Exam 1 Questions:
Chapter 1 - What is the 'Tragedy of the Commons' (p.7)? What is an ecological footprint (p.8)? How does the per capita ecological footprint of U.S. citizens compare to that of citizens of other countries (p.8)? What are nonrenewable resources and what are 3 examples (p.8)?
Chapter 4 - What are the 3 interconnected factors that life on Earth depends on (p.69)? What are biomes (p.70)? What is climate (p.70)? What are producers or autotrophs (p.73)? What are consumers (p.73)? What are decomposers, detritivores, omnivores (p.73)? What is a food chain, a trophic level, a food web (p.76; Fig. 4-17)?
Chapter 5 - What is extinction & what are the three major factors that have affected the earth's long-term patterns of speciation and extinction (p.101-102)? How have extinction rates changed during the 20th century (p.103)?
Chapter 6 - What are the most important factors in producing tropical, temperate, or polar deserts, gransslands, and forests (p.113)? What are the two 'themes' for survival in the desert (p.116)? Know that the major human impacts on the world's grasslands are conversion to cropland and overgrazing by livestock (Figure 6-19; p.119). How much of the Earth's land surface is covered by tropical rain forests (p.120)? What % of earth's terrestrial species occupy habitats in tropical rain forests (p.120)? What impacts do humans have on the world's forests (Figure 6-24; p.124)?
Chapter 7 - What are indicator species (p.144)? What's been happening to populations of amphibians since 1980 (p.144)? What are three reasons why scientists are concerned about the decline of amphibian populations (p.144)? What are keystone species & what is one example of a keystone species (p.145)?
Chapter 8 - How does a population gain & lose individuals (p.161)?
What is carrying capacity (p.161)? What factors affect carrying capacity
(p.163)? Know that a limiting factor that exerts its effect on a population
regardless of population density is a density-independent factor (p.164).
What are some examples of density-independent factors (p.164)? Know that
a limiting factor that becomes more influential as population increases
is called a density-dependent factor (p.164). What are some examples of
density-dependent factors (p.164)?
Exam 2 questions:
Chapter 11 - Which two countries together make up 38% of the world's
population (p.224)? What is replacement fertility, total fertility rate
(p.224)? What was the average global TFR in 2003 (p.224)? What is the replacement
level TFR (p.225)? Which country's population is growing faster than that
of any other developed country (p.225-226)? What factors affect birth rates
and fertility rates (p.226)? About what % of the United States' annual
population growth is due to legal & illegal immigration (p.228)? How
does age structure affect population growth (p.229)? What is the
demographic transition (p.233)? Be able to briefly explain the 4 distinct
stages of this transition (p.233). At what stage in this transition are
most developing countries today (p.233)?
Chapter 2 - Know that companies maximizing success in a capitalist
system (1) favor globe free trade, (2) lobby for government subsidies,
tax breaks, & less regulation, (3) attempt to pass harmful costs resulting
from production & sale of goods and services to the public, the environment,
& future generations, and (4) are obligated only to maximize profits
for owners or stockholders (p.20-21). What is the biggest problem that
keeps elected officials from being more responsive to the environmental
and other needs and problems of ordinary citizens (p.31)? How can the undue
influence of powerful special interests be reduced (p.32)? Know that the
major components of the environmental revolution include (1) decreasing
our dependence of fossil fuels and increasing our dependence on forms of
renewable energy, (2) protecting and sustaining biological diversity, &
(3) bringing the human population into balance with the earth's ability
to support humans and other species without environmental degradation.
Exam 3 questions:
Chapter 6 - Why does the coastal zone have a very high net primary productivity
per unit of area (p.127)? What ecological & economic services do coral
reefs provide (p.131)? Why are coral reefs vulnerable to damage (p.131)?
Know that the major threats to coral reefs include ocean warming, soil
erosion (that deposits silt on the coral), rising sea levels (due to global
warming & melting of glaciers & polar ice), and UV exposure (due
to damage to earth's ozone layer) (p.133). What are the major human impacts
on the world's marine systems (p.132-133; Figure 6-37)?
Know that the 'ecological services' provide by freshwater
systems include waste treatment & dilution, flood control, groundwater
recharge, & habitats for numerous aquatic and terrestrial species (p.135;
Figure 6-39).
Chapter 14 - Worldwide what's the predominant use of all water drawn
from rivers, lakes, & aquifers (p.309)? How is water used in the United
States (Figure 14-5, p.309; know the various percentages and uses)? What
are point & non-point sources of water pollution (p.325)? Know how
residential areas, factories, and farms contribute to the pollution of
coastal waters and bays (Figure 14-33, p.334).
Chapter 17 - What are the U.S. National Forests used for (p.414)? Since
2001, what have the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress done (p.417)?
Why should we care about National Forests (p.428)? Why does the Forest
Service's timber-cutting program lose money (p.428)?
Which country has about half of the world's remaining
tropical rain forest (p.429)? Know that tropical forests can be protected
& sustained by (1) teaching new settlers how to practice small-scale
sustainable agriculture & forestry, (2) providing subsidies that encourage
sustainable forest use, (3) reducing illegal cutting, & (4) reducing
poverty (p.432).
What is the best way to preserve biodiversity (p.435)?
Know that, to biologists, the most important reasons for protecting wilderness
are (1) to preserve biodiversity and (2) because the wild species they
contain have a right to exist without human interference (p.439).
ALSO: Know all questions from the videos we've viewed in class.