Midterm APES

How many people can the earth support indefinitely?

How many people can the earth support indefinitely?

No one knows

Which of the following pairs of statistics would most likely indicate the highest quality of life in a country?

High life expectancy and low infant mortality

Which of the following is an example of an external cost?

Individuals pay for medical treatment of lung disease aggravated by pollution from coal-fired power plant.

Which of the following is the most valid inference regarding electricity production, based on the graph above?

Electricity production from coal began to decrease in 2008 because of the increasing use of natural gas and renewable energy.

Sustainability refers to ____.

 the capacity of the earth’s natural systems to survive, flourish, and adapt

The term _____ refers to the contamination of the environment by a chemical or other agent that is harmful to organisms.

Pollution

Which of the following is the best example of the tragedy of the commons?

Water pollution from oil rigs concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the IPAT equation, the ‘P’ stands for

Population size

Nature deficit disorder is most likely to cause _____.

Stress

The real prices of goods and services do not include the

environmental costs of resource use

Countries such as China increasingly have populations that are attaining a middle-class status.  This has led to all of the following EXCEPT

a decrease in environmental impact as residents become increasingly aware of the effects of pollution.

All of the following are negative externalities EXCEPT

bees pollinating vegetables in addition to creating honey

Using normally renewable resources faster than nature can renew them is called _____.

degrading natural capital

You want to conduct a natural experiment to test whether leakage from a manure lagoon has an adverse effect on a nearby stream.  What is an appropriate null hypothesis for your experiment?

There will be no difference in the abundance of an indicator species in the stream before the lagoon began leaking and after it began leaking.

Put the following countries in order from smallest to largest per capita ecological footprint.

 India - China - Japan - United States

What type of growth models the current human population?

exponential

Which is NOT likely to lead to a tragedy of the commons?

A ranch charging farmers to board their horses

Which of the following events has increased the impact of humans on the environment?

  I. advances in technology
II. reduced human population growth
III. use of tools for hunting

I and III only

What are the priorities for more sustainable use of renewable resources, in order?

 refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle

Pollution from which of the following is an example of point source pollution?

 Smoke from an industrial plant smokestack

According to the graph above, the global human population will mostly likely

have doubled between 1950 and 2150

Which of the following statements is best supported by the population doubling times indicated on the map?

India has a higher population growth rate than China and Australia have.

Affluence typically results in _____.

environmental degradation

What is a nonpoint source of pollution?

pesticides in the air

Which is a positive externality that results from the construction of a hydroelectric dam?

Creation of valuable lake shoreline that promotes housing and tourism

Solutions to environmental problems are not always easy.  This is because

 any solution has both advantages and disadvantages.

A cost-benefit analysis done to investigate a proposed mine site would likely take which of the following into account?

  I. The medical costs of mine worker injuries
II. The cost of environmental restoration of the site when it is shut down
III. The value of the ore to be extracted from the mine

I, II, and III

The first major cultural change that occurred in the human population was the _____.

agricultural revolution

Which of the following illustrates natural capital degradation?

aquifer depletion

Examples of the principles of sustainability include:

1. Solar energy, which enables plants to photosynthesize and helps humans produce electricity

2. Organisms and their ecosystems, the natural services they provide, and the ability of organisms to adapt to changes in their environment

3. Cultural changes such as the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, which in many ways enhanced human living conditions but had negative effects on the environment

4. The continuous cycling of chemicals, without which life would not exist

1, 2, and 4

What is one of the root causes of environmental problems?

rapid population growth

Which of the following actions would be most likely to increase the protection of ecological systems in national forests?

Mandate that the government sale of logging rights in national forests be at fair market value

The four factors represented in the IPAT equation include

Impact on the environment - Population size - Affluence - Technology

Which is most likely to result in an increase in pollution?

An increase in a countries Gross Domestic Product

  A group of scientists wanted to test the effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations on plant growth.  They hypothesized that elevated levels of CO₂ would increase plant biomass after 2 weeks, whereas elevated levels of N₂O and CH₄ would have no effect.  To test this hypothesis, they placed red maple (Acer rubrum) tree saplings in incubators, and then subjected each sapling to one of three treatments.  The treatments included 10 ppm of CO₂, N₂O, or CH₄ gas above ambient concentrations.  Each treatment had four replicates.  After 2 weeks, they measured plant biomass.

Which of the following is a flaw of this experiment?

