Land Exam
Question 1
5.5/6
Many scholars now contend that soil erosion and conservation are as much cultural issues as they are scientific or policy problems. In 3-4 sentences, give a specific example of how cultural factors influenced the implementation and effectiveness of soil conservation policies during the New Deal.
Your Answer
The Indian Reorganization Act sought to aid conservation efforts and soil erosion targeted on indigenous land. They aimed to decrease the overuse of land through animal farming that would harm the soil. This was carried out through the decrease of herds, however many indigenous people's protested against this act due to the connection of animals, their livelihood and their high regard for animal life.
Feedback
Good general answer, but you could be more specific about the cultural differences and misunderstandings that undermined stock reduction efforts on the Navajo reservation (see Weisiger)
Question 2
5/6
Most agricultural land in the United States has been privatized, a number of things necessary for the growth of crops could still be seen as parts of the commons. In 3-4 sentences, describe one of these things, why can it be seen as part of the commons, and how it has avoided (or not avoided) becoming a “tragedy of the commons”?
Your Answer
The Plains of the United States are an excellent example of the tragedy of the commons. Before human intervention, millions of buffalo roamed The Plains, however after just a few decades of hunting and the beginnings of agriculture/farming in this area, only thousands remained. It is seen as part of the commons because they are non-excludable and rival. Additionally, it is also a tragedy of the commons because human economic interest, and non-regulation aided in the depletion of the buffalo population.
Question 3
5.5/6
All Earth Systems are under threat and have been degraded. In 3-4 sentences, explain the how the degradation of the Cryosphere influences Climate Change.
Your Answer
When glaciers (part of the cryopshere) melt they expel carbon dioxide. Once this CO2 is expelled, it becomes harmful to the atmosphere through the Greenhouse effect. It creates a harmful warming layer that contributes to Global Warming. This then causes more melting, more CO2, and the cycle repeats which furthers the warming of our atmosphere in a continuous cycle.
Feedback
A robust answer would include: 1) demonstration of complete understanding of the cryosphere (e.g., frozen water including glaciers, sea ice, permafrost, snow, etc.), 2) the major ways it is degrading (e.g., increasing global temperatures leading to the melting of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice), and 3) impacts to climate change (e.g., contributing to sea level rise and the release of CO2, adding to Greenhouse Gasses and contributing to increasing temperature)
Question 44.5/6
In 3-4 sentences, defend the statement: Earth is NOT in a 6th mass extinction event.
Your Answer
Earth is not in a mass extinction event because it does not fit the requirements to be in one. The largest being that fifty percent of earths biota as not become eradicated. The additional factors of extinction, such has disease and pollution, have not become extreme enough problems to warrant an extinction level event.
Feedback
A robust and complete answer would include something along these lines:
A mass extinction event occurs when at least 50% of the species on earth goes extinct in a short period of time. Although the current rates of extinction are 10 to 100 times higher than the background extinction rate, because we have not yet lost >50% of earth’s species, we are not in a mass extinction event at this point in time.Question 55/6
The "Crying Indian" PSA from the 1960s-70s is often identified with the Ecological Indian trope. Briefly (3-4 sentences) explain how that stereotype misrepresents Native Americans and their relationship with nature.
Your Answer
Native Americans connection with nature is extremely deep and spiritual. Nature is connected to nearly every part of their culture's way of being, however that does not mean they would never harm nature if it was for the common good. For example indigenous people's have practiced prescribed burning to fields.
Feedback
You should briefly explain how the trope distorts the true nature of IEK, which incorporates religion and other aspects of culture but is also based on close observation of and daily interactions with nature over millennia; in other words, it is a form of science, not mysticism or magical knowledge that enabled Native Americans to live in "complete harmony" with nature.
Question 66/6
Over the past 150 years, several of the same problems have repeatedly plagued agricultural producers in the United States. In 3-4 sentences, describe two of these recurring problems and how using the tenets of agroecology laid out by Raj Patel (2021) in the article titled “Agroecology is the Solution to World Hunger” could help to solve them.
Your Answer
One problem is the use of harmful pesticides, another is the loss of nutrient dense soil for their crops. The tenets of agroecology preach sustainable agricultural practices. Through these ideas, farmers can learn to rotate their crops between each others fields so that the nutrients are allowed to replenish because different crops require different nutrients to grow. Additionally, natural pesticides can be implemented so that there are no harmful effects when humans or animals come into contact with them are in water run off. This is related to agroecology because it promotes taking care of land and communal sharing.
