Introduction to Ecology Final Exam
Course Introduction
Introduction to Ecology explores the fundamental principles governing the relationships between organisms and their environments. The course covers topics such as ecosystems, energy flow, nutrient cycling, population dynamics, community interactions, and the impact of human activities on natural systems. Through theoretical frameworks and practical examples, students gain an understanding of ecological processes at various scales, from individual species to entire ecosystems, and develop critical thinking skills for analyzing environmental issues and promoting sustainability.
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Environmental Science 12th Edition by Wright
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Chapter 1: Science and the Environment
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Q1) All scientific investigations are initially founded upon
A)good observations.
B)good experiments.
C)multiple hypotheses,some of which are unanswerable.
D)an already accepted theory.
Answer: A
Q2) In 2013 most species in the world go extinct because
A)of new diseases spread by human contact.
B)humans harvest them or kill them as pests.
C)of loss of habitat.
D)global climate change is causing their environments to rapidly change.
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following has been the most recent political response to efforts of the environmental movement?
A)increased efforts for deregulation
B)increased attention to sources of radiation
C)increased reliance upon fossil fuels
D)decreased reliance upon technology
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Economics, Politics, and Public Policy
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Q1) Rising per capita income is associated with A)decreasing needs for recycling.
B)cleaner air and safer water.
C)increased risks of respiratory disease.
D)increased frequency of water-borne diseases.
Answer: B
Q2) In response to environmental problems,the Chinese government has
A)increasingly relied upon local,non-governmental groups to monitor and respond.
B)simply agreed that these are the costs associated with economic prosperity.
C)insisted on centralized government control and removed power from local governments.
D)refused to recognize any long-term problems associated with air and water pollution.
Answer: A
Q3) Because of rising environmental and social costs of economic activity,the
A)gap between the GDP and GPI has increased.
B)gap between the GDP and GPI has decreased.
C)GDP has remained stable while the GPI has grown.
D)GDP has declined while the GPI has increased.
Answer: A
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Basic Needs of Living Things
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Sample Questions
Q1) Energy
A)and nutrients flow one way through ecosystems.
B)and nutrients both cycle within ecosystems.
C)cycles within ecosystems,while nutrients flow only one way through ecosystems.
D)flows one way through ecosystems,but nutrients cycle within ecosystems.
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following statements is not true of the sulfur cycle?
A)Most sulfur is found in rocks and minerals.
B)Unlike nitrogen and carbon,organisms do not require or contain sulfur.
C)Atmospheric sulfur dioxide is contributed when humans burn fossil fuels.
D)a natural source of sulfate in soils is weathering of rocks.
Answer: B
Q3) The Haber-Bosch process creates nitrogenous fertilizers by
A)extracting reactive nitrogen from soils.
B)converting nitrogen gas and hydrogen to ammonia.
C)extracting nitrogen oxides from the gases produced when fossil fuels are burned.
D)allowing vegetative detritus to break down under anaerobic conditions.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Populations and Communities
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Q1) Sumatran rhino populations have declined steadily to a point near extinction.Because of its population decline,this unusual forest-dwelling rhino is near its
A)carrying capacity and is officially listed as threatened.
B)carrying capacity and is officially listed as endangered.
C)critical number and is officially listed as threatened.
D)critical number and is officially listed as endangered.
Q2) When a single species evolves into two species,the new species must A)be reproductively isolated.
B)evolve different diets.
C)be exposed to the same selective pressures.
D)live on a different continent.
Q3) Which of the following represents a type of mutualism?
A)A red-tailed hawk pounces on a field mouse for dinner.
B)A large herd of zebra graze lazily across the broad savannah.
C)A mosquito draws a blood meal from the back of an elk.
D)A honeybee feeds on nectar at a flower on an orange tree and pollinates the flower.
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Chapter 5: Ecosystems: Energy, Patterns, and Disturbance
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Q1) Which one of the following best represents a negative tipping point?
A)logging trees and preventing their regrowth in a forest
B)allowing natural wildfires to burn wherever they occur
C)allowing resilience mechanisms to function after a wildfire
D)relying upon bordering systems to repopulate a region that has been flooded
Q2) Restoration ecologists try to
A)restore destroyed or damaged ecosystems to their native conditions.
B)create new ecosystems with new ecosystem functions to gain ecosystem capital.
C)create enclosures for zoos that imitate the abiotic components of natural environments.
D)include ecosystems in national forests and parks where people can best interact with nature.
Q3) Examine the food web described by this figure.What would happen if the population of zooplankton decreased suddenly by 80% and stayed low for several years?
