Human impact

Open Ended

How can we impact the environment?

Fill in the Blanks

You have cut down a forest with a specific tree that deers need to survive. What would happen to the population of deer?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following can impact marine species?

• Oil spill

• Forest Fire

• Predator prey relationship

• Rocket launch

Open Ended

What do you think was on the previous slide?

Multiple Choice

What is the effect of high biodiversity in an area?

• Better adapt to disruptions

• Die off

• Have low number of births

Multiple Choice

Salt water is an abundant resource but unusable for irrigation and drinking. As demands on freshwater sources increase, the use of desalination processes to remove salt from ocean water is increasing. A concern of desalinating water is the large amounts of recovered salts that are returned to the ocean. Which of the following describes the most likely impact of desalination on the surrounding ocean environment? 

• Methane gas would pollute the ocean environment as shoreline organisms begin to die and decay.
• Alteration in ocean salt levels would cause loss of species and unbalanced populations in marine food webs.
• Nonrenewable resources in the ocean environment would become depleted and upset the ecosystem's balance.
• Increased levels of salts and minerals in the ocean would result in overpopulation of marine bivalves due to strengthened shells

Multiple Choice

New fuels are being produced by converting corn and grasses into compounds containing alcohols that can be broken down for energy in various engines. The purpose of this research is to

•  reduce the use of nonrenewable resources.

• increase the rate of air pollution.

• reduce the rate of homeostasis in organisms.

•  cause a loss of biodiversity in the rain forests.

Multiple Choice

The presence of wastes, such as plastic bags and motor oil, in lakes and streams miles away from developed areas suggests that

• . ecosystems are interconnected and human action can alter ecosystem equilibrium.

• recycling programs have failed to conserve biotic resources.

• natural processes can alter ecosystem stability.

•  direct harvesting practices have led to irreversible destruction of ecosystems.

Multiple Choice

The northern elephant seal was almost hunted to extinction in the 1800s. By the late 1890s, approximately one hundred seals were left, reducing the gene pool of the population. What will be the consequence of this reduction?

•  Competition within the population will increase.

• The surviving elephant seals will be better able to adapt.

•  Inbreeding will be less frequent among the remaining population.

• The elephant seals will be more vulnerable to environmental change. 

Multiple Choice

A community is concerned about the water quality of a nearby lake. Increased sedimentation in the lake is endangering the native habitat. The increased sedimentation is most likely caused by which of the following?

• trees planted along the shore of the lake

• construction of homes along the lake

• the amount of sunlight on the lake

• the amount of fish in the lake

Multiple Choice

When fertilizers run off farmland into streams and ponds, the nitrogen content of the water increases. This can lead to rapid growth of algae in a process called eutrophication. How can this process affect other organisms in the water?

• Oxygen is used up as algae is decomposed, reducing the amount available to other organisms.

• The water becomes better able to support aerobic organisms.

• The algae provide food for fishes and other organisms, leading to decreased algae populations.

• The extra nitrogen provides additional food for the other organisms, increasing their population.

Multiple Choice

Whaling was a very profitable profession until whale populations crashed. The global community came together to enact a ban on whaling. However, Japan and Norway have not agreed to stop whaling. Which of the following is the most likely consequence of their decision?

• The whale populations are bouncing back very successfully and are unaffected by Japan and Norway continuing to whale.

• The whale populations are not rebounding as quickly as they might if all of the countries agreed not to hunt whales. 

• The whale populations have mutated into new kinds of organisms.

• The whales are getting better at avoiding capture. 

Multiple Choice

The diagram shows the carbon cycle.  If many trees are removed from a forest by logging, what is the most immediate effect on the carbon cycle in that forest?

•  increase in the rates of decomposition

• increase in the rates of atmospheric carbon dioxide

• decreased combustion of fossil fuel

•  increase production of organic compounds

Multiple Choice

Natural disturbances, such as fires or hurricanes, can result in

• A.parasitism.

• B.competition.

• C.commensalism.

• D.succession.

Multiple Choice

The end result of ecological succession is usually a(n)

• A.land biome.

• B.aquatic biome.

• C.unstable community.

• D.climax community.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is not a possible cause of ecological succession?

• A. fire

• B. flood

• C. earthquake

• D. change of season

Multiple Choice

. Which of the following is an example of primary succession?

• A.lichens growing on rocks following a volcanic eruption

• B.grasses growing after a forest fire

• C.oak trees replacing pine trees in a forest

• D. non-native species introduced into a climax community

Multiple Choice

Which of the following describes how an abiotic factor can impact the population dynamics in an ecosystem?

• A. A parasite that invades a host can reproduce and cause a decline in the host species population.

• B. Organisms that compete for the same resources will keep each other from overpopulating.

• C. Predators will prevent herbivores from depleting the plants and other resources in an ecosystem.

• D. Seasonal variations in temperature can cause some of the individuals in a population to die.