ecology exam 2 part 2 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Until about 10,000 years ago, our species depended on ________.
answer
hunting and gathering
question
Of the following, ________ requires the least land to produce 1 kg of protein.
answer
chicken
question
Raising ________ requires the most land and water.
answer
beef cattle
question
Bt crops
answer
have been given a bacterial gene that gives chemical protection against pests
question
Green Revolution techniques ________.
answer
have increased crop yields but may not be sustainable
question
Over-irrigation can result in ________.
answer
soil salinization and waterlogging
question
The comparison shown in the figure is environmentally significant because ________
answer
production of beef and pork is resource-intensiv
question
Since 1960, pesticide use has increased ________ worldwide.
answer
fourfold
question
Seed banks (institutions that store and preserve seeds) are important for _
answer
protecting genetic diversity
question
The figure demonstrates that it requires roughly ________ times more feed input to produce 1 kg of eggs, compared to 1 kg of milk.
answer
4
question
Monoculture ________
answer
is an agricultural practice of growing large stands of a single species
question
The breakdown of large rocks into smaller pieces is affected by
answer
affected by rainfall, freezing and thawing
question
No-till farming would be most beneficial for farmers ___
answer
with steeply sloped fields
question
Recombinant DNA ___
answer
is the merging of DNA from unrelated organisms to create new genetic varieties
question
The loss of more than 10% productivity in an arid area due to erosion, soil compaction, deforestation or overgrazing is
answer
desertification
question
What is true about GM crops?
answer
The United States leads the world in land area dedicated to GM crops.
question
Normal Borlaug, who passed away in 2009, pioneered the development of
answer
high-yield wheat
question
Industrial agriculture __
answer
increased our ability to obtain more food from the same area
question
Leaching ________.
answer
removes water-soluble nutrients from soils
question
Terracing, contour farming, intercropping, and crop rotation all _
answer
are techniques for conserving soil resources and fertility
question
It is more energetically efficient for us to eat more
answer
plant-based foods
question
Organic farming has increased in
answer
has increased in the United States, Canada, and Europe in recent years
question
The O horizon of soils consists of _
answer
mostly organic material
question
Researchers have demonstrated that organic farming ___
answer
decreased organic soil losses while giving yields comparable to conventional farming
question
We lose 5 to 7 million ha of productive cropland per year to
answer
erosion, over-irrigation, and overgrazing
question
Humus is _
answer
composed of organic matter and is necessary to fertility and holding soil moisture
question
Which of the following is true?
answer
In 2010, 1 in 4 adults in the United States is obese and 3 out of 5 are overweight.
question
Aquaculture _
answer
can bring economic benefits and food security to many developing regions
question
Of the following, ________ best describes integrated pest management (IPM).
answer
biocontrol measures, crop rotation, and habitat diversification
question
Relative to sustainable agriculture, insects' roles are as
answer
essential pollinators and predators
question
The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to _
answer
stop cultivating highly erodible land
question
The consequences of over-fertilizing include __
answer
eutrophication and dead zones in nearby aquatic ecosystems
question
Cows require a high quantity of feed because they _
answer
take time to grow and have a low energy conversion efficiency
question
Based on the information in the figure, you decide to make changes in your diet to diminish your ecological footprint (the environmental impact of your food choices) by
answer
shifting your protein intake from beef and pork to eggs and dairy products
question
During the past half-century, global food production has ________ world population growth.
answer
grown at a faster rate than
question
Factors involved in soil formation are _
answer
weathering of parent material, freezing/thawing, tree roots
