AP Enviormental Science - FRQ

Based on the information in the diagram, identify a primary consumer

Zooplankton

Based on the information in the diagram, identify a population of organisms that likely has the highest amount of energy available in the food web.

Phytoplankton

Based on the information in the diagram, explain why a decrease in the wading bird population would likely lead to an increase in the biomass in the large fish population in the short term.

Both compete for the small fish, with less predation this means that overtime the large fish will gain more energy and biomass.

Based on the information in the diagram, identify a secondary consumer that us also a specialist species.

Wading birds.

The city of Baltimore is located on the western side of the Cheaspeake Bat. Coal, natural gas and nuclear energy generate most of the electricity used in Baltimore. Describe one likely Enviormental problem in the Chesapeake Bay that results from the generation of electricity for Baltimore.

Coal and nuclear power place release warm water into the bay, decreasing the O2 and increasing stress, causing eutrophication.

Make a claim that proposes a realistic solution to the problem you identified

A realistic solution is to decrease the reliance or make regulatory practices on fossil fuels.

For the solution you proposed in part (f), describe one additional benefit that could result from the implementation of your solution

This would decrease the air pollution and mercury

Many poultry farms of very long barns built on concrete slabs, and these buildings and the associated silos, bins, and waste lagoons together cover many acres/hectares, which require the clearing of woodlands before the farms can be built. Describe one unintended consequence that the loss of woodlands can have on the Chesapeake Bay

This would lead to the clouding of the water, blocking the sunlight needed, which overtime will cause an algal blooms as woodlands provide a natural buffer.