ENV

Question 1

Which one of the following is the best definition of ED50?

Answer 1

The dose at which 50% of the population exhibits a particular response to a chemical.

Question 2

immune system to over-react.”

Answer 2

Allergen

Question 3

critical-flow resources.

Answer 3

rate of withdrawal exceeds the rate of renewal or replenishment

Question 4

artisanal

Answer 4

• Work done “by hand
• Traditional, labour-intensive undertaking
• Small-scale
• Local industry

Question 5

New renewables” include

Answer 5

solar, wind, and geothermal.

Question 6

What is the main difference between traditional geothermal energy and terrestrial energy from ground-source heat pumps?

Answer 6

Traditional geothermal has to be extracted from an area where the heat flow is unusually high; ground-source heat pumps are more broadly applicable.

Question 7

What’s the big deal about BPA - why worry?

Answer 7

• It is an endocrine-disrupting chemical.
• It mimics hormones in the body by interacting with receptor molecules, in place of the actual hormone.
• It is used in a lot of common products, such as the linings of food cans, and even in receipt paper.
• It is a plastic softener, so it has commonly been used in products such as baby bottles and soft plastic toys, increasing the likelihood of exposure for very young children.

Question 8

Another term for “biomagnification” is

Answer 8

food chain concentration.

Question 9

Why is research into endocrine disruptors controversial?

Answer 9

• Negative findings could be economically damaging.
• Some of the research is funded by industry.
• The field of research is relatively new.
• Some of the scientific findings appear contradictory.

Question 10

Theansweris, “a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle.” Which one of the following is thequestionthat best fits the answer?

Answer 10

What is lifecycle analysis?

Question 11

The role of provincial and territorial governments in waste management is to …

Answer 11

license sanitary and secure landfill sites, and regulate site selection for disposal facilities.

Question 12

Which of the following problems are theleastlikely to be associated with strip mines?

Answer 12

coal dust explosions

Question 13

GSHPs …

Answer 13

take advantage of the temperature difference between the surface and the subsurface.

Question 14

Hydropower, nuclear energy, and traditional biomass are called “conventional” energy alternatives because they

Answer 14

All of the above

• already play a substantial role in the world’s energy mix today.
• are widely-used alternatives to fossil fuels.
• are more fully developed as energy sources than the “new” alternatives, such as tidal energy.
• are well-established in the energy and electricity budgets of many nations.

Question 15

“Hubbert’s Peak” refers to …

Answer 15

prediction of a peak and subsequent decline in oil production.

Question 16

For a natural process to be useful as a climate proxy, it must …..

Answer 16

• be controlled by or mimic some aspect of climate, such as temperature or precipitation.
• provide an internal record of date or age.
• respond to variations in climate with regularly recorded changes, such as differences in composition or the width of an annual or seasonal growth band.
• record and preserve climate-controlled variations for later analysis.

Question 17

Earth’s orbital variations, as described by Milankovitch, affect the timing of glacial-interglacial cycles because they …

Answer 17

have an impact on solar insolation.

Question 18

A “proxy climate indicator” is

Answer 18

indirect evidence that substitutes for direct observational or measured evidence. (Indirect evidence that substitutes for measured evidence)

Question 19

As a cloud drifts northward from the equator, steadily losing moisture through precipitation on its journey, the18^O/16^O ratio of the precipitation from the cloud would most likely …

Answer 19

Gradually decrease

Question 20

Which one of the following still carries a relatively high degree of scientific uncertainty?

Answer 20

how the polar ice caps will respond to global warming

Question 21

Of the greenhouse gases listed below, which one isentirelyanthropogenic in origin?

Answer 21

chlorofluorocarbon

Question 22

Internal radiative forcing refers to the

Answer 22

All of the above

• greenhouse effect.
• anything within the Earth system that causes a change in net irradiance.
• the filtering effect of Earth’s atmosphere on electromagnetic radiation, contributing to changes in the energy balance.
• processes within the Earth system that contribute to cooling or warming of the climate.

Question 23

Why is it important for scientists to find out more about the atmospheric lifetimes ofCFCsandHCFCs(replacements forCFCsin industrial materials and processes)?

