NRS 100 URI Final
Excess nitrogen or phosphorus in aquatic systems can lead to eutrophication.
true
At our current average rate of resource use per person, how many planet Earths would we need to provide an endless supply of renewable resources?
1.5
The average percentage of high quality energy that is transferred from one trophic level to the next is about ____.
10%
The NO3- data in the figure below from the Bormann and Likens study show both positive and negative feedbacks resulting from the experimental treatments. Approximately what year did the experimental watershed begin to respond to the negative feedback in the experiment?
1969
What is the current average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere (ppmv)?
400
By 1900, white-tailed deer populations in the U.S. were reduced to about ____, but now, since laws have been passed to protect them and their natural predators have nearly been eliminated, their population is over ____ in the U.S.
50,000; 25 million
The growth rate of a population increases as its size nears the carrying capacity of its environment.
False
What climate feedback process do the CO2, pCO2 and pH data in the figure below show?
Ocean Acidification
The root cause of food insecurity is _________.
Poverty
The exponential rate of growth of the total human population over the past 100 years has been a result of ____.
a sharp drop in death rates
If the resilience of a damaged ecosystem is low enough, the degraded area may not be restored by secondary succession. When this happens, the damaged ecosystem has reached ____.
a tipping point
The greenhouse effect is entirely the result of humans burning fossil fuels and releasing CO2 to the atmosphere.
false
Transfer of energy through food chains or webs is very efficient, making a lot of energy available to organisms.
false
A measure of the relative abundance, or the comparative numbers of individuals of each species present in an ecosystem, is called ____.
species evenness
What are two or more processes interacting such that the combined effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects?
synergistic interaction
Which terrestrial ecosystem or life zone produces the lowest net primary productivity per year?
temperate grassland
In hundreds of years, we have released large quantities of fossil fuels that took millions of years to form.
true
The major goal of industrialized agriculture for any crop has been to steadily increase each crop's ____.
yield per unit of land
Population change is calculated using which of the following formulas?
(births + immigration) - (deaths + emigration)
A negative feedback loop causes a system to further change in the same direction.
false
An age structure diagram plots the number or percentage of ____.
males and females among age groups in a population
The matter and energy laws tell us that we can recycle ____.
matter but not energy
The best way to limit the impact of invasive species is to ____.
prevent them from being introduced in the first place
If multiple species find themselves competing for the same resource, the competition can be reduced by which of the following?
resource partitioning
Which consumers feed on the flesh of living herbivores?
secondary consumers
Four of the following are ecological and economic services provided by inland wetlands; one is not. Choose the one that is not.
stopping the recharge of groundwater aquifers
Which ecosystem or life zone produces the highest net primary productivity per year?
swamps and marshes
A group of interbreeding individuals of the same species in the same geographic region is called a(n) ____.
population
What is the number of individuals in a population found within a defined area that can limit the size of some populations?
population density
When populations of two different species interact over long periods of time, changes in the gene pool of one species can lead to changes in the gene pool of the other. What is this called?
predation
____________________ involves the gradual establishment of biotic communities in lifeless areas where there is no soil.
primary succession
Each population in an ecosystem has a ____ to variations in its physical and chemical environment.
range of tolerance
A species with a narrow niche is considered a(n) ____.
specialist species
The earth's biodiversity is determined by the balance between ____.
speciation and extinction
Human "super" predators tend to function the same way as other animal predators in ecosystems.
False
Humans as predators function in a similar way as other wild predators in the environment.
False
Since 1950s, there has been only a slight increase in global food production from all systems.
False
The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an invasive species in Chesapeake Bay
False
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN says one of the best ways to overcome global protein shortages is to increase fishing of wild caught fish because fish are plentiful in the ocean.
False
Animal predators tend to kill the sick, weak, aged, and least fit members of a species because they are the easiest to catch.
True
Biodiversity is a vital part of the natural capital that sustains all life
True
Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, and has poor water quality due to eutrophication.
True
Family planning is responsible for a majority (55%) of the drop in total fertility rates (TFRs) in less- developed countries.
True
Human population growth since the 1950s has been greater in developing countries when compared to developed countries.
True
Humans compete with many other species for space, food, and other resources.
True
Nitrogen gas, the major component of the atmosphere, cannot directly be used by plants and animals.
True
Scientists can disprove things but they cannot prove anything absolutely, which means there is always some uncertainty in science.
True
Scientists tend to be highly skeptical of new data, hypotheses, and models until they can be tested and verified.
True
The forests of New England are secondary succession forests.
True
The state of Rhode Island lost approximately 30ac of prime farmland soils when URI expanded parking lots on the Kingston campus.
