1. Explain the difference between undernourishment and malnourishment.
2. Explain why a person receiving an adequate number of calories per day in their diet may still have diseases caused by inadequate nutrition. Provide an example of such a disease.
3. What are some health consequences of undernourishment and overnourishment?
4. Define what is meant by the term "essential amino acids". How would someone consuming a vegetarian diet make sure that they are getting all of the essential amino acids?
5. Identify two potential drawbacks to replacing native crops with crops developed in the Green Revolution.
6. Explain the difference between developing new crop plants by plant breeding programs vs. bioengineering.
7. What is the difference between the texture and the structure of a soil?
8. Why is newly-exposed glacial substrate (glacial till) not considered to be soil?
9. Would you expect to find an E horizon in a soil that develops in a dry climate under vegetation that has acidic leaf litter? Why or why not?
10. Identify two factors that increase the water- and nutrient-holding capacities of soil. Explain how each of these factors helps increase the ability of soil to retain water and/or nutrients.
11. Describe 4 distinctly different agricultural practices that can help reduce soil erosion.
12. Explain how reduced-tillage techniques can decrease rates of soil erosion, and identify a problem that such practices might generate.
13. What is meant by the pesticide treadmill?
14. Describe two potential negative consequences that can arise from increased use of chemical pesticides.
15. Describe two alternatives to simply using chemical pesticides to control pest populations.
    
    Exam 3 will cover the questions above (1-15 on this page); questions 16-27 will be covered on Exam 4.
    
    
16. There are a variety of rationales for and benefits derived from preserving different kinds of biodiversity. Identify one general reason for and a specific benefit derived from preserving species diversity and one general reason for and a specific benefit derived from preserving genetic diversity.
17. Define a species, using the biological species concept. What difficulties might we encounter in determining whether a particular population of animals represents a distinct species using this definition?
18. When it comes to identifying species, some scientists are "splitters" (recognize many different species), and others are "lumpers" (recognize fewer different species). If you owned a very valuable piece of property that happened to contain habitat for a species that is being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act, would you want your legislators in Congress to consult a lumper or a splitter when trying to decide whether to protect the species? Why?
19. Explain how preservation and protection of an endangered species can help to preserve biodiversity in general.
20. Hunting pressures by humans has been argued to be largely responsible for the extinction of woolly mammoths at the end of the last Ice Age, and the extinction of passenger pigeons at the beginning of this century. However, many scientists would argue that this explanation for these extinctions is too simplistic. What other factors acted together with hunting to cause extinction of these species?
21. Swidden (or milpa) agriculture works particularly well because it mimics many of the natural dynamics and characteristics of the natural forest. Identify and describe three of these similarities.
22. Leucaena has been widely hailed as a miracle tree and the solution to many of the problems that lead to (or result from) deforestation in the tropics. Identify two characteristics make it so useful, and two potential problems that might result from its widespread use.
23. Two species of shrubs have recently been introduced into gardens in the Chicago area. One species (species A) produces many flowers each year beginning in its second year, produces lots of wind-dispersed seeds, and is native to disturbed areas along large rivers. The second species (species B) produces many flowers once every three years beginning in its fourth year, produces many large seeds that are dispersed by squirrels and chipmunks, and is native to small forest clearings caused by tree falls.
    Which of the species is most likely to invade native communities and become a pest?
    Describe a direct negative effect that the invasive species might have on native species of plants.
    Describe how the invasive species might have an indirect negative effect on seed-eating animals that live in the natural communities.
24. Folks in two different areas of the country are interested in maximizing the productivity of their herds. In one area, there is abundant rainfall throughout the growing season and soils are fertile, while in the other area, rainfall is sparse and soils are generally poor. Describe an appropriate grazing plan for each area, considering whether the herd should be one or more species (and what the characteristics of those species should be), how much land would be required for grazing to be sustainable, and how long animals should spend in a given area before being moved on to another area. Explain the reasoning behind each of your decisions.
25. Describe three important ecological services provided by forests.
26. Describe three important ecological services provided by wetlands.
27. What are two indirect negative effects of harvesting small numbers of very valuable trees from tropical forests in developing countries?

    

NOTE: You are responsible for all material covered in lecture and in the text, not only for the material presented in these questions. Short-answer questions on the exam are likely to come at least in part from these questions. Also, make sure that you look at the questions at the ends of the chapters in Cunningham & Saigo, and look in the Student Study Guide for examples of true-false, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the blank questions.