Deck 19: Ecology, Ecosystems, and the Environment: Are Human Activities Affecting the Global Environment

Question 1

Which statement about an ecosystem is correct?

A) Organisms get their energy from the same trophic level.
B) Ecosystems are formed from only living parts.
C) Matter is recycled by an ecosystem.
D) Organisms can occupy more than one niche in an ecosystem.
E) Ecosystems are in a balance of nature.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Urban landfills use procedures that

A) increase the decay rate for most trash.
B) accelerate the process by which aluminum is recycled.
C) decrease the decomposition rate for newspapers.
D) increase the number of aerobic bacteria.
E) make it cost effective to recycle glass.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A U.S. national recycling program is inhibited by

A) the way most paper with print is made in the U.S.
B) the fact that each type of trash requires a unique chemical process to be recycled.
C) the sheer volume of trash needing to be processed.
D) the mixing of different kinds of plastics in the waste stream.
E) all of these are correct.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Which term refers to the particular way an organism obtains matter and energy?

A) ecosystem
B) environment
C) ecology
D) ecological niche
E) habitat

Question 5

The importance of the ozone layer to Earth's inhabitants is

A) protection from ultraviolet rays.
B) to neutralize the NOx molecules in acid rain.
C) to prevent acid rain.
D) to mediate temperatures in the stratosphere.
E) all of these are correct.

Question 6

How are CFCs dangerous to the environment?

A) causing acid rain
B) blocking sunlight
C) breaking O3 to create O2
D) accelerating glaciations
E) increasing cloudiness

Question 7

Which example would best demonstrate the "law of unintended consequences" in action in a recent instance?

A) building levees on the Mississippi River
B) working with two reactive substances in chemistry class
C) establishing a nature preserve in a wilderness area
D) frequenting a fast-food restaurant
E) talking to a friend on a cell phone

Question 8

How far above the Earth would we find the highest concentration of "good" ozone?

A) 50 miles
B) 20 miles
C) 10 miles
D) 10,000 feet
E) sea level

Question 9

Research by E.O. Wilson and Daniel Simberloff supported the theory of island biogeography when, at the end of the experiment,

A) their mangrove research site failed to return to its status as a viable ecosystem.
B) a hurricane destroyed the native population of brown lizards on the mangrove island.
C) the island biota were replaced by similar but different species of animals.
D) the state of Florida fined the research team for breaking environmental laws.
E) the mangrove research site flourished with the biodiversity that came from introduction of new species.

Question 10

According to the equilibrium hypothesis, introducing a new species to an isolated ecosystem will

A) cause another species to go extinct.
B) cause a depletion of oxygen.
C) make other species stronger by increasing competition.
D) add to the diversity of the ecosystem
E) have no impact on the ecosystem.

Question 11

How are scientists determining atmospheric ozone levels?

A) measuring spectral lines collected from satellite-based sensors
B) collecting samples with specially outfitted airplanes
C) measuring spectral lines collected at ground-based sites
D) measuring spectral lines collected from special aircraft
E) all of these are correct

Question 12

What was the main topic of the Kyoto protocol, which the U.S. refused to sign?

A) protection of the endangered Kyoto lizard
B) depletion of ozone concentrations over Alaska
C) phasing out of CFCs in manufacturing
D) decrease in CO₂ emissions on a global scale
E) redesigning nuclear plants

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of the law of unintended consequences in action at Lake Victoria, Africa?

A) clear cutting of old growth pine trees
B) building jetties on the Lake Victoria shore
C) introducing the Nile perch
D) growing algae for a aquaculture
E) constructing lake-front apartments

Question 14

Acid rain is known to cause problems by

A) causing population explosions of deer species.
B) triggering glaciations and ice sheets.
C) bleaching chlorophyll from green plants.
D) destroying limestone statues and buildings.
E) accelerating global warming.

Question 15

The creation of NOx requires nitrogen, oxygen, and

A) water.
B) heat.
C) sulfur.
D) acid rain.
E) xylene.

Question 16

Which are products of burning fossil fuels in the atmosphere?

A) carbon dioxide and water vapor
B) nitrogen oxides and sulfur compounds
C) water vapor and sulfur compounds
D) carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons
E) all of these are correct.

