26. The surface water, groundwater, ice, and atmospheric water vapor make up the earth's hydrosphere.
27. Bacteria that convert nitrates into nitrogen gas, thus allowing it to re-enter the atmosphere, are in the process of denitrification.
28. Eutrophication carries excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer runoff into waterways, with deleterious results.
29. The element found in ALL organic matter and present in high levels in fossil fuels is carbon.
30. In the water cycle, water is taken into the atmosphere by evaporation and sublimation.
31. Most groundwater reservoirs, or aquifers, are the source of drinking or irrigation water drawn up through wells.
32. The subtropical desert and the arctic tundra are similar in the fact that they both have low water supply.
33. The tropical rainforest is the most diverse biome, located in the equatorial region, and characterized by abundant seasonal rainfall.
34. The scrub forest found in coastal California, along the Mediterranean Sea, and along the southern coast of Australia is known as the chaparral. It has dry summers and is adapted to periodic fires.
35. Frequently in the rain shadow of mountains, the desert has low species diversity due to low and unpredictable rainfall.
36. You are snorkeling along the bottom of the ocean, looking for sand dollars and starfish lying on the sand. You are in the benthic realm or zone.
37. Phytoplankton and plants can be found in the horizontal photic zone of the ocean, the area where photosynthesis occurs.
38. Marshes and swamps typically have a nearly continuous cover of emergent vegetation. These areas are also known as wetlands and help reduce the impacts from storms and floods.
39. All of the earth's open ocean is referred to as the pelagic zone.
40. Which of the following is NOT an example of ecosystem services?
a. Production of food and clean water
b. Climate control
c. Harvesting of crops
d. Crop pollination
e. Waste decomposition
41. True or False: Species are becoming extinct today at ever-accelerating rates.
42. There were once many thriving ecosystems in the United States, from the coastal regions to the temperate forests to the prairies of the temperate grasslands. This is an example of ecosystem diversity.
43. The core threat to global biodiversity is considered to be human overpopulation.
44. Of the following four threats to biodiversity, which is just now starting to have an impact, and is predicted to have a much larger impact in this century?
a. Habitat loss
b. Anthropogenic climate change
c. Overharvesting
d. Introduction of foreign species
45. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of global warming?
a. Rising sea levels
b. Altered migratory pathways
c. An overabundance of saltwater and a shortage of freshwater
d. Extinctions due to starvation and habitat loss
e. All of them are potential consequences of climate change
46. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has reached never-before-seen levels due to fossil fuel combustion and is often referred to as a greenhouse gas.
47. Decimation of rainforests in order to plant palm oil is one of the causes of extinction that occurs due to habitat loss.
48. Which of the following statements concerning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) treaty of 1975 is false?
a. It requires each country to develop a maintenance plan for threatened species.
b. It only regulates international movement of threatened species or their parts.
c. It depends upon the willingness of individual countries to investigate and enforce the restrictions.
d. All of them are true.
49. Mass extinctions:
a. Have occurred five times.
50. Removal of dams and allowing the return of natural river flow is an example of habitat restoration.