Question 7 2/2
Following Garrett Hardin's notion of the tragedy of the commons, which of the following scenarios is most likely to happen?
Ranchers with access to common grazing land will work with their neighbors to create a sustainable communal property regime.
Correct: Ranchers with access to common grazing land will continually increase their herd size without regard to ecological limits.
Ranchers with access to common grazing land will use it but also seek to purchase land to offset ecological limits and secure benefits for themselves.
Ranchers with access to common grazing land will limit their herd size in order to not surpass the ecosystem's limits.
Question 80/2
Which of the following was NOT an argument made by early American advocates of environmental protection?
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Nature has inherent rights that human beings must respect because they are no better or “higher” than any other species on the planet.
Correct answer
Incorrect: National parks could serve as sublime monuments to American greatness in the absence of a long artistic and literary tradition like Europe boasted.
If Americans did not restrain their destructive impulses, they would impoverish themselves and strip the country of the resources it needed to compete on the world stage.
Wilderness provided a temporary escape or refuge from the pressures of urban-industrial civilization.
Question 90/2
Which section of the Endangered Species Act requires a formal consultation process with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)?
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Incorrect: Section 3
Section 9
Section 4
Section 7
Correct answer
Question 100/2
Which of the following could be said about subsidy programs in the United States over the past two decades?
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Only a small number of farms receive the majority of subsidies
Correct answer
Incorrect: Most subsidies come in the form of disaster payments.
Subsidies cover a wide array of crops relatively equally.
Nearly all farmers receive a relatively equal amount of subsidies.
Question 110/2
Examples of human caused extinction risks (threats; HIPPCOD) to biodiversity is represented by:
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farming of long grass prairies, disease in humans, severe drought, erosion on farms
deforestation, disease in wildlife, excessive fishing, predation by keystone species
Incorrect: coral bleaching, disease in humans, excessive hunting, decreasing human population growth rates
deforestation, disease in wildlife, excessive fishing, biochemical pollution from agricultural runoff
Correct answer
Question 120/2
Earth's Biosphere includes:
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Incorrect: all places where life exists including the entirety of the atmosphere, lithosphere (mantle and core), cryosphere, and hydrosphere
all places where life exists including the lower layers of the atmosphere, lithosphere (including lower mantle), cryosphere, and hydrosphere
all places where life exists including the lower layer of the atmosphere, upper layer of the lithosphere, and most of the cryosphere and hydrosphere
Correct answer
all places where life exists including the upper layers of the atmosphere, lithosphere (including upper mantle), cryosphere, and hydrosphere
Question 132/2
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is significant because, among other reasons,
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Correct: she argued compellingly that the public has a right to know the risks associated with pesticides and other pollutants.
Correct answer
the public outrage it generated led to a complete global ban on DDT.
the chemical industry immediately backed down and agreed to stop making DDT.
it single-handedly launched the modern environmental movement.
Question 142/2
Which of the following would NOT be an example of a common-pool resource?
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Correct: The grass in Farmer Bob's privately owned pasture ate by his cows.
Correct answer
The water from the James River that you drink from a fountain in Richmond, Virginia.
The fish in the Atlantic Ocean caught by WeLuvMenhaden Inc.
The water in the Ogallala Aquifer used by Farmer Kat.
Question 150/2
Farmer Claire's corn harvest was devasted by record high temperatures this summer. However, she was still able to receive payment for the crops she planted and not go bankrupt. Which piece of federal legislation or federal organization would best be credited for ensuring Farmer Claire was able to continue to earn a living from farming even after recording record losses?
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The Soil Conservation Service
Incorrect: The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929
The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938
Correct answer
The Clayton Act of 1914
Question 160/2
Ocean acidification results from:
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Increase levels of carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere into the oceans
Correct answer
Increased levels of acid runoff from excess fertilizers
Incorrect: Increased levels of decomposing organic matter (e.g., large amounts of sargassum seaweed) releasing sulfates
Increased levels of acid rain from the burning of fossil fuels and the release of sulfates
Question 172/2
According to Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues in their article titled "Revisiting the Comons," how are tragedies of the commons frequently avoided?
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Individual users of common pool resources inherently understand ecological limits and act accordingly.
