invasives tend to cause negative environmental consequences
Compared to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, North America's 4th seacoast is unique in that
it has a single entry point for foreign freighters
Who eats who in the Great Lakes is not necessarily linear, as exemplified by the lake sturgeon because
it is quite large yet eats small prey items
Compared to the Europeans, the Woodland Culture was
lacking in some ways but equal or superior in others
Most foreign freighters sail out of the Great Lakes carrying grain, totaling what percentage of total grain exports for the U.S. and Canada?
less than 2
When federal funding was halted for the carp-controlling sweage experiment, Arkansas Game and Fish
let some of them go
Of the changes in the Great Lakes associated with climate, the commercial shipping industry is most affected by
low water
For four of the five Great Lakes, the estimated impact of invasion by Asian carp is
moderate to high
The notion of restoring even parts of the Great Lakes region to conditions that existed prior to European settlement is challenging because
of so much environmental degradation
Even though zebra mussels can only move about 14" an hour using their 'foot,' they can rapidly reach new locations because
offspring are covered with hairs that help them to catch currents
The problem of water pollution was compounded by the huge size of the Great Lakes because
people didn't think they could have much of an impact on such large bodies of water
The film clip "The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes" describes a number of geologic phenomena that have changed the lakes over time. One of these has to do with the transition from a northerly outflow of Great Lakes water to a southerly course. This transition was caused by
rising land surface after the glacier's retreat
An extreme form of wave action in the Great Lakes that is associated with rapid changes in wind and barometric pressure is known as a
seiche
A key question in ecological restoration globally, and especially applicable to the Great Lakes has to do with
target conditions
On an annual basis, the Soo Locks handle more ships and more tonnage
than the Panama and Suez Canals combined
Detractors of the St. Lawrence Seaway believed
that it would ruin the business of U.S. ports on the eastern seaboard
After the trees were cut in the Great Black Swamp, roads were built and ditches were dug. The latter was greatly facilitated by
the Buckeye Traction Ditcher
In a sense, it could be said that the Clean Water Act had its origins in
the Cuyahoga River
Vernon Applegate was able to help reduce lamprey populations by focusing on
the creeks where lampreys nest
Which of the following does not serve as an example of the dynamic nature of the Great Lakes over geographic time?
the salt concentration of Lake Michigan has been steadily increasing over the last 1000 years (-Michigan (the state and the lake) was once covered by the Wisconsin Glacier -Sleeping Bear Dune is moving inland at the rate of 2 feet per year -Paleo-indians once hunted mastadons in Michigan are all examples of this)
Whitefish were ultimately able to switch to invasive mussels as a good source because
their stomach muscles began to enlarge
The zebra mussel could not have 'walked' across the Atlantic Ocean to reach the Great Lakes, even over many generations, because
they could not have survived the ocean's salinity or depth
The drought in California is a national problem because
they grow 90% of the nation's produce
Whitefish were never a consumer of fish, probably because
they had no teeth
Invasive mussels were able to virutally take over Lake Mead's bed and canyon walls below the waterline in only two years because
they were able to reproduce rapidly in the warm climate
There was a mistake made in naming Lakes Michigan and Huron. What was it?
they're actually one lake
It's thought that lampreys first entered Lake Ontario
through the Erie Canal
The primary mission of the early French explorers of the Great Lakes was
to find a passage to the Great South Sea and Cathay
At this point, the only mandated strategy for ships sailing from foreign ports into the Great Lakes is
to flush all of their ballast tanks mid-ocean
In the film The St. Lawrence Seaway System, the proposed way to get around the fact that the locks and channels were too small for transoceanic ships was
to unload cargo and put it on smaller ships
A key commercial use of the Great Lakes ever since the days of La Salle involves
transportation
The concept of a food chain is all about what type of relationships?
