ENVS 1000 - Midterm
Which of these scenarios would lead to secondary succession?
- A forest fire kills trees in a national forest, but leaves buried seeds and microbes unharmed - A herd of goats removes most of the vegetation in an area before moving on to different area - A small avalanche removes most of the trees and brush from a slope
Which of the following are examples of an ecosystem?
- A forest growing on the side of a mountain - The Sahara Desert and the plants and animals that survive there - Microbial species living in the warm environment of your hair
Imagine walking into a store and seeing an advertisement stating a new product is produced sustainably and will cause no harm to the environment. If you were to go about testing the validity of these claims for a class, which of the following would be the best approach? - Call the company and ask them for documentation on the claim, evaluate the documentation to see if the claim is based on peer-reviewed research, and then determine whether that research was funded by the company. - Call the company and ask them if they have data showing that their product is sustainable. - Call a competing company and ask them for any information they have that might contradict the claims made by the company you are investigating. - Examine the scientific peer-reviewed literature to see if you can find evidence supporting the claims.
- Call the company and ask them for documentation on the claim, evaluate the documentation to see if the claim is based on peer-reviewed research, and then determine whether that research was funded by the company.
Alpha Radiation
- Can be inhaled and become lodged in the lungs, causing lung cancer - Typical exposure is through radon gas
Examples of Good Science
- Claim has been through a formal peer-review process - Presents a full range of facts, acknowledging any facts that appear to contradict the study's claims - Author has the appropriate training, which is relevant to the claim - The research can be replicated by other scientists - Author is an independent scientist
Which statements represent problems with traditional toxicity testing?
- Conventional approaches are expensive, time-consuming, and controversial. - Conventional approaches are conducted on animals, whose responses to the chemical may differ from human responses. - Conventional approaches do not account for interactions between multiple chemicals that humans may be exposed to at the same time.
Which of the following are likely reasons for a government to encourage reforestation and afforestation?
- Erosion prevention - Stabilization of hillsides - Timber production
Which of these are part of the risk assessment process?
- Evaluating how likely it is for a person to come into contact with the potential hazard - Establishing how much of a health threat is caused by the potential hazard at different concentrations - Identifying a potential hazard
Gamma Radiation
- Exposure is rare, typically through exposure to nuclear materials - Causes tissue damage and various types of cancer
Which statements about waste incineration and sanitary landfills are true?
- Heat from waste incineration can be used to generate electricity. - Even with pollution-control systems, waste incineration facilities release some air pollution. - Waste incineration reduces the volume of waste by 90%.
Treated at Wastewater Treatment Facilities
- Household laundry detergent - Food scraps run through the garbage disposal - Solid human waste
Which of these management plans might be used to reduce the economic and environmental impacts of invasive species?
- Inspecting luggage and cargo to make sure that no non-native species are brought into an area - Introducing South American weevils to eat the invasive water hyacinth in Lake Victoria - Encouraging the hunting of wild boars that have become invasive since they were introduced into the United States
Which of the following statements about the movement of toxic chemicals and radiation in water are TRUE?
- Iodine-131 is a radioactive pollutant that can be released from nuclear accidents and travel long distances in water. - Precipitation can cause nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers to enter various of water bodies of water. - Nearly all substances that have a charge will dissolve in water.
What are the major types of physical limiting factors to life?
- Lack of moisture - Lack of nutrients - Extreme temperatures
Why are models often used in environmental science?
- Mathematical models are used to help make decisions by predicting how conditions may change over time. - Models allow environmental scientists to study complicated systems where many different processes are occurring simultaneously.
A forestry company wants to carry out a sustainable harvest from a forest in the Pacific Northwest and needs to establish how many trees can be sustainably harvested each year. Which of the following statements describes a scientifically valid approach to answering this question? - Measure how many trees naturally regenerate each year, and then make sure the harvest removes no more than the number of trees that would naturally regenerate. - Measure the number of trees in the forest, and divide the total number of trees by the number of years that the harvest will take place to come up with an average annual estimate of forest removal. - The only scientifically valid answer to this question is that no trees can be removed because it is not possible to sustainably remove trees from a forest. - Harvest trees for several years, and then measure the number of forest animals that are still living in the forest.
- Measure how many trees naturally regenerate each year, and then make sure the harvest removes no more than the number of trees that would naturally regenerate.
Mathematical and computer models are often used in environmental science. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the usefulness of these models? - Models are best used as supporting evidence for scientific theories generated from observational data. - These models are useful but cannot generate peer-reviewed research and therefore cannot contribute to the generation of scientific theories. - Models are one of several ways that environmental science can test hypotheses that are otherwise too complex to examine in experiments. - Models are the only way to examine the dynamics of complex ecological or physical systems.
- Models are one of several ways that environmental science can test hypotheses that are otherwise too complex to examine in experiments.
Using the figure below and what you know about the tree of life, which of the following statements are TRUE?
- Modern versions of the tree of life are based on genetic similarities among organisms. - The organisms within each domain are more genetically similar to each other than they are to the organisms in other domains.
Which of the following are plant macronutrients?
- Phosphorus (P) - Potassium (K) - Calcium (Ca) - Nitrogen (N)
Which of the following are major fertilizer nutrients?
- Potassium (K) - Nitrogen (N) - Phosphorus (P)
Examples of Bad/Psuedoscience
- Presents facts that show only one side of the argument - Author has a PhD in an unrelated field - Author is being paid to support a particular claim - The reason behind the claim is illogical - Claims are irrational, given widely accepted knowledge, such as basic anatomy
Which of the following are legal ways in which to deal with hazardous wastes?
- Recycling - Burning at high temperatures - Encasing in cement to prevent leakage - Transporting to another country for disposal
Which of the following are areas where rangelands typically occur?
- Regions without much precipitation - Open areas with extensive grass or shrub vegetation - Areas that cannot support crop production
Which of the following are important functions of wetlands?
