Deck 25: Human Interactions With the Biosphere

Question 1

What is the definition of biotic potential?

A) a relatively slow (lag) population growth
B) maximum growth rate under ideal conditions
C) maximum population the environment can sustain
D) the birthrate or natality
E) the death rate or mortality

Answer 1

maximum growth rate under ideal conditions

Question 2

Currently the world population growth is approximately 1.2%.If the birthrate in 2009 was 19.86 per 1000,what was the death rate?

A) 19.86
B) 7.86
C) 12
D) 1.2
E) 78.6

Answer 2

7.86

Question 3

Which of the following is not a way to reduce your ecological footprint?

A) drive an energy-efficient car
B) eat more beef
C) live in a smaller home
D) turn down the thermostat in the winter
E) refrain from watering the lawn

Answer 3

eat more beef

Question 4

The population growth in less-developed countries is

A) modestly increasing.
B) dramatically increasing.
C) negative.
D) leveling off.
E) stable.

Question 5

There are more women in LDCs entering the reproductive years than there are older women who can no longer reproduce.

Question 6

If the birthrate is 22 per 1000 per year and the death rate is 8 per 1000 per year,what is the population growth rate?

A) 2.2%
B) 0.8%
C) 1.4%
D) 14%
E) 22%

Question 7

Which of the following is a renewable resource?

A) land
B) solar energy
C) fossil fuels
D) minerals
E) oil

Question 8

At least 40% of the world population lives within 100 km (60 miles)of a coastline.

Question 9

Birthrate and death rate are usually expressed as percentages (per 100 people).

Question 10

Define an ecological footprint.

A) the total amount of resources used by an individual to meet his/her needs
B) the amount of food a person needs to eat
C) the amount of water a person needs to meet his/her needs
D) the amount of land a person needs to provide a place to live
E) the amount of energy a person needs to meet his/her needs

Question 11

If each couple only has two children,zero population growth will take place immediately.

Question 12

If there are more women in the postreproductive years than in the reproductive years,and more women in the reproductive years than in the prereproductive years,what does the age structure diagram look like?

A) a pyramid
B) an inverted pyramid
C) a rectangle
D) an oval
E) a cube

Question 13

What is the current world's population?

A) almost 1 billion people
B) almost 3 billion people
C) almost 5 billion people
D) over 7 billion people
E) over 10 billion

Question 14

What happened to the death rate in LDCs following World War II? Why?

A) It increased due to the loss of infrastructure following the war.
B) It increased due to the spread of disease because of refugees from the war.
C) It decreased because of the introduction of modern medicine.
D) It decreased because people were no longer dying in World War II.
E) It stabilized due to fewer people dying in war.

Question 15

In order to have a negative population growth rate,

A) the birthrate must exceed the death rate.
B) the biotic potential of the population must increase.
C) the death rate must exceed the birth rate.
D) the carrying capacity for the population must increase.
E) only replacement reproduction can occur.

Question 16

What does the United States's population growth look like?

A) increasing
B) decreasing
C) leveling off
D) an upside-down pyramid
E) a rectangular column

Question 17

The carrying capacity of Earth for humans is approximately 8 billion people.

Question 18

How is the growth rate of a population determined?

A) birthrate
B) death rate
C) birthrate minus death rate
D) birthrate times death rate
E) birthrate divided by death rate

Question 19

The age structure diagram of MDCs is shaped like

A) a pyramid.
B) an inverted pyramid.
C) a rectangle.
D) an oval.
E) a cube.

Question 20

The more-developed countries have typically always had low population growth rates.

Question 21

"Green revolution" plants caused many ecological problems.

Question 22

In MDCs,many people do not eat enough protein.

Question 23

Which organism is more likely to suffer due to biological magnification?

A) earthworm
B) caterpillar
C) minnow
D) pelican
E) algae

Question 24

The soil in the tropics is very rich and fertile and makes excellent land for agriculture.

Question 25

Which organism would be most impacted by biomagnification?

A) eagles
B) rabbits
C) wheat plants
D) earthworms
E) corn

Question 26

What organization oversees the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in the United States?

A) NIH
B) NSF
C) USDA
D) EPA
E) USGS

Question 27

Most of the fresh water in the world is used for

A) drinking.
B) bathing.
C) irrigation.
D) watering lawns.
E) industrial needs.

Question 28

Which of the following is not a harmful practice of modern farming?

A) heavy use of pesticides and herbicides
B) polyculture planting
C) heavy use of fertilizers
D) generous irrigation
E) increased fuel consumption

Question 29

Which of the following is not an issue for coastal areas?

A) loss of habitat for organisms
B) loss of buffer zone for storms
C) desertification
D) pollution
E) erosion

Question 30

Which of the following is considered a benefit of a dam?

A) electricity generation
B) altering river flow
C) loss of water by evaporation
D) seepage into underlying rock beds
E) sediment buildup

Question 31

Wind is to a wind farm as what is to hydropower?

