Environmental Science Final
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The economic gap between developing and industrialized countries may best be narrowed by
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stabilizing population growth in developing countries.
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In 2013 most species in the world go extinct because
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of loss of habitat.
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Which one of the following is least appropriate to the field of environmental science? Scientists
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study X-ray emissions for evidence of black holes.
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The greatest environmental problems of the 1950s mainly concerned
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widespread and easily detected water and air pollution.
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All scientific investigations are initially founded upon
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good observations.
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Examine the differences between the plant on the left and the plant on the right. Which of the following represents a scientifically acceptable hypothesis about these plants?
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The plant on the left is taller and has more roots and needles because it has a root-fungus symbiosis missing on the plant on the right.
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What was the experimental variable in the above experiment?
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pesticide Z
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Sustainable solutions should
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incorporate the concerns of economists, ecologists, and sociologists.
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A disproportionately high placement of toxic waste sites in regions of the United States populated by minorities presents an issue of
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environmental racism.
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Discriminatory trade practices that favor industrialized countries over developing countries are
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the number one issue at every meeting of the World Trade Organization.
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Which of the following has been most negatively impacted by globalization?
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local cultures' religious and dietary traditions
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Globalization is largely the result of
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worldwide electronic communication.
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The lessons learned from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring reveal the importance of
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sustainability and stewardship.
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Centrally planned and free-market economies both
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represent ideals not found in pure form in any country.
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In the classical view of economic activity in this figure, we expect businesses to prosper when
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labor costs are low and household incomes rise.
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The classical economic paradigm and the new ecological economic paradigm differ in the way that
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each views the land, either as a resource within the human economy (classical) or as something that encompasses the economy (ecological).
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Natural capital includes ecosystem capital plus
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nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels.
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Which of the following represents intangible capital?
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the library of the Smithsonian Institution
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Unlike high-income countries, low-income countries rely most on their
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natural capital.
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What would comprehensive environmental accounting add to the calculation of GDP?
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the depreciation of natural capital and reductions in ecosystem services
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Examine the trends in the GDP and GPI. The GPI has remained fairly level because of
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the rising environmental and social costs of economic activity.
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Which of the following best illustrates an intergenerational consideration?
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reducing the harvest of blue fin tuna to sustainable levels
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Which of the following represents a market approach to environmental policy?
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using a cap-and-trade system to control the levels of carbon dioxide released into the air
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In this figure, what level of pollution reduction comes at the highest cost?
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from 80-100% pollution reduction
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As indicated in this figure, the most expensive period of pollution control is from years
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0-5 while the least expensive is in years 20-25.
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The benefit to cost ratio of replacing chlorofluorocarbons in new cars turned out to be
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higher than predicted.
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Shadow pricing is used to estimate the
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value of an endangered species of plant.
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The Obama administration
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now encourages the development of renewable energy and reduction of carbon emissions.
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As of 2012, it is clear that public opinion
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trusts the EPA much more than Congress to oversee the national environment.
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Which of the following would most likely cause the greatest harm to wild Giant Panda populations in China?
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the introduction of beetles that eat bamboo
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Compared to all of the organisms in a phylum, organisms that share the same family
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share a more recent common ancestor.
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Within a community, species of
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bacteria, plants, animals, and fungi all interact.
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Ecotones
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are transitional regions between ecosystems.
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Which one of the following best illustrates an ecological landscape?
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a river flowing past fields and forests in Yellowstone National Park
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Uncertain about the best way to keep his new lizard alive, Jerome places a heat lamp at one end of the long lizard cage. Over several days, Jerome notices that the lizard tends to sit in a certain place when the lamp is on. The lizard's selection of a particular place to stay represents its
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temperature optimum.
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On some islands, during the mating season, birds compete intensely for breeding sites. On these islands, these breeding sites represent a(n)
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limiting factor.
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Which one of the following is a molecule but not a compound?