A)the arctic cod population would decrease
B)the phytoplankton population would decrease
C)the bearded seal population would increase
D)the beluga whale population would increase
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Chapter 6: Wild Species and Biodiversity
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Q1) Plants that can best resist a variety of environmental challenges are most likely
A)domesticated plants with little genetic variation.
B)cultivars with little genetic variation.
C)wild plants with high degrees of variation.
D)wild plants with low degrees of variation.
Q2) Which one of the following least represents ecosystem capital?
A)oil and natural gas reserves buried underground
B)prairies and forests that reduce erosion
C)introduced species that change environments
D)natural populations of salmon in the oceans
Q3) 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 A)bioengineering.
B)transnational corporations.
C)bioprospecting.
D)creating seed banks.
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8
Chapter 7: The Use and Restoration of Ecosystems
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Q1) The maximum sustainable yield for most populations must be recalculated every year because
A)commercial demand for the product is variable.
B)the cost of producing products depends upon varying costs of labor.
C)changing environmental conditions produce variations in carrying capacity.
D)carrying capacities show large fluctuations even in stable environments of the environment is stable.
Q2) In general,as income levels rise,dependence on wild income
A)increases and consumptive use increases.
B)increases but consumptive use decreases.
C)deceases but consumptive use increases.
D)deceases and consumptive use decreases.
Q3) Which one of the following statements is true?
A)Forest ecosystems contain about half as much carbon as is contained in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
B)Most deforestation occurs in North America and Europe.
C)Forests cover about 10% of the total land area of Earth.
D)Globally,the amount of forests protected as reserves or parks is on the increase.
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Chapter 8: The Human Population
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Q1) Women in two developed countries have similar total fertility rates of 3.5.However,women in country A typically have their children about 2 years earlier than women in country B.How will the populations of the two countries compare?
A)The populations of both countries will be stable,with similar totals and little increase or decrease.
B)The population of country A will increase faster than country B.
C)The population of country B will increase faster than country A.
D)The population of country A will increase but the population of country B will decline.
Q2) The "baby boom echo," represented by people who are 20-29 years old in 2010,is the result of
A)increased fertility of the baby boom generation.
B)reduced infant mortality rates.
C)reproduction of the baby boom generation.
D)increased use of birth control in the 1970s.
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Chapter 9: Population and Development
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Q1) Which of the following is a part of family-planning services?
A)instruction on breast-feeding
B)advice on the best timing of an additional pregnancy following a birth
C)education to reduce the risks of sexually transmitted disease
D)All of the above.
Q2) Which of the following descriptions is most characteristic of the world's poorest people?
A)On her way to high school,a young girl walks along a path at the edge of a rice field.
B)Filling a pot with water from a community water reserve,a mother prepares to make a meal of rice and fish,barely enough to feed her husband and two children.
C)A thin man in his 80s,smoking a cigarette,makes his way to cast a ballot in a national election.
D)In a large city,a 12 year-old boy sits under a stack of tin he calls home,unable to read the nearby billboards.
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Chapter 10: Water: Hydrologic Cycle and Human Use
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Sample Questions
Q1) A zookeeper arrives at work and begins her day by filling up the coffeemaker with tap water.Washing some vegetables off in a sink,she prepares meals for the monkeys.Later in the day,she washes down the animals enclosures into the zoos sewage system and sprinkles the plants growing in a nearby garden.What did the zookeeper do that represents a consumptive use of water?
A)using tap water for coffee
B)using water to wash food
C)using water for the garden
D)using water to clean out a cage
Q2) As a cold front moves into an area of warm,moist air,we would expect to see cloud formation as
A)the warm air rises and condenses.
B)the cold air rises and condenses.
C)evaporation and transpiration increase.
D)high altitude air masses fall and condense.
Q3) Which of the following are processes that generally reverse each other?
A)evaporation and precipitation
B)transpiration and evaporation
C)precipitation and infiltration
D)condensation and infiltration
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Chapter 11: Soil: Foundation for Land Ecosystems
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Q1) A soil that has become mineralized will have
A)more earthworms,more humus,and more sand.
B)fewer earthworms,less humus,and more sand,silt,or clay.
C)more detritus,more fungi,but less aeration.
D)more detritus,more bacteria,but less water-holding capacity.
Q2) Detritus feeders and decomposers are most likely found in the
A)E and B horizon.
B)A and O horizon.
C)B and C horizon.
D)C and E horizon.
Q3) A farm field that has used only inorganic fertilizer for the past 20 years is most likely to have
A)fewer soil organisms and less soil structure but increased nutrient holding capacity.
B)fewer soil organisms,less soil structure,and decreased nutrient holding capacity.
C)more soil organisms,more soil structure,and increased nutrient holding capacity.