The experiment lacks a control treatment

The graph below shows the percent contribution of major fuel sources that have supplied energy for the United States for the past 150 years.  The category labeled “Other” includes nuclear power, hydroelectricity, solar power, wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.

In what year was the fraction of energy supplied by coal the greatest?

1910

Which graph best illustrates a population that was growing and has reached it carrying capacity?

E

Which of the below is an example of the tragedy of the commons?

 Offshore clam beds in public areas depleted below replenishment levels by overfishing.

Which substance would be considered a nonrenewable resource?

oil

Which of the following is the best example of an economic incentive that could be used to improve environmental quality and reduce resource waste?

Providing tax breaks for companies that use recycled materials

What is the primary cause of nature deficit disorder?

increased isolation from nature

What viewpoint embodies the idea that we should be responsible, caring managers of the earth?

the stewardship worldview

Consumers who get their electricity from coal-fired power plants are not paying the true cost of energy production in their monthly utility bills.  Which of the following is true about utility bills for these consumers?

The bills do not include public health costs, such as those associated with air pollution.

Which of the following best characterizes a population that is growing exponentially with time?

Doubling in size over equal increments of time

What situation is most likely to occur as a result of poverty?

 spread of disease from poor sanitation

What is the most likely effect of a pollutant?

 degradation of life-support systems for humans

Subsidies and tax breaks to companies are

 not helpful to the environment

The graph below shows the percent contribution of major fuel sources that have supplied energy for the United States for the past 150 years.  The category labeled “Other” includes nuclear power, hydroelectricity, solar power, wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.

In approximately what year did oil and gas become the dominant fuels for the United States?

1940

Which of the following characteristically produces non-point-source pollution?

Erosion from agricultural land

All of the following ways would help reduce the projected ecological footprint EXCEPT

 continuing reliance on the current fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered economy.

Nuclear _____ occurs when two nuclei are forced together.

fusion

Matter is anything that _____.

 has mass and takes up space

What is the point of a fundamental shift in the behavior of a system?

tipping point

The atomic number is the number of _____.

protons in an atom

A community knows the effects of chemical X when it is used alone. They also know the same for chemical Z, so they set safe limits for use for both chemicals. When the chemicals are released at safe levels on the same day, there is a massive fish kill. What is the most likely explanation?

synergistic interaction

The energy "lost" by a system is _____.

 converted to lower-quality energy

High-quality energy can best be characterized as _____.

concentrated

What is a well-tested and widely accepted description of what scientists find happening repeatedly in nature in the same way?

scientific law

Which statement is an example of a chemical change?

 A plant converts carbon dioxide into carbohydrates.

Electromagnetic energy travels in _____.

waves

A limiting factor for most plant growth in lakes and terrestrial systems.

Phosphate (PO₄^3-)

Elements that cycle in the environment and that also have a gaseous phase at some point in their cycle include which of the following?

Carbon and sulfur

The table above shows the balanced chemical equations that represent three processes that are part of the nitrogen cycle.  Which of the following is exemplified by the equations above?

Each biogeochemical cycle demonstrates the conservation of matter.

Which box represents a carbon source?

D

The next questions are based on the following table of organisms in an ecological community.  The X in a cell indicates that the organism is eaten by the consumer in the first column.

Which of the following categories of organisms, which are required for the cycling of matter in an ecosystem, is missing from the table?

Decomposers

Which of the following is true of carbon as it cycles in nature?

Carbon sinks include forests and oceans.

Which box represents a carbon sink that holds carbon compounds for the shortest period of time?

A

Algae in an aquatic food chain convert solar energy into 93,000 kilocalories of plant tissue.

Which of the following values best represent the amount of energy available for primary consumers in the food chain?

9,300 kilocalories

Which of the following best explains why decomposers in soils and water are important to ecosystems?

They recycle nutrients

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement.  The following questions(s) refer to the following concepts related to energy

(I) Heat flow
(II) Kinetic energy
(III) Potential energy
(IV) First law of thermodynamics
(V) Second law of thermodynamics

Approximate efficiency of the conversion of light energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis

V

The process in which glucose is synthesized by plants

Photosynthesis

A greenhouse gas produced by raising cattle.

Methane (CH₄)

Which of the following processes is illustrated by the downward arrows from the atmosphere that show the conversion of nitrogen gas into usable forms available to producers?

Nitrogen fixation

Which of the following best describes gross primary productivity in an ecosystem?

