Ecosystems & Human Health



Ecosystems & Human Health

Exam One

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Multiple choice questions.

Plan to hand in both the question sheet & the scanner sheet.

A=1 B=2 C=3 D=4 E=5

1. Reduction of competition for food and living space among species inhabiting the same geographical area is accomplished by:

1. ecological dominance

2. niche diversification

3. grassland

4. temperate deciduous forest

5. tropical rain forest

2. Which of the following statements concerning energy flow through ecosystems is FALSE?

1. producer organisms are usually smaller and more numerous than consumers

2. energy moves in a unidirectional manner through the environment

3. most of the usable energy available to one trophic level is lost as it is transferred to the next

4. because of the inefficiency of energy transfer, a food chain seldom exceeds 4 or 5 trophic levels

5. people living in food-short areas could increase per capita food availability by eating as secondary consumers rather than as primary consumers

3. Which biome today is experiencing more rapid destruction and degradation than any other?

1. tundra

2. taiga

3. grassland

4 tropical rain forest

5 desert

4. Approximately how much food energy is lost with each transfer up a food chain?

1. 10-15%

2. 20-40%

3. 45-60%

4. 60-75%

5. 85-99%

5. What do zebra mussels, Asian longhorned beetles, gypsy moths, and Formosan termites have in common?

1. all are ecological dominants in their biotic communities

2. all are keystone predators

3. all are secondary consumers

4. all inhabit the temperate deciduous forest biome

5. all are troublesome exotic species in the U.S.

6. The catastrophic human-induced ecological problems currently affecting the Aral Sea in central Asia are primarily a result of:

1. massive water diversions to support irrigated agriculture

2. introduction of exotic fish species

3. thermal discharge from numerous nuclear power plants

4. discharges of toxic chemical pollutants from petrochemical factories

4. airborne fallout of highly radioactive fission by-products following the Chernobyl accident.

7. The limit at which a given environment can support a population is referred to as that environment’s:

1. biotic potential

2. limited factors

3. environmental resistance

4. carrying capacity

5. homeostatic control

8. Who was Thomas Malthus?

1. population biologist who formulated the S-curve from his experiments with paramecia

2. British economist who warned that population growth will always outstrip food supplies

3. research chemist whose work let to the development of oral contraceptives

4. the “Father of the Green Revolution”

5. chairman of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger who warned that international tensions due to food shortages could lead to armed conflict if the U.S. doesn’t increase efforts to eradicate malnutrition.

9. The percentage of the world’s people now living in urban areas is approximately:

1. 25%

2. 35%

3. 50%

4. 70%

5. 85%

10. What impact is AIDS having on the rate of population growth in Africa?

1. no impact; growth rates remain at traditionally high levels

2. growth rates are increasing due to earlier marriage and childbearing as men seek young, HIV-negative brides

3. growth rate is less than it would have been in the absence of AIDS, but total population size continues to increase

4. zero population growth as a result of AIDS-induced mortality; African populations expected to remain at their present level for the foreseeable future

5. population size in Africa is expected to decline by almost 50% below current numbers within the next 20 years due to the impact of AIDS

11. Zero Population Growth (ZPG) has been attained by several nations in which of the following regions of the world?

1. Africa

2. Europe

3. Asia

4. Latin America

5. North America

12. Why is it difficult to convince many Third World couples to limit their number of children to 2?

1. they don’t know how to prevent unwanted pregnancies

2. in most Asian and African counties birth control is considered immoral

3. parents view many children as necessary to help with work and to care for parents in their old age.

4. most national governments want couples to have more children to enhance the prestige of the nation

5. birth control clinics are largely restricted to urban areas and aren’t accessible to most citizens.

13. Which of the following contraceptive methods has the best safety record from the standpoint of health risk to the user?

1. vasectomy

2. tubal ligation

3. IUD

4. contraceptive pill

5. Depo-Provera

14. Which 3 methods of contraception have the highest effectiveness rates in terms of preventing pregnancy?

1. condom, IUD, diaphragm

2. pill, sterilization, spermicides

3. sterilization, pill, IUD

4. pill, condom, Natural Family Planning

5. sterilization, IUD, condom

15. What has been the basic motivation behind the family planning movement in the U.S.?

1. to promote women’s liberation and advance the cause of feminism

2. to improve the health and well-being of women and their children

3. to reduce the size of the labor force in order to boost wage levels

4. to try to curb the population explosion

5. to promote more permissive sexual attitudes among society as a whole

16. Which of the following actions would likely have the greatest impact in motivating couples in high-growth societies to have smaller families?

1. improve levels of female literacy and employment opportunities

2. give case bonuses to parents who agree to have no more than 2 children

3. provide free contraceptives to all who request them

4. provide sufficient funding for family planning programs to establish clinics in every community

5. launch research efforts to develop a broader range of safer, more effective contraceptive options

17. Which of the following statements regarding food production trends is FALSE?

1. per capita food production in Africa has been declining for the past 25 years

2. due to record harvests in the late 1990’s world grain reserves are at their highest levels in 30 years

3. in the U.S. and Europe, additional fertilizer inputs no longer result in appreciable yield increases

4. since the mid-1980’s per capita food production in china, India, and Japan has either leveled off or declined

5. further increases in per capita food production are threatened by serious environmental limitations

18. Which of the following is most directly to blame for the fact that approximately 1 billion people in the world today are malnourished?

