2018 ESS205: Midterm 1 Exam Study Guide

Textbook:
Chapter 1:
Skip – IPAT model, Ecological footprints, Sustainability and the future of our world

Chapter 2:
Skip – How scientists investigate the environment, Macromolecules are building blocks of life

Chapter 3:
Skip – Homeostasis is a state of balance, A whole may be more than the sum of its parts,
Models help scientists understand complex systems, Landscape ecologists study broad
geographical patterns, Remote sensing and GIS are important tools

Chapter 4:
Skip – Population Ecology (pg. 106-114)

Chapter 5:
Skip: Species interactions



Example Multiple Choice Questions:

1. In what way were CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere in the 1st billion years of our
planets history different than today?
a. They were 100 times lower than today
b. They were 10 times lower than today
c. They were about the same as today
d. They were 100 times higher than today

2. Which of the following is TRUE?
a. Continental crust is thinner than oceanic crust.
b. Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust.
c. Continental crust consists mainly of basalt.
d. Continental crust is younger than oceanic crust.

3. The divisions in the geologic record are often an indication of what kind of global
change?
a. Climate change
b. Mass extinction
c. Catastrophic event
d. Changes in the chemical composition of the ocean or atmosphere
e. a and b
f. All of the above
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4. How can igneous rock be transformed into sedimentary rock?
a. This process cannot occur.
b. Rock weathers and erodes and is transported and compacted.
c. Rock is heated under great pressure.
d. Magma rises to the surface of the earth and cools.
e. Volcanic activity.


5. Where does the Earth’s crust spread?
a. At mid-ocean ridges
b. At volcanic arcs
c. A convergent plate boundaries
d. At divergent plate boundaries
e. a and d

6. What major event marks the end of the Proterozoic?
a. The break up of Pangea and a mass extinction
b. India colliding into Asia and the drawdown of CO2 in the atmosphere
c. The rise of oxygen in the atmosphere
d. The evolution of hard shelled life

7. What is the first step in the nitrogen cycle, in which gaseous nitrogen is converted into a
biologically available form (e.g. ammonia)?
a. ossification
b. ammonification
c. assimilation
d. nitrification
e. nitrogen fixation

8. The nitrogen cycle is one of the most important and complex of the biogeochemical
cycles. Why is nitrogen important?
a. It's a greenhouse gas.
b. It's an essential part of biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids
(DNA).
c. It's the most toxic element to living organisms.
d. Nitrogen dilutes the oxygen in the atmosphere causing respiratory problems.
e. t's a crucial part of the process of photosynthesis.
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9. Which of the following processes plays an important role in the phosphorus cycle?
a. erosion
b. fixation
c. combustion
d. cellular respiration
e. ammonification

10. What term would an ecologist use to describe the group of humans that live in Toronto.
a. Individual
b. Population
c. Community
d. Ecosystem

11. Which of the following biomes has soils that are most suitable for agriculture
a. Tundra
b. Boreal Forest
c. Temperate Rain Forest
d. Temperate Grassland
e. Tropical Rain Forest

12. Approximately how much energy is lost from one trophic level to another?
a. 1%
b. 10%
c. 50%
d. 90%

13. Which of the following breakthrough in the 20th century contributed to the recent
exponential increase in human population?
a. An increase in birth rate.
b. A movement of population from rural areas to urban areas.
c. The agricultural revolution.
d. An increase in food production due to production and mining of fertilizers.
e. Increasing literacy rates.