- Removing pollutants from the water - Providing habitat for migratory birds - Flood control
Released Directly into Surface Water
- Stormwater contaminated with oil and gas from roadways - Ice melt chemicals from sidewalks - Fertilizers and pesticides used in yards and gardens
Which of the following have contributed to the decrease in total cropland area in the United States?
- The Conservation Reserve Program - Urban sprawl - The expansion of suburbs - Improper management
Which of the following statements about carrying capacities are true?
- The factors that affect carrying capacity are different in different ecosystems. - The carrying capacity is the limit of how many individuals can survive in a certain area. - The carrying capacity is affected by the availability of resources, such as food, space, and sunlight.
Which of the following are the major reasons for modern deforestation?
- To use the land for commercial purposes, such as palm oil production - To produce food - To produce lumber and wood products
Beta Radiation
- Typical exposure is through eating or drinking irradiated food - Causes thyroid cancer
Stored in Artificial Ponds
- Water that flows from agricultural areas - Water used in extracting natural gas
Balanced age structure
- dependency ratio is lower for this population than for those with more young or more old people - steady growth and stable population
Name the primary ways that energy from the sun is transformed and lost from in an ecosystem
- heat - respiration - evapotranspiration
Old age structure
- more middle aged people - relatively large number of elderly people causes population to have increasingly high dependency ratio - leads to negative growth rate and decreasing population
Young age structure
- more young people - fast growth and increasing population - number of young people causes population to have high dependency ratio
K-selected species
- most offspring survive to become adults - example: bison - parents care for offspring for longer periods - produce few offspring - low population growth potential
r-selected species
- potential for a high population growth rate - example: rabbits - offspring are largely on their own - few offspring to survive to adulthood - produce large numbers of offspring
The figure below shows a cross-section of a lake. Match the numbered areas with the names of the zones.
1 - Littoral zone 2 - Limnetic zone 3 - Thermocline 4 - Profundal zone 5 - Benthic zone
The figure below shows a cross-section of land, from ice and snow at the top to an underground aquifer at the bottom. Using what you know of the flow of surface water through a watershed (blue arrows) and soil zones, match the number to the label that best describes what is shown.
1 - Precipitation 2 - Sublimation 3 - Infiltration 4 - Runoff 5 - Percolation 6 - Unsaturated zone 7 - Water table 8 - Saturated zone
1. Renewable and sustainable? 2. Renewable and non-sustainable? 3. Nonrenewable and sustainable? 4. Nonrenewable and non-sustainable?
1. using wind to produce electricity 2. catching fish at a faster rate than they can mature and reproduce 3. Mining iron ore 4. Extracting and using oil reserves
If a population has 250 births, 247 deaths, 12 immigrants, and 5 emigrants over 1 year, what is the population growth rate?
10 per year
If there were 100 million species on Earth, how many species might we reasonably predict to become extinct annually assuming background extinction rates?
10-100 species
Today's global extinction rate is _______ times greater than Earth's background extinction rate.
100 to 1,000
What is the current best estimate of how large the global population will be around 2100?
11 billion people
The fossil record indicates the occurrence of how many mass extinction events?
5
During gold mining activities along the Amazon River, mercury (which is used to separate gold from other minerals) is released and dissolves in the water. Which organism would have the highest concentration of mercury in its tissues? - A bird that feeds on large fish that swim in the river - A small fish that feeds mostly on algae growing in the river - A large fish that feeds on smaller fish in the river - Soybeans watered with water from the river
A bird that feeds on large fish that swim in the river
Air pollution causes considerable harm to human health. Based on your understanding of how air pollution affects people, which of the following examples is most likely to cause harm?
A carcinogen is released from gasoline while a car is being filled. The chemical forms a gas that is inhaled and travels deep into the lungs.
Which one of the following most accurately illustrates current legal practices in the United States involving water rights? - A farmer's use of water on his or her land will depend on legal ownership of the water rights, which may or may not be the same as the legal ownership of the land. - A rancher has a legal right to all of the water located directly beneath his rangeland, so long as the water is used for raising livestock. - A farmer has a legal right to all of the water in the stream flowing through her property, so long as she uses the water to irrigate crops. - If a spring that is the source of a stream is located on private property, the private landowner is allowed to bottle and sell all of the water flowing from the spring.
A farmer's use of water on his or her land will depend on legal ownership of the water rights, which may or may not be the same as the legal ownership of the land.
Which of the following best describes a population? - All of the species that live in one particular ecosystem at one point in time - The number of organisms of the same species that have lived in a certain area over many generations and geologic periods - A group of different species that all inhabit the same ecological niche - A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific area in a given geological period
A group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific area in a given geological period
Why would the United States consider developing an energy-intensive technology such as desalination?
A growing population will likely require more fresh water than what is available at the present time.
Why is the following scenario wrong? A population of 100 grows by 3 in a year, resulting in an annual growth rate of 3%. In subsequent years, the population will continue to grow at a rate of 3% per year, yielding an additional 3 animals per year (for example, 106, 109, 112, 115, 118 and so on).
A growth rate of 3% will not add 3 animals per year to a population. It will add 3% of the existing population to the total.
Which of the following best describes an endemic species? - A species that has invaded a habitat in which it is non-native - A native species found in only one specific location - A species that is found in almost every ecosystem around the world - A species that is particularly significant to a specific ecosystem
A native species found in only one specific location
Which of the following cases best describes a resilient community? - A population of fish live in a unique geothermal pool; the habitat is permanently damaged by a storm, and the population dies off. - An extreme heatwave causes the death of many cold-adapted species in a mountain-top community. Not enough individuals survive the heatwave, and the community dies out. - A population of squirrels is permanently displaced from its habitat by a forest fire; even when the squirrels relocate, there are significantly fewer that survive. - A population of exotic plants is all but diminished by deforestation; however, it rebounds quickly the following spring, and within a year the population returns to approximately its original numbers.
A population of exotic plants is all but diminished by deforestation; however, it rebounds quickly the following spring, and within a year the population returns to approximately its original numbers.