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O2
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Most organisms use water in
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liquid form.
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What two spheres are most visible in this photograph?
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hydrosphere and biosphere.
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Which of the following best represents potential energy converted to kinetic energy?
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turning on a flashlight
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An average person might consume 2,000 Kilocalories of food in one day. This is enough energy to heat up how many 2-liter bottles of liquid water from 0 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius (just reaching the boiling point of water, but not turning the water into steam)?
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10
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Sometimes people say that plants make energy from the sun. However, plants make sugars using sunlight. Stating that plants make energy is actually
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a violation of the first law of thermodynamics.
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Plants grow as new organic molecules are formed by plant cells. Most of the carbon in the newly created organic molecules of these plants ultimately came from
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carbon dioxide in the air.
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When you exercise, you can feel your body getting warmer, perhaps even starting to sweat. Why does exercise make you warmer?
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Glucose oxidation speeds up during exercise to power muscular activities, and as a byproduct, extra heat is generated.
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The Haber-Bosch process creates nitrogenous fertilizers by
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converting nitrogen gas and hydrogen to ammonia.
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Which of the following statements is not true of the sulfur cycle?
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Unlike nitrogen and carbon, organisms do not require or contain sulfur.
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Golden frog populations would be more likely to survive the current threats if
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their populations were more widely distributed across Central and South America.
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Plants such as leafy spurge can double their population size every year in part because of their efficient production of large amounts of seeds. Populations that can double every year, such as leafy spurge,
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exhibit exponential growth as they spread to new regions.
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Many strategies have been used to control leafy spurge, including the deliberate introduction of different species of flea beetles that feed on leafy spurge. Each flea beetle female may lay about 200 eggs in her only year of life. In places where flea beetle introductions have quickly established large populations that have grown and stabilized, the population growth of these beetles most likely looked like
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an S-shaped curve.
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Flea beetles alone are unlikely to eliminate all of the leafy spurge in a region. Instead, the number of leafy spurge plants and the number of flea beetles in a particular community may stabilize. At this point, the leafy spurge and flea beetle populations
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are experiencing environmental resistance.
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In logistic growth (an S-shaped curve), how does population growth change as the population nears its carrying capacity?
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Population growth decreases.
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In general, K-strategists have a
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type I survivorship pattern, and r-strategists have a type III survivorship pattern.
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A grasshopper population in a prairie is limited in large part by the number of birds in the region. Following a terrible storm that killed many of the birds, the grasshopper population exhibits exponential growth. This happens because the grasshoppers experienced
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a steady biotic potential but suddenly decreased environmental resistance.
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A population of catfish in a muddy pond reaches its maximum size as the food supplies start to run low. Without any new sources of food, the catfish population remains steady. This population represents
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density-dependent logistic growth.
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Which of the following is analogous to a mutualistic relationship?
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A basketball player is paid by a company to wear its particular brand of shoes.
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The relationship between the dung beetles and the cattle is a type of
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mutualism.
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Which one of the following illustrates interspecific competition?
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Caterpillars of two different species of moth are feeding on the same plant's leaves.
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Which of the following represents a type of mutualism?
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A honeybee feeds on nectar at a flower on an orange tree and pollinates the flower.
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The relationship between the moose and wolf populations on Isle Royale reveals
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top-down and bottom-up population regulation.
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The population of elk in Yellowstone
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reflects top-down and bottom-up population regulation.
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Which one of the following illustrates intraspecific competition?
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male red-winged blackbirds defending nesting sites from other males
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The concept of biological fitness is based on two separate abilities. These are the ability to
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survive and reproduce.
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The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker may have been found in deep woods of Missouri. Even though a few individuals may have survived, this may not be enough to avoid extinction of this species. What else must these few birds do to ensure the survival of the species?
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maintain a viable breeding colony
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The different Galápagos finch species
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evolved from a single ancestral species that flew to the Galápagos Islands.
