Exam 53: The Physical Environment and Biogeography of Life

If the Gulf Stream were to slow down or stop, as predicted by models of global climate change, how would this most likely affect the climate in Europe?

On the East Coast of the United States, a deciduous forest was cut down to build a city, now home to 1.5 million people.Discuss the likely impacts this had on climate, topography, and ecosystems in the region.

Because of the rotational movement of Earth, air moving north in the Northern Hemisphere will

In the American Midwest, surveys show that anywhere from 82.6 to 99.9 percent of the once extensive tallgrass prairie ecosystem has been lost to agriculture in 12 states since European settlement began.The remaining prairie is in scattered fragments among croplands.Based on the theory of island biogeography, compared to the original tallgrass prairie ecosystem, the remaining prairie fragments would be expected to show

Deforestation decreases the amount of sunlight absorbed by Earth, causing a cooling effect, in contrast to the heating caused by the loss of evapotranspiration.The change in sunlight absorbed is a result of the _______ effect.

When ecologists speak of clear-cutting in the Amazon Basin as the "largest experiment on Earth," they are referring to significant and irreversible effects.They are primarily concerned about the ultimate effect of deforestation on

Which situation is an example of an interaction at the ecosystem level of organization?

The species diversification rate hypothesis for latitudinal differences in species diversity is that stable climates and larger geographical areas decrease extinction rates and result in the highest species diversity in the _______.

Sunlight extends to the bottom of an ocean region, which has highly productive plankton populations at the surface, an extensive pelagic fish population, and bottom-dwelling organisms in seagrass beds and reefs.Which zone or zones are included in this region?

Much of the solar radiation received by Earth is absorbed and radiated back into the atmosphere in the form of _______.

Studies show that when a forest is cut down and replaced by a pasture, the regional climate becomes hotter and drier.What is the most likely reason for this change?

A region along the west coast of North America has mild, wet winters and cool, dry summers.Its major vegetation includes very large conifers, and it occurs at middle to higher latitudes.This region is a part of which biome?

Giant seaweeds, or kelps, live in shallow, cold, nutrient-rich waters off the coastline of western North America.They attach to rocks and other hard surfaces, and their huge fronds often reach to the surface, forming a dense, complex, photosynthesizing ocean "forest." Which characteristic is true of kelp forests but not of land forests?

Describe how greenhouse gases act to maintain the greenhouse effect.

A group of scientists wants to design a project to determine the cause or causes of latitudinal patterns in species diversity.Which is not a correct statement regarding possible problems in the design of their project?

Thomas Lovejoy and colleagues conducted a long-term field experiment on the effects of habitat fragmentation in the Amazon rainforest, studying changes in bird populations over 30 years.Do the results of these experiments suggest that high species diversity can continue in the presence of deforestation?

There are approximately 40,000 species of trees in tropical rainforests.There are only 50 species of trees north of the Alps in Europe.The greater species diversity in tropical rainforests might be explained by any combination of these factors except

Refer to the graph representing the WilsonMacArthur theory of island biogeography, which explains the speciesarea relationship. According to the graph, the number of species on an island reaches equilibrium when

A once-common species of butterfly has disappeared from a region of California over the past 50 years.The butterfly's gradual disappearance is correlated with a significant rise in average annual temperature and a significant decline in average annual rainfall.This suggests that the butterfly's disappearance is due to a change in

Urban landscapes are known to produce "heat islands," which increase urban temperatures significantly above temperatures in surrounding rural areas.These high temperatures result from all urban factors except