Of the following populations, which one best demonstrates a high degree of ecological resistance after a hurricane along a coast? - A population of trees that was slightly damaged but had a very low overall mortality rate - A population of shrubs that was badly damaged and had a high overall mortality rate but shows promise of rebounding in the future - A population of birds that successfully migrated to another location further inland to find new habitat - A population of amphibians that was completely wiped out by the storm in one specific location
A population of trees that was slightly damaged but had a very low overall mortality rate
Consider the age structure of the country represented in the figure, below. Which of the following attributes describes this country?
A relatively low total fertility rate and a highly industrialized economy
Environmental science often focuses on the study of complex systems. What does this mean for the generation of scientific theories related to environmental problems?
A scientific theory can be generated in environmental science, but many studies must be conducted and these studies must provide support for the theory.
Water would flow most quickly through which of the following soils?
A soil consisting entirely of sand particles
Which of the following soils would generally be best for growing crops? - A soil consisting entirely of sand particles - A soil consisting entirely of silt particles - A soil consisting entirely of clay particles - A soil consisting of equal amounts silt, sand, and clay particles
A soil consisting of equal amounts silt, sand, and clay particles
What two regions will have the most population growth in the next 100 years?
Africa and Asia
What is the largest use of fresh water globally?
Agriculture
The majority of rangelands on what continent(s) have been degraded as a result of human activity?
All continents except Antarctica
Which of the following non-native species might cause important economic impacts? - A frog species that was introduced to Hawaii has such a loud call that people have begun to stop purchasing homes in the area where many of these frogs live in order to avoid the disturbance. - It has been discovered that Asian oysters filter water better than the oysters native to the United States, so some people have proposed introducing this invasive oyster into areas in need of water filtration such as the Chesapeake Bay. - Zebra mussels from Russia have invaded global waterways around the world, causing damage to ships and boats as well as to wastewater treatment plants and power plants. - All of the above
All of the above
Compared to making a new product out of virgin material, making a new product out of which of the following recyclable materials saves the most energy?
Aluminum
What aspect of a stream or river is depicted by a hydrograph?
Amount of water moving in the stream over a given period of time
Although bisphenol A (BPA) is found in plastics sold in the United States, the chemical has been banned in many countries because it is __________.
An endocrine disruptor
Like most groundwater resources, the Ogallala Aquifer is a nonrenewable water resource. This aquifer provides drinking water for two million people in the central United States and irrigation water for 20% of the wheat and cotton grown in the United States. Currently the volume of water in the Ogallala aquifer is equal to approximately 3,000,000,000 acre-feet of water, and 20,000,000 acre-feet of water are removed every year. Considering this, at what rate would water have to be added to the aquifer in order to consider it a renewable water resource rather than a nonrenewable water resource?
Approximately 20,000,000 acre-feet per year
Which areas of the world tend to have the greatest species richness?
Areas near the Equator
Which of the following would be categorized as industrial solid waste? - Used motor oil - Lawn clippings - Human excrement - Ash from a coal-burning power plant
Ash from a coal-burning power plants
More megacities (urban areas of more than 10million people) are found in _____________ than any other continent.
Asia
If the human population is growing at a constant rate of 1.1% per year, how will the number of people added to the global population change each year in the future?
At a constant growth rate, an increasingly larger number of people will be added to the population each year.
Which of the following organisms runs the highest risk of harm as a result of the biological magnification of pollutants?
Bald eagles
Why does population increase so quickly as death rates fall?
Because birth rates typically remain high for some time after death rates begin to fall, causing the population to go through a period of rapid increase
In the demographic transition model, why do changes in birth rates occur more slowly than changes in death rates?
Because technology and investment play a large role in death rates but social factors and cultural norms such as religion play a large role in birth rates
Despite a large increase in the global population, the overall growth rate is not as high as it was 100 years ago. Why?
Because the developing nations are moving through the early stages of the demographic transition faster than the United States and the European nations did 100 years ago
Which of the following scenarios best represents a mutualistic interaction? - Birds called oxpeckers land on zebras and eat parasites off their backs, providing food for the oxpecker and pest protection for the zebra. - Herbivorous animals eat plants that cover extensive amounts of land. - Fleas gain a warm home and food from living on the skin of dogs, but they also bite the dogs and cause them to itch severely. - Birds called cattle egrets follow around herds of cattle in order to eat the insects that are stirred up when cattle walk through vegetation.
Birds called oxpeckers land on zebras and eat parasites off their backs, providing food for the oxpecker and pest protection for the zebra.
Which of the following would be considered a renewable resource? Uranium Cattle Coal Aluminum
Cattle
Which of the following diseases is spread via water containing infected human waste? Bubonic plague Cholera SARS Ebola
Cholera
____________ experiments are those that involve the use of observations on a group that receives the same manipulations as the treatment group except for the one factor being studied or varied.
Controlled
Which of the following accurately describes current trends in biodiversity and crop production? - Humans have increased the diversity of crops used for food production in an attempt to offset the loss of global biodiversity. - Populations of pollinating insects have declined globally. However, most of our food crops do not require pollination, so our food production would remain largely unaffected by the loss of pollinators. - Crop diversity has declined, as have populations of pollinators needed to pollinate our crops. - We have increased the diversity of crops used for food by genetically engineering crops that do not require pollinators.
Crop diversity has declined, as have populations of pollinators needed to pollinate our crops.
What mechanism directly causes the decline in oxygen during eutrophication?
Decomposition of algae
If the population increases by about 28% between now and 2050, which of the following best captures the likely change in demand for food?
Demand for food will increase by considerably more than 28%.
Which of the following examples is a good description of a community? - Various populations of the same species that live in one ecosystem - The organisms within a specific population that depend on one another to survive - More than one species that are in a close, mutually beneficial relationships - Different populations living close enough together to interact
Different populations living close enough together to interact
If you had to pick a reasonable use for groundwater that took advantage of the best attributes of this resource, what would it be and why?
