9.6 - 9.10 Study Guide

Many organisms, such as honeybees and livestock, have been domesticated for economic reasons. Describe an unintended consequence of this practice.

As humans tamed wild organisms to amplify desired traits, genetic diversity decreased in the organisms' populations.

What environmental problem is most directly linked to ocean warming?

Coral bleaching

Describe an advantage of constructing habitat corridors

Corridors connect habitats separated by fragmentation and connect wildlife populations.

Which law contains an amendment that allows private landowners to modify their property under a habitat conservation plan?

Endangered Species Act

Reasons that the population size of an exotic species often grows rapidly when the species is introduced in a new environment include which of the following? 1. The exotic species is resistant to pesticides. 2. There is a large, underutilized food source in the new environment. 3. The exotic species has few natural predators in the new environment.

II & III (There is a large, underutilized food source in the new environment and The exotic species has few natural predators in the new environment)

What is a possible effect of global climate change as illustrated in Scenario 1 ?

Increased sea level would reduce the size of the habitat patches.

Road construction, logging, and mining are banned in which federal lands?

National wilderness preservation areas.

Describe a disadvantage of creating a series of protected habitats in an effort to maintain biodiversity in an area.

Protected habitats often separate species inside the habitat from other populations of the same species living outside the habitat.

In general, which of the following is the best long-term method of preventing extinctions?

Protecting the habitats of endangered species

Red pine trees are currently found growing in only the cool northernmost areas of the central and eastern United States. Climate change is expected to have an impact on the distribution of the species. What is the most likely change to the distribution of red pine over the next 200 years?

Red pine distribution will shift northward into Canada.

What is the best example of reclamation of disturbed lands?

Restoring vegetation to an area that has been mined

Where are habitat loss occurring and habitat fragmentation?

Scenario 3

Silver carp were introduced in the southeastern United States in the 1970s from their native habitat of China to control algal blooms that were occurring at aquaculture facilities and sewage lagoons. Silver carp escaped from captivity shortly after their introduction and are currently found as far north as North Dakota and Minnesota. What is an unintended, negative consequence of the introduction of silver carp into the United States?

Silver carp became invasive species in the United States because their numbers were not being controlled by natural predators.

What would most likely have the greatest positive impact on the quality of the natural environment worldwide?

Stabilization or reduction of the size of the human population.

What solutions can best reduce an anthropogenic cause of ocean acidification?

Switch from coal-burning power plants to nuclear power plants for electricity generation

Scientists want to investigate whether the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the ocean affects fish survival. Scientists suspect immature fish larvae may be most affected by increased carbon dioxide concentrations. Identify a testable hypothesis for the investigation.

The decreasing pH of the ocean water will decrease the survivorship of fish.

Describe how ocean acidification affects coral formation.

The increase in hydrogen ions dissolved in the ocean water sequesters available carbonate ions, which prevents the use of calcium carbonate for coral skeleton formation.

Brown marmorated stink bugs are native to China and Japan. They were identified in Pennsylvania for the first time in 1998 and have since spread across North America, feeding on agricultural crops.What characteristics of the brown marmorated stink bug has led to them being an invasive species in North America?

They are tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions. (they are generalists)

Why do introduced species often become pests?

They displace native species

Characteristics that tend to increase the risk of a species becoming endangered include which of the following? 1. Having a very limited distribution 2. Being a specialist at the end of a long food chain 3. Having a small population size

all three

What was a major goal of the program that begun in 1995 to reintroduce the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park?

enable the removal of the gray wolf from the endangered species list

What are the two factors thought to be the most harmful to biodiversity?

invasive species and loss of habitat

Population biologists are concerned about introduced species such as the zebra mussel in North America. Why?

may compete for resources more effectively than native species.