Environmental Science Exam Review
Course Introduction
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the complex interactions between humans and the environment. This course examines key topics such as ecosystems, biodiversity, natural resources, pollution, and climate change, emphasizing both scientific principles and the social, political, and economic factors influencing environmental decision-making. Students will engage with case studies, current environmental issues, and sustainability initiatives, developing critical thinking skills necessary to assess human impact on the environment and to propose strategies for conservation and sustainable management of natural resources.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Ecology 4th Edition by Michael Begon
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14 Chapters
702 Verified Questions
702 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Ecology and How to Do It
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Sample Questions
Q1) You have gathered historical data on the prevalence of a pathogen throughout a population of bats.You have also learned the dynamics of transmission and the rate of infection.You want to know how this pathogen may spread to other colonies of bats adjacent to the population you are studying.What might be a good way to do this?
A) Inoculate the adjacent colonies and watch to see how the pathogen spreads on its own
B) Bring all the bats into captivity and expose them to the pathogen then measure how the bats from each colony respond
C) Set up a field experiment where the prey spread the pathogen naturally
D) Use historical data, the knowledge of its infection rate, and population dynamics to create a model and predict how it might spread.
Answer: D
Q2) An annual plant:
A) Completes its life cycle over many years
B) Completes a whole generation in a single year
C) Is a persistent plant that may not produce in its early years
D) Completes half a generation its first year
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Ecologys Evolutionary Backdrop
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Sample Questions
Q1) You collect individuals from a species of salamanders from several localities across an elevational transect ranging from sea level to approximately 2000 meters above sea level.The salamanders collected from 2000 meters above sea level develop the fastest,whereas those from sea level and intermediate sites developed more slowly.This is an example of:
A) Hybridization
B) Counter gradient variation
C) Sympatric speciation
D) Allopatric speciation
Answer: B
Q2) A male bullfrog (Rana catesbeianus)is found to mate with more females and produce more offspring than any other male in a pond being studied.What would you say about this bullfrog's fitness?
A) This males fitness is low compared to all other males in the pond
B) This males fitness is intermediate compared to other males in the pond
C) This males fitness is the highest of all other males sampled in the pond
D) This male must have the loudest vocalization and be most aggressive
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: Physical Conditions and the Availability of Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Morphological examples of crypsis include
A) A species that is brightly colored
B) A species that resembles some part of the environment that is inedible
C) A species that matches the color of the environment
D) A species with a pattern that disrupts their outline
Answer: B,C,D
Q2) Competition between individuals of the same species is which type of competition?
A) Interspecific competition
B) Intraspecific competition
C) Heterotrophic competition
D) Disruptive competition
Answer: B
Q3) Competition between individuals of the same species can have effects on their
A) Survival
B) Growth
C) Reproduction
D) Access to mates
Answer: A,B,C,D
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Chapter 4: Climate and the Worlds Biomes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Biodiversity is great at deep sea hot vents.One type of organism you would expect to see at these vents is:
A) A carnivore
B) A chemo-autotroph
C) A species that undergoes photosynthesis
D) A chemo-heterotroph
Q2) What atmospheric effect is responsible for the severe desert conditions found in Death Valley California?
A) Prevailing winds hitting the side of the mountain range where Death Valley is found.
B) Death Valley California is the result of geological processes, not atmospheric.
C) A rain shadow.
D) Anthropogenic-induced climate change.
Q3) What type of plant grows on other plants and is often rooted on the damp upper branches?
A) Neophyte
B) Saprophyte
C) Epiphyte
D) Mycorrhizae
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Chapter 5: Birth, Death and Movement
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Sample Questions
Q1) You have studied a population of garter snakes to understand how recruitment changes over time.When the density of snakes was at an average of 5 per 50 square meters recruitment was low.When that density increased to 20 per 50 square meters recruitment was also low.However,when densities were near 12 garter snakes per 50 square meters recruitment was at its highest.This is an example of a ___________ curve.
A) Calibration
B) Dome-shaped net-recruitment
C) Type I
D) Sigmoidal
Q2) You are studying salamanders to test if offspring fitness is affected by the number of eggs a female oviposits.What you learn is that females that lay more eggs produce smaller offspring.This is an example of ________ and means that there is __________ to high reproductive output for these salamanders.
A) r species; a benefit
B) a tradeoff; a cost
C) k species; a benefit
D) a tradeoff; an advantage
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Chapter 6: Interspecific Competition
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Sample Questions
Q1) Species living in _____ live in the same place.
A) Allopatry.
B) Sympatry.
C) Pleiotropy.
D) Differentiated niches.
Q2) Fires in the Mojave Dessert are occurring more frequently because of the introduction of nonnative grasses that have become invasive.How are these grasses able to persist?
A) The grasses are able to outcompete native plants for space.
B) The grasses are able to grow back faster than native plants.
C) The grasses do not persist, and instead die after a fire.
D) The grasses have evolved fire resistance and they don't burn.
Q3) Some ant species from Africa were best at competing for space,but were worst at colonizing.This is an example of ________
A) Coexistence.
B) Interspecific competition.
C) Niche differentiation.
D) A trade-off.
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8
Chapter 7: Predation, Grazing and Disease
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Sample Questions
Q1) Parasites are like predators in that they:
A) Can reduce the competitive impacts of otherwise dominant competitors
B) Can reduce the fitness of the organism on which they are preying upon or parasitizing
C) Typically remove one individual from a population
D) There impacts are not at all similar
Q2) Which type of organism typically does not kill their prey,but consumes part of each prey item,and does not need a host?
