Review Questions in Preparation for 3rd Midterm
Environmental Biology, ECOL206, Bonine, Cao, Epps, spring 2009
Threats to Aquatic Ecosystems (04 March)
List four threats to estuaries.
Are threats to Mangrove estuaries different?
Describe the major threats to whales and other marine species.
What is the vaquita, where can you find it, and why is it threatened?
Why do tuna have lots of mercury in them? Where does the mercury come from?
What are the threats to oceans?
How do plastics affect marine species?
What is a dead zone? What causes one?
Why are the oceans becoming more acidic?
Explain what trawling is?
Define bycatch.
What are the major threats to lakes, wetlands, and rivers?
Why is New Orleans sinking?
What are threats to tropical forests? What aquatic habitats are found up in the canopy?
What are threats to glaciers? To Antarctic ice?
Define phenology.
Explain the Greenhouse Effect. Is it a natural phenomenon or human-caused?
Water (06 & 27 & 30 March)
How does monofilament affect aquatic animals?
What are the regulations on bottled water in the US?
What does a sewage treatment plant mimic?
Define watershed. Define aquifer. Define recharge. Define channelization.
How do dams affect species like salmon both as they go upstream and as they go downstream?
Provide three reasons why dams do not have an infinite lifespan.
How much water does it take to make a car, a kilogram of beef, and a kilogram of rice?
In most countries in the world, ______consumes the most water; more than industry and the public combined.
Explain subsidence, fossil water, and salt-water intrusion.
Why and where do we move water in the US?
Provide one example of a way to make irrigation more efficient.
Do you think that countries will go to war over water in the next 50 years? Why or why not?
How can individuals use less water in their homes/apartments?
Why is it challenging to raise the price of water in the US?
Explain the difference between point and non-point sources of pollution.
How do paper mills and gasoline stations generally influence water quality? How about industrial meat production facilities?
GM Foods (09 March)
Who were the four groups?
Why did the Vietnamese farmers argue in favor of GM foods? Are there arguments you could use to convince them that GM foods were not in their best interest?
Why did Monsanto do well in the debate?
Food Production (11 March)
Define under-, mal-, and over-nutrition.
Explain how subsistence farming and cash crops influence farmers in small villages in developing countries.
Define the Green Revolution. What are some characteristics associated with green revolution-type agriculture?
Describe some of the pros and cons of pesticide use.
How would you characterize farming in Iowa as compared to farming in Vietnam?
What is corn used for? Where was it domesticated?
Explain how the corn blight in the 1970s was caused by, and then reversed, through differences in genetic material in the corn plants.
How do Greenpeace and Monsanto each attempt to brand themselves to the public? What are the similarities and differences?
Define pesticide. Why do pesticides have a finite period of effectiveness?
Give an example of genetically modified or bioengineered plants that have ‘escaped’ their original location or species.
How is genetic modification different from cross breeding?
Why do animals in industrial food production facilities receive antibiotics? What are the implications to human health of widespread use of antibiotics in the meat industry?
Why do almond growers rent bees?
What three crops provide 50% of human calories around the world? How does/did the diets of indigenous groups differ with respect to number of food species eaten?
In the US, how far does the average piece of food travel before it reaches the grocery store?
How is Bt corn made and what is the role of the Bt component? How might pollen from Bt corn negatively impact native, non-pest insects?
Mike Worobey, AIDS (13 March 2009)
Review your notes.
Rob Robichaux, Hawaiian Silverswords (25 March 2009)
Define adaptive radiation and give an example.
What does it mean to “prepare for Loihi”?
What are the major threats to Hawaii’s native plants?
How many native terrestrial mammals and social insects are there in Hawaii?
Why did Robichaux argue that some silversword species would be doomed to extinction without human intervention even if all the invasive ungulates were removed from their habitat?
What is potentially problematic about a reintroduction program based on the offspring from only one or two founders?
What are some of the common native pollinators of silverswords? Of lobeliads?
Energy (30 March & 03 April)
What percentage of Americans drive to work alone? What percentage of economic activity in the US is related to the automobile?
Based on what information do many people argue that gasoline should cost approx. $8/gallon or more?
Define externality.
What are the different sources of energy used in the US?
Explain the concept of net energy.
How is the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics related to energy-use efficiency?
What are the pros and cons of using coal as an energy source? Oil? Nuclear?
What arguments are used in favor and against storing nuclear waste at YuccaMountain?
Describe four types of ‘alternative’ energy. Why are each of these not a greater part of our collective energy sources?
What did Amory Lovins have to say on the topic of externalities and different energy sources?
What are the pros and cons of ethanol as a fuel? How about hydrogen fuel cells?
Urbanization & Sprawl (03 & 10 April)
What happened to Macho B? What might be the biggest barrier to maintaining a jaguar population in Arizona?
What are some of the effects on ecosystems and human societies of urbanization and sprawl?
What are effects on desert tortoises of habitat fragmentation by freeways, canals, and neighborhoods?
What analogy was used to describe the effectiveness of new highway construction on traffic congestion?