Drinking water supplies; because groundwater is naturally filtered and thus is usually of very high quality
Drag the numbers on the left to match the events in order from oldest (1) to most recent (8).
Earth forms; first appearance of organisms, some of which can survive extreme conditions and in the absence of oxygen; first appearance of organisms capable of photosynthesis; oxygen accumulates in the atmosphere; first appearance of organisms with cells that contain their DNA in a nucleus; first appearance of multicellular organisms; first appearance of fish; the first lifea appears on land
Cover crops are used to prevent ______________.
Erosion
Evolutionarily speaking, which of the following groups of organisms appeared most recently?
Eukaryotes
Tobacco smoke is a teratogen. In a household with smokers, which of the following health outcomes is most likely to occur?
Fetal development problems
Which of the following would be considered a regulating service? - Flood control - Crop production - Soil formation - Camping
Flood control
Which of the following would be considered a provisioning service? - Fuel wood - Flood control - Regulation of climate - Tourism
Fuel wood
Read the following definition of niche utilization and choose the term that best describes this organism: lives in a forest, grassland, or human-dominated setting and feeds on a variety of different food types.
Generalist
Biodiversity is a measure of the diversity of life at what levels?
Genetic, species, and ecosystem
What is graywater?
Graywater is residential wastewater excluding water flushed down toilets.
Which of the following land uses covers the greatest amount of Earth's ice-free land surface? - Small cities and villages - Growing crops - Grazing livestock - Major cities
Grazing livestock
How would you best characterize the state of global groundwater resources?
Groundwater resources are generally declining worldwide.
What is wrong with this statement? "Wealthy countries like the United States do not have to worry about future water supplies."
Growing human populations and rising water use will put pressure on finite supplies of water, especially in dry areas.
Which of the following is true of predicted global population trends? - Growth in global population is expected to occur in rural areas where people need larger families to work on family farms. - Growth in global population is expected to occur in urban areas as people move to where the jobs are. - Growth in global population is expected to occur mainly in developed nations, as people immigrate to take advantage of the higher standard of living. - Growth in global population is expected to occur in both urban and rural areas.
Growth in global population is expected to occur in urban areas as people move to where the jobs are.
What happens to population growth rates when (on average) women have their first child later in life?
Growth rate declines
Overall, how have global average population growth rates changed from 1950 to the present?
Growth rates have declined
How will population growth rates most likely change over the next 100 years (according to projections from the United Nations)?
Growth rates will decrease slowly because of the demographic transition.
Zoonoses include __________.
H1N1 (swine) flu and Covid-19
Which of the following is the major cause of biodiversity loss on land?
Habitat loss
Viruses regularly move between animals and humans. In rare but dangerous cases, a virus may undergo a genetic change that increases its risk of causing serious disease in human populations. Which of the following changes in human/animal interactions would be most likely to increase the risk of human harm due to virus exposure?
Humans now raise large numbers of animals for food.
Which of the following is an example of land use intensification? - Increasing lumber and paper production by cutting a native forest - Increasing food production by converting a cattle pasture for crop production - Increasing grain production by plowing a prairie to plant corn - Increasing regional income by cutting down a rainforest to plant coffee
Increasing food production by converting a cattle pasture for crop production
How can a coronavirus like the one that causes Covid-19 be more dangerous than the Ebola virus?
Individuals infected with Covid-19 may travel and spread the disease before they get sick.
Which of the following groups comprises the largest group of known species on the planet?
Insects and their kin
A small population of coyotes live in a desert habitat. There is plenty of habitat and prey available for these coyotes, but they typically do not have much water available to them, especially during the hot summer months. However, at one point in time, a series of very wet years occurs, which increases all of the resources—including water—available to the coyotes. During this series of wet years, how is the coyote population likely to change?
It will grow exponentially
If global total fertility rates dropped to 1.9 (just below replacement rates), what would happen to the world's population over the next 50 years?
It would continue to rise because of population momentum.
If you cut down a big section of forest in the middle of the Amazon, what would happen to the flux of water from land to the atmosphere in the region?
It would decrease because evapotranspiration would decrease.
A high dependency ratio can create stresses for a society, but those stresses vary depending on the age of population. Using Japan as an example of a population with a large number of older citizens and Kenya as an example of a population with a large number of younger citizens, which of the following statements is likely to be FALSE? - Kenya will have high infrastructure costs such as those associated with education and will soon require rapid economic growth to provide jobs to a growing population. - Japan may have difficulty finding people to work in some types of jobs and will have to change societal investments from education to health care. - Japan will have high health care costs and a shrinking amount of government revenue (taxes). - Kenya will have high health care costs and the problem of declining population growth.
Kenya will have high health care costs and the problem of declining population growth.
Which of the following would be categorized as municipal solid waste? - A junked automobile - A decommissioned battleship - Lawn clippings - Human excrement
Lawn clippings
Of the following, which is the best research hypothesis for the question "Does flower color affect how attractive the flowers are to bees?" - Bees can see light-colored flowers better than dark colored flowers. - Light colored flowers will attract more bees than dark colored flowers. - Flower odor has a greater effect on attraction by bees than does flower color. - Bees are attracted to flowers because they can drink the nectar and eat the pollen, and by visiting flowers, they help the flowers pollinate each other.
Light-colored flowers will attract more bees than dark-colored flowers?
A densely forested area provides enough shelter and water for approximately 50 bears. If 30 bears move into this region and the population grows to 50, which of the following would be the best description of that growth pattern? - None of the above. It will actually decline over time. - Exponential - Logistic - It is impossible to predict.
Logistic
Which of the following is a chronic effect of exposure to a toxin? - Choking - Food poisoning - Lung cancer - Lung paralysis
Lung cancer
A human-produced chemical called methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) used to be added to gasoline sold for vehicles. MTBE has been found in groundwater (water found in geologic deposits underground). What does this evidence tell you about this chemical?
MTBE and gasoline leak from old tanks, then the MTBE dissolves into water and moves through soils into groundwater.
What disease is expected to become more widespread as a result of global climate change?
