Down to Earth: Environmental Science
1. A hot t, tropical grassland with scattered trees is a:
Savanna
Tundra
Boreal forest
Desert
2. Permafrost is a defining characteristic of which biome?:
Steppe
Desert
Taiga
Tundra
3. The dominant plant type in temperate forest is:
Forbs
Coniferous trees
Deciduous trees
Succulents
4. The chaparral biome can be found in:
California
Australia
All answers are correct
The Mediterranean
5. Trees in the Boreal forest are adapted to conserve:
Carbon
Phosphorus
Nitrogen
Magnesium
6. What is an endemic species?
A species native to only one area
A species dying from an unknown disease
A robust group of organisms that dominate an ecosystem
A broad group of pollinating insects
7. Which of the following is a driver of species creation?
Climatic stability
All answers are drivers
Temporal stability
Habitat heterogeneity
8. Pollinator ecosystem services are provided by which organism?
Birds
All are pollinators
Bees
Bat
9. Why have scientists, farmers and politicians stored the world's seed heritage on a remote island in the Arctic?
Consistent temperatures and humidity for seed survival.
If the facility's climate control fails, the seeds will only freeze.
All of these answers are correct.
Polar bears and remoteness are great deterrents for terrorists.
10. Scientists consider which of the following an important aspect of "biodiversity"?
Ecosystems
Genes
Species
All are important
11. What percentage of the timber imported by the United States is potentially illegally harvested?
75%
50%
1%
10%
12. What is the present day extinction rate?
About 10 times faster than the background rate
About 100 times faster than the background rate
About equal to the background rate
About 1000 times faster than the background rate
13. What percentage of river lengths in the United States have been modified through damming and bank modification?
50%
20%
90%
10%
14. Which of the following statements is TRUE about extinction?
Extinction occurs when speciation rates increase dramatically
The only large extinction event was 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs were killed.
Extinction of more than half of the existing species on the planet has occurred roughly five times
Plants, but not animals, have been known to recover from extinction
15. Which of the following threats has had a large impact on biodiversity?
Overharvesting
All three are correct
Exotic species
Habitat loss
16. When an invasive species is introduced, what is the potential consequence of that introduction?
Increased predation on some native species
All of the listed consequences can occur
Extinction of economically important species
Reduced predation on some native species
17. The relationship between the populations of wild lynx and snowshoe hare is an example of what ecological interaction?
Birth rates dynamics
Nutrient cycling
Territorial dominance
Predator-prey interactions
18. Energy is _________ as you move up the trophic levels.
Lost
Gained
Created
Conserved
19. Where one species benefits from prolonged interaction with another species, while the other species neither benefits nor is harmed is called:
Parasitism
Commensalism
Mutualism
Advantagism.