NS-1 Fall 2003 Final Exam #2 Questions

Reader Questions

  1. What is the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia? What role does land-based nutrients play in the hypoxia of the Gulf of Mexico? According to Boesch’s article, which is more important – land derived nutrient loading or organic carbon carried by the river.
  2. Describe the process of eutrophication and sources of pollutants responsible for this phenomenon. What role do humans play in exacerbating this process? How does eutrophication affect natural systems?
  3. A group of NS-1 researchers (“The Fishbusters”) studied the effects of human land use on the biological integrity of two different streams in the same geographical area. What were the researchers main conclusions? What is the Diversity Index and how was it used.
  4. Briefly describe what is meant by a drainage basins (watershed) and how is it defined. In terms of management, why are they thought of as functional units.
  1. Describe the symbiotic relationship in corals. What happens when this relationship is thwarted? What types of conditions lead to coral bleaching?
  2. Which is more of a threat to coral reefs: Hurricanes or Anthopogenic Sources of pollution? Defend your answer!
  3. What is meant by species richness? How did Greenstein et al use species richness to determine an ecological baseline?
  4. What problems need to be considered when using fossilized coral reef assemblages as a baseline comparison with today’s living reef? Why might such a baseline be important to researchers in the environmental and marine sciences?
  5. What is the difference between a patch reef and a barrier reef? What can this difference tell us about sea level in the Pleistocene Epoch? Bonus: What type of coral is found only on barrier reefs?
  1. Are desert ecosystems as simple as some textbooks might suggest? Why or why not? Why are food chains sometimes inadequate and how are food webs more efficient when depicting feeding patterns in desert biomes?
  2. What is meant by desertification? What types of land use practices lead to desertification
  3. Plants have evolved some unique methods to store and use water in the deserts? Describe one method discussed in lecture or in lab.
  1. How do humans fit into Natural Systems and how do they affect Natural Systems?
  2. What do we mean by urban sprawl? How are communities and their natural resources affected by sprawl?
  3. What are some of the racial and socio-economic characteristics of communities with hazardous waste sites?
  4. What is meant by a grassroots organization? How do they adequately or inadequately confront environmental issues?
  5. What are Brownfield’s? What is the significance and importance of Brownfield redevelopment?
  6. What is meant by ecological cities and smart growth? Is this type of sustainable development possible? How and when?
  7. Describe what is meant by “banking” education and “problem-posing” education in Pedagogy of the Oppressed?
  8. What is community based environmental education and what is the unique potential of environmental education? Why is envt’l education special compared to other fields of study?

Interpretation Questions:

  1. <FIGURE 13.2 from reader inserted> You are a Predaceous Nematode…What do you eat and what eats you?
  2. The following statistical output was given when comparing the mean vegetation height of data collected from 5 transects near a sewage effluent pipe (2 upstream from a pipe, at the pipe, and 2 downstream of the pipe). Interpret these results.
  1. If a 1 m stick were geologic time, at what increment would be the 1st evidence of life? (1st evidence of Life was 3800 million years before present)
  2. You are told that your ecological footprint is 52 acres? What does this mean? How do you stack up against other Americans? Against other countries of the world? What can you do to lower your ecological footprint?
  3. The following table of data was obtained from 40 research stations in the Florida Keys. The researchers were investigating coral disease. What can you conclude from these data? (Source: Porter et al. 2001. Patterns of spread of coral disease in the Florida Keys. Hydrobiologia. v. 460, no. 1, pp. 1-24)

  1. What can you say about these maps? (TRI is a measure of the amount of toxic releases per year)

  1. Given a professional paper that examines a research question in the environmental sciences, identify the problem, research question, and hypothesis. What did methods did the author use to prove/disprove their hypothesis? Why were the results? Conclusions?