True
Some species that tend to reproduce later in life and have a small number of offspring with long life spans ____.
are vulnerable to extinction
Biodiversity hotspots are ____.
areas with a variety of threatened or endangered species
Industrialized agriculture can be harmful to:
biodiversity soil water human health
Specialist species that tend to reproduce later in life and have a small number of offspring with long life spans are at a greater risk of extinction than generalist species.
true
The three overarching themes relating to the long-term sustainability of life on this planet are solar energy, biodiversity, and chemical cycling.
true
True or False, bacteria are a critical component to the recycling process in the global nitrogen cycle?
true
Under rapidly changing environmental conditions, it is better to be a generalist species than a specialist species.
true
Which term describes the temperature, precipitation, and humidity of an area over hours or days?
weather
The best way to reduce our unnecessary waste of energy is to improve _____.
Energy Efficiency
If multiple species find themselves competing for the same resource, the competition can be reduced by which of the following?
Resource partitioning
In 1963, Bormann and Likens compared the stream water quality of two river valleys, one forested and the other clear cut. What were their major findings?
The deforested valley had higher water flow and increase in nutrient loss
What is a major difference between the phosphorus cycle and the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles?
The phosphorus cycle makes use of living organisms but the others do not
The first major cultural change that occurred in the human population was the _____.
agricultural revolution
Most of the freshwater wetlands have been lost in the United States due to ____.
agriculture
Groundwater is primarily stored in underground ____.
aquifers
One invader that particularly worries scientists and fishers in Mississippi River is a species of ____ native to Asia.
carp
The maximum population of a given species that a particular habitat can sustain indefinitely is the definition of ____.
carrying capacity
Tropical forests in the Amazon basin and other South American countries are primarily being cleared or burned for ____.
cattle grazing and soybean plantations
Feedback causes ____ in a system.
change
What term describes groups of different species living together in a particular place with a potential for interacting with one another?
community
What are the three major sources of greenhouse gas emissions on campus?
commuting, stationary sources, purchased electricity
The energy "lost" by a system is ____.
converted to lower quality energy
What concept describes the maximum number of people who can live in reasonable comfort and freedom indefinitely?
cultural carrying capacity
The removal of large expanses of forest for agriculture, or other uses, is called ____.
deforestation
The very necessary process of breaking down the organic material of dead organisms is a function of ____.
detritivores
The human population has increased dramatically from 1950 until now, and is projected to continue increasing until at least 2050. Which countries have accounted for a greater proportion of the overall population growth since the 1950s?
developing countries
Across New England, there are many old small milldams that ____
disrupt the migration and spawning of anadromous fish
The role a species plays in its ecosystem is its ____.
ecological niche
Which discipline is most associated with environmental science?
ecology
An eastern deciduous forest with plants, animals, and various other biotic and abiotic components is an example of a(n) _____.
ecosystem
The diversity that enables life on the earth to adapt and survive environmental changes over long periods of time is called ____.
ecosystem diversity
Environmental refugees typically migrate to ____.
escape water or food shortages
What refers to the conversion of water from liquid to vapor from the earth's oceans, lakes, rivers, and soil?
evaporation
What is the variety of processes, including matter cycling and energy flow within ecosystems, which result from species interacting with one another in food webs?
functional diversity
Which of the following is least associated with biodiversity?
geological diversity
Fossil fuels and minerals are found in the ____.
geosphere
When a large, contiguous area of habitat is reduced in area and divided into smaller, more scattered patches, the process is called ____.
habitat fragmentation
The biggest problem with invasive species is that in the new location, they often ____.
have little or no population controls such as predators
Ecology is the study of ____.
how organisms interact with each other and the nonliving environment
Since 1960, Chesapeake Bay has suffered from water pollution. What is a major cause of this?
human population growth in the watershed
All physical forms of water (solid, liquid, and gas) on or near the earth's surface make up the ____.
hydrosphere
What is the best explanation for why tropical regions normally receive more precipitation than other areas of the globe?
increased heating increases local evaporation.
Because birds live in every climate and biome, and because they are easy to track and count, they serve as excellent ____.
indicator species
What occurs when members of two or more species interact to gain access to the same limited resources?
interspecific competition
Which term describes species that play crucial roles in helping to keep their ecosystems functioning?
keystone
Too much or too little of any physical or chemical factor can prevent the growth of a population, even if all other factors are at or near the optimum conditions. What is this ecological principle?
limiting factor
Which of the following is an abiotic component of an ecosystem?
nutrients (any non living)
What is the correct order of applying the scientific process to a problem?
observation question hypothesis experimentation analysis conclusion
Life on the earth depends on interaction of gravity, the cycling of matter, and the ____.
one way flow of high quality energy
What is one major way in which humans harmfully affect the water cycle?
over pumping of aquifers