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Introduced alien species that cause the most harm are those that
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become invasive.
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The species shown in photo (a) has
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become invasive and threatens the species in photo (b).
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Volcanoes are triggered by
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movement of tectonic plates.
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Biomes characterize regions with similar types of
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vegetation and climatic conditions.
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In general,
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food chains are interconnected to form food webs.
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A large oak tree with its abundant leaves glimmering in the sun on an early fall morning represents
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an autotrophic producer.
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Hydrothermal vent communities are unusual because
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a producer exists without sunlight.
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In this unusual ecosystem,
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there is no photosynthesis.
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A raccoon spends its week eating raspberries, grain, eggs, and grasshoppers. Raccoons are therefore
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omnivores.
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Examine the food web described by this figure. Which of the following organisms is at the highest trophic level?
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beluga whale
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In the fall, Rose bought some fresh apple cider without preservatives sold by the local orchard. After several weeks stored in the refrigerator, Rose noticed the taste of alcohol in the cider. Friends later told her that she had accidentally made hard cider. Rose wondered how this could happen, and then her friends explained. After some time, natural yeast in her cider
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broke glucose down into alcohol by aerobic respiration.
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Anaerobic respiration
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occurs without oxygen and may produce methane gas.
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In general, biomes at higher latitudes are most like
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biomes at higher altitudes.
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Biomes with precipitation between 10-60 inches per year and seasonal temperature at lower elevations are commonly
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grasslands.
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Which biome is characterized by permafrost?
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tundra
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The changes in this field, from grasses to shrubs to trees, represent
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ecological succession.
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The mosses changed the environment enough to permit grasses to grow in a process called
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facilitation.
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This region of Iceland once was covered with forests. However, humans logged the trees and grazed sheep on the logged regions, preventing natural regeneration. This situation, in which one ecosystem has now been converted to another, represents
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a tipping point for this ecosystem.
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Which one of the following contributes the most to global climate change?
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the use of natural gas to heat homes
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As we consider the pressing demands of a growing human population, ecosystem services must be
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given proper economic value and not taken for granted.
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The best ecosystem management requires
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good stewardship and sustainability.
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Which of the following groups would represent the primary stakeholders in this dispute?
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the native people
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The best way to sustainably manage natural environments is to
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The best way to sustainably manage natural environments is to
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Species are most likely to be conserved by humans if they have
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instrumental value.
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Off the northern Atlantic coast, cod populations were severely depleted by the 1990s. Biologists that successfully argued for fishing bans on cod to let the cod populations recover argued for the
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instrumental value of cod.
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Plants that can best resist a variety of environmental challenges are most likely
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wild plants with high degrees of variation.
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Which of the following represents the greatest conservation of the genetic bank?
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the MSB and Svalbard seed banks storing seeds of thousands of plants from around the world
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The search is on as the evidence from ethnobotany reveals the genetic potential of wild plants to produce chemicals of medical significance. The scientists exploring the medicinal use of plants by indigenous peoples throughout the world are engaged in
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bioprospecting.
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Ecotourism throughout the world relies upon
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a widespread public interest in exploring and maintaining natural environments.
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The ability of scientists to understand the natural relationships between organisms and their environments depends upon the
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availability and preservation of undisturbed regions in the world.
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The acronym HIPPO identifies the five major factors contributing to extinction today. These are
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habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population growth, and overexploitation.
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In the southeastern United States, the red fire ant is
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an invasive species that has caused a decline in biodiversity.
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Which one of the following is not a major source of invasive species in the world?
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escape from zoos and animal parks
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A shrimp farm in Thailand results in
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specific gains to the shrimp farmer.
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The harvest of organisms is more likely to be sustainable if organisms are captured
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after they have had a chance to reproduce.
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In general, as income levels rise, dependence on wild income
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deceases and consumptive use decreases.