Malaria
Which of the following would you generally want to avoid putting into a household compost bin? - Fruit and vegetable scraps - Meat scraps - Any kind of plant matter - Lawn clippings
Meat scraps
Which of the following organisms would you most likely find on a Hawaiian lava field? - Reptiles that can survive very hot temperatures - Microbes that need few nutrients - Tropical birds that blend in with the dark background - No organisms can survive on a lava field.
Microbes that need few nutrients
If a microorganism in contaminated water isn't likely to kill a person directly, why do so many people in developing countries die as the result of exposure to contaminated water?
Microorganisms can cause illness that leads to dehydration, which if untreated, can cause death.
Which of the following are major sources of toxic chemical pollution to waters? - Animal carcasses, feces of aquatic animals, and outflow from sewage treatment plants - Swimming pools - Mining operations, leaking fuels tanks, and household disposal into sewage systems - Natural, preexisting pollutants in the water system.
Mining operations, leaking fuels tanks, and household disposal into sewage systems
Why are water supplies in urban areas of economically developing countries a particularly important issue for the future?
Most of the future population growth is projected to happen in urban areas.
What are the major causes of death in the world's poorest countries?
Most people die of preventable and treatable diseases, such as infectious respiratory, diarrheal, and parasitic diseases.
Where will you find a septic system?
Near a rural home
During the production of metals (smelting), arsenic is produced and released to the atmosphere, where it functions as a neurotoxin. If a family was exposed to arsenic over a long period of time, which of the following health outcomes would be most likely?
Nervous system disorders and problems in brain development leading to low IQ
Do natural disturbances harm ecosystems?
No; a disturbance is often essential to the long-term health and functioning of an ecosystem.
Why is it important to make a distinction between consumptive and nonconsumptive use of water?
Nonconsumptive uses of water are sustainable over long periods of time assuming that the water is not degraded, whereas consumptive uses of water do not return the water to its source and therefore do not help replenish the original water supply.
Which of the following statements best captures the difference between consumptive and nonconsumptive water use?
Nonconsumptive water use returns used water for potential reuse. In consumptive water use, water is used once and cannot be used again.
Which of the following would be considered a supporting service? - Flood control - Climate regulation - Nutrient cycling - Crop production
Nutrient cycling
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a type I survivorship curve? - Characteristic of humans - Low death rate at younger ages - Most individuals survive until adulthood - Organisms that experience relatively constant death rates at all ages
Organisms that experience relatively constant death rates at all ages
Which of the following is the major cause of biodiversity loss in Earth's oceans?
Overexploitation
Which of the following accurately describes the movement of oxygen in an ecosystem? - Oxygen moves from the atmosphere into an ecosystem during cellular respiration. - Oxygen is released into the atmosphere during cellular respiration. - Oxygen moves from the atmosphere into an ecosystem during cellular respiration. - Oxygen is released into the atmosphere during photosynthesis.
Oxygen is released into the atmosphere during photosynthesis.
Perchlorate (ClO4) is a naturally occurring chemical that is harmful to human health. It is also a major component of rocket fuel. Elevated concentrations of perchlorate have been found in ground water (water found in geologic deposits underground) and drinking water around the world. A number of studies suggest that these elevated concentrations can be traced back to emissions from rockets. What does this mean for the movement of this chemical through the environment?
Perchlorate is released as a gas from rockets but is then dissolved into water in the atmosphere or when it falls to the ground.
Which of the following groups of organisms has the greatest percent of species at risk of extinction today?
Plants
Which of the following roles do plants play in an intact ecosystem? - Plants create energy from carbon dioxide and water.= - Plants convert sunlight into heat energy for use by other organisms. - Plants provide energy to ecosystems in the form of sugars. - The presence of plant roots tends to increase erosion.
Plants provide energy to ecosystems in the form of sugars.
Which of the following is an effective way to reduce population growth that does not increase human suffering and improves equity in society? - Provide more food supplies - Provide girls and women more access to education and economic equality - Stimulate economic development - Implement sterilization programs
Provide girls and women more access to education and economic equality
Some coral reefs are protected from being overrun with algae by a sea urchin that grazes on the algae. In one of these reefs, a disturbance event (such as a hurricane) severely damages the coral reef; however, enough sea urchins live in the system to keep the algal growth under control while the corals rebuild themselves. Which of the following terms best characterizes this ecosystem and why?
Resilient, because the ecosystem was able to return to its predisturbance state fairly quickly
In what way can wealth (affluence) INCREASE the impacts of population growth on the environment?
Rising affluence leads to rising consumption of goods and services, and this increases the impacts of population growth on the environment.
Advocates of environmental justice seek which of the following? - Justice and revenge for environmental degradation - More environmental legislation - A judicial system that seeks to rectify past environmental degradation - Risks related to development that are spread evenly across all populations
Risks related to development that are spread evenly across all populations
Which of the following would be considered a cultural service? - Water purification - Rock climbing - Crop production - Flood control
Rock climbing
Which one of the following best describes the scientific peer review process? - Editors of the scientific journal check to see if the researcher has a good reputation in their field. - Other scientists oversee the collection of data for an experiment to verify that a researcher is not making up results. - Scientists anonymously evaluate the research of another scientist. - A scientist's friends vouch for the scientist's honesty in order for their research to be published. The results are checked to see if they are statistically meaningful.
Scientists anonymously evaluate the research of another scientist.
What is the role of creativity in science?
Scientists must be creative in order to design appropriate experiments and think critically about unexpected results
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite that is carried in a particular species of mosquito that grows easily in small pools of water in urban areas. Which of the following approaches could help reduce the risk of malaria in a city without introducing new risks to human populations? - Search for and remove items that could hold accumulated water - Spray cities with chemicals that will kill insects - There is no way to reduce malaria in cities. - Find areas of water accumulation and treat the water with a chemical such as arsenic that will kill young mosquitos
Search for and remove items that could hold accumulated water
Fossils generally form in what kind of rock?
