OUR BLUE PLANET BIO BEYOND COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What is world's rarest bird of prey? - ✔✔Philippines eagle
✔✔How big is the Amazon basin? - ✔✔over 3,000 kilometers across
✔✔What is the Amazon's top predator? - ✔✔the jaguar
✔✔Leaf cutter ant colonies have an important impact on the rainforest ecosystem in the
Amazon. What animal in the Congo does Attenborough compare them with? Why? -
✔✔A leafcutter colony is like a mega-herbivore, not dissimilar to an elephant in the
Congo.
✔✔What do lead cutter ants do with the leaves they collect? - ✔✔The leaves are
processed and used to create gardens of fungus that are fed to their larvae.
✔✔The success of the leaf cutter colony depends on keeping their gardens disease-
free. How do they do this? - ✔✔ants have teamed up with bacteria to help control
pathogens, which would destroy their precious fungi. Scientists now believe these
bacteria could provide new solutions to human diseases
✔✔Leaf eater ants are successful, but a "health" of a rainforest's biodiversity depends
on what? (Hint: Attenborough talks about "checks and balances") - ✔✔depends on no
one species gaining the upper hand
✔✔Cordyceps are fascinating fungi. What do you see depicted in the documentary that
looks like something straight out of a sci fi movie? - ✔✔The cordyceps erupted from an
ant's body, killing the ant.
✔✔The relationship between Cordyceps and its prey ensure that what never happens in
the rainforest? - ✔✔this ensures no one species can ever dominate in the rainforest
✔✔How long does it take for an Orangutan to become independent? - ✔✔more than 10
years
✔✔How many Orangutans are lost every week from human activity? - ✔✔100
✔✔How much of the Orangutans pristine low level rainforest has been lost in the last
four decades? What is the forest lost it? (Meaning, what has it become?) - ✔✔75%.
✔✔What is the problem with monocultures? (This is mentioned here in the
documentary, and also in Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma) - ✔✔These monocultures
, support only a fraction of the diversity found in primary rainforests, and it is pushing
many animals to extinction.
✔✔What is the yearly rate of loss of tropical rainforests worldwide? Why is the loss of
this habitat or biome of particular concern? - ✔✔Across the world, we are losing tropical
forest and diversity at the rate of nearly 15 million hectares. Jungles store and capture
more carbon than any other habitat on land. They cool our planet, provide food and
medicines
✔✔Our Planet - Fresh Water Viewing Guide - ✔✔complete plz owo
✔✔Even though fresh water is so vital to all terrestrial animals and plants, what percent
is available ("within reach" in Attenborough's terms)? - ✔✔1%
✔✔What "boom to bust" event takes place in central Australia once a decade? What
triggers this event? Lastly, what is the result of this "boom to bust" event? - ✔✔The
creation of Australia's largest lake: Kati Thanda, Lake Eyre. Moisture-laden clouds of
the monsoon begin to build. Then rainfalls and flood over the desert.
✔✔How much of the planet's water is locked up (frozen) around the poles? How thick is
the ice here? - ✔✔2/3/. The ice is several kilometers thick and may have been lying
there for millions of years
✔✔What essential element ("life giving ingredient") is found in the water - particularly
cold water? - ✔✔oxygen
✔✔What adaptations for living in powerful currents are seen in animals in the chilly
water of the Andes in South America? (There are several) - ✔✔Torrent ducks can swim
and dive against the current
Stonefly and mayfly larvae have gills, with which they extract oxygen from the water.
Their flattened bodies resist the relentless pull of the current
Blackfly larvae have hooks at their rear end that anchor theme to the rocks. They have
a special safety line that can pull them back if the current is too strong
✔✔What problem do salmon encounter due to dams we have built? What have been
the consequences of this? (Hint - there is more than one) - ✔✔They aren't able to cross
over dams we have built in order to reach their egg laying sites.
