NRES 103 Final Exam

Annual cargo through the seaway peaked in the mid 1970s at around 57 million tons; the seaway was designed to handle

80 million tons

The amount of cargo to pass through the Seaway currently

could be carried by two freight trains per day

Th exorbitantly high cost of pumping water thousands of miles is the thing that prevents it from happening

false

canada is supportive of efforts to close the seaway to ocean going freighters

false

Zebra mussels impact native mussels directly

inhibiting their ability to open their shells

DNA Barcoding

initially used to identify invasive species in ship's ballast

A key difference between non-native (or exotic) species and invasive species is that

invasives tend to cause negative environmental consequences

Compared to point-source pollution, nonpoint pollution

is harder to track, is more difficult to regulate

Phosphorus

is required by every living organism, does not exist naturally in the environemtn

compared to the atlantic, pacific, and gulf coasts, North American's 4th seacoast is unique in that

it has a single entry point for foreign freighters

for a trait to be considered to be an adaptation in an evolutionary sense

it must be favorable to an organism's ability to reproduce, it must be heritable, it much be favorable to an organism's survival

ballast serves a key function on freighters because

it provides stability to an empty ship, it is heavy, readily available and basically free

he lamprey moved slowly through Lake Erie because

it was relatively shallow, warm, it lacked suitable spawning streams

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 St. Lawrence divide

runs through the western part of chicago, through southern canada, generally more of a hill than a mountain

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

The notion of restoring even parts of the Great Lakes region to conditions that existed prior to European settlement is challenging because

so much environmental degradation

Which of the following factors contributes to the uniqueness of the Great Lakes?

they are geographically concentrated, connectivity, the location

one thing that the timber holdings in the upper midwest and the great lakes fisheries had in common was that

they both seemed limitless

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

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

Turnover of water, or mixing, in lakes is important in terms of maintaining

water quality

In addition to agricultural runoff causing algal blooms in lake erie other major contributions include

NOT Lawn fertilizer, leaky septic fields, inputs from the detroit river

Another ballast hitch hiker, the eurasian ruffe, became a very successful invader in the great lakes largely due to

an extremely high reproductive rate

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

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

At one point, the Great Lakes were connected to

atlantic ocean

the listing of the lake sturgeon as endangered illustrates the point that environmental impacts especially impact species that

have a low reproductive rate

Quagga mussels eventually outnumbered zebra mussels by a huge margin because the former

have an even higher rate of reproduction, can tolerate much deeper water, don't need a hard surface to adhere to

Priror 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 nutrients inputs to the river

The primary mission of the early French explorers of the Great Lakes was

to find a passage to the Great South Sea and Cathay

Annual damage to fisheries and recreational activities cause 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

out 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

Which of the following trends in the Great Lakes is attributed to climate change?

Increase in water temperature

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

After the trees were cut in the Great Black Swap, roads were built and the ditches were dig the latter was greatly facilitated by

The buckeye traction ditcher

once the salmon and alewife were gone in lake erie

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

Compared to the Erie Canal, the Welland Canal

accommodated longer and wider ships

cities tended to be constructed

adjacent to protected harbors and river mouths, near areas preferred by spawning fish and waterfowl

successful invasive species tend to

be very good dispersers, produce a lot of offspring

eventually the round goby

became the dominant forage fish, helped to keep mussel populations in check, depressed populations of sculpins and darters

the EPA exempted the discharge of ballast water from the clean water act

because they thought it was relatively harmless, even though they did not have congressional approval to do so, because doing so would reduce administrative costs

botulism-causing bacteria spread up the food chain after

being ingested by invasive mussels, gobies ate toxic mussels, birds consumed toxic gobies

what is the process by which toxins reach higher levels in species that are higher up in the food chain

bioaccumulation

Unlike the algal blooms in the late 1960s, the blooms in lake erie in the mid 1990s were caused by

blue-green algae, microcystis, cyanobacteria

Most invasive species are introduced

by humans

The effects of lead poisoning

can last for decades, are especially pronounced in children

In the scientific method, predictions are generated from hypotheses, then tested with

data

To help reduce a $25 million budget deficit, the city of flint

decided to temporarily get its water from flint river, decided to build its own water pipeline

Since the mid 1970s the amount of cargo passing through the seaway annually has

declined

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 west-to-east flow of the Great Lakes is due to differences in

elevation

What is the shallowest of the Great Lakes?

erie

the great lake region is uniquely positioned to stop future invasions because

every overseas freighter must pass through the St. Lambert lock

Asian carp possess several of the key attributes that tend to allow species to become invasive, including

extremely high reproduction rate, good dispersers, lack of predators

the zebra mussel, quagga mussel and round goby

first appeared in North America in or near Lake St. Clair, likely reached the Great Lakes in the ballast of a freighter, have their native range in the Black and/or Caspian Seas

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 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

The clean water act

focused on point source pollution, ignored nonpoint pollution

In recent decades, what is the primary factor that has led to an exponential increase in the movement of invasive species?

