Q&A Hero

Q: Soils that are NOT inverted by ploughing are said to be ________ farming systems.

Q: Climate change may change the patterns of precipitation. In an area with reduced precipitation, crops grown in which type of soil (clay-, silt- ,or sand-dominated) will be most vulnerable to drought and why?

Q: ________ and ________ are the two most common soil problems associated with irrigation.

Q: What is the basis for soil textural determinations? What are the specific components that determine soil texture?

Q: What are the three types of weathering and how do they differ?

Q: Explain waterlogging and how it affects plants.

Q: How does climate explain the poor soils in the Amazon rainforests?

Q: No-till farming reduces ________.

Q: Match the following.A) ion exchangeB) O horizonC) humusD) A horizonE) profileF) soilG) horizonH) rangelandI) parent materialJ) intercroppingK) irrigationL) shelterbelts1.Lands used for grazing livestock2.Alternating bands of different types of vegetation planted across a slope3.The geological material from which soils in a particular area are formed4.The name for an individual layer of soil5.The layer below the O horizon in an idealized profile6.Plants obtain many nutrients through this

Q: Refer to Figure 7.1. Based on this figure, you would NOT expect that in the overgrazed areas ________.A) the cellular respiration in roots increasesB) the invasive grass species do betterC) the frequency of dust storms increasesD) the water table lowersE) the streams become more prone to flash floods

Q: Refer to Figure 7.1. The arrows showing the removal of native grass, the exposure of bare topsoil, and wind and water erosion then point to ________, leading back to the removal of native grasses. A) a negative feedback loop B) a positive feedback loop C) a self-sustaining circuit D) an ecological spiral E) a systematically decreasing loop

Q: Figure 7.1Use Figure 7.1 to answer the following questions.Refer to Figure 7.1. Prairie dogs living in the pastures burrow numerous holes. This activity most likely ________.A) compresses topsoil, therefore increasing losses on account of erosionB) makes worse the effects of overgrazing by cattleC) improves the soil by limiting aeration and water infiltrationD) counters some effects of overgrazing by cattleE) neither improves nor worsens the condition of the soil

Q: Soils in this forest are vulnerable to ________. A) salinization from the evaporated salt blown over from the ocean B) loss of the topsoil C) desertification D) denitrification E) waterlogging

Q: Clear-cutting on these mountain slopes increases which of the terms in the Universal Soil Loss Equation? A) erosivity factor R B) vegetative cover and management factor C C) slope length and steepness factor LS D) erosion control practices factor P E) None of the above because clear-cutting is no longer allowed in British Columbia.

Q: A logging company operating in the area was told by the provincial forest department to build its logging roads perpendicular to the slope of the mountains. Such a practice would resemble what erosion prevention strategy used in agriculture? A) shelterbelts B) contour farming C) intercropping D) reduced tillage E) agroforestry

Q: If the clear-cut slopes were converted into agricultural land, which agricultural erosion-prevention techniques would be LEAST effective in this ecosystem? A) contour farming B) shelterbelts C) terracing D) reduced tillage E) agroforestry

Q: Which of the following would NOT increase the degradation of soil after a clear-cut? A) more rain B) steeper slopes C) longer slopes D) leaving forest undergrowth E) logging roads down the mountain

Q: Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.Large stretches of mountains on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia are covered with ancient mist-enshrouded old-growth forest, growing in the valleys and on the slopes of coastal mountains. When the moisture-laden ocean air is pushed up a mountain, the air cools, and can no longer hold its moisture, which then precipitates as rains and mist, creating a rare biome, temperate rainforest. Most of Canada's old growth temperate rainforest was opened by the government to logging and has been already logged. The logging method of choice has been clear-cutting, in which all trees are removed from an area. The logging companies claim that the forest will regrow. Environmentalists point out that the new forest will not be the same as the one that had been cut: because the old-growth forest grew to its current state over many hundreds of years. Furthermore, the clear-cutting may do irreversible damage to the soil, so there won't be enough good soil left to nurture the majestic cedars, sky-high Douglas firs, hemlocks, and other trees of the old-growth temperate rainforest.The soil in the clear-cut areas of the forest described in this scenario is prone to degradation because of ________.A) strong winds, mainlyB) heavy rains, mainlyC) heavy rains and steep mountain slopes (of equal importance)D) strong winds and heavy rains (of equal importance)E) strong winds and steep mountain slopes (of equal importance)