D)more soil organisms,less soil structure,and decreased nutrient holding capacity.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Production and Distribution of Food
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Q1) To encourage the development of sustainable agriculture,U.S.national agricultural policies will need to support all of the following,except
A)incorporating economic "externalities" such as soil degradation,pollution and overuse of water supplies.
B)more job creation in agriculture.
C)continued support and subsidy of large farms.
D)support of urban and organic agriculture.
Q2) Malnutrition and undernourishment in the developing world most often kill
A)children from lowered resistance to disease.
B)the elderly who already have low resistance to disease.
C)pregnant women who are already stressed by pregnancy.
D)men who are employed in positions of hard labor.
Q3) Ethanol production in the United States
A)is likely to decline soon as the price for corn as food increases.
B)accounts for only 5% of the U.S.crop.
C)will likely increase,making less corn available to people and livestock as food.
D)has not contributed to rises in corn prices.
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Chapter 13: Pests and Pest Control
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Q1) First published in 1962,the book Silent Spring helped to establish
A)the modern civil rights movement.
B)modern environmental movement.
C)the Food and Drug Administration.
D)the National Wildlife Federation.
Q2) Flies are destroying your crop despite years of investing in pesticides.Investigating an ecological pest control approach,you learn that the female flies that are killing your crop mate only once,lay their eggs,and then die.In fact,you can purchase sterile male flies to release around your crop to keep these flies from reproducing.Such a strategy represents
A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.
Q3) DDT was widely used,and remains in use today in some countries,to fight malaria by
A)killing the parasite that causes malaria.
B)fouling the water used by mosquitoes for reproduction.
C)killing the virus that causes malaria.
D)killing mosquitoes that are the major malarial vector.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Energy From Fossil Fuels
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Q1) The best long-term solution to the pressing energy problems in the United States is
A)finding new sources of oil in the United States.
B)turning to fuels buried in our vast national forests.
C)increased reliance upon coal.
D)developing non-fossil fuel resources.
Q2) A blackout like the eight-state blackout of 2003 could be prevented by A)using energy efficient lights in most businesses.
B)a self-healing smart electrical grid.
C)switching from coal to natural gas for electrical generation.
D)greater use of electricity during the work week instead of weekends.
Q3) In the United States from the Civil War to World War II,the most important fuel was A)natural gas.
B)coal.
C)wood.
D)oil.
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16
Chapter 15: Nuclear Power
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Q1) The general U.S.government response to possible terrorism at nuclear power plants since 2001 has been
A)limited to a few unenforced regulations.
B)to convert nuclear facilities to military installations with state of the art security.
C)enhanced security at plants and at spent fuel storage pools.
D)nothing,because of budget cuts brought about by the 2008 recession.
Q2) About 17,000 Russian nuclear warheads have been
A)stored widely in the former Soviet Union where they remain today with minimal protection.
B)dismantled,but their nuclear waste remains in Russian facilities with minimal security.
C)dismantled,with the nuclear fuel purchased by the United States for its nuclear power plants.
D)concentrated in two centralized Russian locations with high levels of security,awaiting long-term storage.
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17
Chapter 16: Renewable Energy
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Q1) Which one of the following illustrates a consumptive use of biomass energy of a forest?
A)Indigenous peoples harvest tagua nuts from trees in a rain forest,carve them into animal sculptures,and sell them in the local market to tourists.
B)Hiking through a forest in the Appalachian mountains,some college students gather dead branches from the ground to make a fire to cook dinner.
C)Native people living in a Brazilian rain forest earn money by collecting exotic fruits and nuts and selling them in the local city markets.
D)In downstate Illinois,a farmer cuts up dead standing trees from a forest on his property and delivers the firewood to people living in the suburbs of St.Louis.
Q2) Unlike solar and wind facilities,coal-burning and nuclear power plants
A)can be constructed more quickly.
B)can be added gradually as demand grows.
C)can consistently generate electricity at night.
D)do not pose as great a security risk.
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Chapter 17: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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Q1) A recent study indicated that more than 60% of human pathogens are zoonotic,meaning that they
A)can infect any animal species.
B)originate in humans and spread to various species of animals.
C)can be transmitted between animals and humans.
D)are invariably fatal in animals but can cause serious illness to humans.
Q2) The people in this photograph are using
A)a bed net for mosquito vector control.
B)antibiotic-treated white sheets to kill the parasite the causes malaria.
C)a bed raised off the ground to prevent malarial infection by ticks.
D)a DDT-treated tent and sheets strategy that kills the parasite that causes malaria.
Q3) Some milk becomes contaminated with mercury.If each of the following people consume 16 ounces of this contaminated milk each day for a month,who will most likely be impacted by this poison?