Answer 23

The atmospheric lifetimes of the gases influence their ozone-depleting potential (as well as their global warming potential), so it is important to know as much about them as possible.

Question 24

In Canada, the main fuel that we use to provide energy (consideringalltypes of energy use, not just electricity) is …

Answer 24

Oil

Question 25

Unconventional" hydrocarbons include

Answer 25

tar sands.

Question 26

Potential,” in the context of greenhouse gases, refers to the ..

Answer 26

  capacity of a molecule to contribute to atmospheric warming. 

Question 27

What do scientists call the cyclical variation in the combined influence of astronomical controls on solar radiation reaching the Earth system?

Answer 27

Milankovitch Cycles

Question 28

Where, in Earth's atmosphere, does most of the mass of radiatively active gases reside?

Answer 28

Troposphere

Question 29

"Stratospheric ozone acts as an atmospheric blind in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum." This means that …

Answer 29

ozone in the stratosphere selectively absorbs ultraviolet radiation. 

Question 30

Which one of the following statements about ground-level ozone is incorrect?

Answer 30

Stropspheric

Question 31

What causes acid precipitation?  

Answer 31

Acid precipitation comes from acid-forming chemical reactions involving sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide with water vapour in the atmosphere.

Question 32

On a weather map, as the spacing between the isobars gets farther apart, the horizontal pressure gradient force …..

Answer 32

decreases, and so does the wind speed. 

Question 33

The major constituent of Earth’s atmosphere is

Answer 33

Nitrogen

Question 34

Where does primary productivity occur outside of the photic zone?

Answer 34

around hydrothermal vents

Question 35

The top surface of the saturated zone is …

Answer 35

Water Table

Question 36

Most of the aerosols in the stratosphere come from …

Answer 36

volcanic sources. 

Question 37

Which one of the following atmospheric components is the most variable in its concentration?  

Answer 37

Water vapour

Question 38

The Southern Oscillation is….

Answer 38

the atmospheric pressure difference that varies back and forth between the eastern and western Pacific. (difference in atmospheric pressure that varies back in forth between eastern/western pacific)

Question 39

In the Galápagos Islands, the impacts of El Niño are felt most severely by marine organisms, especially marine iguanas, Galápagos penguins, and Galápagos sea lions, as well as some sea birds like flightless cormorants. Why do marine organisms suffer more than terrestrial organisms, in general? …

Answer 39

The coastal upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water fails during El Niño, leaving many marine animals without access to their normal food sources

Question 40

Which of the following ocean zones is the deepest?

Answer 40

Hadal

Question 41

Anthropogenic is.... | Ecocentric....

Answer 41

human centred | Worldview

Question 42

What is carbon sequestration?

Answer 42

Long-term storage of carbon in a reservoir, such as in limestone or in the biomass of trees.

Question 43

In the Green Revolution, certain grain crops were genetically modified to express the trait of

Answer 43

All of the above - Uniform height - More growth productivity - higher vitamin content - resistance to insects and plant pathogens

Question 44

The forests that are most typical of high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere are

Answer 44

All of the above | Evergreen, Coniferous, Boreal, & Seasonal with cold winters, warm summers, periodic forest fires

Question 45

Which one of these four statements about forest plantations is not correct?

Answer 45

They are ecologically more functional, with greater habitat complexity than natural forests.

Question 46

This mid-latitude forest has a seasonal climate and is dominated by trees that change colour in the fall, and drop their leaves in the winter. Which forest type is it?

Answer 46

temperate deciduous forest 

Question 47

Compared to temperate forests, the cycling of nutrients by trees in tropical rainforests typically ….

Answer 47

is much shallower, because of the shallower root systems of trees.

Question 48

Which one of the following is not a common consequence of deforestation, as noted in class and in the textbook?

Answer 48

 increase in soil pathogens

Question 49

Suppose you compared species diversity in two lakes in different parts of the world. The two lakes are at the same latitude and have similar surrounding ecosystems; they have roughly the same volume; the surrounding climate is similar; and the nutrient inputs into the lake are roughly the same. However, Lake A has far more species than Lake B. Based on what you know about the factors that contribute to biodiversity, which one of the following is the best hypothesis to explain the difference in species diversity of the two lakes?

