DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Explain how environmental indicators are used to assess sustainability.

To what extent do the approaches and strategies of different environmental value systems improve access to fresh water?

Explain how ecological techniques can be used to study the effects of human activities on the biodiversity of a named ecosystem.

To what extent is pollution impacting human food production systems?

With reference to information in the resource booklet, evaluate the sustainability of Canada’s management of the Large Ocean Management Area of the St Lawrence River estuary and Gulf of St Lawrence.

With reference to Figures 10, 11(a) and 11(b), describe a method to monitor the impact of the release of untreated sewage into the St Lawrence River ecosystem.

Outline an environmental problem that may result from the release of untreated sewage into a river.

Using Figure 11(b), estimate the highest concentrations of coliform bacteria (in units/100 mL) found in the St Lawrence River one day after the untreated sewage was released.

With reference to Figure 9(a), outline how the round goby both positively and negatively affects the St Lawrence River ecosystem.

Explain how three pollution management strategies may reduce eutrophication in agricultural areas.

Evaluate the use of biotic indices compared with direct methods of measuring pollution.

Outline two indirect methods that could be used to measure the impact on the river ecosystem of dead organic matter from the flooded vegetation and soils.

Explain how the use of fertilizers in agriculture may lead to hypoxic water in the areas shown in Figure 7.

Identify one possible pollution management strategy for Inle Lake in each of the categories in the table below.

With reference to Figures 4 and 5, identify three environmental impacts that may occur as a consequence of human activities on and around Inle Lake.

Apart from global warming and ozone-depletion, state one pollution problem that may affect a number of countries.

Nitrates and phosphates from nearby farms may drain into the lake. Identify a strategy for managing this pollution at each of the following levels:

Explain two factors which lead to a loss of marine (ocean) biodiversity.

Using evidence from the resource booklet, justify from an ecocentric viewpoint why the Husab Uranium Project should not be approved.

Suggest how the population growth curve for algae in Graph C would appear if the pollutant had been nitrates and phosphates from fertilizer run-off.

Outline how turbidity changes after the raw sewage discharge point in Graph B.

Define biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).

Suggest a range of practical procedures that could be carried out to measure the abiotic and biotic impacts of an oil spill in an aquatic ecosystem.

Explain how the following land-based activities could have a damaging effect on marine ecosystems within the Coral Triangle: agricultural activity.

Explain how the following land-based activities could have a damaging effect on marine ecosystems within the Coral Triangle: deforestation.

With reference to Figure 5, describe how loss of a coral reef ecosystem could impact a neighbouring seagrass community.

Discuss the consequences of changing global per capita meat consumption on the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.

Discuss strategies that can be used to improve the sustainability of food production systems.

With reference to Figures 8(a) and 8(b), describe the changes in nutrient and oxygen content that occur after beaver dams are constructed. Include quantities in your response.

With reference to Figures 6(c), 7(a) and 7(b) explain the problems associated with land restoration in Iceland.

Explain how organic waste may be an effective fertilizer in terrestrial systems but a source of pollution in aquatic systems.

Explain how the protection of forests in Makira National Park may contribute to the conservation of the aquatic environment of MaMaBay.

The provision of food resources and assimilation of wastes are two key factors of the environment that determine its carrying capacity for a given species.

To what extent does the human production of food and waste each influence the carrying capacity for human populations?

Pollution management strategies may be aimed at either preventing the production of pollutants or limiting their release into ecosystems.

With reference to either acid deposition or eutrophication, evaluate the relative efficiency of these two approaches to management.

Explain how positive feedback mechanisms may influence the equilibrium of an aquatic ecosystem during the process of eutrophication.

To what extent are the concepts of net productivity and natural income useful in managing the sustainable harvesting of named resources from natural ecosystems?