Sedimentary
Order the world's freshwater reservoirs from largest (1) to smallest (5).
Snow and ice; groundwater; lakes; rivers and wetlands; the atmosphere
Of the following examples, which one best represents a state change in an ecosystem? - Soil becomes increasingly sandy over many years of grazing. - An intermittent stream dries up for the season. - Water vapor (gas) in the ecosystem changes to rain (liquid). - A population of animals migrates to a warmer location during the winter.
Soil becomes increasingly sandy over many years of grazing.
Which of the following can be used to help untangle patterns in complex data sets? - Feedback analysis - Observations - Experiments - Statistics
Statistics
What is the role of statistics in science?
Statistics are used to determine whether the observed results of an experiment represent meaningful mathematical differences.
What federal law passed in 1980 established a fund to pay for the cleanup of highly contaminated hazardous waste sites such as Love Canal?
Superfund Act
Match the type of ecosystem with the nutrient(s) that most often limits plant growth in that ecosystem.
Temperate and northern latitude terrestrial - nitrogen (N) Fresh water - nitrogen (n), phosphorus (P) Tropical terrestrial - phosphorus (p), calcium (ca), magnesium (mg) Open ocean - phosphorus (p), iron (fe)
Which area in the figure has the highest percentage of river water currently in use? - Canada - The Middle East - Australia - Russia
The Middle East
Which of the following ecosystems is likely to have the largest carrying capacity (that is, can support the largest number of organisms)?
The Serengeti Plain, in southern Africa
Using the demographic transition model, predict what change is most likely to occur in a country that has a declining death rate and a birth rate that remains high?
The birth rate will fall
What would you need to know to estimate when a fossilized fish lived?
The characteristics of the rock in which the fossil was found
Pathogens are one of the major sources of environmental risks. Which of the following is a pathogen? - An earthquake - Nuclear radiation - Cigarette smoke - The chickenpox virus
The chickenpox virus
Which of the following statements about ecosystems is true? - Human activities are heavily regulated in areas classified as ecosystems in order to minimize impacts. - Human-dominated landscapes are no longer classified as ecosystems. - The concept of an ecosystem can be applied to human-dominated landscapes. - Most ecosystems on our planet are relatively free of human influences.
The concept of an ecosystem can be applied to human-dominated landscapes.
A herd of deer are introduced to an isolated island, where they survive by grazing on the grasses growing on the island. The island experiences a period of drought, during which the grasses that the deer are grazing on do not regrow at a normal rate, and soon the deer population has exceeded the carrying capacity of the island. Assuming the drought continues, what is likely to happen to the ecosystem during this period?
The deer will continue to stay in the area until they all eventually die; by that point, the soil will have experienced significant erosion as a result of overgrazing, and the ecosystem is likely to be permanently changed.
An invasive plant is introduced to a small stream ecosystem that originally had a number of different plant species within it. The invasive plant uses a lot of water and soon outcompetes the other plants in the ecosystem. If this newly-changed ecosystem is faced with a major ecological disturbance, such as a pest infestation that affects a number of species, including the invasive trees, what is likely to happen?
The ecosystem will be less resilient (and likely degraded to some degree) because it is now less diverse due to the effects of the invasive species.
Which one of the following would be an emergent property of a prairie? - The soil, plants, and earthworms living in the prairie - The dominant big bluestem grasses - The formation of thick, fertile soils - The need for water
The formation of thick, fertile soils
Marine sponges and a microbe called cyanobacteria have a unique relationship. The sponge provides protection for the bacteria, and, in return, the bacteria provide nutrients for the sponge through the process of photosynthesis. Because both organisms benefit, their symbiotic interaction is mutualistic. However, if the environment suddenly changed to a point where the cyanobacteria did not have access to light and thus could no longer photosynthesize, how would the symbiotic association change?
The interaction would likely become commensalistic because the cyanobacteria would continue to benefit from living on the sponge, but the sponge would not gain anything or be hurt by the bacteria (aside from the loss the nutrients that the sponges had been receiving).
What major changes would need to occur for the population to stabilize around 11 billion by 2100?
The least developed countries in the world would have to drastically reduce their fertility rates.
Which of the following is a difference between the littoral zone and the limnetic zone? - The littoral zone is terrestrial, whereas the limnetic zone is aquatic. - The littoral zone has a known bottom, whereas the limnetic zone's bottom is not currently known. - The littoral zone is fully penetrated by light, whereas the limnetic zone is not. - The littoral zone supports life, whereas the limnetic zone does not.
The littoral zone is fully penetrated by light, whereas the limnetic zone is not.
Why is the Ogallala Aquifer at risk?
The rate of extraction of water from the aquifer exceeds the recharge rate.
Why is groundwater typically considered a nonrenewable source of water?
The rate of formation of some sources of groundwater is much longer than human lifetimes.
What is a dependency ratio, and why is it important?
The ratio of non-working to working people; because non-working people require the support of the working population
The northern-most area to which birds migrate is typically limited by the minimum nighttime temperature of the area. As the climate changes, the northern latitudes are likely to become warmer, allowing birds to migrate further north. What process is this an example of?
The removal of a constraint on a group of organisms
What is the difference between the unsaturated and saturated zones?
The spaces between soil particles are filled with air in the unsaturated zone and with water in the saturated zone.
Why does the Amazon rain forest generally have higher species diversity than temperate North American rain forests?
The temperature has been relatively stable over long periods of time in the tropics (where the Amazon rain forest is located) in comparison to other areas of the world.
Which of the following statements about biodiversity is true? - The use of only a handful of species for the vast majority of our crops has made our food supply more vulnerable to pests and disease. - The loss of pollinators will have little effect on crop production, since most of our crops are wind-pollinated and do not need insect pollinators. - The production of new kinds of pharmaceuticals is largely unaffected by biodiversity loss, since most known species have been tested for biologically active compounds that could be used as drugs. - Ecotourism is not affected by biodiversity loss, since people are more interested in other forms of entertainment than they are in visiting areas that are high in biodiversity.
