WI PAT Cat. 5.0 Exam Questions and Answers 100% Verified

List 5 roles plants play in a healthy aquatic ecosystem - ANSWER-1. Producing oxygen for other organisms 2. Preventing shoreline erosion 3. Lessening excess nutrients during the growing season 4. Stabilizing the lake bottom 5. Providing food and habitat for fish, waterfowl, and other aquatic animals List 6 ways that excessive plant growth can adversely affect the ecology and uses of a water body - ANSWER-1. Harm the ecology of an aquatic ecosystem 2. Curtail or prevent recreational water uses (swimming, boating, fishing) 3. Impart tastes or odors to drinking water supplies 4. Hamper water treatment operations 5. Adversely affect aesthetics, resort trade, and water-front property values 6. Produce toxins that harm animals that drink the water Name the four groups of aquatic plants and some examples of each. - ANSWER-1. emergent (cattails, arrowhead, bulrushes) 2. submergent (pond weeds, whorled leaved, water celery) 3. floating-leaved (water lilies, duckweed) 4. algae (free-floating, filamentous, rooted) Describe the general growth habits of, means of dispersal, and potential problems caused by emergent aquatic plants. - ANSWER-- Rooted in shallow water or water-saturated soils - Most of the growth occurs above the water line - Spread by an underground root system - Can become very dense and interfere with recreation - Provide important habitat - Control should be very limited (except for purple loosetrife) Describe the general growth habits of, means of dispersal, and potential problems caused by submergent aquatic plants. - ANSWER-***PONDWEEDS*** - Curly-leaf pondweed, sago pondweed, Illinois pondweed - Grow primarily underwater - Pondweeds have extensive root systems and runners as well as seeds - Valuable for fish and wildlife - Excessive control opens the way for less valuable, more aggressive nuisance plants to infest the area ***WHORLED LEAVED*** - Coontail, water milfoil, elodea - Spread by cuttings - Can easily clutter shorelines with free-floating bits -EWM major problem in some lakes ***WATER CELERY*** - Grows in clear water to a depth of 15 feet - Does not cause problems - Important food source for waterfowl Describe the general growth habits of, means of dispersal, and potential problems caused by floating-leaved aquatic plants. - ANSWER-***FREE-FLOATING*** - Duckweeds - Can cause problems around shorelines because they are easily windblown - Can be trapped in the tops of submergent plants at the water's surface - Very difficult to control in large water bodies