ENSC Final
If the Millennium Development Goals are achieved by 2015,
more than 400 million people will be lifted out of extreme poverty.
people in the developing world will all have basic medical coverage.
the population of the world will stop increasing.
at least 30 developing countries will move into the developed category.
The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had been so polluted that it caught fire repeatedly from 1868-1969, including a 1952 fire that resulted in nearly $1.5 million in damages. Amazingly, other rivers in the United States also caught fire during this period. If rivers were catching fire today in 2012, what group would most likely be involved to investigate the situation and apply federal laws?
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Defense Fund
Union of Concerned Scientists
Natural Resources Defense Council
Which of the following terms best applies to the practice of environmental science?
integrative and interdisciplinary
highly specialized
abstract
theoretical
Which one of the following terms least applies to science?
profitable
repeatable
skepticism
objective
The greatest impact of globalization is seen in the
general shift in populations from cities to rural life.
increased access of natural resources to poor developing nations.
move towards sustainable development throughout the world.
economic reorganization and interdependency of the world.
Which of the following is a correlation that is causing widespread concern?
As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels decline, the ozone layer is being destroyed.
As levels of carbon dioxide increase, average global temperatures are increasing.
As levels of methane decline, average global temperatures are increasing.
As atmospheric oxygen levels decline, the ozone layer is being destroyed.
In general, the movement toward sustainability is
declining as interest in sustainable environmental policy declines.
growing with greater interest from governments and businesses.
faced with growing opposition from economic interests.
still a distant philosophical goal of the environmental movement.
Which of the following best embodies the quality of a scientific theory?
Squirrels in central Illinois prefer to build their nests in oak trees instead of hickory trees.
Prairies that have larges herds of bison show greater plant diversity than prairies without bison.
All gases, liquids, and solids consist of atoms.
Dangerous wildfires in California could be avoided by better fire prevention strategies.
Which of the following is an example of the greatest cause of biodiversity loss in the world today?
In northern Canada, native people continue to hunt seals and harvest fish from arctic seas.
In the United States, large fields once used to plant corn and soybeans are being converted for housing developments and commercial properties.
In the United States, the Army Corps of Engineers reroutes major rivers to improve the waterways for commercial navigation.
In Brazil, ranchers cut and burn rain forest to clear fields for grazing cattle.
These three sectors account for 50% of all jobs worldwide.
computer science, health care and construction
entertainment, agriculture and construction
coal, petroleum and natural gas
agriculture, forestry and fishing
Which one of the following is least likely to be a product of a transition to a sustainable civilization?
greater reliance upon renewable energy resources
increased reliance upon recycled materials
a stable human population
larger cities with extensive suburbs
People who are well aware of the damaging effects of mercury might insist that all fish that they eat is free from mercury. They may be alarmed, for instance, if mercury levels remain at very low levels, far below that known to cause harm. Insisting that mercury be completely eliminated from fish
will likely reduce the cost of fish and improve the health of consumers.
will likely require little additional cost with potentially great benefits.
is a necessary but very expensive part of additional environmental controls.
is not cost effective for the health benefits of complete elimination.
Environmental policies
are paid for by tax dollars, only indirectly costing citizens for their implementation.
are always expensive, costing consumers and industry more money.
rarely have a monetary cost associated with them.
may be cost-neutral or may come at a monetary cost.
As a percentage of GDP, the cost of environmental protection is, according to EPA estimates
less than either the cost of defense or health care in the United States.
about the same cost as the combined amounts spent on health care and defense in the United States.
more than the cost of providing health care to citizens of the United States.
more than the cost of national defense in the United States.
Equity in the distribution of resources is promoted by growth in
transportation and navigation systems to move produced capital.
the harvesting of non-renewable and non-renewable natural capital.
human resources and produced capital.
sustainable harvesting of renewable natural resources.
A company near a large city is required to keep its smokestack pollution to new lower levels, costing the company $2 million in additional equipment (which will last at least 10 years) and $100,000 a year in additional labor. Lowering the air pollutants in the region is expected to save $4 million in medical expenses in the affected region over the next 10 years. Over this 10-year period, the benefit to cost ratio is
4 to 2.
2 to 4.
3 to 4.
4 to 3.
How does the EPA affect environmental policy?
The EPA determines which laws passed by the Judicial Branch apply to environmental policy.
The EPA passes laws that control environmental regulations.