The use of only a handful of species for the vast majority of our crops has made our food supply more vulnerable to pests and disease.
Which of the following statements accurately describes a way in which aquifers and surface water sources are similar and a way in which they are different? - While both are being used rapidly, surface water is being used more rapidly than groundwater. - Both can be accessed using wells, but aquifers are generally preferred for residential use. - They both act like sponges, but the water comes from different sources. - The water may come from similar places such as snowmelt or precipitation, but aquifers fill slowly, whereas surface water cycles much more quickly.
The water may come from similar places such as snowmelt or precipitation, but aquifers fill slowly, whereas surface water cycles much more quickly.
How does solid waste production in the world's high-income nations compare to that in low-income nations?
The world's high-income nations produce about four times more solid waste per person than the world's low-income nations.
Over the past decade, the population of the United States has continued to grow while water use has remained constant. How is this happening?
There has been increased efficiency in agricultural water use.
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates economic water scarcity?
There is enough water but inadequate infrastructure to distribute it.
What major impacts did photosynthetic bacteria have on Earth's atmosphere?
They began to produce oxygen, which accumulated in the atmosphere.
Why is the hydrologic cycle important for sustaining human access to water?
This cycle moves water into forms and to locations that are available for human use.
What is the major purpose of an artificial reservoir?
To catch water from seasonal runoff for year-round use
What is the main reason there are dams in Colorado?
To trap spring runoff from the mountains for use later in the summer
Which of the following statements regarding the benefits of biodiversity is true? - Although traditional economic cost and benefit analyses include the benefits of ecosystems and biodiversity, humans ignore such analyses and continue to cause declines in biodiversity. - Traditional cost and benefit analyses of economic activity largely ignore the benefits of ecosystems and biodiversity, and therefore global ecosystems and biodiversity are in serious peril. - Traditional cost and benefit analyses of economic activities heavily weigh consideration of the services of ecosystems and biodiversity, and therefore humans have made the protection of biodiversity the primary focus of the 21st century. - Cost and benefit analyses indicate that economic activities provide more benefit than protecting biodiversity, which is why global ecosystems and biodiversity are in serious peril.
Traditional cost and benefit analyses of economic activity largely ignore the benefits of ecosystems and biodiversity, and therefore global ecosystems and biodiversity are in serious peril.
The cones of some coniferous trees are serotinous, which means they need heat in order to open. When forests of these trees experience a fire, the cones become reproductively viable (that is, they are able to reproduce and grow into new trees). When coupled with the extra sunlight available to the new plants after the understory of the forest has burned, these plants can thrive. Which of the following processes is this an example of?
Trees exploiting resources after competition is removed
Baby sea turtles hatch on sandy beaches and must make a dangerous journey to reach the sea. Volunteer efforts to help them reach the sea safely have not had much of an impact on sea turtle populations because the mortality rate of young sea turtles is very high, with or without the volunteers' help. Scientists have discovered that the mortality rate declines with age, and this has led to more successful efforts to help sea turtle populations by protecting older turtles. Using this graph and your knowledge of death rates, what type of survivorship curve is described in this scenario?
Type III - higher rates of death at young ages and lower rates at older ages (e.g., many fish species)
Which of the following best describes urban sprawl? - Urban sprawl involves the building of larger and larger urban homes as people become more able to afford them. - Urban sprawl is characterized by large cities annexing suburbs and thus becoming even larger. - Urban sprawl is represented by the impacts of air and water pollution from cities as the pollutants spread into the surrounding areas. - Urban sprawl involves the rapid and often poorly planned development of suburbs.
Urban sprawl involves the rapid and often poorly planned development of suburbs.
Which of the following best exemplifies source reduction? - Using a slightly smaller box for packaging the same amount of cereal - Decreasing the amount of hazardous waste leaching into groundwater from a landfill - Decreasing exposure to radiation by using a lead shield when taking X-rays - Decreasing the amount of waste sent to a landfill by recycling as much of the waste as possible
Using a slightly smaller box for packaging the same amount of cereal
Some regions in central Africa suffer from economic water scarcity, whereas the western United States is threatened by physical water scarcity. With unlimited financial resources, which water scarcity issue (that of Africa or of the western United States) is most easily addressed, and why?
Water scarcity could be more easily addressed in central Africa because creating infrastructure to capture and distribute water will reduce the problems of water scarcity there.
Which of the following is a consumptive use of water? - Using water taken from a local stream to flush toilets at your college - Using water taken from a local stream to take a shower at your house - Using water to produce electricity at a hydroelectric dam - Watering sugar beet fields in Boulder County, Colorado
Watering sugar beet fields in Boulder County, Colorado
In what way can wealth (affluence) help REDUCE the impacts of population growth on the environment?
Wealth can be used to invest in technologies that reduce the impact of consumption on the environment.
Which of the following would stress an organism that lives in a warm desert environment, near the upper limit of its tolerance range? - Weather that is much hotter or colder than usual - Weather that is much colder than usual - Weather that is much hotter than usual - Weather that does not change much throughout the year
Weather that is much hotter or colder than usual
What are the major differences between a population that is experiencing logistic growth and one that is experiencing exponential growth?
When a population experiences logistic growth, it will eventually level off as it reaches carrying capacity; when a population experiences exponential growth, it will increase at a steady rate indefinitely.
What differentiates a non-native species from an invasive species?
When a species has been introduced to a new place but causes little damage, it is called non-native; when the non-native species begins to outcompete native species and cause ecological or economic impacts, it is deemed invasive.
Why are nonpoint sources becoming a greater problem than point sources of pollution?
While each nonpoint source releases relatively little pollution, they collectively contribute large amounts of pollutants to the water.
There are numerous satellites that circle Earth generating images of the planet and measuring the composition of the atmosphere. Is this information important to environmental science and, if so, why?
Yes, it is important to environmental science because these observations provide the information needed to generate hypotheses.
