Unit 5: Sustaining Biodiversity
Name:
Chapter 10: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach
1. List five types of public lands in the United States.
2. Distinguish between old-growth, second-growth forests and a tree farm and give one example of each.
3. List five reasons why forests are commercially and ecologically important. List five ways that tropical forests touch lives in the temperate
zones.
4. List five reasons forests are important. List three ways to reduce demand for wood products.
5. Summarize the range of estimates of rates of tropical deforestation. List six human activities which actually destroy the tropical forests.
6. Summarize the impact of deforestation on some of the world's indigenous cultures.
7. List four types of tree harvesting, indicating which type of management they are most likely to be used for.
8. Summarize threats to forests from fires, pathogens, and air pollution and strategies for dealing with each threat. Distinguish among surface
fires, crown fires, and ground fires.
9. List eight ways to move toward sustainable forestry management. List at least five ways to reform federal forest management.
Chapter 11: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach
10. Describe the economic, medical, scientific, ecological, and aesthetic, recreational, and ethical significance of wild species. Describe the
general process of extinction. Define HIPPO. Distinguish among local extinction, ecological extinction, and biological extinction.
11. Distinguish between threatened and endangered species. List nine characteristics that make species extinction prone.
12. List three root causes of extinction of wildlife. List eight human activities which directly increase the wildlife extinction rate.
13. Summarize the condition of the world's fisheries and the causes of those conditions.
14. State and briefly describe the most far-reaching international treaty to protect wildlife. List four strategies that have been used recently to
weaken the Endangered Species Act. List three recommendations for strengthening the Endangered Species Act.
Chapter 12: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
15. Discuss the importance of aquatic systems research and its potential environmental and economic benefits.
16. Describe the ecological services provided by aquatic systems. Analyze the lessons to be learned from the decline of the whaling industry.
17. Discuss how humans have impacted aquatic systems, and how these actions have affected aquatic resource availability. Describe the
problems associated with marine environment protection.
18. Discuss the roles of legislation, regulation, and economic pressures. Describe freshwater and marine fishery management and how it can
be improved.
19. Distinguish between coastal and inland wetlands. Describe the ecological functions performed by wetlands. Describe environmental
problems associated with coastal and inland wetlands.
20. Discuss the problems caused by human development of lake and river resources, including eutrophication, introduction of alien species,
and management for flood control and power generation. Describe how some rivers are being protected from development.
Model UN Questions
Chapter 10: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach
1. Indicate three species that are extinct and/or endangered, discuss the reasons, and describe their instrumental value.
2. What green careers are or could be available.
3. How apparent is HIPPCO?
4. What are the impacts of two introduced species and what can be done to control them?
5. What percentage of the country is protected land? Is poaching a problem and what is being done to prevent it?
6. What international and national legislation is helping protect wild species?
Chapter 11: Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach
1. What are the major threats to the terrestrial ecosystems and what are the causes of these threats?
2. How are the forests managed and sustained?
3. How are the rangelands managed and sustained?
4. Describe the system of national parks and nature reserves?
5. How is the country maintaining its terrestrial biodiversity? Is the country a biodiversity hotspot and, if so, why?
Chapter 12: Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity
1. What are the major threats to the aquatic ecosystems and what are the causes of these threats?
2. How are the marine ecosystems managed and sustained?
3. How are the freshwater ecosystems managed and sustained?
4. How are the wetlands ecosystems managed and sustained?
5. Describe the system of aquatic reserves?
6. How is the country maintaining its aquatic biodiversity? Is the country a biodiversity hotspot and why?