Exam 5: Environmental Systems and Ecosystem Ecology

Ecological modeling _______________

Human activity has affected every aspect of the water cycle. Identify three ways that humans have altered the water cycle. What are the major concerns regarding our alteration of the water cycle?

Matter contained in living organisms

By damming rivers, we are _______________

Read the following scenario and answer the question below. In the early years of the 20th century there were lush stands of tall grasses in the valley on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, stretching to Mexico on the south and New Mexico on the east. Dramatic summer rainstorms dumped huge amounts of water, very quickly, on the rocky upper slopes. The water ran down the slopes and into the grasslands, where it quickly soaked into the soft, porous soil where prairie dogs were active. Cattle ranching was in full swing, utilizing the rich grasses, but the ranchers did not appreciate the multitudes of prairie dogs that lived in the grasslands. Prairie dogs constantly dig through soil, making new burrows and eating grasses, roots and all. It was commonly believed that cattle would stumble in the prairie dog holes, break legs, and die of starvation. In addition, many ranchers were convinced that the prairie dogs would destroy the grasses because they directly competed with the cattle for food. The ranchers had already done away with most predators that might possibly affect cattle, and now they turned their attention to the prairie dogs. The ranchers became a part of a new federally sponsored movement to poison the grassland prairie dogs. This movement took root and spread through the 1920s and 1930s. -One of the conclusions that can be drawn from this scenario is that _______________

How and why do ecologists use GIS software?

Mutualistic relationships between bacteria and certain root nodules play an important role in the global cycling of _______________

The eutrophication that has taken place in Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and other locations appears to be due to _______________

Upper limit of groundwater in soil or rocks

Ecotones are the _______________

Read the following scenario and answer the question below. In the early years of the 20th century there were lush stands of tall grasses in the valley on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, stretching to Mexico on the south and New Mexico on the east. Dramatic summer rainstorms dumped huge amounts of water, very quickly, on the rocky upper slopes. The water ran down the slopes and into the grasslands, where it quickly soaked into the soft, porous soil where prairie dogs were active. Cattle ranching was in full swing, utilizing the rich grasses, but the ranchers did not appreciate the multitudes of prairie dogs that lived in the grasslands. Prairie dogs constantly dig through soil, making new burrows and eating grasses, roots and all. It was commonly believed that cattle would stumble in the prairie dog holes, break legs, and die of starvation. In addition, many ranchers were convinced that the prairie dogs would destroy the grasses because they directly competed with the cattle for food. The ranchers had already done away with most predators that might possibly affect cattle, and now they turned their attention to the prairie dogs. The ranchers became a part of a new federally sponsored movement to poison the grassland prairie dogs. This movement took root and spread through the 1920s and 1930s. -Experiments done in Canadian lakes and in coastal regions of the Baltic Sea and Long Island Sound have demonstrated that _______________

Identify the anthropogenic sources of phosphorus, and explain why they are a problem.

Compare and contrast positive and negative feedback loops. Give an example of each and how common each is in natural systems.

The biosphere is best defined as _______________

Macronutrients _______________

Nitrogen fixation is a process that makes nitrogen available to plants and is carried out by _______________

Read the following scenario and answer the question below. In the early years of the 20th century there were lush stands of tall grasses in the valley on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, stretching to Mexico on the south and New Mexico on the east. Dramatic summer rainstorms dumped huge amounts of water, very quickly, on the rocky upper slopes. The water ran down the slopes and into the grasslands, where it quickly soaked into the soft, porous soil where prairie dogs were active. Cattle ranching was in full swing, utilizing the rich grasses, but the ranchers did not appreciate the multitudes of prairie dogs that lived in the grasslands. Prairie dogs constantly dig through soil, making new burrows and eating grasses, roots and all. It was commonly believed that cattle would stumble in the prairie dog holes, break legs, and die of starvation. In addition, many ranchers were convinced that the prairie dogs would destroy the grasses because they directly competed with the cattle for food. The ranchers had already done away with most predators that might possibly affect cattle, and now they turned their attention to the prairie dogs. The ranchers became a part of a new federally sponsored movement to poison the grassland prairie dogs. This movement took root and spread through the 1920s and 1930s. -Once the prairie dogs were poisoned and no longer a part of the ecosystem, which of the following probably occurred?

Describe the hypotheses and the results obtained in the FACE (Free- Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment)project.

In some areas, cattle on an open range may compact fragile soils while grazing. This can damage plant roots, leading to fewer, smaller plants, which may in turn cause cattle to graze more and work harder to obtain food. This is an example of a _______________

Containing elements of both forests and coastal marshes, the swamplands of extreme southern Louisiana would be an example of _______________