1. overpopulation

2. weather-related crop failures

3. outdated, unproductive farming methods

4. lack of sufficient arable land

5. poverty

19. Which of the following statements about malnutrition is FALSE?

1. among the poor in Third World countries, more child and infant deaths are caused by malnutrition than by any other single factor

2. malnutrition can increase a child’s likelihood of dying from common childhood ailments like diarrhea

3. the adverse impacts of childhood malnutrition on physical and metal development are reversible if the child receives an adequate diet when he/she grows older

4. malnutrition is far more common among small children and women than among men; girls are more often malnourished than are boys

5. malnourished nursing mothers produce sub-standard breast milk, low in vitamins, fat, and protein

20. Which of the following offers the greatest future possibilities for expanding world fish consumption?

1. improving the technological level of fishing fleets in order to catch significantly larger tonnages of table-grade ocean fish

2. utilizing more lower-grade fish such as krill for direct human consumption

3. extend territorial waters beyond the current 200 mile limit and exclude foreign fleets from domestic waters

4. increase efforts in research and development of aquaculture

5. eradicate non-human competitors for available fish supplies (e.g. seals, sea otters) so that more fish will be available for human consumption

21. Which of the following statements about the current state of world fisheries is FALSE?

1. total world fish catch has been declining since the late 12980s

2. the U.N. reports that catches of almost half the major ocean fish stocks are at their maximum sustainable level

3. approximately 80% of the fish species currently being harvested are the top predators of the marine food chain

4. inland fisheries, like those in the ocean, are being exploited at nonsustainable levels

5. Atlantic cod and halibut are close to commercial extinction

22. Salinization of agricultural lands is a serious problem in some farming areas, threatening near-total crop loss. This phenomenon is caused by:

1. intrusion of sea water into low-lying coastal farmlands

2. rapidly falling water table due to over pumping of groundwater

3. faulty irrigation practices that don’t allow for proper drainage of lands

4. over application of chemical fertilizers that burn crop roots

5. loss of mineral nutrients from soil due to excessive rates of erosion

True and False Peer Questions:

If True=A False =B

23. When a plant or tree dies by natural causes, the energy it had

stored inside itself is lost, or destroyed along with it.

24. If left unchecked for a few centuries, the human population will

keep growing and expanding, usurping all resources and draining the resources of this planet indefinitely.

25. The maximum growth rate that a population could achieve in an

unlimited environment is referred to as that population’s reproductive potential.

26. (Page 16) The Principle of Competitive Exclusion is when two or more species are competing for a limited resource and all but one of the species is excluded.

27. (Page 13) Keystone predators are the inferior group of predators.

28. (Page 63) Megacity is a word to describe any urban area that has a population of 10 million or more.

29. When dead organic matter is broken down by microorganisms and then consumed by primary consumers and subsequently secondary consumers, this is known as the detritus food chain.

30. Eutrophication is the process by which an enclosed body of water will become less nutrient dense and more clear over time.

31. Population growth forms depict characteristic patterns of increase found in populations, and can be broken down into two basic patterns known as the S-curve and the J-curve.

32. When a disease or virus is known as a pandemic, it means that the disease or virus is strictly localized and can only be found a minimal number of countries.

33. Behavioral, physiological, and social responses within a population that function as self-regulation factors during times of overpopulation are known as homeostatic controls.

34. An organism is most vulnerable to limiting environmental factors during its reproductive period.

35. Even areas affected by environmental disasters are capable of experiencing regenerative growth, or succession.

36. All countries of the world are experiencing increased population growth.

37. The growth rate of a country does not take into the account of migration.

38. A niche is the unique environment in which a particular organism thrives in.

39. Individuals of the same species living together within a given area are collectively referred to as a population.

40. Biomass is measured as dry weight per unit area.

41. The most important decisions being made today in environmental health are political decisions.

42. Rachel Carson wrote a book in the 1960s that exposed the dangers of the use of pesticides on human health. (Our Global Environment, p. 3)

43. The human growth curve most closely resembles a J-curve. (Our Global Environment, p. 43-44)

44. Food Shortage, excess predation, and disease are the only factors that cause populations to decline.

45. Each stage in a food chain is called a trophic level.

46. The disproportionate and rapidly increasing percentage of elderly citizens is called "Global Graying."

47. A limiting factor is an environmental condition that limits/controls where an organism can live.

48. The carrying capacity of an environment is defined as the limit at which the environment can support a population.

49. Introducing a nonnative or exotic species into an already established biotic community is just as harmful as removing a species.

50. HIV and AIDs only affects Africa.

51. Because the Taiga is home to only a few types of conifers, they are particularly susceptible to pest outbreaks.[1][2]

52. Massive diebacks are common among species with S-curve growth patterns because they surpass their carrying capacity.

53. West Nile, zebra mussels, and encephalitis virus are all native to the United States.

54. During the Industrial Revolution, improvements in hygiene and more dependent agricultural systems, lead to a population boom never experienced before in human history.

55. A climax community is one that is starting its lifetime.

56. For the most part, the main characteristic that differentiates one biome from another is the type of vegetation that is found in each one.

57. The dominant feature of a biome for classification is the forms of vegetation that inhabit the region.

58. Ecological succession occurs through gradual changes over time in the relative numbers of dominant species within a biotic community, following a disturbance.

59. The proportion of dependents in underdeveloped countries is much higher than those of more developed countries.

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