Lower numbers of fish (less than 1% of what they used to be)
Alaskan brown bears also suffer with the lack of food. They can't build up the fat reserve
they need to sustain themselves during hibernation.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What is world's rarest bird of prey? - ✔✔Philippines eagle
✔✔How big is the Amazon basin? - ✔✔over 3,000 kilometers across
✔✔What is the Amazon's top predator? - ✔✔the jaguar
✔✔Leaf cutter ant colonies have an important impact on the rainforest ecosystem in the
Amazon. What animal in the Congo does Attenborough compare them with? Why? -
✔✔A leafcutter colony is like a mega-herbivore, not dissimilar to an elephant in the
Congo.
✔✔What do lead cutter ants do with the leaves they collect? - ✔✔The leaves are
processed and used to create gardens of fungus that are fed to their larvae.
✔✔The success of the leaf cutter colony depends on keeping their gardens disease-
free. How do they do this? - ✔✔ants have teamed up with bacteria to help control
pathogens, which would destroy their precious fungi. Scientists now believe these
bacteria could provide new solutions to human diseases
✔✔Leaf eater ants are successful, but a "health" of a rainforest's biodiversity depends
on what? (Hint: Attenborough talks about "checks and balances") - ✔✔depends on no
one species gaining the upper hand
✔✔Cordyceps are fascinating fungi. What do you see depicted in the documentary that
looks like something straight out of a sci fi movie? - ✔✔The cordyceps erupted from an
ant's body, killing the ant.
✔✔The relationship between Cordyceps and its prey ensure that what never happens in
the rainforest? - ✔✔this ensures no one species can ever dominate in the rainforest
✔✔How long does it take for an Orangutan to become independent? - ✔✔more than 10
years
✔✔How many Orangutans are lost every week from human activity? - ✔✔100
✔✔How much of the Orangutans pristine low level rainforest has been lost in the last
four decades? What is the forest lost it? (Meaning, what has it become?) - ✔✔75%.
✔✔What is the problem with monocultures? (This is mentioned here in the
documentary, and also in Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma) - ✔✔These monocultures
, support only a fraction of the diversity found in primary rainforests, and it is pushing
many animals to extinction.
✔✔What is the yearly rate of loss of tropical rainforests worldwide? Why is the loss of
this habitat or biome of particular concern? - ✔✔Across the world, we are losing tropical
forest and diversity at the rate of nearly 15 million hectares. Jungles store and capture
more carbon than any other habitat on land. They cool our planet, provide food and
medicines
✔✔Our Planet - Fresh Water Viewing Guide - ✔✔complete plz owo
✔✔Even though fresh water is so vital to all terrestrial animals and plants, what percent
is available ("within reach" in Attenborough's terms)? - ✔✔1%
✔✔What "boom to bust" event takes place in central Australia once a decade? What
triggers this event? Lastly, what is the result of this "boom to bust" event? - ✔✔The
creation of Australia's largest lake: Kati Thanda, Lake Eyre. Moisture-laden clouds of
the monsoon begin to build. Then rainfalls and flood over the desert.
✔✔How much of the planet's water is locked up (frozen) around the poles? How thick is
the ice here? - ✔✔2/3/. The ice is several kilometers thick and may have been lying
there for millions of years
✔✔What essential element ("life giving ingredient") is found in the water - particularly
cold water? - ✔✔oxygen
✔✔What adaptations for living in powerful currents are seen in animals in the chilly
water of the Andes in South America? (There are several) - ✔✔Torrent ducks can swim
and dive against the current
Stonefly and mayfly larvae have gills, with which they extract oxygen from the water.
Their flattened bodies resist the relentless pull of the current
Blackfly larvae have hooks at their rear end that anchor theme to the rocks. They have
a special safety line that can pull them back if the current is too strong
✔✔What problem do salmon encounter due to dams we have built? What have been
the consequences of this? (Hint - there is more than one) - ✔✔They aren't able to cross
over dams we have built in order to reach their egg laying sites.
Lower numbers of fish (less than 1% of what they used to be)
Alaskan brown bears also suffer with the lack of food. They can't build up the fat reserve
they need to sustain themselves during hibernation.