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The application of the precautionary principle to a commercial fishery whose primary catch species is in decline would result in
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a total allowable catch below the best estimate of the maximum sustainable yield.
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The Santa Cruz River in Arizona has suffered from depletion from irrigation withdrawal for decades, and now natural and social scientists are asking stakeholders to
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help develop a user policy by identifying the river's services of major economic importance.
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When completed, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan will
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redirect much of the water flow southward.
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The most productive systems on land are
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forests.
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Which of the following lumber harvesting strategies will most likely produce erosion problems?
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clear-cutting
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Even-aged and uneven-aged management are used in
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silviculture.
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The greatest human impacts on ocean ecosystems are concentrated
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in the northern hemisphere.
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The most promising solution to the global problem of depleted cod populations is to
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apply the principles used in the management of Pacific halibut.
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The most ecologically sustainable meat with the lowest environmental impact would be
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open ocean aquaculture of fish or mollusks that feed on phytoplankton.
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In addition to global climate change, humans are negatively impacting coral reefs by
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destructive harvesting of fish for food or pets.
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The value of many natural ecosystem services is most apparent as
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we appreciate the damages and economic loss that result from the disruption of these ecosystems.
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We can expect that as mangroves continue to be destroyed worldwide,
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coastal erosion will increase.
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You want to have the best outdoor experience possible, experiencing life in the least disturbed ecosystems in the United States. The best place to visit would be a
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wilderness area.
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Which of the following is the greatest current threat to forests in the United States?
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fires
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Agricultural pollution in the Everglades Restoration Plan will be controlled by
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using manmade wetlands to remove agricultural nutrients before they enter the Everglades sheet flow.
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The Neolithic Revolution is most clearly seen in human culture today in our use of
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modern agriculture to raise food crops.
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The rerouting of the Mississippi to increase the efficiency of movements of steamboats and barges was the result of the
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Industrial Revolution.
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Which problem today is primarily the result of the Industrial Revolution?
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extensive air and water pollution
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At the mouth of the Mississippi River, large concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus flow into the Gulf of Mexico, causing nutrient overloading, algal blooms, and extremely low levels of oxygen. Which revolutions are most responsible for this problem?
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Green Revolution and Industrial Revolution
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An isolated village of about 1,000 people in a developing nation may be hunting and raising only enough crops to feed themselves. Such a village may have fewer than half their children surviving to adulthood. This struggling village primarily reflects the result of which revolution?
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Neolithic Revolution
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This photograph best represents the results of which three revolutions?
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Neolithic Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and Green Revolution
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The greatest human population increases over the next few decades is expected to occur in
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Africa.
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Although people living in the highest-density populations in urban areas generally live long, healthy lives, global overpopulation remains a problem because
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environmental impacts are not always experienced where resources are consumed.
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The amount of land and ocean needed to provide the resources for one person and absorb his/her wastes defines the
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environmental footprint.
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The GINI index assesses
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the relative economic disparity within nations.
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Using the GINI index, more than any other high-income country, the United States has
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the lowest life expectancies, more people in prison, and more children in poverty.
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This figure reveals a drop in growth rate that occurs about 20 years before the number of persons added per year declined. This 20-year lag represents:
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a drop in the number of people reaching reproductive age.
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In this figure, the width of each bar includes a measure of the
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mortality within the age group.
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Which of the following will slow the rate of global population increases?
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delaying the age of first reproduction
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Projections of future world population do not typically include
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migration.
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The age structure of the country in this figure reflects
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a fertility rate that has declined.
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To maintain steady total populations in future decades, most European countries will need to
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accept more immigrants.
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In most developed countries, an epidemiologic transition
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was followed by a fertility transition resulting in a demographic transition.
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Which of the following demonstrates the best application of justice and good stewardship?
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Restrictions on the use of fossil fuels should be proportional to the carbon footprint.
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The social and economic changes in Thailand over the past 50 years have
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slowed population growth significantly.
