Ch.7 Climate And Biodiversity Test Bank Docx

CHAPTER 7—CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which term describes the temperature, precipitation, and humidity of an area over hours or days?

2. Where does the largest input of solar energy occur?

3. Which of the following statements about oceans is not true?

4. What term describes the large-scale weather phenomenon that occurs when prevailing winds in the Pacific Ocean weaken, resulting in above average warming?

5. What is the best explanation for why tropical regions normally receive more precipitation than other areas of the globe?

6. Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

7. The term greenhouse effect describes ____.

8. In the northern hemisphere, the earth’s major ocean currents tend to circulate ____.

9. Scientists predict that human-enhanced global warming will have several effects. What is not one of these?

10. The rain shadow effect refers to ____.

11. Large regions characterized by a certain climate and dominant plant life are called ____.

12. The most important factor in determining which biome is found in a particular area is ____.

13. Biomes are characterized by certain types of ____.

14. Which is an effective strategy adopted by desert plants for survival?

15. Which type of desert would have high daytime temperatures in summer, low temperatures in winter, and moderate precipitation?

16. Desert ecosystems are fragile for which of the following two reasons?

17. "Widely scattered clumps of trees, warm temperatures year-round, and alternating dry and wet seasons, with herds of herbivores" are characteristics of which of the following?

18. Treeless, bitterly cold most of the year, long and dark winters, low-growing plants, and permafrost are characteristics of which of the following?

19. Moose, lynx and burrowing rodent species are most likely found in which of the following?

20. Thick, spongy mats of low-growing plants, primarily grasses, mosses, and lichens, are typical of the ____.

21. Which of the following does alpine tundra receive in larger amounts than Arctic tundra?

22. Tropical rain forests are not good for clearing to grow crops or animals, primarily because they are low in which of the following?

23. Trees of the tropical rainforest are characterized by leaves that are ____.

24. Which of the following would not be true of a tropical rain forest?

25. Which of the following is true about temperate deciduous forests?

26. Which of the following does not belong with the others?

27. Which of the following biomes has been most disturbed by human activities?

28. Which of the following would be described as having ample rainfall or moisture from fog, with large conifers such as Sitka spruce and Douglas fir?

29. If you are walking through a forest dense with oak and hickory trees with a thick litter layer underfoot, you might assume you are in a ____.

30. Which of the following is not true about mountains?

31. How much of the world's population depends on mountain systems for all or some of their water?

32. Major human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems are least likely to include ____.

33. The deserts of Death Valley formed as a result of ____.

34. In a tropical rain forest, dropped leaves, fallen trees, and dead animals decompose ____.

35. How do the tropical rain forest differ from the temperate deciduous forest?

36. The large grazing animals such as wildebeests and gazelles are best associated with which biome?

37. Woody plants that are vines supported by trees are called ____.

38. Tropical rain forests cover about ____ of the earth’s surface, but contain at least ____ of the known terrestrial plant and animal species.

39. What is the best example of a major human impact on mountain ecosystems?

40. The forest that grows in regions that receive continuous warm temperatures and seasonal rainfall is the ____.

41. The forest that grows in regions that receive little precipitation, and have short summers with cool to warm temperatures is the ____.

42. The biome with the highest diversity is the ____.

43. Oak, hickory, maple, aspen and birch are best associated with the ____.

44. Over the last 10,000 years, which of the following has taken place in eastern North America?

45. Redwoods are associated with which of the following?

46. The biome that has warm temperatures year-round and widely spaced clumps of trees is the ____.

47. Which of the following biomes has bitterly cold winters, hot dry summers, and receives sparse precipitation?

48. Which of the following is one of the major factors that influences global air circulation as described in the textbook?

49. The rain shadow effect is responsible for the formation of which of the following?

50. Approximately _____% of the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded or used unsustainably.

1. The El Niño Southern Oscillation changes the weather only along the Pacific coast of South America.

2. The greenhouse effect is created entirely by humans.

3. A large body of evidence indicates that human activities are enhancing the earth's natural greenhouse effect and changing the earth’s climate.

