Exam 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach

A majority of the loss of the tropical forests has occurred over the past 200 years.

An old-growth forest is a(n)____.

A second-growth forest is a(n)____.

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.

From a strictly value perspective, would it be more valuable for nature to be allowed to recycle nutrients or provide raw materials?

The first step in harvesting trees is to build ____________________.

Humans have reserved ____________________% of the earth's land for human use.

Sixty percent of the world's forests are old-growth forests.

Which of the following is a harmful effect of even carefully designed logging roads?

Most conservation biologists believe the most important reasons for protecting wilderness and other areas from exploitation and degradation involve the ____.

Almost every natural place on earth has been affected or degraded to some degree by ____________________.

People have, seemingly, always feared the wolf. In order to restore and sustain biodiversity in ecosystems in which the wolf is a keystone species, the gray wolf was reintroduced into such ecosystems. Given human concerns and fears about wolves, was this the correct decision?

Poor countries with tropical forests can be encouraged to protect their forests by using ____________________ to provide financial incentives.

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.

Areas especially rich in plant species that are found nowhere else and are in great danger of extinction are called ____.

According to the USDA, within _______________ we could eliminate the need to use trees to make paper by using kenaf.

Which of the following is true of tree plantations?

Forests that cover about 30% of the U.S. land area provide habitats for ____________________% of the country's wildlife species.

Forests covering approximately 30% of the U.S. land area supply about two-thirds of the nation's surface water.

The National Park system was started in order to preserve the splendor of nature and to make that splendor available to current and future generations. Now these goals seem to compete with one another. Should access to the national parks be restricted? Should development around the parks be limited? Are the goals incompatible, and should they be modified? Choose a position on this topic and defend it.