Drilling for Oil in ANWR? (06 April 2009)
Who were the different stakeholders in the debate?
Describe three traits that you associate with an effective debater.
Which group had more facts on hand to defend and support their arguments? Which group demonstrated the most charismatic personalities?
What happened in Prince William Sound 20 years ago? Are their still evident effects today?
Climate Change (10 April 2009)
What is the IPCC? What did they win recently? Who shared the award?
What does Tom Swetnam direct?
Explain what the greenhouse effect is.
What are four important greenhouse gases?
Why does Carbon Dioxide level in the atmosphere oscillate annually?
What evidence is there for global climate change? Is it all about warming?
What are the implications for water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health if average global temperatures continue to rise?
What has changed the most in the past 200 years that likely explains much of the change in average global temperature?
Define phenology and explain the implications of climate change on phenology.
On average, what part of the globe is heating up the fastest?
What kind of evidence do scientists use to compare today’s climate and atmospheric conditions with conditions as much as half a million years ago?
Climate Change Debate (13 April)
Who were the representative groups involved in the debate? What struck you as the most effective argument in the debate?
For Mike Worobey’s lecture and for the field trips and labs, I will ask MJ and Tuan to generate appropriate questions. Please do not neglect to study & review that material.
I used my lecture notes to generate the questions in this file. Questions from your assigned readings are also fair-game.
-KEB, 09 April 2009
Water conservation information that may interest you. This material is NOT on your exam:
“The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives”
- Native American Proverb.
Some good local water-conservation information:
General Water-Saving Tips:
Water Conservation Facts and Tips:
On a daily basis, the people of the United States, directly and indirectly, use more than 380 billion gallons, or approximately 1,668 gallons per person.
In a typical western city, we use approximately 500 gallons per day per household, and an average of 150 gallons per household are used before breakfast.
In Australia, the average daily use is 876 gallons. In Great Britain they use approximately 185 gallons per day and in Switzerland they only use 77 gallons per person per day.
Indirect uses also add up quickly:
- Each gallon of gasoline per week requires 1,000 gallons to produce.
- Each can of soda requires 29,000 gallons.
- Each newspaper requires 66,000 gallons.
- Each glass of restaurant water requires two glasses of water for washing and rinsing.
MoreWATER CONSERVATION FACTS AND TIPS
Less than 2% of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water.
Of all the earth's water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas.
Only 1% of the earth's water is available for drinking water. Two percent is frozen.
The human body is about 75% water.
A person can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water.
Every day in the United States, we drink about 110 million gallons of water.
Landscaping accounts for about half the water Californians use at home. Showers account for another 18 percent, while toilets use about 20 percent.
Showering and bathing are the largest indoor uses (27%) of water domestically.
The average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day.
If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once eachsecond, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away.
There are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot of water. Therefore, 2000 cubic feet of water is 14,960 gallons.
An acre foot of water is about 326,000 gallons. One-half acre foot is enough to meet the needs of a typical family for a year. There are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot of water.
It takes 3.3 acre feet of water to grow enough food for an average family for a year.
A leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day.
One flush of the toilet uses 6 ½ gallons of water. An average bath requires 37 gallons of water.
An average family of four uses 881 gallons of water per week just by flushing the toilet.
The average 5-minute shower takes 15-25 gallons of water--around 40 gallons are used in 10 minutes.
Take short showers instead of baths. A full bathtub requires about 36 gallons of water.
You use about 5 gallons of water if you leave the water running while brushing your teeth.
If you water your grass and trees more heavily, but less often, this saves water and builds stronger roots.
Each person needs to drink about 2 ½quarts (80 ounces) of water every day.
Water your lawn only when it needs it. If you step on the grass and it springs back up when you move, it doesn’t need water. If it stays flat, it does need water.
Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full.
When washing a car, use soap and water from a bucket. Use a hose with a shut-off nozzle for rinsing.
Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning.
Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet.
When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water. Quickly rinse under a slow-moving stream from the faucet.
An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of waterwhile hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons.
Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.
Water lawns during the early morning hours, or evening when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation.
Do not hose down your driveway or sidewalk. Use a broom to clean leaves and other debris from these areas. Using a hose to clean a driveway wastes hundreds of gallons of water.
Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth or shaving. Get in the habit of turning off the water when it’s not being used.
Use of bowl of water to clean fruits & vegetables rather than running water over them. You can reuse this for your house plants.
Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use.
Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water in the U.S.Canada. That's enough pipe to circle the earth 40 times.
About 800,000 water wells are drilled each yearin the United States for domestic, farming, commercial, and water testing purposes.
More than 13 million households get their waterfrom their own private wells and are responsible for treating and pumping the water themselves.
Industries released 197 million pounds of toxic chemicalsinto waterways in 1990.
You can refill an 8-oz glass of water approximately15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pack of soda pop.
A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produceone gallon of milk.
300 million gallons of water are needed to produce a single day'ssupply of U.S. newsprint.
One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons or nearly 30 tonsof water on a 60' by 180' piece of land.