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Countries that have completed the demographic transition typically have
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good use of technology and high per capita income.
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The most recent Cairo population conference in 1994 found widespread agreement that the greatest way to help developing countries was to
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limit their population growth.
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Why is the green line lower in Latin America than it is in Sub-Saharan Africa?
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Latin American communities have better use of modern medicine.
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The 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development found that the greatest threats to the health of the environment were
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poverty, development, and population growth.
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In general, as a country goes through the demographic transition, it experiences a
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falling dependency ratio that increases the demographic dividend.
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In general, fertility rates
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decrease as per capita income increases.
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A study is conducted to understand how some developing countries have made social and economic progress. Which of the following would be a surprising finding in such a study?
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decreased support of education
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In general, which of the following would best help to reduce extreme poverty?
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programs specifically targeted to bring the poorest nations into the development process
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The Millennium Development Goals focus on
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ending extreme poverty and hunger all over the world.
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Which of the following affects the greatest number of people in the developing world?
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inadequate sanitation
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The region of Kerala in India demonstrates that improvements in health care and longevity are correlated with
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reductions in total fertility rates and a high literacy rate.
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One major effort in developing countries is illustrated in the photo above. This is an effort to
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increase the number of girls in schools.
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What are the expected results of sending at least 50% of children in a developing country to secondary schools?
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healthier children, less poverty and decreased fertility
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Unlike developed countries, children in developing countries often die from
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common ailments such as diarrhea.
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Compared to a person in a developed country, a person in a developing country is about eight times more likely to die from
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communicable diseases.
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With billions of dollars already spent to fight AIDS and the need for much more money, which of the following represents the best strategy to fight AIDS in the world?
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increase preventive measures to slow new infections, especially changes in sexual behavior
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You are a newly appointed advisor in a government project to help move a developing country forward economically. With limited financial resources and staffing, which of the following would be your highest priority?
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help the government promote family planning throughout the country
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Planned Parenthood and the UNFPA are
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international agencies that provide broadly based family planning services in developing nations.
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Microlending has
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produced million of loans, primarily to women, in more than 40 countries.
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The largest reserves of fresh water on Earth are found in
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polar ice caps and glaciers.
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Which of the following are processes that generally reverse each other?
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evaporation and precipitation
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Which of the following contributes the most as a greenhouse gas?
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water vapor levels in the air
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Increasing the kinetic energy of liquid water enough to permit water molecules to break completely away from each other occurs as
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steam forms.
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In the figure, blue water is represented by
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rain.
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Water is naturally purified by
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evaporation and condensation.
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In the western United States, we expect that rain shadows most frequently occur on
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the leeward, east side of mountain ranges.
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Which of the following situations is most likely to have the lowest infiltration-runoff ratio?
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a paved parking lot
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About 99% of all liquid fresh water on Earth is found in
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underground aquifers.
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Gutters and storm sewers in a city are most concerned with the
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surface runoff loop.
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Wetlands store and release water most like which component of the water cycle?
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groundwater reservoirs
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If a plowed farm field was restored to natural prairie, we would expect that
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erosion of the soil would decrease.
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How has converting forests to mostly paved urban areas changed the streams and rivers in the affected watersheds?
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Infiltration shifts to runoff.
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Regions where humans produce high levels of aerosols and dust will most likely experience
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less rainfall, reduced solar radiation to the Earth's surface, and cooler temperatures.
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Oceanographers are studying the thermohaline currents to determine
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whether global climate change may slow or alter their path.
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The greatest worldwide use of water is for
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irrigation.
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Which of the following would cause a rising water table?
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increased precipitation
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As world populations increase
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the greatest increases in water demands will occur in the developing world.
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The single greatest threat to irrigated agriculture is
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groundwater depletion.
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Agricultural fields that must be irrigated to sustain a crop will eventually
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accumulate toxic levels of salts from evaporation.
