APES Unit 5 Review

Ecological overshoot occurs when a population's demand on an ecosystem exceeds the biocapacity of that ecosystem to regenerate the resources that are consumed and to absorb wastes. Based on the graph above, in which of the following periods did the human population first exceed Earth's biocapacity?

1975-1980

Which of the following is a direct economic consequence that would likely occur if an area of forest was clear-cut so that a housing development can be built?

A decrease in the number of game hunting licenses purchased

Which of the following aspects of the design for this new urban development will best help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere?

Access to the mass transit train line will provide inhabitants an alternative to driving personal vehicles.

Passage Question 6-8

An environmental agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff from an impervious parking lot and from the roof of the building. The parking lot is slightly sloped so the rainwater flows toward the gardens. The runoff from the roof is collected by various downspouts and directed toward the gardens. Scientists at the agency plan to monitor the effectiveness by measuring the water quality of the storm water as it moves through the gardens during and after storm events.

Passage Questions 1-2

An urban planner is designing a new urban housing development in a currently rural area near an existing city. The urban development will have five 10-story apartment buildings, two basketball courts, a playground with permeable foam pavers, a 10-acre green space with a small man-made pond, one 5-story parking deck, and direct access to the mass transit train line.

Which of the following statements best describes an unintended environmental consequence of aquaculture fish-farm enclosures located in estuaries?

Aquaculture enclosures can harbor parasites that can negatively affect wild populations that breed in estuaries.

Which of the following would be considered an advantage of increased urban sprawl?

As individuals move out of urban areas to nearby suburbs, the population densities of cities will decrease, reducing the spread of infectious disease.

Biocapacity can be defined as the amount of resources available to individuals in a given country at a specific moment in time. Which of the following statements best explains the trends in the above data?

Biocapacity increased because of improved farming techniques on existing farmland, and the ecological deficit increased because of a growing population and more demand for goods.

Which of the following is an example of an industrial practice that contributes to the tragedy of the commons?

Burning fossil fuels for energy production

Which of the following foods is most suitable to cultivate to minimize water consumption per kilogram of food?

Cereals

Which of the following statements is best supported by the data in the table?

Chicken meat requires less water per kilocalorie than cow meat does.

The graph below shows the change in hog farming in the United States from 1955-2015. The hog-farming industry maintains production levels to satisfy the demand for pork. Which of the following methods of meat production would provide the most likely explanation for the information represented in the graph above?

Concentrated animal feeding operations

Based on the data above, which of the following time periods are insect pests most detrimental to the soybean crops?

Early May through mid-September

Various nations have adopted policies designed to combat overfishing. Which of the following approaches is commonly used to combat the problem of overfishing?

Enforcing minimum-size requirements for the capture of some commercial species

Which of the following is a negative consequence of aquaculture?

Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus can leak from the location.

Three common methods of beef production include using rangelands, pasture, and feedlots. The environmental impacts of these different methods for a variety of variables is compared in the graph below Which of the following claims is best supported by the data in the graph?

Feedlots have high levels of pesticide use and energy consumption as a result high demands for grain production.

Aquaculture or fish farming can be used to increase the availability of species like salmon and shrimp for consumption. Although fish farming can have a number of negative environmental effects, it does offer a number of advantages. Which of the following is a valid reason for promoting the use of fish farms?

Fish production is constant, and fish farming reduces pressure on wild stocks.

Plant selection is important for a rain garden. Which of the following best describes the types of plants that would be most effective to use in the rain garden in this experimental design to reduce the impact of urban runoff?

Flood-tolerant plant species so that the plants can withstand large pulses of water from storms

Humans consume a variety of protein products, each with a different carbon footprint based on a variety of factors. Which of the following claims is best supported by the data in the graph?

Grass-fed beef has the highest carbon-equivalent footprint because of land-use changes to create pasture land combined with contributions from transportation, processing, manure treatment, making fertilizers, and digestive fermentation processes.

Which of the following is an unintended consequence associated with waterlogging caused by flood irrigation?

Higher water tables

Which of the following statements best summarizes the author's predictions for how humans will meet the future nutritional needs of a growing population using current agricultural technology?

Humans have maximized the crop yield with improving technology and the implementation of modern genetic techniques to further increase crop productivity and resilience in order to meet the demand.

Which of the following techniques could best reduce the harmful effects of overfishing if it were to be widely adopted by the fishing industry?

Increased use of large-mesh gill nets for harvesting salmon and trout

After intensive logging, most of the trees along a stream have been removed. Which of the following water quality changes would most likely occur downstream after logging?

Increased water temperature

Passage Questions 4-6

Overfishing of stocks of fish species, like salmon and cod, in an effort to meet a growing global demand has become an international concern. A recent estimate indicates that the average annual consumption of fish globally in 2014 was about twice the consumption in 1960. Because of increased concerns about the impact of overfishing, fishery managers are looking for ways to protect wild populations while still satisfying global demand for food for human consumption.