Q: Two farmers, John in Alberta and Ibrahim in Egypt, do not get enough rain, so both irrigate their fields with a great deal of water. However, their crops do not grow as well as expected. What is the most likely irrigation problem in each case, and what could each farmer have done to prevent the problem?

Q: Explain the no-till method and discuss its pros and cons.

Q: Discuss the factors that affect the severity of soil loss to wind erosion.

Q: Discuss the factors that affect the severity of soil loss to water erosion.

Q: If there is increased immigration, ________. A) the crude death rate will increase B) the crude death rate will decrease C) natality and mortality will increase D) natality will increase and mortality will decrease E) both natality and mortality rates will not be directly affected

Q: Which of the following is NOTthe reason why China's one-child policy did not stop the degradation of the environment?A) China's population is still growing.B) China's economy grew faster than the population.C) For China's government economic growth was more important than protecting the environment.D) The consumption level of the average Chinese person has increased.E) None of the above.

Q: Aside from contraception, what can humans do to control population growth's negative effects on the environment? A) encourage consumption B) encourage emigration from Africa C) discourage emigration from Africa D) discourage population movement into sensitive environmental areas E) discourage migration from rural areas to cities

Q: Because of the success of China's population control programs started in the early 1970s, ________. A) environmental problems in China have been greatly reduced B) the population of China decreased from its 1970 level C) African nations have instituted similar programs D) European nations have instituted similar programs E) today in China there are more 40-year olds than 10-year olds

Q: Mesopotamian, Mayan, and Easter Island societies all experienced "crashes" because they ________. A) had low TFR B) had an unbalanced male:female ratio C) had too weak of a military to defend them against hostile neighbours D) abused and overused their natural resources E) experienced rapid climate change

Q: Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.Population growth is at the root of many serious environmental problems. From the ancient Babylonians thousands of years ago, to Thomas Malthus hundreds of years ago, to present-day neo-Malthusians, humans seem to possess an awareness of Earth's limitations in the face of growing populations. Today, our ability to accurately quantify, monitor, and control population growth is very sophisticated. We can measure growth and make predictions about world growth with mathematical and computer models. Can we prevent disaster?Despite dire predictions in the past, the human population is still growing. Some people would argue that this is because ________.A) technological developments have alleviated some of the strain on Earth's resourcesB) space exploration has revealed new frontiersC) Malthus's measurements were inaccurateD) world population growth has been slower than expectedE) Malthus overestimated the Earth's environmental sensitivity

Q: Why do environmentalists view unchecked population growth as a problem?

Q: Explain what social challenges are posed by a pyramid"‘shaped versus an inverted pyramid-shaped age structure diagram.

Q: How does poverty and affluence affect the environment?

Q: Defineecological footprint and differentiate between the ecological footprint of a developed and a developing country. Discuss how the balance between these ecological footprints is likely to shift as developing countries continue to increase their populations and, at the same time, aspire to the Western consumption lifestyles.

Q: What is a demographic transition? What are its four stages? State why each stage is important and what the consequence is for population growth. Do all countries go through the demographic transition?

Q: What three-factor model is used for representing the impact on the environment? What is a fourth factor that could be added to this model? Give a simple explanation for each factor and describe what it means in terms of human impacts on the environment.

Q: Explain human population growth in terms of carrying capacity. How does this differ from organisms that exist in natural ecosystems? Explain how population growth for human populations is a problem.

Q: Why did China institute a population control policy? How is it enforced? Why is it controversial?

Q: The Millennium Development Goals set an aggressive target date of 2015 to achieve many of the fundamental goals for sustainable development. Population control is one of these goals.

Q: As of 2008, TFR is highest in Europe and lowest in Africa.