A) flowing water
B) solar energy
C) hydrogen gas
D) steam
E) hot salt

Question 32

How many more people could be fed on one pound of grain than one pound of meat?

A) 20 times
B) 10 times
C) 5 times
D) 3 times
E) 2 times

Question 33

Reducing your personal meat consumption would be beneficial to the environment.

Question 34

It is considered a human right for people to have clean drinking water.

Question 35

Overall,there is not enough water on the face of the Earth to meet the human population needs for water.

Question 36

What do hydropower and wind power have in common?

A) Both require the building of dams.
B) Both lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
C) Both are renewable energy sources.
D) Both result in the depletion of fossil fuels.
E) Both require the use of photovoltaic cells.

Question 37

Planting the same crop in straight rows prevents soil erosion.

Question 38

How much of Earth's land mass is already desert?

A) 1%
B) 10%
C) 40%
D) 50%
E) 65%

Question 39

Which of the following is not associated with groundwater depletion?

A) subsidence
B) sinkholes
C) saltwater intrusion
D) lowering of the water table
E) sediment buildup

Question 40

Why should pregnant women and small children avoid certain fish?

A) herbicide contamination
B) mercury contamination
C) pesticide contamination
D) lead contamination
E) PCB contamination

Question 41

Explain the consequences of groundwater depletion.

Question 42

Fish are considered a nonrenewable resource.

Question 43

Describe the factors that are contributing to the biodiversity extinction crisis we are currently experiencing.

Question 44

When calculating the gross national product,economists consider whether an activity is environmentally harmful.

Question 45

A sustainable society is able to provide the same amount of goods and services for future generations as it does for the current one,while preserving biodiversity.

Question 46

Which of the following is an alien species that has invaded the United States?

A) bass
B) oak trees
C) wolves
D) kudzu
E) buffalo

Question 47

How long does it take for a plastic grocery bag to degrade?

A) 1-2 weeks
B) 1-2 months
C) 1 year
D) 10-20 years
E) more than 50 years

Question 48

Which of the following is not a sustainability practice designed to conserve water?

A) use sediment traps for storm drains
B) use low-flow or trickle irrigation
C) build retention ponds
D) use nonporous surfaces for parking lots
E) use green roofs

Question 49

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a sustainable society?

A) multi-use farming
B) integrated pest management
C) mass transit
D) draining of wetlands for housing
E) recycling and composting

Question 50

What do indirect values of biodiversity all have in common?

A) They are all involved with the biogeochemical cycles.
B) They are all pervasive benefits provided by ecosystems.
C) They provide pleasure and relaxation for humans.
D) They all depend on an individual species.
E) They all undo some harm that humans have done.

Question 51

Which of the following statements about the indirect value of trees is not true?

A) Globally, they stabilize the climate because they take up carbon dioxide.
B) They provide shade and reduce the need for fans and air conditioning.
C) In forests, they exert a natural "sponge effect" for the provision of freshwater.
D) They break down dead organic matter and other types of wastes.
E) They retain soil and prevent soil erosion.

Question 52

Decorative plants and exotic pets often suffer from overexploitation.

Question 53

Which of the following would be an example of an organism that provides direct benefit by consumptive use value?

A) armadillos
B) rosy periwinkle
C) wheat
D) rice
E) trees

Question 54

Which of the following is an urban,not a rural,sustainability plan?

A) use low-flow or trickle irrigation
B) plant cover crops
C) use green roofs
D) use integrated pest management
E) plant multipurpose trees

Question 55

Which of the following is not an unsustainable practice of society?

A) reduction in population growth rate
B) eating more meat than vegetables
C) using more freshwater resources for agriculture than in homes
D) using large amounts of fossil fuels, fertilizers, and pesticides
E) deforestation and desertification

Question 56

Which of the following is not a factor contributing to the loss of biodiversity?

A) alien species
B) increased carrying capacity
C) pollution
D) overexploitation
E) disease

Question 57

Which of the following medicinal value pairings is mismatched?

A) rosy periwinkle- leukemia
B) armadillo- leprosy
C) viruses- antibiotics
D) fungus- penicillin
E) horseshoe crabs- limulus amoebocyte lysate

Question 58

Is it important to save the wild relatives of our current crop plants,even at great cost?

Question 59

The biggest problem in moving toward a sustainable society in LDCs is overconsumption.

Question 60

Which of the following is an indirect,as opposed to a direct,value of biodiversity?

A) medical use
B) food
C) consumptive use
D) ecotourism
E) agricultural use

Question 61

List and describe the criteria that are used to measure quality of life.

Question 62

Which of the following criteria of value are mismatched?

A) cultural value- language and history
B) option value- preserving for the future
C) educational value- experience of nature
D) aesthetic value- agricultural use
E) use value- entrance fees

Question 63

Measures that include noneconomic indicators are better than the gross national product is at revealing our quality of life.