DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Runoff from agricultural land can result in excess nutrients entering water bodies. State one management strategy that could control the release of agricultural runoff.

Runoff from agricultural land can result in excess nutrients entering water bodies. Outline one indirect measure of organic pollution. 

Discuss how human activities impact the flows and stores in the nitrogen cycle.

Discuss the role of feedback mechanisms in maintaining the stability and promoting the restoration of plant communities threatened by human impacts.

When harvesting is limited to the sustainable yield, associated processes involved in a food production system may still make the production unsustainable.

In this context, to what extent can aquatic food production systems be truly sustainable?

When measuring levels of pollution, state one disadvantage of using a biotic index compared to measuring the pollutants directly.

Disadvantage:

Describe a practical strategy using a biotic index to provide evidence that the Daldykan River (Figures 6(d) and 6(e)) is damaged by effluent from the metal processing plant.

Outline one method for measuring the impact of a build-up of dead organic matter in an aquatic ecosystem.

To what extent can the different environmental value systems improve the sustainability of food production?

Discuss how the introduction and re-introduction of a species can affect an ecosystem.

Describe the similarities and differences in using a biotic index and a diversity index to assess ecosystems.

Explain how the production of cash crops (such as pineapples) may have an environmental impact on lakes or rivers.

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Define biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).

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

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

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

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

Explain how environmental indicators are used to assess sustainability.

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

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

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

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.