Question 17

The flow of energy in an ecosystem

A) decreases by 90% at each trophic level.
B) is a discrete amount transferred without change.
C) transfers from plants to carnivores to herbivores.
D) is wasted by the decomposers.
E) involves all of these.

Question 18

What were the results of the Montreal treaty of 1986?

A) All U.S. factories would retrofit smokestacks with scrubbers.
B) Industrial nations would decrease and eventually stop their production of CFCs.
C) Canada would limit their use of natural gas.
D) Strict guidelines were written on automobile emissions.
E) All chemical companies producing Freon went out of business.

Question 19

The amount of solid waste produced by an average American each year equals

A) the weight of compacted trash enough to fill two large dump trucks.
B) the volume of the Statue of Liberty.
C) 17,000 tons.
D) much less than was produced before recycling efforts began.
E) an amount that would fill the Grand Canyon.

Question 20

Which of these groups are listed in first, second, and third trophic level, respectively?

A) sea grass, beetle, fern
B) rose, aphid, exterminator
C) grass, deer, mountain lion
D) phytoplankton, whale, vulture
E) fern, Brontosaurus, hominid

Question 21

What contributes to the slow decomposition rates in landfills?

Question 22

Compare the environmental agreements in the Montreal treaty with the Kyoto protocol.

Question 23

Why is the ozone hole located where it is?

Question 24

If the annual temperature of Washington DC warms two degrees Celsius, its climate would be most like

A) Minnesota.
B) California.
C) Georgia.
D) England.
E) Missouri.

Question 25

In what way(s) are the organisms at the first trophic level the most important for the planet?

Question 26

Explain what is meant in ecology by the concept of an "interdependent community."

Question 27

What causes the up and down fluctuations in a graph of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere over time?

Question 28

Define and give an example of the "law of unintended consequences."

Question 29

Why is any effort to control the greenhouse effect so difficult?

A) The global economy depends on fossil fuels.
B) The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon necessary to keep the average temperature on Earth above freezing.
C) The global climate models are not yet dependable enough to determine energy policy.
D) There is no reliable substitute energy source available to the average citizen to replace fossil fuels on a global scale.
E) All of these are related to the complexity of this issue.

Question 30

What did Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson learn about island populations?

Question 31

What do scientists think will happen if the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are doubled?

A) Earth's average temperature will increase 2°C to 6°C.
B) Earth's average temperature will not increase.
C) Sea level will rise or fall by about 2 feet.
D) There will be a "Little Ice Age" again.
E) The Sun will cool down and that will offset the carbon dioxide problem.

Question 32

How does a surfactant work in paper recycling?

Question 33

Why do scientists think that global warming is occurring?

A) 20 of the 25 warmest years in recorded history occurred since 1980
B) sea level is rising
C) glaciers are melting
D) 1990s was the warmest decade on record
E) all of these are correct

Question 34

Is acid rain only common in areas of industrialization?

Question 35

Ozone at ground level and stratospheric ozone get different reactions from policy makers. Why?

Question 36

What determines the acidity of normal rainfall?

Question 37

What are some ideas proposed to decrease the emissions that lead to global warming?

A) limit the burning of fossil fuels
B) strict auto emissions limits
C) use scrubbers to clean up coal-burning
D) drive more hybrid cars
E) all of these are correct

Question 38

Describe a naturally occurring experiment in island biogeography.

Question 39

In what manner does the Edward O. Wilson - Daniel Simberloff model of island ecology help us to understand the world after the demise of the dinosaurs approximately 65 million years ago?

Question 40

Why must energy that flows through an ecosystem be replaced continually?

Question 41

Why is the ozone layer so vital to life on Earth?

Question 42

Describe the special problem of white paper waste recycling.

Question 43

On our neighboring planet Venus, the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere is extremely high and there is a vast greenhouse effect. What are the temperature conditions like on the surface of Venus?

Question 44

Explain how ozone can be both good and bad for the ecology of the planet and especially humans living on the surface.

Question 45

What are the flaws in the assumptions at the base of current global circulation models? How do these flaws fuel the controversy about global warming?

Question 46

How can states with automobile air pollution problems deal with the problem of air pollution?

Question 47

In the "Lake Victoria disaster," what unintended consequences beyond the lake itself did the introduction of large fish cause?

Question 48

What is homeostasis?

Question 49

Can a single lake be an ecosystem?

Question 50

Briefly discuss energy transmission and biomagnification from trophic level to trophic level.