Q: The number of people per household is rising rapidly in Canada and Great Britain.

Q: Urbanization drives TFR down.

Q: Presently, over 80% of the world's population lives in developing nations.

Q: The global annual growth rate of the human population has declined since 1960.

Q: Poorer societies have lower birth rates than more affluent societies.

Q: If growth rate of a given area is steady, population size will soon stabilize.

Q: The annual global growth rate of the human population peaked ________ and has been declining ever since.A) in 2005B) at the beginning of the Industrial RevolutionC) in the 1960sD) in the early 1900sE) The growth rate has not declined.

Q: Age pyramids, used to show the age structure of a population, generally ________. A) have no inherent value for predicting growth B) cannot predict possible species declines in numbers C) have bars that represent sizes of individual organisms D) indicate the relative numbers (frequency or percentage) of individuals in each age class E) indicate the total numbers of individuals in each age class

Q: Malthus was responsible for ________. A) the book The Population Bomb, which described the disastrous effects of human population growth B) the idea that, without social strictures, the increase in the human population would lead to famine and war C) the concept that human population growth would lead to greater industry and prosperity through education D) instituting fertilizer use for agriculture E) the political stance that the environment was important in its own right

Q: At the outset of the Industrial Revolution in England in the 1700s, population growth was regarded as a good thing. Why? A) There were fewer children to support folks in old age. B) There was a greater pool of workers and helpers. C) The growth would spread democracy through all countries. D) The growth would spread religion around the world. E) The growth would help rulers have larger armies for conquering new lands.

Q: Paul Ehrlich's predictions have not come true on the scale he imagined because ________. A) Malthus turned out to be right B) agricultural advances increased food supply C) pollution has reduced population growth D) birth rates fell in all countries E) medicine has not advanced as rapidly as he predicted

Q: According to the model developed by Donella Meadows and her colleagues, if human society proceeds as it has for most of the twentieth century ________. A) pollution levels will soar and productivity will decrease exponentially in the next century B) the human population will stabilize at about 8 billion C) industrial production will reach a steady state as non-renewable resources increase D) the human population will reach 10 billion by 2100 as pollution levels drop rapidly E) the human population will crash and then grow exponentially to 10 billion

Q: The most accurate terms describing the trend over the past 50 years in resource use for human energy and agricultural systems are ________. A) increasing and unsustainable B) decreasing and sustainable C) steady state and sustainable D) from unsustainable to sustainable E) rapidly increasing, moving from unsustainable to sustainable

Q: The "sensitivity factor" in the model used to represent human environmental impact denotes ________. A) the sensitivity of human health and welfare to the impacts of an environment degradation caused by human activities B) the sensitivity of an environment to human pressures C) the sensitivity of endangered species to human population infringement D) the sensitivity of governments to carrying capacity demands E) economic sensitivity to resource use

Q: The cornucopian view held by many economists suggests that resource depletion caused by greater numbers of people ________. A) is not a problem if new resources can be found to replace depleted ones B) is not a problem because disease will limit population size C) is not a problem because humans are too intelligent to allow it to be D) will lead to natural selection of the most fit individuals E) will cause a population crash

Q: According to the IPAT model, the introduction of industrialized fisheries that use big trawlers, satellite navigation, and sonars to locate the fish ________. A) increases environmental impact B) decreases environmental impact C) increases population D) increases sensitivity E) decreases sensitivity

Q: If the current growth rate of ________% per year continued, Earth's population would double in less than 60 years. A) 1.6 B) 1 C) 2 D) 1.2 E) There is not enough information to answer this question.

Q: Canada's age"‘structure diagram ________. A) looks like a pyramid B) reflects unequal distribution of males and females at all age groups C) reflects a "baby boom" in the early 1980s D) reflects an aging population E) reflects a population with a high growth rate

Q: The demographic effects of AIDS are most significant because ________. A) AIDS strikes affluent people more than poor people B) it is caused by a virus C) it is not known who is resistant to AIDS D) AIDS leaves behind orphans E) AIDS sickens and kills the youngest and most productive members of society

Q: Which is NOT true about the HIV/AIDS epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa? A) The average life expectancy fell from 65 to 59 years. B) Infant mortality increased. C) Many teachers died, creating problems in the education systems. D) Income declined. E) Food production declined.