Individuals acting in their own economic self-interest usually understand and respect ecological limits.
Correct: Societal norms and institutions frequently help communities understand ecological limits and in turn act more sustainably.
Correct answer
Tragedies of the commons are not frequently avoided. As Harden notes, such tragedies are inevitable and impossible to escape.
Question 18Full credit given2/2
Select the scenario where the Biological Species concept would be applicable.
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Incorrect: The barred owl has its natural range in the eastern US. Due to expansive logging in the boreal forest, it has expanded its range through Canada and into the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) where it encountered the Northern Spotted Owl. The barred owl and spotted owl are able to mate/breed and have viable hybrid offspring that can also mate/breed and have viable hybrid offspring
Wolves and coyotes are able to mate/breed and have viable hybrid offspring that can also mate/breed and have viable hybrid offspring
A horse and an unknown but similar looking individual are able to mate/breed and have hybrid offspring that survive. But the offspring have a lack of vigor and if they mate/breed, their offspring would not be viable
Correct answer
Two very similar looking birds (individuals from larger groups of each one), one with a range in the eastern US and the other with a range in the western US, have an area where both are found in the same area. They can mate/breed, produce viable hybrid offspring that survive, and if the hybrid offspring mate/breed, their hybrid offspring are also viable
Question 19Full credit given2/2
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring detailed the implications of excessive and indiscriminate use of pesticides on:
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only components of the biosphere associated with the lithosphere and hydrosphere
only components of the biosphere associated with the hydrosphere and atmosphere
only components of the biosphere associated with the hydrosphere and cryosphere
Correct: all components of the biosphere in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere
Correct answer
Question 202/2
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) aimed to do all of the following EXCEPT:
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transform weak and sickly youth into strong, self-sufficient men.
advance environmental conservation efforts by providing a labor pool.
stimulate economic recovery by providing work for the unemployed.
Correct: promote racial and sexual equality in American society.
Correct answer
Question 212/2
Passed in 1934, the Taylor Grazing Act
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provided free snacks for cowboys on the range and in occupied federal buildings.
punished ranchers with fines and imprisonment if they refused to comply with federal grazing regulations.
Correct: sought to stabilize the ranching industry and stop overgrazing of the public lands through the creation of locally-administered grazing districts.
Correct answer
required the Navajos to drastically reduce their flocks of sheep and goats.
Question 220/2
The Big Die-Up of 1886-87 resulted from
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cowboys shooting tens of thousands of sheep to eliminate competition for grazing lands in the West.
cattlemen in Wyoming waging war against suspected rustlers.
Incorrect: summer drought followed by a bitterly cold winter on the Great Plains.
overstocking of the open range, combined with summer drought and winter blizzards on the Plains.
Correct answer
Question 232/2
Which of the following is the correct order of soil master horizons from top to bottom?
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A, O, B, C, R
O, R, A, B, C
Correct: O, A, B, C, R
Correct answer
R, A, B, C, O
Question 242/2
According to historian Marsha Weisiger, the federal government’s livestock reduction program on the Navajo reservation was
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a result of John Collier’s determination to assimilate the Navajos and other Indigenous peoples into “mainstream” American society.
entirely unnecessary and unjust because soil erosion wasn’t really a problem there.
a failure because the primitive Diné could not understand soil science.
Correct: undermined by the refusal of New Deal conservationists to respect long-established cultural patterns, local knowledge, and Diné understandings of nature.
Correct answer
Question 25
2/2
Which of the following could be said about the organic food industry?
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Most of the industry's sales occur between small family farms and local community members.
It has made good food more accessible to all.
Correct: It is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of large corporations.
Correct answer
All its practices are sustainable.
Question 26
2/2
The cost of the latest Farm Bill is over $400 billion dollars. Which of the following best describes how most of the allocated funds are used?
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Correct: Most of the funds are used for food and nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Correct answer
Most of the funds go directly to farmers who grow crops to feed the world.
Most of the funds are used for research and extension activities for organic agriculture.
Most of the funds covertly go to funding Cuke Skywalker and the Organic Rebellion.
Question 27
0/2
Campbell’s Soil Culture Manual, published in 1902, is a good example of
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Incorrect: the determination and ingenuity that enabled farmers to overcome the environmental limitations of the Plains.
the pseudoscientific beliefs and economic boosterism that inspired homesteading on the Great Plains.
