Environmental Final Review

Question 1

Contrast how energy and matter move through an ecosystem

Answer 1

Energy: quality gets decreased as it moves through trophic levels
Matter: quality is the same as it gets cycled

Question 2

What is primary productivity? Why is it important?

Answer 2

It’s the biological energy that’s transferred through the food web. It’s important because more primary productivity makes a food web more diverse, therefore making it resiliant.

Question 2

how have human impacts disturbed the biogeochemical hydrological cycle?

Answer 2

increase in impermeable surfaces (buildings and pavements) which ends up carrying pollutants to surface water

Question 3

How have human impacts disturbed the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle?

Answer 3

introuduction of this chemical through organic waste, manure from runoff, excess fertilization which ends up leading to cultural eutrophication

Question 4

how have human impacts disturbed the biogeochemical carbon cycle?

Answer 4

introduction of this chemical through deforestation, fossil fuel combustion which leads to global climate change (global warming and ocean acidification)

Question 5

Describe what causes a rainshadow effect

Answer 5

As air meets mountains, it rises and cools, creating water vapor which falls as rain. The other side of the mountain is left in the shadow of this rain, with dryer air, creating a desert.

Question 6

What is the most productive zone of a freshwater ecosystem?

Answer 6

Littoral zone

Question 7

how have human impacts disturbed the biogeochemical phosphorus cycle?

Answer 7

increased mining of this chemical to use for agricultural fertilizer allows the excess to go into the water and increase the growth of aquatic producers (eutrophication). Water eventually becomes hypoxic creating a dead zone.

Question 8

How does melting sea ice lead to a feedback loop that increases arctic warming?

Answer 8

• decreases albedo which leads to the water absorbing more of the suns energy
• the warming of the water then contributes to more melting
• completes positive feedback loop

Question 9

In a given ecosystem, producers convert solar energy into 15,000kcal of chemical energy stored in organic compounds. What is the amount of energy available to secondary consumers?

Answer 9

150kcal

Question 10

How do freshwater wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services?

Answer 10

Regulating: they store runoff making the chances of flooding less likely, as the extra water is being held instead of going elsewhere
Supporting: plants along the shore trap sediments that eventually make up the soil
Provisioning: the wetlands provide habitation and sources of edible plants

Question 11

The land use around the Chesapeake Bay is primarily agricultural, with large areas of land that were originally forested now used for the poultry industry. Many of these poultry farms are large-scale feeding operations.
Describe one unintended consequence of concentrated poultry feeding operations on the biodiversity in the Chesapeake Bay.

Answer 11

· (Organic) wastes could run off into the bay.
· Nutrients from feces or excess foods could run off into the bay.
· Antibiotics that are often used in such operations could be toxic to some aquatic organisms (e.g., algae).
· Hormones that are often used in such operations could affect the growth and reproduction of some aquatic organisms (e.g., frogs, fish).

Question 12

What are two ecosystem services that the Mangrove Swamp provides?

Answer 12

Reduced erosion with protection from storm surges, nursery/habitat for for aquatic species, trees that give protection from predators

Question 13

Coral reefs formed when corals acquire calcium ions ( Ca2+) and carbonate ions ( CO32−) from seawater and deposit solid CaCO3 to form their exoskeletons. Concern: relatively rapid decreases in ocean water pH will hinder the deposition of CaCO3. A graph shows the amount of CO2 dissolved in ocean water and ocean water pH (shown in parentheses) since 1850 and the predicted changes through 2100. [it goes up in a checkmark exponential way)
Explain how an increase in the amount of dissolved CO2 in ocean water results in a decrease in the pH of ocean water.

Answer 13

When carbon dioxide dissolves in the ocean, it forms an acid (carbonic acid or H2CO3).

Question 14

The concentration of H+ ions in solution with a pH value of 4 is how many times as great as the concentration of H+ ions in a solution with a pH value of 7?

Answer 14

1,000 times

Question 15

Mangrove Swamp ecosystem service

Answer 15

They act as a buffer that protects the land by dissipating the energy in a storm surge. Fish nurseries, water filtration, recreation, aesthetics.
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Question 16

Why can matter be cycled but energy can not?

Answer 16

Matter is cycled, energy is transfered. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics states that energy quality is reduced per transfer, and eventually dispersed through heat energy. Once it turns into heat E, it can not be uptaken and transferred.
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Question 17

Why is genetic biodiversity important?

