END OF THE YEAR FINAL

Acid rain is associated with which of the following?

The burning of fossil fuels

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement. The following question(s) refer to the figure below. A, B, C, and D represent population growth curves, E represents the carrying capacity.

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Represents the biotic potential of the species

A

True statements about ozone include which of the following?


1. Ozone is a precursor of acid rain.
2. Contact with ozone can be injurious to human health.
3. Ozone absorbs some wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation

II and III only

Which of the following is a characteristic of tropical rain forests?

Their soils are relatively poor in nutrients.

The diagram below is an illustration of global atmospheric circulation.

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Which of the following is a biome found at 30° N and 30° S as seen in the diagram?

Deserts

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

(A) Carbon

(B) Sodium

(C) Sulfur

(D) Phosphorus

(E) Potassium

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Guano from fish-eating birds is a commercial source of this element.

Phosphorus

Members of an r-selected species characteristically

reach sexual maturity quickly

Catalytic converters reduce which of the following pairs of pollutants in car exhaust?

Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons

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

(A) Sulfur dioxide

(B) Lead

(C) Ozone

(D) Hydrocarbons

(E) Particulates

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Implicated in human neurological damage

Lead

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be an effect of global warming?

Decreased rate of photosynthesis in vegetation

Which of the following age structure diagrams represents a population that most likely has a negative growth rate?

D

Which of the following best explains why the maximum sustainable yield for ocean fisheries has been exceeded?

Too many fish of reproductive age are harvested.

Which of the following is an environmental problem associated with abandoned coal mines?

Acid drainage due to leaching of spoil heaps by rainwater

Which of the following is a major goal of the program begun in 1995 to reintroduce the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park?

Enable the removal of the gray wolf from the endangered species list

The development of dangerous strains of disease organisms represents a significant consequence of which of the following agricultural practices?

Incorporating antibiotics into the feeding regimens of densely concentrated livestock

Compared with people in developing countries, people in industrialized countries are more likely to eat

beef

**Directions:** Each set of lettered choices below refers to the numbered questions or statements immediately following it. Select the one lettered choice that best answers each question or best fits each statement. A choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all in each set.

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**The following questions refer to the gases listed below.**

(A) H2O

(B) CO2

(C) CH4

(D) O3

(E) CCl2F2

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A greenhouse gas that is exclusively anthropogenic

CCl2F2

Which of the following substances is released by CFC's and catalyzes a chain reaction that breaks down ozone in the upper atmosphere?

Chlorine

The drop in stratospheric ozone levels in the Southern Hemisphere (the "ozone hole") is most evident during which season?

Antarctic spring (October)

A field is abandoned, and an invasive plant that can live in nutrient-poor soil moves into the field. If the land is later cleared of this invasive species and it is discovered that the soil has an abundance of nitrogen compounds, what conclusion can best be made?

Bacteria in soil and in root nodules converted free nitrogen into nitrogen compounds.

Which of the following is part of a positive feedback mechanism associated with global climate change?

Melting of Arctic sea ice

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


1. Carbon dioxide
2. Carbon monoxide
3. Methane
4. Radon
5. Sulfur dioxide

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Has a stronger affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen has

Carbon monoxide

Waste from which of the following is an example of nonpoint source pollution?

Runoff from agricultural fields

Based on the diagram, which group of organisms would be considered herbivores?

Grasshoppers

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

Carbon sinks include forests and oceans.\\

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

(A) Asbestos

(B) Radon

(C) Lead

(D) Carbon monoxide

(E) Formaldehyde

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Composed of fibers known to cause lung disease

Asbestos

The majority of atmospheric mercury is produced by

coal-burning power plants

Which of the following is a greenhouse gas that comes only from human sources?

Chlorofluorocarbons

Which of the following is the best description of bioaccumulation?

The absorption of a substance by an organism at a rate greater than the rate of elimination

Which of the following components of a wastewater treatment plants designed to facilitate the decomposition of organic material by aerobic microorganisms?