trophic
Predicting which species are likely to become invasive is
very difficult to do
If ballast control systems are installed on all freighters entering the Great Lakes, the probability of more invasive species showing up there is
very high
Turnover of water, or mixing, in lakes is important in terms of maintaining
water quality
Fisheries managers were surprised to learn that chinook salmon
were reproducing in the wild in prodigious numbers
On lands near Lake Erie's western basin, there is a large emphasis in ecological restoration of
wetlands
The scientific method is initiated
with observations
Annual damage to fisheries and recreational activities caused by invasive mussels in the Great Lakes is estimated to cost
$200 million
The reported annual cost borne by municipalities and industry in the Great Lakes region to keep pipes free from mussels
$600 million
Botulism-causing bacteria spread up the food chain after
-being ingested by invasive mussels -gobies ate toxic mussels -birds consumed toxic gobies
The effects of lead poisoning
-can last for decades -are especially pronounced in children
To help reduce a $25 million budget deficit, the city of Flint
-decided to temporarily get its water from the Flint River -decided to build its own water pipeline
Quagga mussels eventually outnumbered zebra mussels by a huge margin because the former
-don't need a hard surface to adhere to -can tolerate much deeper water
In nature, ecosystems are
-dynamic -unpredictable -difficult for humans to control
Problem with mid-ocean flushing of ballast tanks include
-effectiveness is difficult to assess due to the lag time in detection of exotic species -it kills 99% of organisms, but there could still be a lot in there
The diet of the round goby includes
-eggs of other fish -young of larger fish -zooplankton -young zebra and quagga mussels
According to the film Great Lakes Water Level Changes, the three major factors in the Great Lakes water budget include
-evaporation from the Lakes -precipitation directly on the Lakes -runoff into the Lakes
The EPA exempted the discharge of ballast water from the Clean Water Act
-even though they did not have Congressional approval to do so -because doing so would reduce administrative costs -because they thought it was relatively harmless
Asian carp possess several of the key attributes that tend to allow species to become invasive, including
-extremely high reproduction rate -lack of predators -good dispersers
Native mussels in the Great Lakes helped to maintain water clarity by
-filtering organic material from the water column -eating algae
The same process causing massive algal blooms in Lake Erie
-has resulted in dead zones around the world -has created a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Prior to settlement, water flowed clear from the Maumee River to Lake Erie. Now, the extensive grid of ditches and tile lines
-have increased flows in the river -have made the river more turbid -have increased nutrient inputs to the river
Of the changes in the Great Lakes associated with climate, recreational boating and tourism are most affected by
-high water -low water
Which of the following trends in the Great Lakes is attributed to climate change?
-increase in water temperature -increase in the number of heavy rainfall events
Compared to point-source pollution, nonpoint pollution
-is harder to track -is more difficult to regulate
For a trait to be considered to be an adaptation in an evolutionary sense
-it must be favorable to an organism's survival -it must be favorable to an organism's ability to reproduce -it must be heritable
Ballast serves a key function on freighters because
-it provides stability to an empty ship -it is heavy, readily available, and basically free
In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to mandate treatment systems for all trans-oceanic ships discharging ballast in U.S. waters, but
-it's uncertain as to whether all ships will comply -such systems aren't required until 2021 -it's not certain that such systems will be effective against all exotic species
The zebra mussel, quagga mussel, and round goby
-likely reached the Great Lakes in the ballast of a freighter -have their native range in the Black and/or Caspian Seas -first appeared in North America in or near Lake St. Clair
Some strategies for getting rid of carp include
-making fertilizer from them -making pet food from them -making fish cakes from them
Unlike the algal blooms in the late 1960s, the blooms in Lake Erie in the mid-1990s were caused by
-microcystis -cyanobacteria -blue-green algae
Cities tended to be constructed where
-near areas preferred by spawning fish and waterfowl -adjacent to protected harbors and river mouths
A fundamental principle of environmental justice is that
-people should have a voice in decisions that affect them -minority groups should not be disproportionately burdened by environmental harm
The alewife came to dominate native fish in the Great Lakes by
-preying on their young -outcompeting them for food
DNA barcoding
-was initially used to identify invasive species in ship's ballast -is meant to identify species
The food chain is Lake Powell
-was predicted to collapse in less than a decade -was very simple
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
-was the largest earth-moving project in North America at the time -helped to sanitize Chicago's water -reversed the flow of the Chicago River
The second set of barriers funded by Congress
-were more powerful than the original -was not turned on initially out of fear of detonating barges with flammable cargo -included three clusters of electrodes
Of the world's port cities, the Great Lakes are directly connected to
12%
The last glacier withdrew from North America about
12,000 years ago
Currently, the average number of trans-oceanic ships passing through the Seaway each day is
2
What is the shallowest of the Great Lakes?
Erie
Since the Great Lakes have been connected to the Atlantic Ocean, the number of forage fish species has
decreased
Increases in high precipitation events is a concern in the Great Lakes because a direct results will be
more runoff from agricultural fields
In addition to agricultural runoff causing algal blooms in Lake Erie, other major contributors include
none of the above: -lawn fertilizer -leaky septic fields -inputs from the Detroit River
In response to the State Emergency Manager's claim that water from Lake Huron was no safer than that of the Flint River, scientists from Virginia Tech
provided data showing water from the Flint River was 19 times more corrosive
Once water samples tested positive for carp beyond the electrical barriers, General Peabody
refused to close the locks
At one point, the Great Lakes were connected to
the Atlantic Ocean
Which river is one of the worst in-place-pollutant problems in the Great Lakes system?