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Some people have thought that a big solution to water shortages in the southwestern United States is to create a large canal between the Great Lakes and the southwest. Why is this suggestion probably not sustainable?
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It could deplete water levels in the Great Lakes.
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In the figure, the location of deserts in the northern and southern regions of Africa are best explained by understanding
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Hadley cells.
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The wind patterns indicated by arrows in the figure are primarily the result of
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Earth's rotation.
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Which one of the following soil horizons is least likely to be interacting directly with living organisms?
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C horizon
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Which of the following farming practices would be expected to produce the least nutrient leaching, and thus contribute most to soil sustainability?
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no plowing, no irrigation, and the use of organic fertilizers
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At a county fair, the winner of the best garden vegetable competition is asked how she grows such wonderful produce consistently. Wanting not to reveal all of her secrets, she says she uses composted materials. What this gardener is using is
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decomposed organic matter called humus.
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The sustainability of agricultural practices
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decreases if the soil is degraded by erosion or salination.
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Global satellite imagery of land on Earth over the past 20 years reveals
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a net decline in the overall quality of cropland.
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You construct a home in a hilly forested region in Wisconsin. Which of the following would most likely result in the least amount of soil erosion from the surrounding forested hillsides?
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leave most of the forested region alone, in its natural state, and plant a few ornamental trees
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The strips of farmland in this region are used to
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reduce water erosion.
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Which one of the following would cause the greatest soil erosion to a forested hillside?
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cutting down and removing all of the trees
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Irrigation can result in the salinization of soils because
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salts are deposited on the soil surface as water evaporates.
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NGOs such as COSECHA in Central America
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work with village landowners in the roles of \"farmer experimenters\" to develop local sustainable agricultural techniques.
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Subsistence farming
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is the traditional agriculture practiced by humans 12,000 years ago.
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The industrial revolution has greatly impacted global agriculture such that
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agricultural productivity has more than doubled.
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The industrial revolution has led to an increased reliance on fossil fuels to
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power farm machinery and to produce fertilizers and pesticides.
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In the lower 48 states of the United States, the pressure to convert new land into crop production has
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decreased, and the use of erosion-prone land has been reduced.
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The high price of food on the global market is closely related to
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the increased use of fertilizers and the rising cost of fossil fuels to produce fertilizers.
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The method of farming illustrated in this photograph best represents
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subsistence farming.
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The goals of biotechnology currently include
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growing crops that are more resistant to drought and disease.
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In the past 50 years, the global production and availability of grains has
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remained at about 70 days, but importation is still required by most of the developing regions.
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The graph in this figure suggests that
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eating less meat will make more grain available for human consumption.
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Sustainable agriculture in the long term will require
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decreasing the use of fossil fuels and synthetic fertilizers.
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Suffering the impact of swarms of locusts, a farmer uses an airplane to spray an insecticide over 1,500 acres of his corn field. This farmer is trying to address this pest problem by using
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a chemical treatment.
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Pesticide resistance against one pesticide
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can become resistance to many if many are used.
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In the processes of biomagnification and bioaccumulation described in the figure,
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the pesticide has to be non-biodegradable (persistent) for the processes to occur.
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Pesticide exposure has been shown to cause diseases of the
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endocrine and immune systems.
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The pesticides that also function as endocrine disruptors cause disease by
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mimicking the effects of estrogenic hormones.
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In any food web, biomagnification will result in the highest concentrations of toxins in the
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highest trophic level.
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Colony collapse disorder
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is thought to be caused by a combination of pesticides, pathogens, hive pests or other synergistic toxic chemicals.
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Using a broad spectrum chemical pesticide would be counterproductive if you were relying on
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natural enemies control.
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To meet current USDA organic food standards, 100% organic certified foods may be
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meat, grains, or vegetables.
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Indonesia has become a model for other rice growing nations because
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they switched from heavy pesticide spraying to IPM with help from the FAO.
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