Activated-sludge tank

Which of the following best describes the action of an endocrine disruptor?

An endocrine disruptor blocks the receptor protein binding site of a hormone so that the cell cannot receive a signal.

Some toxic compounds are ingested and retained in the tissues. These pollutants pose special risks to humans and other organisms high on the food chain because of which process?

Biomagnification

When a rain forest is slashed and burned, the local concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases. This is primarily due to

oxidation of carbon compounds

Which of the following is a true statement about the total fertility of a society?

The total fertility of a society decreases as the society progresses through the demographic transition.

All of the following statements about invasive exotic species are true EXCEPT:

They tend to have low reproductive rates.

Which of the following best describes the primary cause of global ocean warming?

Increased global temperature from an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement. The following question(s) refer to the qualities of water samples.


1. Acidity
2. Turbidity
3. Hardness
4. Dissolved oxygen
5. Salinity

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Measured on the pH scale

Acidity

**Directions:** Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

A one-hectare pond is sampled in early September. The sample yields 1 small catfish as well as 17 benthic invertebrates that represent 10 species.

If the pond is resampled a year later, which of the following would best indicate that the pond had been adversely affected by adjacent development?

The biodiversity of the pond has decreased.

Which of the following events would most likely lead to a decrease in the pH in the oceans?

Increased burning of fossil fuels in power plants

Which of the following best describes a benefit of increasing the number of offshore wind farms rather than onshore wind farms?

Offshore winds farms will produce up to three times as much electricity as wind farms on land because of increased wind speeds offshore.

Biological control methods for managing insect pests are effective for reasons that include which of the following?


1. They promote genetic resistance in the target species, resulting in a population explosion of the target species.
2. They generally focus on one target insect to ensure that the target insect population remains low.
3. They can lead to a self-perpetuating population of a control species.

II and III only

Of the phenomena that correlate with the data above, the one that is the most direct consequence of the trend in air travel is

the increase in the spread of infectious diseases

Traveling southward from the Arctic regions of Canada to the tropics of Panama, one passes through several biomes - tundra, coniferous forest, temperate deciduous forest, and tropical rain forest. This pattern of change in vegetation is primarily the result of

an increase in both mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation

**Directions:** Each set of lettered choices below refers to the numbered questions or statements immediately following it. Select the one lettered choice that best answers each question or best fits each statement. A choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all in each set.

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**The following questions refer to the energy sources listed.**

(A) Uranium-238

(B) Coal

(C) Natural gas

(D) Oil

(E) Solar

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Is primarily responsible for acid rain in the northeast United States

Coal

Which of the following is a commercially used method for harvesting trees and is most likely to lead to a fragmented landscape with serious impacts on biodiversity?

Clear-cutting

The largest area of old-growth forest in the United States is located in

Alaska

The underlying subsoil of this biome is permafrost, which prevents both water draining through and deep-rooted plants from growing. Additionally, there is very little precipitation per year.

Tundra

All of the following are considered toxic metal pollutants EXCEPT

potassium

Many synthetic chemicals, such as PCBs, act as estrogen mimics. In an ecosystem, these persistent chemicals would have the greatest effect on which of the following?

Secondary consumers

All of the following are commonly used to deal with the side effects of eutrophication in lakes EXCEPT

adding nitrates

The diagram shows how a patch of habitat could possibly be altered.

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Which of the following would be the most likely explanation for the changes shown in Scenario 3?

Roads and electric power lines subdivided the landscape into smaller pieces and decreased the amount of available habitat.

Which of the following best describes an environmental problem associated with hydrologic fracturing, or fracking?

Fracking fluids can escape from the drill hole and contaminate surface water and groundwater.

The primary cause of Earth's seasons is the

constant tilt of Earth's rotational axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun

A small developing country with negligible rates of immigration and emigration is going through a demographic change. Thirty years ago the crude birth rate was 44 per thousand per year and the crude death rate was 17 per thousand per year. Now the crude birth rate is 16 thousand per year and the crude death rate is 5 per thousand per year. Which of the following statements about the country now is most likely to be true?