Answer 49

Lake A is older (i.e., existed longer) than Lake B.

Question 50

Background extinction refers to …

Answer 50

normal extinctions that happen over time as a result of competition and environmental changes.

Question 51

Before the Green Revolution, large increases in crop production mainly resulted from …

Answer 51

expansion of the area of cultivated land.

Question 52

What is a "limiting nutrient"?

Answer 52

chemical compound whose scarcity limits productivity in a terrestrial or aquatic environment

Question 53

Peat and other organic-rich soils are of interest in the carbon cycle because

Answer 53

All of the above -they represent a very large carbon storage reservoir.  - sometimes they release methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. - their response to climatic warming, in terms of the sequestration or release of carbon, is not fully understood. - their cyclical exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere is very large.

Question 54

Shelterbelts are to ________ as terraces are to ________.   | wind erosion; water erosion

Answer 54

wind erosion; water erosion

Question 55

In the IPATS model, what does I stand for?

Answer 55

Impact

Question 56

Hummingbirds, which have very long, narrow bills, have an interesting relationship with certain ornithophilous (“bird-pollinated”) flowers. The flowers have colours that are easily seen by hummingbirds, and produce nectar that hummingbirds particularly like. The shape of the birds’ long, narrow bills exactly fits the shape of the flowers.

Answer 56

Coevolution

Question 57

Which of the following produces adaptations?  

Answer 57

Natural selection

Question 58

A "limiting nutrient" is ….

Answer 58

a chemical compound that limits productivity in a terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem.

Question 59

Which of the following four properties is not generally characteristic of most biogeochemical cycles?

Answer 59

All of the above

Question 60

Which one of the following statements is not correct? (Choose answer E if you think all four statements A through D are correct.)

Answer 60

Global biocapacity is increasing dramatically.

Question 61

For a population that is growing, which one of the following is correct? Per capita is ____ and absolute rate is ______.

Answer 61

The per-capita rate is >0 and the absolute rate is >1.

Question 62

Which one of the following best describes the transitional stage in the demographic transition model?

Answer 62

birth rate is high and steady; death rates are falling

Question 63

Which one of the following best describes competition for a niche?

Answer 63

Two species sometimes divide a niche by "resource partitioning."

Question 64

Disruptive selection would most likely to result in ……

Answer 64

different populations of birds, some with thick beaks for eating seeds, and others with thin beaks for eating small insects.

Question 65

Which one of the following statements is correct, concerning niches?

Answer 65

All of the above - When there are no competitors, an organism can exploit its full fundamental niche. - When competitors restrict the resources that an organism can use, the organism is limited to a realized niche. - A realized niche is a subset of a fundamental niche. - In a realized niche, an organism is limited in the role that it fulfills.

Question 66

Consider a population of coyotes in Southern Ontario. Which of the following factors affecting the growth rate of the population is a density-dependent factor?

Answer 66

PArasite passed on amoung individual coyotes

Question 67

What is the difference between GPP (gross primary productivity) and NPP (net primary productivity)?

Answer 67

 Energy lost through respiration.

Question 68

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)......

Answer 68

All of the above Net Primary Productivity (NPP)  - is expressed as a rate.   - is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) minus respiration.   - can be measured in terms of kg C/m2/yr. - represents a flow of carbon from the atmospheric reservoir to the biomass reservoir.

Question 69

For which biogeochemical cycle is the atmospheric reservoir the least important?

Answer 69

phosphorus

Question 70

How would an ecosystem ecologist figure out the location of the boundaries of the system that he or she is studying?

Answer 70

All of the above - The ecologist has to choose or define the boundaries, based on the questions that are being investigated. - The boundaries of any ecosystem are not pre-determined; the ecologist has to set or define the boundaries. - It will depend on the temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to the ecological questions that are being investigated. - The boundaries can be chosen on the basis of the processes and materials that are relevant to the functioning of the ecosystem.