Which of the following best exemplifies how an action within the fishing industry could lead to a tragedy of the commons?

Overfishing of threatened fish species leading to the eventual depletion of the resource

Which of the following is an example of an environmental benefit of aquaculture?

Raising fish using aquaculture and feeding human populations with the harvest reduces the number of fish caught from the ocean.

Which of the following would decrease with the manufacture, application, and use of synthetic fertilizers rather than organic fertilizers?

Recycling of organic matter

Based on the data above, which of the following pests is a concern to farmers for the longest period of time?

Soybean rust

Passage Question 1-3

The Next Green Revolution Half a century ago disaster loomed just as ominously (as today). Speaking about global hunger in 1959, one economist said, "At best the world outlook for the decades ahead is grave; at worst it is frightening." Before those visions could come to pass, the green revolution transformed global agriculture, especially wheat and rice. [S]elective breeding created a dwarf variety of wheat that put most of its energy into edible kernels rather than long, inedible stems. The result: more grain per acre. Similar work in the Philippines dramatically improved the productivity of the grain that feeds nearly half the world. From the 1960s through the 1990s, yields of rice and wheat in Asia doubled. To keep doing that between now and 2050, we'll need another green revolution. There are two competing visions of how it will happen. One is high-tech, with a heavy emphasis on continuing breeding better crops, but with modern genetic techniques. "The next green revolution will supercharge the tools of the old one." Scientists, he argues, can now identify and manipulate a huge variety of plant genes, for traits like disease resistance and drought tolerance. That's going to make farming more productive and resilient. The signature technology of this approach—and the one that has brought both success and controversy to Monsanto—is genetically modified, or GMGM, crops. First released in the 1990s, they've been adopted by 2828 countries and planted on 1111 percent of the world's arable land, including half the cropland in the U.S.U.S. About 9090 percent of the corn, cotton, and soybeans grown in the U.S.U.S. are genetically modified. Americans have been eating GMGM products for nearly two decades. But in Europe and much of Africa, debates over the safety and environmental effects of GMGM crops have largely blocked their use. A recent study by the U.S.U.S. Department of Agriculture found that pesticide use on corn crops has dropped 9090 percent since the introduction of BtBt corn, which contains genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that help it ward off corn borers and other pests. Reports from China indicate that harmful aphids have decreased—and ladybugs and other beneficial insects have increased—in provinces where GMGM cotton has been planted.

Which of the following best describes the concept of the tragedy of the commons?

The aim of large logging operations in tropical rain forests is economic gain, rather than sustainability. Therefore, the shared resources in the forest could become depleted.

Which of the following is an assumption made by the author regarding the use of genetically modified crops?

The amount of arable land will remain relatively constant, and the growing human population will have enough food if more crops can be harvested from the same amount of land.

Which of the following aspects in the design for this new urban development would most likely have the greatest negative environmental impact?

The five apartment buildings

The green revolution has improved global agricultural output. Which of the following best describes the author's perspective on the beginning of the green revolution in the 1970s and 1980s?

The green revolution was successful because of selective breeding, which improved nutritional value and crop yield to increase food production.

Which of the following describes an unintended consequence that results from large-scale agricultural use of water from an aquifer?

The rate of water use likely exceeds the rate of recharge, leading to lowering the water table.

Which of the following best describes environmental damage caused by slash-and-burn farming in tropical rain forests?

The soil loses fertility after a short period of time and will be ineffective for farming use.

Which of the following would be the best measure to use to determine the effectiveness of the rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff?

The speed and volume of the water exiting the gardens

The graph below shows change in the world's ecological footprint in billions of global hectares and change in the world's biocapacity, the land needed to sustainably support the human population, between 1961 and 2014. Which of the following statements correctly describes the trend of ecological footprint compared to biocapacity from 1961 to 2014 ?

The world's ecological footprint has risen above its capacity to sustainably provide for the human population.

Which of the following environmental effects would most likely result from the clear-cutting of boreal forests by industrial logging operations?

There will be an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, which will contribute to climate change.

Which of the following best describes the advantages and disadvantages of drip irrigation?

This method most efficiently delivers water directly to plant roots compared with other methods, and wastes less water, but it may be too costly for farmers in developing countries to use.

Which of the following agricultural practices results in soil degradation and most contributes to erosion?

Tilling

Which foods are the most sustainable to produce in order to provide the most kilocalories to the world's growing population while still minimizing water usage?

Vegetables

Which of the following would be the best control in this experimental design?

Water samples collected from the roof or parking lot before they passed through the gardens

Based on the data above, which of the following pests is most likely to affect mature plants ready for harvest?

White mold