APES Final Review

Which of the following does not exert a major influence on Earth's overall climate?

The seasonal development of temperature inversions in geographical basins

Drawbacks include noise and the release of corrosive chemicals

geothermal

Which of the following is true of farm raised salmon?

they area often infected with parasites and sea lice

Of the following, which is the most likely composition of the soil sample?

10% clay, 10% silt, 80% sand

In what year was the fraction of energy supplied by coal the greatest

1910

In approximately what year did oil and gas become the dominant fuels for the United States

1940

What was the approximate percent increases in consumption from 1986 to 1997?

20%

Which of the following represents the percent of water that is used for various purposes worldwide?

70%, 20%, 10%

The high surface temperature in 1998 was most likely due to

El Nino

Dams are considered by many to be ecological disasters. Which of the following is the best evidence to support this

Most of the nutrient-rich silt that the Nile annually deposited downstream is now deposited behind the dam

For a primary producer, the main function of photosynthesis is to manufacture

Oxygen

More commonly used in the least developed countries than in highly developed countries

biomass

An advantage of using natural gas, rather than oil, as a fuel is that natural gas is

cleaner because it burns more completely.

Which three sources supply the majority of commercial energy in the United States

coal, oil, and natural gas

The majority of atmospheric mercury is produced by

coal-burning power plants

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

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

The loss of more than 10% productivity in arid areas due to erosion, soil compaction, forest removal and an array of other factors is called

desertification

The consumption of mosquitoes by bats and the control of flooding provided by tropical forests in mountainous areas of Central America are examples of

ecosystem services

Alligators in a Florida lake polluted by high levels of dioxins had low testosterone levels and failed to reproduce. Scientists came to the conclusion that the dioxins were acting as which of the following?

endocrine disruptors

Which of the following characteristically produces non-point pollution?

erosion from agricultural fields

Salmon farming threatens the health of wild salmon stocks primarily because

farmed salmon can spread parasites and diseases to wild salmon

Which of the following best illustrates a mitigation approach to climate change?

increasing proportion of commercial energy that is produced by wind farms

All of the following are likely consequences of indoor air pollution EXCEPT an increase in

The risk of developing skin cancer

In a tropical forest ecosystem, dead trees and fallen trees are most important because of their role in which of the following?

providing habitat for wildlife

Which of the following would result in accelerated eutrophication when introduced into steams, lakes, and bays?

Acid wastes and salts

Which of the following is the most successful solution to the problem of fish mortality caused by dams?

Building fish ladders around the dam

Which of the following are direct products of the use of hydrocarbon fuels in automobile engines?

CO2, NOx, and VOCs

Global warming is most likely to directly cause which of the following?

Coastal flooding and submersion of low-lying areas

In North America, native pollinators often increase the quantity and quality of crops of native plants that are insect pollinated more effectively than European honey bees do. The most likely reason for this phenomenon is that native pollinators

Have coevolved with native plant species

Which of the following is a true statement about passive solar heating?

It is based in part on the principle of the greenhouse effect

The process described above are steps in the purification and treatment of municipal wastewater (as we saw on our field trip). The steps are listen in random order above. Which of the following lists the steps in the correct sequence?

P - S - R - Q

A species has evolved an asexual mode of reproduction by having offspring develop from unfertilized eggs. Which of the following will be true of this species' response to natural selection?

There will be less genetic variation from recombination and a risk of not adapting quickly to environmental change

Which of the following is a true statement concerning the production of electricity in conventional nuclear power plants using fission reactors?

Thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy and then to electrical energy, as in coal-burning power plants

The zone that has the greatest biodiversity

Zone A (on very right of graph)

Humans have dramatically altered the rate of nitrogen fixation into forms usable by autotrophs

as we produce synthetic fertilizers and apply them to crops, lawns, and parks

Which of the following air pollutants is correctly

sulfur oxides — acid precipitation

Which of the following is an important contributor to both global warming and ozone depletion?

A release of chlorofluorocarbons to the atmosphere

The risk that many cancer-causing chemicals pose in humans can be estimated using laboratory tests on rats. A significant scientific limitation of such tests is

Animal models may not reflect human responses

Although levels of CFC's in the atmosphere are much lower than those of CO2, CFC's are still considered greenhouse gases because they

Are much more efficient at absorbing thermal radiation

It has been observed that forest fires can produce up to 40% of the mean annual global emissions of which of the following gases?

Carbon Dioxide

Which of the following is NOT involved in the depletion of the stratospheric ozone?

Carbon Dioxide

Which of the following greenhouse gases has the greatest heat-trapping ability for molecule?

Chlorofluorocarbon

Mandates the restoration and maintenance of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nations waters is

Clean Water Act

Which of the following best characterizes a population that is growing exponentially with time?

