Possible FRQ's

Last part of Unit exam

Tuesday


1. The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Alaska's North Slope is frequently in the news because petroleum geologists estimate that there are billions of barrels of economically recoverable oil beneath the surface of its frozen tundra. According to a 1998 United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimate, ANWR could contain up to 10 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. Oil company officials advocate opening the refuge to oil exploration and the subsequent development of its petroleum resources. Environmentalists argue that oil exploration and development will damage this fragile ecosystem and urge Congress to protect ANWR by designating it as a wilderness area.

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(a)    The United States consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day. According to the USGS estimate, for how many days would the technically recoverable oil resource in ANWR supply the total United States demand for oil?

(b)   Describe TWO characteristics of arctic tundra that make it fragile and explain how these two characteristics make the tundra particularly susceptible to damage from human impacts.

(c)    Identify TWO activities that would be associated with the development of ANWR petroleum resources and describe a substantial environmental impact of each in ANWR.

Identify and describe TWO major end uses of the 20 million barrels of oil that the United States consumes each day and for each use describe a conservation measure that would substantially reduce United States consumption.




2 )  On a field trip to two local ponds, a group of students observed a difference between the two ponds in the diversity of worms and insect larvae living in the mud and debris near the edges of the ponds. Numerous factors, both biotic and abiotic, influence the distribution of aquatic organisms.

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(a)    The students decided that they would investigate some of the abiotic factors. List three water-quality tests that could be conducted and explain what information each test provides. Include in your answers a description of the impact of each factor on the distribution of aquatic organisms.

(b)   Larvae of a certain insect are found in pond A but not in pond B. Design a controlled experiment that would
help explain the observed distribution of these insect larvae. Be sure to include the following in your design.

1.     Formulate a hypothesis.

2.     Identify the variable that will be manipulated.

3.     Outline the field and/or laboratory procedures that will be followed. Describe what data you will collect.

4.     Discuss the possible results and relate them to the distribution of the insect.

(c)    What are indicator species and how are they used to assess environmental quality? Give a specific example of such a species and its use.

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The zebra mussel, a mollusk native to Eurasia, was first discovered in the Great Lakes of North America in 1988. Zebra mussels attach to solid substrates and are filter feeders. Adult zebra mussels can survive for several days or even weeks out of water if the temperature and humidity are favorable. An adult female zebra mussel can produce as many as one million eggs per year. The recent range of occurrence of zebra mussels in the United States is indicated by shading in the map above.

(a)    Why are zebra mussels located primarily in areas in the eastern United States rather than in the western United States?

(b)   How are zebra mussels introduced into isolated lakes? Describe one viable method for preventing the spread of zebra mussels into isolated lakes.

(c)    Identify and explain one impact that zebra mussels can have on aquatic ecosystems.

(d)   Identify another invasive species, either terrestrial or aquatic, and describe one negative impact it has had.

(e)    One strategy for controlling an invasive species has been to introduce another nonnative species to control it; this strategy can often have unintended results. Give a specific example of the use of this strategy and discuss a negative impact of introducing a nonnative species to control an invasive species.

(f)     Discuss TWO specific characteristics of invasive species that enable them to thrive in new environments.