Which of the following best illustrates quantitative data? - Your IQ - Your gender - Whether you like this class - Your dorm room number
Your IQ
All of the following are examples of biological limiting factors that can constrain the growth of an organism except _________.
a lack of sunlight
Although scientists determined in the 1940s that chronic lead exposure from eating paint chips causes behavioral and learning problems in children, it was not until 1978 that the U.S. government banned the sale of lead-based paint. Leaded gasoline was phased out of the U.S. market during the 1980s. Leaded paint and gasoline are no longer available in the United States because lead is __________.
a neurotoxin
In the late 1950s, doctors began to prescribe a new drug called thalidomide to pregnant women for the treatment of morning sickness. Soon thousands of "thalidomide babies" with limb, eye, and heart deformities were born worldwide. In 1961, thalidomide was taken off the market after it had caused an estimated 2,000 infant deaths and over 10,000 cases of birth defects. Thalidomide was banned because it was determined to be __________.
a teratogen
A biodiversity hotspot is _______.
a threatened habitat that has high levels of species diversity and a large number of endemic species
There are about 13,000 cubic kilometers of water in the atmosphere. Each day, about 1,370 cubic kilometers of water enter the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration, and about 1,370 cubic kilometers leave the atmosphere as precipitation. About how long does an average water molecule spend in the atmosphere?
about 10 days
To be valid, a scientific observation needs to be _____________.
accurate and repeatable
The role of technology in reducing or increasing the impacts of population is complicated. For example, ________ is an example of a technology that could benefit the environment, whereas ________ is an example of a technology that negatively impacts the environment.
air pollution-control equipment; more powerful car engines
All of the following are components of an ecosystem except ________. - organisms - nutrients - sunlight - All of these are components of an ecosystem.
all of these are components of an ecosystem
Deforestation generally can lead to all of the following except _________.
an increase in CO2 uptake by plants
A scientist is said to be "uncertain" when they ____________.
are less than 100% certain
Domain Eukarya includes all of the following except _______.
bacteria
In an agricultural area, a stream with a relatively large riparian zone will _______.
be relatively well protected from sediments and pollutants in runoff
Weathering involves the breakdown of ________.
bedrock
Ecosystem services are __________.
benefits that we draw from the environment
An activity that is sustainable is best described as one that _________________.
can be carried out indefinitely into the future
Wet deposition is pollution that is __________.
carried to the ground in precipitation
Carcinogens __________.
cause uncontrolled cell growth
A sanitary landfill is "sanitary" in that it _____.
controls the storage of the wastes until they pose no risk
Strong acids are classified as __________.
corrosive
The process of mineralization is performed by ________.
decomposers
The environmental transition model predicts that as countries start to become more economically developed, the risk of preventable diseases ______, and the impact of overconsumption of food and tobacco ______.
decreases; increases
E‑waste is __________.
electronic waste
"Our Common Future," written by the Brundtland Commission, attempted to ______________.
evaluate environmental impacts of industrialization and encourage more sustainable paths for economic development
Which of the following would be effective in conserving water? - Replacing toilets with those that use 20 liters of water per flush - Fixing a leaky faucet - Rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher - Watering gardens in the middle of the day, when plants need it most
fixing a leaky faucet
Wastes are categorized as hazardous if they are corrosive, reactive, toxic, or ___________.
flammable
Mass extinction events are characterized by the disappearance of 20% of the _________ in the fossil record.
genera
The environmental risk transition model predicts that people in less economically developed countries face the greatest pollution risks at the ______ level, with diseases resulting from sources such as ______. As countries become more economically developed, _______-level risks, such as _______, become more prevalent. All countries face ________-level risks, such as those related to _______, but _____ economically developed countries are likely to be impacted by these risks the most.
household; indoor air pollution; community; outdoor air pollution; global; climate change; less
Since the early 1990s, humans have kept up with the rising demand for food without increasing the size of global croplands by ______________.
increasing agricultural yields
Environmental science is the study of the ___ of the environment?
interactions between the biological, physical, and chemical components
Pseudoscience is ____.
not published in peer-reviewed journals
Most of the garbage in the world's oceans __________.
originates from land-based sources, such as wind-blown litter
The degradation of rangeland typically occurs as a result of _________.
overgrazing
A _____ feedback loop occurs when part of a system responds to a change in a way that intensifies that change. A ______ feedback loop occurs when part of a system responds to a change in a way that reduces the change. Identify the type of feedback loop in each of the following scenarios. Heat in the atmosphere results in greater evaporation, which increases cloud cover. The clouds reflect more energy away from Earth, which cools the atmosphere. This is an example of a ________ feedback loop. Heat in the atmosphere leads increased melting of ice, which increases the amount of dark, bare soil. The dark soil absorbs energy that was previously reflected by ice, and the heat radiating from the soil increases the heat in the atmosphere. This is an example of a _______ feedback loop.
postive; negative; negative; postitive
Maintaining intact ecosystems may __________.
prevent disease outbreaks and harm from natural disasters
Risk is often presented as ________, which is a measure of the statistical likelihood that something will occur
probability
Radon gas is __________.
radioactive
Which of the following is an example of a use of water that would typically be hidden from consumers?
raising sheep for wool production
All of the following processes involve liquid water except _______. - sublimation - percolation - transpiration - evaporation
sublimation
All of the following are major causes of biodiversity loss except _______. - air and water pollution - the collection of animals for zoos - habitat destruction - the introduction of invasive species
the collection of animals for zoos
Intraspecific competition occurs when members of _______ species compete for ________ resource(s).
the same; the same
You should be skeptical of scientific claims if ____________
they have not and will not go through the peer-review process
According to the U.S. EPA, the best strategy for dealing with solid waste is __________.
to reduce its production
Suburban residents ___________ than their urban counterparts.
use more energy
A species classified as _____________ by the IUCN is likely to become endangered unless threats to its existence are reduced.
vulnerable
A life-cycle analysis would be used to determine __________.
whether to buy a gasoline-powered vehicle or pay more to buy an electric vehicle
A scientific theory is best described as a __________________
widely supported scientific explanation
