Question 1

Why do plants dominate and define communities on land?

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Question 2

Describe the spatial patterns of light and nutrients in a lake, and explain why these patterns exist.

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Question 3

Describe the climate in the taiga, and explain how that climate favors the type of forest found there.

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Question 4

In many parts of the Amazon Basin, farmers have cut down the tropical rain-forest trees and planted crops. However, the farmers often abandon these croplands after a few years and move on. What are some possible reasons for this?

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Question 5

Explain why it would probably be a money-losing venture to establish a plantation to grow corn in an area that used to be tropical rain forest.

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Question 6

Throughout history, some of the best farmland has been the flat areas along rivers. Why?

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Question 7

List one of the two geographical characteristics of most deserts.

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Question 8

What are the main factors that determine the locations of terrestrial biomes?

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Question 9

Why are most of the trees in temperate rain forests evergreens?

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Question 10

In what biome do plants tend to be evenly spaced with large, shallow root systems? Why?

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Question 11

In one area is a desert ecosystem and in another area is a tundra. What two fundamental resources differ in the ecosystems of these two areas? Why are these two more important than the other fundamental resources?

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Question 12

Plants from both the chaparral and the Arctic have waxy coatings even though the temperatures in the two biomes are vastly different. Why?

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Question 13

As large tracts of rain forest disappear due to human activities, the region tends to become drier. Why?

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Question 14

Every year certain parts of California have fires that sweep rapidly through the area, burning or endangering homes. What type of biome is found there, and why does it burn so frequently?

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Question 15

You are called to investigate a lake in your home town, where the residents fear that a broken pipe from the local sewage treatment plant has turned the formerly pristine lake eutrophic. What three things would you measure, or observe, in the lake to determine whether it is eutrophic?

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Question 16

Both the taiga and the temperate rain forest are dominated by evergreen vegetation. What are the reasons in each biome?

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Question 17

One of the most popular hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park is the tundra trail. What effects would you expect from hundreds of people walking on this trail every day during the season?

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Question 18

Explain why climate is the primary factor determining the type of ecosystem in an area.

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Question 19

Scientists observing coral-reef communities have noted declines in coral reefs in regions that have both agricultural runoff and rising water temperatures. What are the possible reasons for these observations?

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Question 20

Explain, in ecological terms, why cattle ranchers and conservationists have battled one another over cattle-grazing practices in the western shortgrass prairie biome of the American West. How has grazing changed the habitat?

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Quiz 29: Earths Diverse Ecosystems