BIOL2485B - Midterm Sample Questions
1. Which of the following is an example of an externality? Choose all options that apply.
A. Your neighbour plants a tree in their yard that cools your home by providing shade
B. A factory produces pollution that must be collected and treated before being released
into the environment
C. A farmer applying an insecticide to their crops has improved crop yield, but neighbours
lose access to insect pollinators
D. A bakery buys a new industrial-sized mixer to produce more bread.
2. Which of the following statements is correct about carrying capacity?
A. Carrying capacity is a measure of the extent by which a system can support life
B. The carrying capacity of the human population has been the same throughout our
history
C. Carrying capacity is a strategic decision-making and planning aimed at balancing the
use of resources
D. Population size cannot exceed the carrying capacity
3. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, the former Soviet republics entered an
extended recession in which the wealth of each country decreased. According to the IPATS
model, and everything else being equal, what effect would the recession have on these countries’
environmental impact?
A. The environmental impact would increase
B. The environmental impact would decrease
C. The environmental impact would remain the same
D. The IPATS model cannot make a prediction about the environmental impact based on
the available information
4. Which of the following pollutants remain in the environment for a long time and tend to
bioaccumulate because they do not break down easily?
A. Contributors to acid rain
B. Criteria air contaminants
C. Heavy metals
D. Persistent organic pollutants
E. Toxic air pollutants
5. The graph above shows the Living Planet Index for Europe and Central Asia measured over
time. Which of the following statements is true about the Living Planet Index?
A. An index > 0 indicates that the health of populations, on average, is increasing
B. If the index decreases, this indicates that the threats to biodiversity are decreasing
C. If the index is below the starting value, then all of the monitored species have decreased
in population size
D. If the index decreases, this indicates that the average population size across over 4000
monitored species has decreased
E. The index is set relative to the year 2000
6. Which of the following is the least likely to occur with climate change?
A. Species from low latitudes (near the equator) will be outcompeted by invasive species
from higher latitudes
B. Some species will expand their ranges northward, and some will expand their ranges
southward
C. Temperate regions (at mid-latitudes) will have increased exposure to tropical diseases
D. Growing seasons in temperate regions will become longer, but become shorter and
drier in tropical regions
E. All of the options above are equally likely consequences of climate change
7. Which of the following statements is false in describing the evidence that anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of climate change?
A. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions strongly correlate with the observed increases
of temperature in the troposphere over the past 200 years
B. Climate models that include anthropogenic forcings with natural forcings are better
able to explain the observed changes in temperature
C. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases absorbed by the ocean directly contribute to increases
in ocean heat content. Otherwise atmospheric temperatures would be even higher
D. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases, and not natural processes, contribute to the majority
of the additional radiative forcing since 300 years ago
E. All of the above statements are correct, none of the statements are incorrect.
ANSWERS
1. A, B, and C
2. A
3. B
4. D
5. D
6. A
7. C