global connectivity

Water levels in the Great Lakes Have always varied, but with climate changes, this variation is expected to be

greater and less predictable

successful invasive species often lack predators in their new environment, and also tend to be

habitat generalists

Of the changes in the Great Lakes associated with climate recreational boating and tourism are most affected by

high water

t this point in time, what is the biggest problem facing the Great Lakes?

human ignorance

the first canal to bridge the chicago portage was

illinois and michigan canal

the second set of barriers funded by congress

included three clusters of electrodes, were more powerful than the original, was not turned on initially out of fear of detonating barges with flammable cargo

In cities surfaces that are impervious to rainfall tend to

increase runoff during storm events

Who eats who in the Great Lakes is not necessarily linear, as exemplified by the lake sturgeon because

it's quite large yet eats small prey items

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

Compared to the Europeans, the Woodland Culture was

lacking in some ways but equal or superior in others

It's thought that lampreys first entered Lake Ontario

lake erie canal

When federal funding was halted for the carp controlling sewage 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

Some strategies for getting rid of carp include

making fertilizer from them, making pet food from them, making fish cakes from them

a fundamental principle of environmental justice is that (2)

minority groups should not be disproportionately burdened by environmental harm, people should have a voice in decision that affect them

For four of the five great lakes, the estimated impact of invasion by asian carp is

moderate to high

Increases in high precipitation events is a concern in the Great Lakes because a direct results will be

more runoff from agricultural fields

What prevented water-bound organisms from migrating from the ocean to the upper Great Lakes?

niagara falls

The scientific method is initiated

observations

even through zebra mussels can only move about 14'' an hour using their foot, they can rapidly each new locations because

offspring covered with hairs that help them to catch currents

the alewife came to dominate native fish in the great lakes by

preying on their young outcompeting them for food

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

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

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 the US ports on the eastern seaboard

A key problem with the st.Lawrence seaway was

the 9 month shipping season, locks and channels were too small

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

Features of zebra mussels that enabled them to be such successful invaders include

the ability of females to produce so many eggs, a lack of native predators in the Great Lakes, their high filtration rate, their ability to reproduce at a young age

vernon applegate was able to help reduce lamprey populations by focusing on

the creeks where lampreys nest

in a sense, it could be said that the clean water act had its orgins in

the cuyahoga river

the deadliest fire in the US history was

the peshtigo fire

Historical racism was reported to contribute to the use of flint river water for drinking because

the residents were mostly poor African American, the residents were not viewed as credible, the complaints of the residents were not taken seriously

Ultimately the federal government charged the state of michigan with a violation og

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

According to the film "What's So Great About the Great Lakes", of the five lakes, Superior is not

the stormiest

All energy is derived from

the sun

whitefish were ultimately able to switch to invasive mussels as a good source because

their stomachs 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 oceans salinity or depth

The drought in Cali is a national problem because

they grow 90% of the nations produce

Whitefish were never a consumer of fish probably because

they had no teeth

Once the Great Black Swamp was cleared and drained, the people there found

they had the most productive land in the country, the soils were incredibly rich

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

invasive mussels were able to virtually take over lake med's bed and canyon walls below the water line in only 2 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

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

here were fewer alewives in Lake Erie because, compared to the other upper Lakes, it is

warmer shallower

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

wetland

the diet of round goby includes

young zebra and quagga mussels, zooplankton, young of larger fish, eggs of other fish

Currently, the average number of trans-oceanic ships passing through the Seaway each day is

2

How much of the planet's available freshwater is found in the Great Lakes

20%

of the world's port cities, what percentage are within two stops of a great lakes port?

99%

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

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, run off into the lakes

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

Native mussels in the great lakes helped to maintain water clarity

Filtering organic material from the water column, eating algae

Eutrophication

Is characterized by an abundance of dissolved nutrients, is characterized by a high level of oxygen depletion

the round goby is considered a generalist species because

It can live in freshwater or saltwater, it has a diverse diet

invasive mussels were able to colonize isolated land lakes by (2)

Taking refuge in any damp spot on a boat out of water, being able to live on a boat outside of water for days

A Key Question in ecological restoration globally and especially applicable to the Great Lakes has to do with

Target Conditions

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

In reality, wetland serve many useful purposes. For example (3),

They slow water down, allowing contaminants to settle out, they provide valuable habitat for waterfowl, they filter the water

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

The sanitary and ship canal was

an early, successful water grab from the great lakes, essentially a back door to the great lakes, another example of people trying to engineer nature to suit their needs

Since the Great Lakes have been connected to the Atlantic Ocean, the number of forage fish species has

decreased

Which of the following is not a feature that the Great Lakes share with the oceans?

downdrafts

in nature ecosystems are

dynamic, unpredictable, difficult for humans to control

Alewives became the primary food source of lake trout, but also

harmed the reproductive potential of the trout.

The same process causing massive algal blooms in lake erie

has created a dead zone in the gulf of mexico, has resulted in dead zones around the world

Rain, snow, and surface runoff from streams and rivers add water to the Great Lakes, but this is offset by

outflow

which river is one of the worst in place pollutant problems in the great lakes system

the detroit

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

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 food chain is lake powell

was very simple