The EPA funds ecological studies that inform the executive branch about what environmental laws are needed.
The EPA develops rules and regulations based on laws passed by Congress.
As indicated in this figure, the most expensive period of pollution control is from years
10-15 while the least expensive is in years 15-20.
20-25 while the least expensive is in years 0-5.
0-5 while the least expensive is in years 5-10.
0-5 while the least expensive is in years 20-25.
The World Bank (initially) and measures of GDP did not include the economic value of
the migration of many animal species from one region to another, replenishing the harvest of these natural resources.
increases in the prices paid for natural products such as fish, wood, and fossil fuels.
the regeneration of many natural resources by sustainable processes in which natural resources are renewed.
ecosystem services such as the breakdown of wastes, climate regulation, and oxygen production.
In 1962, Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring, documenting the devastating effects of pesticides, including DDT, on birds and other organisms in our natural environments. In the years that followed, new laws and regulations were adopted that banned the use of DDT in 1972 in the United States. Today, DDT is no longer used in the United States because it is banned by law. At this point, the issue has reached the
implementation stage because of a market based strategy.
control stage because of a command and control strategy.
control stage because of a market based strategy.
implementation stage because of a command and control strategy.
In general, careful and detailed economic studies indicate that environmental protection helps the environment
and does not hurt the economy or cost a net loss of jobs.
but hurts the economy and is bad for jobs.
and produces more jobs but hurts the economy.
and helps the economy but costs the loss of jobs.
Which one of the following would likely result from the imposition of green fees?
The price of fossil fuels would decrease.
People will increase their use of products that negatively impact the environment.
The price of an item will no longer reflect its total cost.
Our economy would move toward sustainability.
Which of the following is true about U.S. Pollution levels?
acid deposition has increased by 27%.
the average levels of lead in the blood of children have declined by 80%.
the release of toxic chemicals has increased by 19%.
total emissions of five principal air pollutants have increased by 14%.
The ecological economic paradigm argues that the environment encompasses the economy because the environment is essential to provide
the energy necessary to run our homes and factories.
vital raw materials and ecosystem services and absorb wastes.
transportation along highways, railways, rivers, and oceans.
solar energy needed for plants and to light our environment during the day.
Which of the following best represents potential energy?
a charged battery in a flashlight
sunlight shining on people on a beach
a breeze blowing across the top of a lake
cars stopped at an intersection
To promote crop growth, a farmer is most likely to apply fertilizers to the soil that contain
carbon or phosphorus.
Nitrogen
nitrogen or phosphorus.
carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus.
Which one of the following statements is correct?
Atoms are composed of protons and compounds are composed of neutrons and electrons.
Solids are made of elements, liquids and gases are made of compounds.
Atoms are the smallest components of an element that have the element's properties.
Water is an element made from two compounds.
In the summer, the heater on an automobile still works well, even though you do not need it. This is because the heater in a car draws on surplus heat generated when gas is used to power the engine. This extra heat, wasted in the summer, is produced as a result of the
law of the conservation of momentum.
law of inertia.
first law of thermodynamics.
second law of thermodynamics.
Natural modes of nitrogen fixation are
denitrification and various industrial processes.
lightning and bacterial fixation in soils.
fossil fuel combustion.
various industrial processes of making fertilizers.
Which of the following are products of photosynthesis?
oxygen and sugar
light and heat
water and oxygen
carbon dioxide and water
Which of the following best represents potential energy converted to kinetic energy?
plants capturing sunlight to produce sugars using photosynthesis
pulling a boat up onto a shoreline
a windmill pumping water up into a water storage tank
turning on a flashlight
Consumers that eat plants rely upon
kinetic energy stored in organic molecules produced by photosynthesis.
photosynthesis to convert potential energy to kinetic energy.
chemical energy stored in organic molecules produced by photosynthesis.
entropy to generate heat to drive kinetic processes in their bodies.
American beavers, Castor canadensis, are widespread in North America. Those American beavers living around lakes in northern Minnesota and which can potentially interbreed
belong to the same family but not the same genus as other beavers.
represent one population of American beavers.
should look much different than beavers in Wisconsin.
are probably a separate beaver species.
An average person might consume 2,000 Kilocalories of food in one day. This is enough energy to heat up how many 2-liter bottles of liquid water from 0 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius (just reaching the boiling point of water, but not turning the water into steam)?