Gross primary productivity is the total amount of solar energy captured by producers through photosynthesis

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement.  The following question(s) refer to the following processes.

(I) Nitrification
(II) Denitrification
(III) Assimilation
(IV) Ammonification
(V) Nitrogen fixation

Plant roots absorb ammonium ions and nitrate ions for use in making molecules such as DNA, amino acids, and proteins.

III

Photosynthesis is the major source of which of the following gases in Earth’s atmosphere?

O₂

The major reservoirs of nitrogen and sulfur in the biosphere are correctly identified by which of the following?

 Nitrogen - Atmosphere and Sulfur - Rocks

Which of the following best helps to explain why phosphorus is often a limiting factor in many ecosystems?

Under many conditions, phosphorus forms stable insoluble compounds

A temperate grassland biome has a gross primary productivity of 3,480 kilocalories/meter²/year and a net primary productivity of 2,000 kilocalories/meter²/year.  Which of the following is the approximate number of kilocalories/meter²/year available to herbivores in that biome?

200 kilocalories/meter²/year

Phytoplankton are most abundant in the upper few hundred feet of most bodies of water because

sunlight does not penetrate to great depths in water

Can be stored in marine sediments for long periods of time.

Phosphate (PO₄^3-)

Which of the following elements is most likely to limit primary production in freshwater lakes?

Phosphorus

Scientists calculated the net primary productivity at two different forest sites.  Both forests have the same gross primary productivity.  Forest A has a net primary productivity of 1,650 kcal/m²/year, and forest B has a net primary productivity of 1,110 kcal/m²/year.

Which of the following statements is best supported by the data?

Forest A producers have lower rates of cellular respiration than forest B producers.

The diagram below shows a simplified carbon cycle.

Based on the diagram above, which process most directly results in the storage of carbon as coal and oil over millions of years?

Decomposition

For a primary producer, the main function of photosynthesis is to manufacture

glucose

Based on the diagram, which of the following statements about the hydrologic cycle is true?

Water from the ocean evaporates and condenses in the atmosphere.

Which of the following best describes the first law of thermodynamics?

In a closed system of constant mass, the energy involved in any physical or chemical change is neither created nor destroyed, but merely changed from one form to another.

Energy is transferred along food chains from one stage to the next.  Which statement best explains how the energy is transferred?

If a primary producer stores 10,000 kcal of energy, then a tertiary consumer will have 10 kcal of energy available.

A greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere through transpiration or evaporation.

Water (H₂O)

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement.  The following question(s) refer to the following processes.

(I) Nitrification
(II) Denitrification
(III) Assimilation
(IV) Ammonification
(V) Nitrogen fixation

Ammonia is converted to nitrite, then to nitrate

I

Farmers in a suburban coastal town started using no-till agriculture, a practice that reduces soil erosion from their farmland.  Use the image above to determine which of the following long-term effects no-till agriculture will have on the ecosystem surrounding the farmland.

There will be less algal growth in the nearby ocean.

The major biological source of dissolved oxygen in the ocean comes from

photosynthesis by phytoplankton

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement.  The following questions(s) refer to the following concepts related to energy

(I) Heat flow
(II) Kinetic energy
(III) Potential energy
(IV) First law of thermodynamics
(V) Second law of thermodynamics

An energy transformation occurs and results in increased disorder.

V

The two major processes involved in the carbon cycle are

photosynthesis and respiration

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement.  The following question(s) refer to the following processes.

(I) Nitrification
(II) Denitrification
(III) Assimilation
(IV) Ammonification
(V) Nitrogen fixation

Nitrate ions and nitrite ions are converted into nitrous oxide gas and nitrogen gas (N₂)

II

Which of the following types of organisms are required to complete the nitrogen cycle, including the process of denitrification?

Bacteria

Losses of usable energy between successive trophic levels in an ecosystem are best accounted for by which of the following?

The second law of thermodynamics

Algae in an aquatic food chain convert solar energy into 93,000 kilocalories of plant tissue.

Which of the following values best represent the amount of energy available for secondary consumers in the food chain?

930 kilocalories

Which of the following biogeochemical cycles includes the processes of buffering ocean pH and photosynthesis, as shown in the diagram?

The carbon cycle

Open oceans produce the largest share of Earth’s biomass because the net primary productivity (NPP) of the oceans is

low, but the large expanse of the oceans supports enormous numbers of producers such as phytoplankton