RNR 384 Midterm 1 Study Guide
You are responsible for all the material we have covered through
February 17
th
, 2025,
including material associated with lectures, assigned readings,
in-class activities, and
discussions.
1.
What are natural resources and why is it harder to manage them now
compared to 100
years ago?
2.
What is meant by “sustainability” in the context of natural resource
management?
3.
What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable natural
resources?
4.
What is the socio-ecological framework? What are some internal
versus external
processes influencing the sociological and ecological components?
How are the
sociological and ecological components linked in this framework?
5.
What is an ecological footprint?
6.
What is an ecosystem?
7.
What is an ecosystem service?
8.
What are the differences between the terms resistance and
resilience?
9.
What does "stationarity" mean within the context of natural resource
management?
10.
What is steady-state management?
11.
Name two reasons why steady-state management may fail.
12.
What is ecosystem stewardship?
13.
The reading by Chapin et al. (“Ecosystem stewardship: sustainability
strategies for a
rapidly changing planet”) compares the characteristics of steady-state
management
versus ecosystem stewardship. Name any three of these
characteristics and explain
how each varies in these two management approaches.
14.
What is a watershed?
15.
Name 2 abiotic and 2 biotic factors that influence how water moves
through a
watershed.
16.
According to the Hydrologic Unit Code, of the 22 major Water
Resource Regions in the
U.S., which one is Arizona in? (the name, not the number). What is
the name of the
Subregion that Tucson is in?
17.
How does watershed shape influence the magnitude of peak
discharge (i.e. flooding) in
a watershed? (in other words, for a given storm, what watershed
shape is likely to flood
more?)
18.
The watershed water balance is input = output. What are the two main
inputs and two
main outputs?
19.
What is a hydrograph?
20.
How do you estimate total volume of water from a hydrograph?
21.
What are the Arithmetic mean, Isohyetal and Theissen Polygon
methods for
extrapolating precipitation across a watershed?
22.
In an urbanized area, why would we wish to intercept/slow down
runoff after a storm
event?
23.
In an urbanized area, name one method for intercepting/slowing down
runoff after a
storm event.
24.
What are the three categories of watershed management practices we
discussed in
class? Also name one specific example of each.
25.
Name two major dams in the state of Arizona.
26.
What is the Colorado River Compact? Which states were involved?
27.
Which sector uses the most water from the Colorado River?
28.
Why are we currently facing a freshwater crisis in the western U.S.?
Explain this in the
context of supply and demand. What are some recent trends in supply
and demand?
29.
What is the Central Arizona Project (CAP)?
30.
Why is snowpack declining across the western U.S. (required reading)
31.
How are forests distributed globally?
32.
Name the four major forest biomes from largest to smallest.
33.
Which region of the world has the highest and lowest rates of
reforestation and
afforestation?
34.
Why is forest fragmentation usually negative?
35.
What is the Organic Act of 1897?
36.
What is the Organic Act of 1916?
37.
Do you think the terms "conservation" and "preservation" can be used
interchangeably?
Please explain why or why not.
38.
What is the Multiple Use Sustained Yields Act? Why was it passed?
39.
As discussed in class, what are two negative impacts caused by
deforestation?
40.
From the in-class exercise, is average number of board feet per tree a
sufficient metric
to assess the differences among the 3 tree stand types? What else do
you need to
know?
41.
From the in-class exercise, what are two other types of information
you need to know
besides the yield of board feet to assess economic feasibility of forest
thinning?
42.
From the in-class exercise, compare and contrast the characteristics
of a Green Planet
and a Desert Planet. What are the different characteristics and how do
they influence
evapotranspiration (ET), discharge (Q), and temperature (T)?
43.
As discussed in class, the paper by Cunningham et al. (“Balancing the
environmental
benefits of reforestation in agricultural regions”) highlights structural
and functional
changes that occur following reforestation. What are two of the factors
that are
determined by managers that influence structural development after
reforestation?
44.
As discussed in class, the paper by Cunningham et al. “(Balancing the
environmental
benefits of reforestation in agricultural regions”) highlights structural
and functional
changes that occur following reforestation. Regarding the cycling of
carbon, what is one
substantial functional benefit of reforestation?
45.
What is sustainable forestry?
46.
Name 3 of the sustainable forestry practices promoted by the Forest
Stewardship
Council (FSC).
47.
What is the current concentration of atmospheric CO
2
(in parts per million)?
48.
What causes seasonal changes in atmospheric CO
2
concentration within a year?
49.
How can we measure atmospheric CO
2
concentrations from the distant past (e.g.
800,000 years ago)?
50.
Name two major sources and two sinks of atmospheric CO
2
.
51.
Which ecosystem type in North America uptakes the greatest amount
of carbon per
year?
52.
Which ecosystem component in North America stores the greatest
amount of carbon?
53.
In the paper by Giebink et al. (“Policy and ecology of forest-based
climate mitigation:
challenges, needs and opportunities”), what are two specific issues
mentioned that
make it challenging to rely on forests for climate mitigation?