20
5
10
1
Ecotones
are transitional regions between ecosystems.
have the same abiotic characteristics as the bordering ecosystems.
consist of many distinct landscapes.
contain only species found in the bordering ecosystems.
In a mature forest in a national park, maple trees grow very large and live more than 80 years. Over an average lifetime, a tree produces more than 100,000 seeds, of which only 2-3 sprout and grow to maturity. This maple tree is
r-selected and exhibits a type III survivorship curve.
K-selected and exhibits a type I survivorship curve.
r-selected and exhibits a type I survivorship curve.
K-selected and exhibits a type III survivorship curve.
A population would be expected to grow if
births decreased by 1% and emigration increased by 8%.
immigration and emigration increased by the same number of organisms.
emigration and death rates stayed the same and immigration decreased.
immigration increased and deaths and emigration decreased.
It is common to hear about the huge reproductive potential of some organisms. Perhaps someone has mentioned that if all of the eggs of houseflies were to survive to maturity, the world would soon be covered in flies. This does not happen because, in reality,
house flies would find it too difficult to locate a potential mate.
the biotic potential would be limited by environmental resistance.
the biotic potential would continue to increase.
environmental resistance would increase, increasing the carrying capacity.
Groups of organisms that may have been separated for millions of years may be brought together in new combinations primarily by
plate tectonics.
changes in ocean currents.
shifting weather patterns.
changes in the Earth's magnetic fields.
Invasive species are dangerous because
they carry viruses that spread disease in new ecosystems.
they are almost all predators, disturbing ecological relationships by eating other species.
the native species have not evolved and adapted to these organisms.
they tend to be secretive, going unnoticed in their new ecosystems.
The evolution of a new species is most like
remodeling an old home into a new one.
using parts of many junked cars to construct a new one.
designing a new home and building it.
creating a virtual car on a computer.
Sustainable populations
are often near their carrying capacity.
are characterized by high emigration and low recruitment.
have grown beyond all types of environmental resistance.
have exceeded their biotic potential.
The fluid core of the Earth
remains fluid because of heat generated by radioactive decay.
is a watery substance that lubricates the movement of the tectonic plates.
is mostly water that has leaked in from the oceans.
results from heat generated by the friction of the tectonic plates moving over each other.
If organisms are unable to generate enough genetic diversity to survive in a changing environment, they
may produce more offspring.
will start to reproduce asexually.
sometimes go extinct.
may evolve by non-genetic mechanisms.
The most stable predator-prey relationships typically involve
two species of carnivores eating each other.
only bottom-up population regulation.
only top-down population regulation.
a prey species and several natural predators.
A population that is at equilibrium
is experiencing a slow rate of growth.
is slowly declining because of increases in environmental resistance.
is staying at about the same size.
has most likely just lost a key predator.
The species shown in photo (a) has
evolved in the last 10,000 years and is now being threatened by the species in photo (b).
become naturalized and lives in equilibrium with the species in photo (b).
become invasive and threatens the species in photo (b).
a very small population and is the primary food of the animal in photo (b).
You are enjoying a salad with lettuce coated by mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, and bits of bacon from grain-fed pigs. Your salad represents
only producers and consumers.
only producers.
only producers and carnivores.
producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Indigenous people living deep in the Brazilian rain forest have lived off the land for many centuries. Now iron ore mining companies are expanding into these regions. Government officials want to resolve the growing conflicts between the natives and the mining industry. They have been urged to bring together all of the interested parties. The mining company operations in the forest will likely lead to the loss of ecosystem services, such as
the construction of new roads.
the depletion of iron ore from the ground.
the shift from logging to mining.
sources of freshwater.
Compared to an ecosystem with just a single stage of succession, an ecosystem with a variety of successional stages
is more likely to experience forest fires.
has greater biodiversity.
has a much lower rate of primary productivity.
is less likely to experience erosion.
The best ecosystem management requires
planned disturbances and careful timing.
good stewardship and sustainability.
government regulation and control.
restoration ecologists.
As you paddle along in your canoe, you pass alligators, herons, turtles, and tall marsh grasses on your journey through Everglades National Park. This magnificent ecosystem is one of the most famous examples of
a freshwater wetland.
the saline portion of an estuary.
a lake with some incoming tidal flow.
a freshwater stream.