A) True predator
B) Grazer
C) Parasite
D) Parasitoid
Q3) Which term defines an organism that reduces the growth,fecundity,or survival of another living organism that it consumes?
A) Prey
B) Saprotroph
C) Predator
D) Producer
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9
Chapter 8: Molecular and Evolutionary Ecology
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is a molecular marker?
A) It is a section of DNA sequence that can be used to characterize variation in nucleotide bases
B) It is DNA from the mitochondrion
C) It is a part of the genome that does not code for a protein
D) It is a section of DNA sequences that can be used to evaluate polymorphisms
Q2) Which molecular marker is a series of nucleotide bases repeated numerous times and is found in noncoding regions of DNA?
A) SNP
B) DNA barcode
C) Polymorphism
D) Microsatellite
Q3) What reasons explain why Myxomatosis virulence declined in European rabbits outside of their native range?
A) Myxoma evolved toward becoming benign
B) Myxoma virulence was selected against
C) Intermediate virulence was selected for
D) There was selection for increased transmissibility
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Chapter 9: From Populations to Communities
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Q1) If all trophic levels are being controlled by the abundance of resources available to plants it would be called _____________.
A) Bottom up control.
B) Top down control
C) Trophic limitation
D) Producer limitation
Q2) If one were to plot species numbers in a community after a disturbance over a long time period
A) Species numbers would be lowest right after a significant disturbance.
B) Species numbers would be highest midway through the time toward climax community.
C) Species numbers would decrease as better competitors colonized.
D) Species numbers would theoretically be hump shaped with time.
Q3) Beavers build dams that create flooding that creates abundant aquatic habitat.They might be considered ______________?
A) Mesopredators
B) Megapredators
C) Keystone species
D) Top down controllers
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Patterns in Species Richness
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Sample Questions
Q1) You are fishing in a large lake.You are not after any particular species you just want to catch fish.You would choose a fishing lure that:
A) Dives to the bottom of the lake.
B) Stays at the surface of the lake.
C) Goes to intermediate lake depths.
D) Goes to a depth where the lure would still be illuminated and thus visible to fish.
Q2) Deep sea communities of gastropods and bivalve mollusk species rely on which of the following as a resource?
A) Particulate organic carbon
B) Ultraviolet radiation
C) Photosynthetic plants for habitat and coverage
D) None of the above
Q3) Which of the following would be considered an island where species diversity would be limited by area?
A) A lake
B) An island in the Pacific ocean
C) A gap of forest cleared
D) Soil that has much less phosphorous and nitrogen than the soil surrounding it
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Chapter 11: The Flux of Energy and Matter Through Ecosystems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which biome has the greatest overall NPP?
A) Tropical rain forest
B) Tundra
C) Tropical savanna
D) Temperate forest
Q2) Where would photosynthetic efficiency be lowest?
A) A conifer forest
B) A deciduous forest
C) A tropical rain forest
D) A desert
Q3) Which of the following choices refers to the rate of production of new biomass that would be available for consumption by bacteria,fungi,or animals?
A) Net primary productivity
B) Gross primary productivity
C) Secondary productivity
D) Net ecosystem productivity
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Chapter 12: Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Alteration by Humans
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sulfur pollution was primarily responsible for what environmental problem in North America and Europe?
A) Eutrophication
B) Desertification
C) Desalinization
D) Acid rain
Q2) If you conducted a whole-ecosystem experiment and manipulated temperature,which of the following would you expect to happen?
A) Overall, NEP would affected
B) NPP would be affected
C) Overall, NEP would not be affected
D) Ecosystem respiration would be affected
Q3) Coastal marshes contribute little to no methane to the atmosphere due to high levels of ________.
A) Nitrogen
B) Carbon
C) Sulfate
D) None of the above
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Chapter 13: Conservation Ecology
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Sample Questions
Q1) With regard to the size of a marine protected area (MPA),you would expect a MPA that is 50% of the size of an adjacent MPA to be __________ at protecting a fish population.
A) Less effective
B) More effective
C) Just as effective as a larger MPA
D) 50% less effective
Q2) It is often difficult to identify populations at risk because?
A) Populations often fluctuate a great deal over time.
B) Models fail to take into account the life history data of species
C) It is impossible to follow populations over time
D) There are usually few genetic data available to examine genetic diversity
Q3) The results of a study of southern dunlin in Sweden showed that _______.
A) As the population declined, mating pairs found individuals with rare alleles
B) As time progressed, the population size recovered
C) The offspring of mated close relatives were less likely to hatch
D) More eggs hatched from more closely related mating pairs than less closely related mating pairs.
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Chapter 14: The Ecology of Human Population Growth, Disease,
and Food
Supply
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which is true about the human consumption of fish?
A) Wild capture continues to supply the majority of fish
B) Aquaculture supplies have increased dramatically in the last 30 years
C) Wild fisheries have uniformly been underexploited
D) Wild fisheries have increased dramatically in the last 30 years
Q2) Predicting the future global population is difficult because
A) The earth has a fixed carrying capacity
B) Food production capabilities fluctuate
C) North American populations are unpredictable
D) It is difficult to know future fertility rates
Q3) Changing global patterns have affected patterns of infection.Even in countries with sophisticated sanitation,there are still thousands of fatalities and hospitalizations due to what?
A) Heat stroke
B) Smog poisoning
C) Sports injuries
D) Food-borne illness
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