Correct answer
federal support for homesteading in the arid regions of the West.
the careful scientific study that preceded American development of the Trans-Mississippi West.
Question 28
2/2
Mosier et al. (2021) argued that:
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Correct: Perennialization (use of perennial plants) was a valuable tool to restoring soil fertility on degraded lands
Correct answer
Bioenergy Cropping Systems was the most valuable tool to maximizing prevention of soil erosion and nutrient conservation
Use of annual plants was a valuable tool to restoring soil fertility on degraded lands as you could maximize profits
Intensive rotational grazing did not have any benefits for preventing erosion and restoring degraded croplands
Question 29
Theo is engaged in a campaign to save the polar bears. Theo lives in Texas and has never seen a polar bear outside of a zoo. However, Theo thinks polar bears have as much right to life as the ant in their backyard. What type of value best describes Theo's actions and thoughts?
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productive value
Correct: intrinsic value
Correct answer
consumptive value
prescriptive value
Question 30
The Intertropical Convergence Zone:
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is the driver of earth's climate as it establishes the air circulation cells with rising warm moist air where the tropical and temperate cells converge.
is the driver of earth's climate as it establishes the air circulation cells with rising warm moist air where the tropical cells converge.
Correct answer
Incorrect: is the driver of earth's climate as it establishes the air circulation cells with rising warm moist air where the temperate and polar cells converge.
has little to do with earth's climate
Question 31
The Green Revolution radically altered agricultural production across the planet. Which of following did NOT occur as a result of the Green Revolution.
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An increase in crop yields.
Correct: An increase in the amount of reforested land.
Correct answer
An increase in the global food supply.
An increase in the amount of land used for agriculture.
Question 322
In his famous essay, “The Land Ethic,” Aldo Leopold argued that
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Indigenous peoples, as natural ecologists, are best suited to manage natural resources.
Correct: human being abuse and exploit nature because they view it only as a commodity that belongs to them rather than a community to which they belong.
Correct answer
people should abandon modern civilization and “go back to the land.”
friends don’t let friends go to Oregon State University to study science.
Question 33
The battle over the damming of Hetch Hetchy effectively illustrates
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political pushback against the Progressive conservation movement.
the dispossession of Indigenous peoples to create national parks.
local opposition to federal conservation policy.
Correct: tension between the goals of natural resource conservation and wilderness preservation within the Progressive conservation movement.
Correct answer
Question 34
Which of the following traits of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) most distinguishes it from Western scientific knowledge and practice?
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Correct: IEK integrates cultural values such as reciprocity and kinship with nature.
Correct answer
IEK develops over time and continues to develop in response to new data.
IEK places human beings above and outside of nature.
IEK is based on close and careful observation of environmental processes.
Question 35
Which of the following best describes soil forming factors?
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Soils properties are rarely influenced by topography
Soils properties are often governed more by bedrock rather than surficial geology
Soils properties are rarely influenced by organisms
Correct: Soils properties are often governed more by surficial geology rather than bedrock
Correct answer
Question 36
How did changes in patent law change the agricultural sector in the United States?
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It provided the impetus for most farmers to go organic.
It paved the way for genetically modified seeds to be bought, sold, and become the dominant types of corn and soy seeds.
Correct answer
Incorrect: It made seeds free of patent protections.
It resulted in the deconsolidation of the food and agricultural industries.
Question 37
Which statement best sums up the position of Deborah and Frank Popper in “The Great Plains and the Buffalo Commons”?
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Correct: Large-scale agricultural development of the Plains has failed repeatedly—in both economic and environmental terms—and it is time to seek more sustainable alternatives.
Correct answer
The federal government should forcibly remove farmers and ranchers from the Plains and return the region to Indigenous peoples, effectively reversing settler colonialism.
The Plains can be returned to a pristine, pre-colonization ecological state through a federally-managed program of “rewilding.”
Eco-tourism is the only viable solution to the economic and environmental woes of the Great Plains.
Question 38
From the perspective of a Progressive conservationist such as Gifford Pinchot,
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corporations could be trusted to manage natural resources in the best interests of the nation.
Indigenous peoples had every right to participate in public land management decisions.
Correct: not developing natural resources was just as wasteful as using them too quickly.
Correct answer
recreation and quiet contemplation were the highest uses of nature.