Cattle and termites both have symbiotic microorganisms living in their digestive tracts that help these animals by
releasing kilocalories.
producing large organic molecules.
producing oxygen.
digesting cellulose.
Moss invades and establishes itself on bare rock, accumulating the beginnings of soil. After several years, enough soil has become established that grasses begin to grow where there was once bare rock. Without the moss building up soil, the grasses would have had no chance. The mosses changed the environment enough to permit grasses to grow in a process called
regeneration.
improvisation.
facilitation.
sublimation.
A reverse biomass pyramid is typical of
terrestrial ecosystems because of the high concentration of sunlight.
terrestrial ecosystems because land can support more animals than water.
aquatic ecosystems because water contains much more oxygen than air.
aquatic ecosystems because top consumers live much longer than producers.
Which one of the following contributes the most to global climate change?
planting forests to grow wood for lumber and paper pulp
the generation of electricity from nuclear fuel
eating a vegetarian diet
the use of natural gas to heat homes
Dung beetles feeding on the waste of cattle grazing on hay in a field represent
a decomposer feeding on the wastes of a consumer eating a producer.
a consumer feeding on the wastes of a decomposer eating a producer.
a producer feeding on the wastes of a consumer eating a producer.
a producer feeding on the wastes of a producer eating a consumer.
Restoration ecologists try to
restore destroyed or damaged ecosystems to their native conditions.
include ecosystems in national forests and parks where people can best interact with nature.
include ecosystems in national forests and parks where people can best interact with nature.
create new ecosystems with new ecosystem functions to gain ecosystem capital.
In some deserts, there are mice and lizards that are about the same size. The mice eat grains and the lizards feed on insects. Given this information, we would expect that the biomass of the
mice would be greater than the lizards.
lizards would be greater than the mice.
lizards and mice would be about 10 times greater than the organisms that they consume.
lizards would be about the same as the mice.
The natural succession of a small farm pond will tend to
increase the amount of water in the pond.
increase sediment depth and make the pond more likely to freeze solid in the winter.
increase the total amount of shoreline.
increase the depth of the pond.
Which of the following best represents a loss of biological wealth?
people fishing for catfish in a lake
a naturally occurring fire in a forest
mining coal from deep underground mines
the extinction of several beetle species
The greatest biodiversity would be in an ecosystem with the same number of species as other ecosystems but which has
no dominant species.
several dominant species in intense competition with each other.
a single dominant species.
more consumers species than producer species.
The decision of the Bangladeshi government to identify and protect dolphin hot spots
will protect some prime habitat as a preserve for Ganges and Indus river dolphins.
is now unnecessary because both species have been declared extinct.
will be easy because the area has very low numbers of people.
is being opposed by the United Nations Commission on Biodiversity.
Ecosystem sustainability primarily results from the
relationships between the organisms in an ecosystem.
frequency of fires or other natural disasters in an ecosystem.
number of predators found in the ecosystem.
total amount of biomass that exists in an ecosystem.
Some drugs that are currently used with great success to treat cancer and viral infections
are derived from cultivars that combine together traits of several other plants.
represent the intrinsic value of wild species.
are derived from wild plants.
were discovered as mutations in the development of new cultivars of wheat.
The greatest loss of biodiversity in the last two centuries has resulted from
the use of fossil fuels to power transportation and electrical production.
the introduction of alien species to new ecosystems.
the physical alteration of habitats.
the use of rivers, lakes, and oceans for transportation.
The Endangered Species Act
has resulted in the recovery of more than 1,000 species that have been taken off the list.
currently protects animal but not plant species.
includes species recovery plans intended to help listed species survive and thrive.
protects critical habitats of endangered species, but cannot control privately held lands.
Wild turkey populations in the United States have made a dramatic recovery in large part because of
the elimination of wolves in their native environments.
the Lacey Act.
hunting restrictions.
the Endangered Species Act.
The fragmentation of natural habitats in the conversion of land for human uses creates
habitat breaks that favor species that thrive at the edges of ecosystems.
habitats that favor species that grow slowly or have naturally unstable populations.
more opportunities to preserve wildlife in many small parks.
focused regions where careful wildlife management can actually increase biodiversity.
In the United States today,
some game animals are still being hunted to extinction.
property owners do not own the wildlife on their lands.
most people do not need permission or licenses to hunt common game animals.
turkey populations are threatened with extinction due to overhunting.
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