Answer 17

diversity allows a greater survival chance for communities to survive against disasters. it also increases the efficiency of natural selection, as there are greater pressures to cut out less effective genetics. 
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Question 18

Bay is primarily agricultural, especially with poultry. Describe one unintended consequence of concentrated poultry feeding operations on the biodiversity in the Chesapeake Bay.

Answer 18

(Organic) wastes could run off into the bay.
Nutrients from feces or excess foods could run off into the bay.
Leading to cultural eutrophication which can create anoxic or hypoxic zones.

Question 19

List atmosphere layers 1-4 then explain why temp increases in layer 2
HINT: TSMT

Answer 19

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere

1,000 times more ozone molecules in the second layer than the first which absorb that solar radiation.

Question 20

Explain how the tilt of the Earth is responsible for the change in seasons.

Answer 20

Because the Earth’s axis is tilted away from the Sun at a 23.5° angle the Sun’s insolation is more oblique in the northern hemisphere. This results in less energy and the winter season in the N hemisphere.

Question 21

Explain how the tilt of the Earth is responsible for the change in seasons.

Answer 21

Because the Earth’s axis is tilted away from the Sun at a 23.5° angle the Sun’s insolation is more oblique in the northern hemisphere. This results in less energy and the winter season in the N hemisphere.

Question 22

Describe how upwelling affects marine coastal food webs.

Answer 22

Upwelling brings nutrient rich water to the surface which encourages the population growth of phytoplankton. An abundance of phytoplankton provides more energy that can increase the populations within the trophic levels abov

Question 23

Describes the movement of energy in an ecosystem.

Answer 23

Energy is harnessed by producers, and available energy decreases with each trophic level transfer

Question 24

Explain how ocean currents are driven by thermohaline factors.

Answer 24

These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline)

Question 25

Explain how ocean currents are driven by thermohaline factors.

Answer 25

Sea ice that forms leaves salt in the cold ocean water. Increased salinity coupled with its cold temperature, causes it to sink. This water moves toward the equator and becomes warmer and less saline causing it to rise to the surface.

Question 26

The net primary production of a pine forest on a lava flow on Mount Fuji is about 175,000 kcal/m2/yr, and the plant respiration is estimated to be
115,000 kcal/m2/yr. What is the total amount of energy transferred during photosynthesis for this ecosystem?

Answer 26

290,000 kcal/m2/yr

Question 27

Community A: 21 willow trees, 1 oak tree, 1 birch tree, 1 spruce
Community B: 5 willow trees, 5 oak, 5 birch, 5 spruce
Describe the difference in biodiversity between the two communities.

Answer 27

Community B has better evenness

Question 28

A small endangered bird found in scrub forests off the coast of New Zealand is preyed upon by introduced species such as cats and rats. In 1980, the population decreased to only 5 individuals and every individual today is a descendant of a single female. Which of the following is illustrated in the decline of the robins?
A: Carrying capacity 
B: Population bottleneck
C: Population overshoot
D: Type I survivorship

Answer 28

B: Population bottleneck

Question 29

Explain how the range of tolerance is related to a species niche.

Answer 29

Species that have wide optimal range can thrive in a variety of ecosystems. These types of organisms are referred to as generalist species. Dandelions can tolerate a variety of soil types and will have a broad niche.

Question 30

Which is used to measure the diversity of an ecosystem?
            I. species extinction rate
            II. species richness
            III. species evenness
 A: II only
B: III only
C: II and III
D: I, II and II

Answer 30

C: II and III

Question 31

The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a small rodent inhabiting forests in Europe and Asia. When squirrel densities were high, territoriality relegated some females to poor quality territory, which in turn reduced their reproductive success. Is this an example of a density- dependent or density-independent factor?

Answer 31

density dependent

Question 32

Which of the following correctly describes the disruption of an ecosystem service by an anthropogenic activity?

A: Provisioning services are disrupted by the increased combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to an increase in air pollution.
B: Regulating services are disrupted by flash flooding from a hurricane, which decreases available food resources.

Answer 32

B

Question 33

Identify the biome that is characterized by soil with high amount of microbial activity, nutrient rich soil, moderate amount of leaching

Answer 33

Grassland (or temperate deciduous forest)

Question 34

List 4 characteristics of an r-selected species.

Describe how r-selected species would respond to disturbances to their community.

Answer 34

a) young sexual maturity, produce many small offspring, little or no care for offspring, short life span
b) disturbance will have less of an effect on r-selected species because of their ability to respond quickly
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