The country is at the industrial stage of the demographic transition.

Which of the age structure diagrams would best correspond to a rapidly growing country?

C

Based on the data provided, which of the following descriptions best identifies the types of farms that are being compared?

Farm A is a grass-fed pasture for beef production, whereas Farm B is a traditional concentrated animal feedlot for cattle.

Which of the following is a disadvantage associated with the genetic modification of crops?

Genetically modifications can decrease the genetic diversity of crop species.

*El Niño*, a periodic warming of ocean surface waters, occurs in which of the following regions?

Tropical East Pacific

Vegetarianism is often cited as a partial solution to the growing problem of deforestation and other types of habitat destruction as the human population continues to grow. The reason for this is

more people can be fed using less agricultural land because vegetarians eat at a lower trophic level

All of the following are likely consequences of indoor air pollution EXCEPT an increase in

the risk of developing skin cancer

Which of the following human activities is most closely associated with depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer?

Disposal of refrigerators and air conditioners

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

(A) Nitrification

(B) Denitrification

(C) Assimilation

(D) Ammonification

(E) Nitrogen fixation

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

Denitrification

The danger from radon gas would most likely be greatest in

well-insulated homes

Particulates can be removed from smokestack emissions by which of the following methods?

Electrostatic precipitators

Which of the following is a measure of the biodiversity of an ecosystem?

The total number of different plant species

Which of the following best describes acid mine drainage?

The leakage of water containing toxic materials from coal and metal mines

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

They recycle nutrients.

Which of the following best describes how ocean acidification affects coral formation?

The increase in hydrogen ions dissolved in the ocean water sequesters available carbonate ions, preventing the use of calcium carbonate for coral skeleton formation.

Economic benefits of building large dams include which of the following?

I. Storage of water for agriculture and domestic use

II. Controlling floods upstream

III. Production of renewable energy

I and III only

Which of the following best describes a transform boundary?

An area where two tectonic plates slide past one another

The graph shows the relative solar energy received at local noon each day of the year at two different locations.

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Location 1 is most likely located in which of the following terrestrial biomes?

Tropical rain forest

The graph shows the relative solar energy received at local noon each day of the year at two different locations.

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Based on the graph, which of the following can be concluded about the latitudes of the two locations?

Location 1 is close to the equator, and Location 2 is in the Northern Hemisphere.

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


1. Biomass
2. Wind
3. Tidal energy
4. Nuclear fission
5. Sunlight

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The source that is not renewable

Nuclear fission

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


1. Biomass
2. Wind
3. Tidal energy
4. Nuclear fission
5. Sunlight

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The source that produces long-lived hazardous wastes

Responses

Nuclear fission

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.

The CITES treaty has been helpful in protecting endangered animals and plants by

listing those species and products whose international trade is controlled

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement. The following questions(s) refer to the following list of United States and international environmental regulations and treaties.

(A) Endangered Species Act

(B) Kyoto Protocol

(C) Montreal Protocol

(D) National Environmental Policy Act

(E) Wilderness Act

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Addressed the issue of stratospheric ozone depletion

Montreal Protocol

During which stage of the demographic transition shown above does a population begin to experience an explosive increase in growth?

Stage 2

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

Doubling in size over equal increments of time

The graph below shows the experimental data from an investigation testing how carbon monoxide levels in the ambient air alter the amount of oxygen hemoglobin can carry. The experiment was performed with five different laboratory mice. Each mouse was kept in its own habitat under constant conditions of water, food, light, and temperature. Each mouse was exposed to a different concentration of carbon monoxide, and the oxygen saturation level of hemoglobin was measured.

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Based on the data from the graph, which of the following indicates how much more effective oxygen transport is at the 20 percent carbon monoxide level than the 60 percent carbon monoxide level?