the Detroit
The Supreme Court rejected Missouri's lawsuit, even though the number of typhoid cases in St. Louis had increased four-fold since the opening of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal because
the Illinois River appeared to be relatively clean compared to what it was
The first canal to bridge the Chicago Portage was
the Illinois and Michigan Canal
There have been a number of unintended environmental consequences that have adversely affected the Lakes once they were connected to the Atlantic Ocean and connections among the lakes were modified by human activity. A key reason that the consequences were so profound is that
the Lakes are relatively young
Ultimately, the federal government charged the state of Michigan with a violation of
the Safe Water Drinking Act
Which of the following is a Native American tribe that the French did not encounter in the Great Lakes region?
the Sioux (they did encounter the Iroquois, the Winnebagoes, and the Hurons)
According to the film "What's So Great About the Great Lakes", of the five lakes, Superior is not
the stormiest (it is the clearest, deepest, and coldest)
All energy is derived from
the sun
Successful invasive species tend to
-produce a lot of offspring -be very good dispersers
Which of the following factors contributes to the uniqueness of the Great Lakes?
-they are geographically concentrated -connectivity -the location
In reality, wetland serve many useful purposes. For example,
-they filter the water -they slow water down, allowing contaminants to settle out -they provide valuable habitat for waterfowl
Rather than a food chain, it's more accurate to think in terms of a food web because
it focuses on trophic relationships as a network
Rain, snow, and surface runoff from streams and rivers add water to the Great Lakes, but this is offset by
outflow
Once the salmon and alewife were gone in Lake Huron
-a number of native fish species began to increase in number -fishing towns in Michigan along the Huron coast lost a lot of revenue -the round goby proved to be a key food source for some native fish species
The Sanitary and Ship Canal was
-an early, successful water grab from the Great Lakes -another example of people trying to engineer nature to suit their needs -essentially a back door to the Great Lakes
Water levels in the Great Lakes have always varied, but with climate change, this variation is expected to
-be greater -be less predictable
Eventually, the round goby
-became the dominant forage fish -helped to keep mussel populations in check -depressed populations of sculpins and darters
In cities, surfaces that are impervious to rainfall tend to
-increase runoff during storm events -increase in area -result in inputs to rivers and the Lakes that included dirt, refuse, and horse manure
Eutrophication
-is characterized by a high level of oxygen depletion -is characterized by an abundance of dissolved nutrients
Phosphorus
-is required by every living organism -does not exist naturally in the environment
The round goby is considered a generalist species because
-it has a diverse diet -it can live in freshwater or saltwater
Which of the following is one of the main focus areas for the Great Lakes Initiative?
-removal of toxins -invasive species control -nonpoint source pollution control
The St. Lawrence divide
-runs through southern Canada -is generally more of a hill than a mountain -runs through the western part of Chicago
There were fewer alewives in Lake Erie because, compared to the other upper Lakes, it is
-shallower -warmer
Invasive mussels were able to colonize isolated inland lakes by
-taking refuge in any damp spot on a boat out of water -being able to live on a boat outside water for days
A key problem with the St. Lawrence Seaway was
-the 9-month shipping season -that the locks and channels were too small
Historical racism was reported to contribute to the use of Flint River water for drinking because
-the residents were mostly poor and African American -the residents were not viewed as credible -the complaints of the residents were not taken seriously
Once the Great Black Swamp was cleared and drained, the people there found
-the soils were incredibly rich -they had the most productive land in the country
Features of zebra mussels that enabled them to be such successful invaders include
-their ability to reproduce at a relatively young age -the ability of females to produce so many eggs -a lack of native predators in the Great Lakes -their high filtration rate
One way that gobies can gain a numerical advantage on native fish is that
-they spawn up to three times per summer -they are voracious egg eaters -they drive other fish from their spawning beds
The St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed
-to allow ocean-going freighters access to the Great Lakes -because the U.S. President saw strategic value there during the cold war with the USSR
How much of the planet's available freshwater is found in the Great Lakes?
20%
Annual cargo through the Seaway peaked in the mid-1970s at around 57 million tons; the Seaway was designed to handle
80 million tons
Of the world's port cities, what percentage are within two stops of a Great Lakes port?
99%
Which of the following is not a feature that the Great Lakes share with the oceans?
downdrafts (it does have currents, upwelling, & waves)
In the film clip Invasive Species - Asian Carp, Kay Nelson, who represents an array of industries on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, expresses concern about the idea of constructing a permanent barrier in the Sanitary and Ship Canal because
the general public has the impression this is a quick fix