Q: In a country in which the age pyramid has a very wide base and then rapidly narrows with increasing age, which of the following is NOT likely to happen in the next 30 years? A) The number of households will increase. B) The consumption will be stable. C) The birth rates will increase. D) The society will have to provide for the large number of people in the post-productive age. E) The population size will increase.

Q: A country with ________ is notexpected to grow quickly in the near future. A) a pyramid"‘shaped age"‘structure diagram B) high female literacy C) a female to male ratio of 1.2 to 1 D) growing industrialization E) many developing regions

Q: In the textbook's graph showing TFR as a function of GDP per capita (Figure 6.18), the fertility rate declines as the GDP per capita increases. There are two outliers though: Saudi Arabia and Israel have much higher fertility rates than other countries with comparable GDP per capita. The likely reason for this is that ________. A) contraceptives are unavailable B) the population statistics from these two countries are not reliable C) cultural factors outweighed economic and social tendencies of declining TFR D) the demographic transition has reversed in these two countries E) these are random fluctuations

Q: If global fertility rates remain at 2010 levels, the United Nations predicts that the world population will be approximately ________ billion in 2050. A) 11 B) 9 C) 7 D) 8 E) 6

Q: The richest one-fifth of the world's population possess approximately ________ times the income of the poorest one-fifth, and the richest one-fifth use more than 86% of the world's resources. A) 10 B) 20 C) 40 D) 60 E) 80

Q: The transitional stage in Frank Notestein's demographic model is initiated by ________. A) government intervention B) the increased use of contraceptives C) epidemics D) industrialization E) resource depletion

Q: Which of the following factors drives TFR down? A) rural lifestyle B) social and economic security C) sexism D) history and tradition E) high infant mortality

Q: Which of the following countries has the highest TFR? A) Egypt B) Colombia C) Ethiopia D) Jamaica E) South Africa

Q: Areas with the least dense human populations are in ________. A) agricultural areas B) temperate areas C) Europe D) Mexico E) the suburbs

Q: Declining death rates on account of increased food production and improved medical care while birth rates remain high is characteristic of the ________ stage. A) pre-industrial B) stabilization C) transitional D) post-industrial E) revolutionary

Q: Currently, the highest TFRs are in ________. A) Africa B) Asia C) Latin America D) Oceania E) Europe (including Russia)

Q: If there is ________, population growth rates will increase. A) increased immigration B) increased emigration C) decreased immigration D) increased urbanization E) increased industrialization

Q: Replacement fertility ________. A) restores population size after a catastrophic event B) is a contraceptive technique C) is below 2.0 in Latin America and the Caribbean D) is equal to 2.0 in stable populations E) is equal to 2.1 in stable populations

Q: Which of the following is NOTone of the world's top seven most populous nations? A) Vietnam B) Brazil C) Indonesia D) Bangladesh E) Pakistan

Q: ________ is the world's most populous nation, home to ________ of the people living on Earth. A) China; one-fourth B) China; one-fifth C) The United States; one-fourth D) India; one-fourth E) India; one-fifth

Q: If a population roughly doubles in the course of 50 years, its growth rate would be close to ________%. A) 1.5 B) 2 C) 0.2 D) 20 E) 1

Q: During which time period did the world's population more than double? A) 1750"1800 B) 1800"1850 C) 1850"1900 D) 1900"1950 E) 1950"2000

Q: The human population is approximately ________. A) 1.5 million B) 6.5 million C) 1.5 billion D) 7 billion E) 10 billion

Q: During which stage of the demographic transition does most of the increase in population size happen and why?

Q: The application of population ecology principles to the study of statistical change in human populations is the focus of the social science of ________.

Q: Lifestyle changes brought about by ________ and ________ have decreased the economic need for children.

Q: Explain demographic fatigue.