14. What statement about energy is correct?
a. Energy can be destroyed
b. When energy is transfered, all can be used to do useful work.
c. When energy is transfered, some energy is lost and can not be used to do useful
work.
d. 90% of energy is transfered between trophic levels.
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15. What kind of organism is a human?
a. Prokaryote
b. Autotroph
c. Eukaryote
d. Heterotroph
e. Both c and d
f. Both a and d

16. What group of organisms has the most biomass in an ecosystem?
a. Heterotrophs
b. Producers
c. Primary consumers
d. Decomposers

17. What forest type has been the most impacted by humans?
a. Temperate rain forest
b. Boreal forest
c. Temperate deciduous forest
d. Tropical rain forest

18. How might an evolutionary biologist explain why a species of species of salamander
becomes blind after colonizing a cave?
a. It is possible that in the cave there is a source of pollution that increases the
mutation rate for a gene that makes salamanders blind. Over time, due to
exposure to this chemical, the members of the population lose their sight.
b. The members of this salamander species no longer needed to use their eyes.
Over time, due to lack of use, they lost the ability to see.
c. Members of the ancestral population that colonized the cave differed in their
ability to see. If maintaining the ability to see in the cave was a waste of energy,
blind salamanders might actually have more offspring than those who could see.
d. There is no way to explain this in terms of natural selection

19. How is carbon transferred from organic matter to the atmosphere?
a. Photosynthesis
b. Respiration
c. Erosion
d. burning of fossil fuels
e. Both b and d
f. Both a and d
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20. The ocean can absorb nearly 90% of all the carbon that humans will release to the
atmosphere. At what time scale will this happen?
a. ~1-10 years
b. ~10-100 years
c. ~25,000 years
d. ~millions of years

21. Approximately how much more carbon does the soil reservoir store compared to the
atmosphere?
a. Twice as much
b. One third
c. Half
d. Ten times as much

22. Near the end of the Paleozoic, there is a period called the Carboniferous that is
characterized by rich coal deposits ~300-250 Ma ago). This was a time of high organic
carbon burial, which would mean what about oxygen levels during this period?
a. It was about the same as today
b. It was lower than today
c. It was higher than today
d. These two biogeochemical cycles are not linked

23. Use relative age dating to correctly date the deposits and features in this cross section
from oldest to youngest:






a. 4, 2, 5, 6, 1, 3
b. 2, 4, 5, 6, 1, 3
c. 4, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1
d. 4, 5, 2, 6, 1, 3


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Example short answer questions:
- There are three major rock types formed by different processes. What are the rock types,
how are they formed and how are these rock types related to each other? Draw a figure if
it is helpful.
- How are the divisions in the geological record recognized and what types of events do
they represent? Why are there so many more divisions in the Phanerozoic than the
Precambrian?
- List the types of lithospheric plate boundaries and give an example of each one.
- What are the two main sources of energy that drive the dynamic Earth? Describe them
and give 2 examples each of processes they drive. Which one is more important for
interactions between the Earth System components in the modern world and why?
- What two factors influence biome distribution most (and soil as well)? Describe how
biome distribution looks on our planet in relation to these two factors. What are the major
biomes in Canada? Why?
- What are the major fluxes (inputs and outputs) that affect atmospheric CO2 concentration
(both natural and anthropogenic)? Be sure to name the 5 major reservoirs of carbon on the
planet in order from largest to smallest. What reservoirs are interacting with atmospheric
CO2 on time scales relevant to human civilization?
- Describe the typical movement of energy through an ecosystem. Describe the typical
movement of matter through an ecosystem.
- What factors most strongly influence the type of biome that forms in a particular place on
land? How do these relate to latitude?
- What role does each of the following plan in the carbon cycle?
§ cars
§ photosynthesis
§ the ocean
§ Earth’s crust
§
- What are major alterations humans have made to each of the following cycles?
§ carbon
§ nitrogen
§ phosphorous
§ oxygen

- How has human activities altered the carbon cycle? nitrogen cycle? phosphorous cycle?
- Name and describe two lines of evidence for natural selection (how they support natural
selection).
- From year to year, biomes are stable entities, and our map of the world biomes appears to
be a reasonably permanent pattern across the planet. But are the locations and identies of
biomes permanent, or could they change over time? Provide reasons and explanations of
your answers.
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