A)an 82-year-old woman
B)a fetus inside a mother who drinks this contaminated milk
C)a 12-year-old girl
D)a 51-year-old man
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19
Chapter 18: Global Climate Change
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Q1) When an automobile heats up in bright sunlight with windows rolled up,the glass in the car functions most like
A)rain in the atmosphere.
B)clouds in the atmosphere.
C)sulfate aerosol in the atmosphere.
D)carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Q2) The destruction of the ozone layer primarily occurs in the A)mesosphere.
B)thermosphere.
C)stratosphere.
D)troposphere.
Q3) If you traveled along the North Atlantic Deep Water Current,you would most likely flow from waters near
A)South Africa to Iceland.
B)Brazil to Japan.
C)Iceland to California.
D)Brazil to South Africa.
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Chapter 19: Atmospheric Pollution
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Q1) Assuming that these people do not use tobacco products,a person in which of the following professions would most likely have the highest exposure to benzene,a known carcinogen?
A)a truck driver or pharmaceutical company worker
B)a cashier at a grocery store
C)an accountant working in a large office building
D)a psychology professor
Q2) Forests that experience high levels of acid precipitation expose trees to soil that has
A)less dissolved calcium and aluminum.
B)more dissolved calcium and aluminum.
C)more dissolved calcium but less dissolved aluminum.
D)less dissolved calcium and more dissolved aluminum.
Q3) A temperature inversion occurs when
A)high levels of sunshine burn off a fog.
B)regions experience high winds and intense sunshine.
C)the air near the ground is cooler than the air directly above it.
D)the air near the ground is warmer than the air at higher altitudes.
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Chapter 20: Water Pollution and Its Prevention
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Q1) The EPA's efforts to enforce the Clean Water Act for CAFOs,mountaintop removal mining,and storm water discharges have been opposed by A)political interests supporting the industries affected by regulation. B)fishing organizations.
C)supporters of the Endangered Species Act.
D)the CDC on the grounds that regulation will increase water-borne diseases.
Q2) One of the most common sources of phosphate pollution that has led to eutrophication has resulted from the use of A)dishwashing detergents.
B)gasoline additives.
C)toothpastes.
D)artificial sweeteners.
Q3) While the duckweed continues to cover the water's surface of this pond undergoing eutrophication,it is most likely that the water clarity will A)be high and the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation will increase.
B)be high but the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation will decrease.
C)decrease and the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation will increase.
D)decrease and the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation will decrease.
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Chapter 21: Municipal Solid Waste: Disposal and Recovery
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Q1) Which of the following items experiences the lowest levels of recycling?
A)aluminum containers
B)glass containers
C)thin plastic grocery bags
D)newspapers
Q2) Which of the following products is difficult to recycle,clogs sewer pipes,and kills thousands of marine mammals and turtles every year?
A)aluminum and steel cans
B)plastic bottles
C)glass containers
D)thin plastic grocery bags
Q3) One of the greatest drawbacks of using incinerators to burn MSW is that incinerators
A)add to air pollution in the region.
B)increase the mass of MSW entering the landfills.
C)generate large volumes of toxins that otherwise would not need to be managed.
D)require large amounts of coal to burn the MSW.
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Chapter 22: Hazardous Chemicals: Pollution and Prevention
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Q1) In January 2010,three California Condors died when they accidentally ate lead ammunition used to kill the animals they were consuming.The California Condors' deaths represent an example of
A)acute toxic effects of consuming high levels of lead.
B)chronic toxic effects of lead resulting from biomagnification.
C)chronic toxic effects of lead resulting from bioaccumulation.
D)chronic toxic effects of lead resulting from biomagnification and bioaccumulation.
Q2) After cleaning up a lawn mower,Jason piles up a bunch of gas and oil soaked rags in the corner of the garage.During the night,the rags undergo spontaneous combustion,setting fire to the garage before the fire could be extinguished.According to HAZMAT guidelines,these rags exhibited a dangerous level of A)ignitability.
B)toxicity.
C)neutrality.
D)corrosivity.
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Chapter 23: Sustainable Communities and Lifestyles
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Q1) Cities that move toward sustainability will have to do all of these,except
A)promote social justice.
B)manage growth.
C)fight environmental degradation.
D)greatly expand highways and parking facilities.
Q2) Over the past 60 years,as people moved from U.S.cities to suburbs,the people that were left behind in the cities were primarily
A)older,poor people representing ethnic minorities.
B)younger,wealthy people representing ethnic minorities.
C)older and wealthy Caucasians.
D)younger Caucasians.
Q3) Bottle bills that help to recycle glass and aluminum illustrate
A)sound science.
B)stewardship.
C)sustainability.
D)sound science,stewardship,and sustainability.
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