1\.9 times more effective

Which of the following methods of agricultural irrigation results in the loss of the *least* amount of water by evaporation?

Drip irrigation

Which of the following statements about genetic diversity is true?

Genetic resistance to pests and diseases can be increased by crossing a crop plant with ancestral varieties.

Many scientists maintain that a rise in sea level has occurred in the last hundred years as a result of global warming. If this is true, which of the following factors best explains such a rise

Thermal expansion of the ocean

Which of the following best explains why DDT has been found in penguin eggs in the Antarctic?

Chemicals used in one region of Earth can circulate in the biosphere and affect organisms in a distant region.

The many finch species of the Galápagos Islands evolved from a single species that immigrated to the islands from the coast of South America. These species differ primarily in beak shape, which is closely related to the type of food each species specializes in eating.

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Which of the following best explains why each of the finch species on the Galápagos Islands evolved to be specialists?

Islands have limited food resources, forcing species to feed on a small range of food items.

Which of the following best explains why the lower portion of the troposphere is warmer than the upper portion?

The surface of Earth absorbs sunlight, heating the lower portion of the troposphere more than the upper part.

The graph above shows the effect of sewage on biological oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in a flowing stream. The smallest fish populations will most probably be found at point

C

The land on a 100-acre farm is equally suited for grazing cattle and growing corn. Of the following ways of distributing land use, which would produce the greatest number of calories of human consumption?

Acres for __Grazing Cattle 0__

Acres for __Growing Corn 100__

A research team monitoring a local freshwater ecosystem noticed that over the past few years the otter population had declined significantly, while the populations of other species remained fairly constant. After running tests, the research team determined that mercury levels in invertebrates and small fish in the ecosystem were very high. In this ecosystem, what role did the otters occupy?

Indicator species

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

(A) Heat flow

(B) Kinetic energy

(C) Potential energy

(D) First law of thermodynamics

(E) Second law of thermodynamics

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An energy transformation occurs and results in increased disorder.

Second law of thermodynamics

Directions: Select the choice that best fits each statement. The following questions(s) refer to a pond in southern Canada.

In 1950 the pH of the pond water was 8.2, but by 2000 the pH had decreased to 5.2.

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Which of the following changes would also be expected in the pond over the same time period?


1. Increased levels of dissolved oxygen
2. Increased levels of heavy metals
3. Increased number of fish species

II only

Many environmentalists consider Egypt's Aswan High Dam on the Nile River to be an ecological disaster. Which of the following is the best evidence to support this viewpoint?

Most of the nutrient-rich silt that the Nile annually deposited downstream is now deposited behind the dam.

**Directions:** Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

**The following questions refer to the next:**

A laboratory experiment was done to show the effects of organic waste on the dissolved oxygen (DO) content in water. Five tanks were set up, each containing fresh water and a small amount of single-celled green algae. Specified amounts of organic waste were added to the tanks. The results below show the amount of DO in each tank after a period of one week.

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What is the main purpose for the experiment?

To observe the effect of organic waste on DO

Most of the Earth's deserts are at approximately 30° latitude, north and south, because these latitudes are characterized by

descending dry air currents

Which of the following problems is best addressed with contour plowing?

Soil erosion

Which of the following negative consequences is most often associated with using biomass for energy production?

Using biomass for energy production can result in local deforestation.

Endocrine disruptors directly affect which of the following in an organism?

Hormones

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

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

Directions: The following question(s) refer to the graph below.

A series of experiments was designed to test the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the productivity of polar phytoplankton. Samples of these single-celled organisms were placed in four tanks, which were exposed to ambient natural solar radiation and to three modifications of ambient radiation. The design of the experiments is shown in the table below, along with measurements of photosynthesis in each tank.

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Which of the following inferences is supported by the results of this series of experiments?

Increased UV penetration through the Antarctic ozone hole would further depress productivity of phytoplankton.

Which of the following is the best example of gray water?

Water that has been used for bathing and for washing clothes