ENVS Chpt 10
Robert Costanza of the University of Vermont estimates the world's forests provide us with ecological services worth how much per year?
$4.7 trillion
We can all help sustain terrestrial biodiversity through various measures. Which of the following methods is least effective in sustaining biodiversity?
Eliminate local plants from your household garden
Researchers have suggested four principles for carrying out most forms of ecological restoration and rehabilitation. Which one of the following is not one of these principles?
Encourage the development of economic zones in the ecosystem
Four of the following are important ecological services provided by forests; one is not. Choose the one that is not.
Releases atmospheric carbon
A majority of the loss of the tropical forests has occurred over the past 200 years.
false
Unfenced grasslands in tropical and temperate climates that supply forage for grazing animals are called ____.
rangeland
What term refers to land officially designated as an area where natural communities have not been seriously disturbed by humans, and where harmful human activities are limited by law?
wilderness
Forests cover about ____% of the U.S. land area.
30
Forests, both natural and planted, occupy how much of the earth's land surface, other than Greenland and Antarctica?
31%
Robert Costanza of the University of Vermont estimates the monetary worth of the earth's ecological services per year at which of the following?
33.2 trillion
In the United States, about ____% of the forests are protected.
40
According to the World Resources Institute, if the current rates continue, how much of the world's remaining forests will be lost in the next two decades?
40%
Over the past 8,000 years, human activities have reduced the earth's original forest cover by about _____ %, with most of that coming in the last 60 years.
47
Which of the following is true of tree plantations?
They are not biologically diverse
A tree plantation is also called a(n) ____.
commercial forest
Four of the following are ways to grow and harvest trees more sustainably; one is not. Choose the one that is not.
increase road building into uncut areas
Which of the following is a harmful effect of even carefully designed logging roads?
increased erosion
Overgrazing occurs when too many animals graze for too long and exceed the carrying capacity of a rangeland area. Overgrazing causes all of the following except ____.
increased retention of water
Many biologists and wildlife conservationists believe that the best way to keep from hastening the extinction of wild species through human activities is to protect threatened habitats and ecosystem services. This is referred to as ____.
the ecosystem approach
Burning tropical forests accounts for how much of the human-created greenhouse gas emissions?
17%
About ____ of the wood harvested globally each year is burned directly for fuel or converted to charcoal fuel.
50%
Which of method is effective in reducing tropical deforestation?
All of these
With only 2% of its forests remaining, which of the following countries has gone from tropical paradise to ecological disaster?
Haiti
In 1995-1996, gray wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park. Since then, which of the following has occurred?
Shade trees growing along streams have encourages larger trout populations
Which of the following is true of surface fires?
They free mineral nutrients that are locked up in vegetation and litter
What is not considered a major problem for U.S. public parks today?
agricultural runoff
One of the reasons for cutting trees is to provide pulp for making paper. However, paper can be made from a number of other sources. What is not a viable source of paper?
animal fats
Areas especially rich in plant species that are found nowhere else and are in great danger of extinction are called ____.
biodiversity hotspots
Conservationists around the world are using a design in which an inner core of a reserve is surrounded by two protective areas. This design is known as ____.
buffer zone concept
Tropical forests in the Amazon basin and other South American countries are primarily being cleared or burned for ____.
cattle grazing and soybean plantations
One preservation strategy for the remaining grasslands in the Southwestern U.S. involves land trust groups that pay ranchers for ____, which are deed restrictions that bar future owners from developing the land.
conservation easements
Costa Rica is considered a superpower of biodiversity, with an estimated 500,000 plant and animal species. This biodiversity is chiefly a result of the ____.
country's geographic location and its government's strong conservation efforts
The temporary or permanent removal of large expanses of forest for agriculture, or other uses, is called ____.
deforestation
Which of the following is a disadvantage of clear-cutting?
destroys and fragments wildlife habitats
What term refers to the process of repairing damage caused by humans to the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by ecosystems?
ecological restoration
Ecologists warn that human population growth, economic development, and poverty are exerting increasing pressure on the earth's ecosystems and on the ____ it provides.
ecosystem services
Which of the following is not an economic service provided by forests?
erosion reduction
Even moderate levels of grazing are unhealthy for grasslands.
false
In the last 8,000 years, humans have reduced the earth's original forest cover by about 23%.
false
Parks in developing countries possess the least biodiversity of all parks.
false
Sixty percent of the world's forests are old-growth forests.
false
Tree farms are more biologically diverse than second-growth forests.
false
A second-growth forest is a(n) ____.
forest resulting from secondary succession
Protected areas linking isolated reserves is a design called ____.
habitat corridors
Hemp requires fewer pesticides and yield more pulp per hectare. What other source of pulp provides this benefit?
kenaf
Most conservation biologists believe the most important reasons for protecting wilderness and other areas from exploitation and degradation involve the ____.
long-term needs of all species
What is probably the biggest problem for U.S. national parks today?
popularity
Widespread human-influenced fires in tropical forests, such as the Amazon Rainforest, change weather patterns by raising temperatures and reducing rainfall resulting in droughts, which in turn makes forests more likely to burn. This is an example of a ____.
positive feedback loop
Michael Rosenzweig suggests we need to learn how to share with other species the spaces we dominate. He calls this new form of conservation biology ____.
reconciliation ecology
Four of the following are measures to speed up ecosystem recovery; one is not. Choose the one that is not.
secondary succession
Removing intermediate-aged or mature trees from a forest is known as ____.
selective cutting
Ecologists and forest fire experts recommend several strategies for reducing fire-related harm to forests and people. What is one of those strategies?
set small, contained surface fires in highest-risk forest areas
A 1997 report estimated the value of the ecological services provided to humans by forests to be at least $4.7 trillion.
true
Efforts are under way to make charcoal out of fibers left over from processing sugar cane.
true
Forest fires are not a major threat to forest ecosystems as part of a natural cycle.
true
Forests covering approximately 30% of the U.S. land area supply about two-thirds of the nation's surface water.
true
If current deforestation rates continue about 40% of all the world's remaining intact forests will have been logged or converted to other uses in 20 years.
true
Only 5% of U.S. land is protected as wilderness, and most of that is in Alaska.
true
Only about 1% of national parks in less-developed countries are protected.
true
Someday, tree plantations may supply most of the world's demand for industrial wood.
true
Up to 60% of the wood consumed in the U.S. is wasted unnecessarily.
true
Forests provide habitats for about ____ of the earth's terrestrial species.
two-thirds
An old-growth forest is a(n) ____.
uncut or regenerated primary forest undisturbed for at least 200 hundred years
Which of the following is a method of grassland restoration?
use of portable fencing to confine cattle to ungrazed areas
Surface fires ____.
usually burn only undergrowth and leaf litter on the forest floor