4. Heat is trapped and released more slowly by land than water.

5. Cities tend to create distinct microclimates.

6. Deserts are primarily located in hot, tropical regions.

7. Deserts are commonly cool at night because desert soils have little vegetation or moisture to help store the heat.

8. Desert ecosystem soils take decades to hundreds of years to recover from off-road vehicle use.

9. Succulent plants are normally found in temperate forests.

10. Tropical rain forests cover only 2% of the earth's land surface but may contain at least half of the earth's known terrestrial plant and animal species.

11. About 5% of the earth’s population lives in the mountains or in the foothills. .

12. Deciduous forests are typically located at higher altitudes than coniferous forests.

13. Ice and snow on mountains absorbs sunlight, helping to store heat and moderate the climate.

14. Many mountains are islands of biodiversity surrounded by a sea of lower-elevation landscapes transformed by human activities.

15. The level of environmental degradation and destruction of terrestrial systems has leveled off.

1. _____________________ is the average atmospheric or weather conditions in a given region during a time frame of several decades to thousands of years.

2. Wind is an indirect form of ____________________ energy.

3. The El Niño Southern Oscillation affects the weather over at least __________ of the earth for one or two years.

4. The highest solar energy input is at the ____________________.

5. The earth's air circulation patterns, prevailing winds, and configuration of continents and oceans result in ____________________ giant convection cells.

6. ____________________ help redistribute heat from the sun, thereby influencing climate and vegetation, especially near coastal areas.

7. The rain shadow effect increases the likelihood that deserts will form on the ____________________ side of mountains.

8. ____________________ occur in the interiors of continents in areas too moist for deserts and too dry for forests.

9. Tropical savannas in East Africa have herds of ____________________ and ____________________ hoofed animals.

10. Soil nutrients are remarkably sparse in the ____________________, considering the overall high levels of biomass.

11. Vegetation layers in the tropical rain forests are structured mostly according to plants' need for ____________________.

12. Because of a slow rate of ____________________, temperate deciduous forests have nutrient rich soils.

13. Boreal forests are composed of a few species of coniferous evergreen trees with small, needle-shaped leaves. These trees can withstand the intense cold and ____________________ of winter.

14. Climate and vegetation vary with both latitude and _______________.

15. About ____________________ percent of the world's major terrestrial ecosystems are either being used unsustainably or are being degraded.

1. Choose the letter(s) that represent(s) tropical deciduous forest and grasslands.

2. Choose the letter(s) that represent(s) moist air rising, cooling, and forming precipitation.

3. Choose the letter(s) that represent(s) temperate deciduous forest.

4. Choose the letter(s) that represent(s) cool, dry air falling.

5. What does the dark line represent?

6. What does the gray coloration at the bottom represent?

7. Do any of the three deserts types receive a majority of their precipitation during the summer months (warmest period)?

8. For the temperate desert, what is the approximate temperature when the biome receives the largest amount of precipitation?

9. How much of the year is the cold desert below freezing?

10. How much of the year is the tropical grassland below the freezing point?

11. How much of the year is the Arctic tundra below the freezing point?

12. What is the mean monthly precipitation, in millimeters, of the tropical grassland in the month of December?

13. When is the rainy season in the tropical rain forest?

14. When is the dry season in the tropical rain forest?

15. What is the mean monthly temperature in the tropical rain forest?

1. What drives ocean currents? Using the Atlantic Ocean as an example, explain how ocean currents distribute heat around the globe.

2. Briefly summarize the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

3. Using the environmental factors of moisture and temperature, describe the relationship between deserts, grasslands and forests.

4. The author indicates that attempting to strike a balance between exploitation of terrestrial natural capital and conservation of that capital is controversial. What might you say to a person whose livelihood comes from the timber industry (or mining, or agriculture making heavy use of irrigation) to encourage consideration of the ongoing degradation of the natural capital and its eventual impact on him/her?

5. Describe and explain the different leaf shapes found on the plants that dominate in the desert, tropical rain forest and boreal forest. Briefly explain the reasons for these different shapes.