ESCI 101 EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2025

Tragedy of the commons - -When we don't think about the stability of the ecological commons. Ecological commons - -Grazing land Fisheries Game animals Timber National Parks Water Air Solutions to the tragedy of the commons - -1. Economic (taxes, incentives, penalties) 2. Moral (appeal to conscious) 2. Population control (control) 3. Legislative (mutual coercion) 4. Privatization Ecosystem Goods and Services: Provisioning Services (products obtained from ecosystems) - -1. Food 2. Fresh water 3. Fuel 4. Fiber 5. Biochemical 6. Genetic resources Ecosystem Goods and Services: Regulating Services (benefits obtained from regulation of ecosystem processes) - -1. Climate regulation 2. Disease regulation 3. Water regulation 4. Water purification 5. Pollination Ecosystem Goods and Services: Cultural Services (nonmaterial benefits obtained from ecosystems) - -1. Spiritual and religious 2. Recreation and Ecotourism 3. Aesthetic 4. Educational 5. Sense of place 6. Cultural heritage Ecosystem Goods and Services: Supporting Services (services necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services) - -1. Soil formation 2. Nutrient cycling 3. Primary production Curent Value of National Capital in Puget Sound - -61.7 billion dollars per year Problems of Quantifying Natural System Value - -1. Most valuable products and natural systems have no commercial value for private land owner 2. Commercial values are finite, natural systems provide value in perpetuity 3. Estimates of value are inherently biased 4. Ecological value depends upon its context in the landscape 5. Ecosystems are multiple value systems Netherlands Fallacy - -To look at a densely populated place that is functioning well and think we can all live like that. When the only reason that place is functioning well is because they are importing all of their resources (large ecological footprint). World Population - -7 billion (J shaped curve) 7.8 billion by 2025 Rate of Growth - -r=b-d Current World Growth Rate - -0.01/year or 1.1% Exponential Population Growth - -A population increases in proportion to its size. Doubling time - -70/population growth rate 9) Vertical accretion (to counteract sea level rise) of sediments in the Mississippi River Delta comes from A. Plant growth contributing organic matter to the soils. B. Mineral sediments from the Mississippi River itself. C. All of the above. D. None of the above. Because of subsidence. - -B. Mineral sediments from the Mississippi River itself. Density Dependent factors that affect populations - -1. Food supply, habitat 2. Predators, parasites, and disease 3. War, energy Maximum k vs. Optimum k - -maximum carrying capacity vs. optimum k...we have decided we wish to live at optimum vs. maximum Demographic transition model - -First phase = stable population because birth and death rates are both high Second phase = population increases as death rates decrease and birthrates grow Third phase = birthrates decrease through empowerment of women Fourth phase = high technology, low birth rates, low death rates = stable population Environmental Impact - -Population multiplied by resource use Robert Costanza - price on earth - -33 trillion dollars Replacement Technology method and other methods of quantifying ecosystem services - -The method in which one determines the value of an ecosystem service by calculating how much it would cost for humans and technology to replicate that service in it's absence New York City watershed example - - Embodied energy - -Embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to produce any goods or services, considered as if that energy was incorporated or 'embodied' in the product itself Population ecology; what are r, and k - -r is the rate of change so the ratio of births to deaths Exponential growth, the nature of and shape of curve - -J curve, no carrying capacity Resource use, developing and developed countries, US - - Garret Hardin - -1. Wrote "The Tragedy of the Commons." 2. Believes that people commonly come up with a technical solutions, but there is no true technical solution because in creating a solution, you create new problems. 3. End to tragedy depends on EVERYONE participating in moral guidelines. 4. Says that there are too many of us to maintain the commons. We must find a way to control the population Which of the following ecosystem scale restoration efforts were suggested for the Mississippi River delta? A. Reconnect the river to the delta plain. B. Use dredge sediment to restore wetlands. C. Restore barrier islands. D. Remove spoil banks. E. All of the above - -E. All of the above 2. We've lost about 4900 square kilometers of wetlands in coastal Louisiana since 1900. The main reason for this loss is A. the dredging of canals in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain. B. oil and gas production in the delta. C. oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. D. the construction of river levees in the Mississippi Deltaic Plain. E. deep water oil spills. - -D. the construction of river levees in the Mississippi Deltaic Plain. 3. An example of a pulsing event that occurs on a daily basis in the Mississippi Deltaic plain would be A. hurricanes. B. tides. C. river floods. D. frontal passages. E. tsunamis. - -B. tides. 4. The new Mississippi River delta is forming A. in St. Bernard Parish. B. in the Atchafalya Bay. C. along the Lafourche distributary. D. off of the Sabine River mouth. E. In the state of Mississippi. - -B. in the Atchafalya Bay. 5. The most significant reason for the dredging of 15,000 square kilometers of canals in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain was for A. Navigation B. Oil and gas development C. Drainage D. Logging E. Fishing - -B. Oil and gas development 6. The Gulf of Mexico Energy and Security Act gave Louisiana and other Gulf States 37% of revenues of newly opened oil and gas tracts, which Louisiana has constitutionally dedicated to A. Levee repair B. Compensation to oyster