Doubling in size over equal increments of time

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

Exposure to neurotoxins, which affect the endocrine system

Which of the following can be used to assess the biological diversity of an area?

Genetic variation within each species and number of species present

Which graph best illustrates a population growing at its biotic potential?

Graph B

Which graph best illustrates a population that was growing and has reached its carrying capacity?

Graph E

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

A cost-benefit analysis done to investigate a proposed mine site would likely take which of the following into account?

I, II, and III

The CITES treaty has been helpful in protecting endangered animals and plants by

Listing those species and products whose international trade is controlled

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

Love Canal, New York

Nuclear power is a component of the line labeled 'other' in the graph. Why is it impossible for nuclear energy to completely replace oil and gas in the future?

Nuclear power can supply electricity but it cannot replace other uses of oil and gas

Which of the following properties of the soil sample above most influences the flow of water through the sample?

Permeability

Which of the following is the best example of an economic incentive that could be used to improve environmental quality and reduce resource waste?

Providing tax break for companies that use recycled materials

The National Environment Policy Act (NEPA)

Required environmental impact statements for any projects funded by the US government

establishes cradle to grave tracking of hazardous waste is

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Requires minimum safety standards for community water supplies

Safe Drinking Water Act

A farmer observes that increasingly higher concentrations of a particular pesticide have been required each year over the past ten years to achieve the same level of effectiveness on a specific insect pest. Which of the following best helps explain the observation?

Some individual insects are more likely than others to survive and reproduce due to their inherited traits

During which stage of the demographic transition shown above does a population being to experience an explosive increase in growth?

Stage 2

Which of the following is most likely to reduce the US contribution to the increase in concentration of atmospheric CO2?

Switching from cars and trucks to rail for mass transit and freight movement

A small developing country with negligible rates of immigration and emigration is going through a demographic change. Thirty years ago the crude birth rate was 44 per thousand per year and the crude death rate was 17 per thousand per year. Now the crude birth rate is 16 per thousand per year and the crude death rate is 5 per thousand per year. Which of the following statements about the country now is most likely to be true?

The country is at the industrial stage of the demographic transition .

Which of the following best describes acid mine drainage?

The leakage of water containing toxic materials from coal and metal mines

Which of the following statements best describes the concept of phytoremediation?

The use of plants to absorb and accumulate toxic materials from the soil

Which of the following is a characteristic of tropical rainforests?

Their soils are relatively poor in nutrients

Which of the following is true about top predators?

They are likely to be keystone species

Small populations of animals, such as those typically found on islands, are prone to extinction because

They are more vulnerable to unpredictable events

Which of the following best explains why decomposers in soil and water are important to ecosystems?

They recycle nutrients

All of the following statements about invasive exotic species are true EXCEPT

They tend to have low reproductive rates

Which of the following best describes the process of leaching?

Water percolating through soil, dissolving some of its material

The zone in which the greatest total mass of CO2 is absorbed from the atmosphere

Zone B

The zone in which species are adapted to the lowest light and highest pressure

Zone E

Switching from customary large-scale agricultural practices to which of the following

integrated pest management

The cumulative total and kind of living things on Earth is

its biodiversity

Which of the following actions would be most likely to increase the protection of ecological systems in national forests?

mandate that the government sale of logging rights in national forest be at fair market value

When a rain forest is slashed and burned, the local concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases. This is primarily due to

oxidation of carbon compounds

Which of the following best explains why it is predicted that ozone depletion over the poles will be at its worst between 2010 and 2019?

ozone-depleting chemicals produced before their use was banned will take that long to reach peak concentration in the stratosphere

Which of the following represents a correct pairing of an agricultural practice with its environmental consequence?

paddy rice cultivation and methane emissions

Which of the following is the greatest component (by weight) of municipal solid wast in the United States

paper

Which of the following elements is most likely to limit primary production in freshwater lakes

phosphorous

Converts solar energy directly into electrical energy

photovoltaics

The low anchovy catch of 1998 was most likely the result of

reduced ocean upwelling along coast

The primary cause for the decline in the use of wood as a fuel in the 1800s was

reduced wood availability resulting from widespread deforestation

Which of the following actions would reduce global greenhouse emissions?

replacing coal burning power plants with wind farms

Which of the following is a way for the government to encourage efficient energy use?

requiring higher fuel economy standards for new cars

Which of the following is most likely to increase both the nutrient levels and the bacterial content of lake water

runoff from a nearby hog farm

Many 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

The separation of the various components of crude oil in refineries is accomplished primary by taking advantage of the differences in which of the following?

the boiling points of the components

Pollution is considered an external cost when

the cost to the environment is not reflected in the price of the products that produce the pollution

Which terrestrial biome has the most biodiversity?

tropical rainforest