Aquatic Biodiversity

Chapter Overview Questions What are the basic types of aquatic life zones and what factors influence the kinds of life they contain? What are the major types of saltwater life zones, and how do human activities affect them? What are the major types of freshwater life zones, and how do human activities affect them? Aquatic Biodiversity

Evolution and Biodiversity Chapter 4

Chapter Overview Questions How do scientists account for the development of life on earth? What is biological evolution by natural selection, and how can it account for the current diversity of organisms on the earth? How can geologic processes, climate change and catastrophes affect biological evolution?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) What is an ecological niche, and how does it help a population adapt to changing the environmental conditions? How do extinction of species and formation of new species affect biodiversity?

Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity © Brooks/Cole Publishing Company / ITP

Chapter Overview Questions What factors affect the earth’s climate? How does climate determine where the earth’s major biomes are found? What are the major types of desert biomes? What are the major types of grassland biomes?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) What are the major types of forest and mountain biomes? How have human activities affected the world’s desert, grassland, forest, and mountain biomes?

SPECIES INTERACTIONS AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

What determines the number of species in a community? How can we classify species according to their roles in a community? How do species interact with one another? How do communities respond to changes in environmental conditions? Does high species biodiversity increase the stability and sustainability of a community?

Human Populations

Chapter Overview Questions What is the history of human population growth, and how many people are likely to be here by 2050? How is population size affected by birth, death, fertility, and migration rates? How is population size affected by percentages of people at each age level? How can we slow population growth?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) What success have India and China had in slowing population growth? What are the major impacts of human activities on the world’s natural ecosystems?

Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity

Chapter Overview Questions What do we know about aquatic biodiversity, and what is its economic and ecological importance? How are human activities affecting aquatic biodiversity? How can we protect and sustain marine biodiversity? How can we manage and sustain the world’s marine fisheries?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) How can we protect, sustain, and restore wetlands? How can we protect, sustain, and restore lakes, rivers, and freshwater fisheries?

WATER RESOURCES

Chapter Overview Questions Why is water so important, how much freshwater is available to us, and how much of it are we using? What causes freshwater shortages, and what can be done about this problem? What are the advantages and disadvantages of withdrawing groundwater? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using dams and reservoirs to supply more water?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) What are the advantages and disadvantages of transferring large amounts of water from one place to another? Can removing salt from seawater solve our water supply problems? How can we waste less water? How can we use the earth’s water more sustainably? What causes flooding, and what can we do about it?

Food, Soil Conservation, and Pest Management

Chapter Overview Questions How is the world’s food produced? How are soils being degraded and eroded, and what can be done to reduce these losses? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the green revolution to produce food? What are the environmental effects of producing food?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using genetic engineering to produce food? How can we produce more meat, fish, and shellfish? How can we protect food resources from pests? How do government policies affect food production and food security? How can we produce food more sustainably?

Geology and Nonrenewable Mineral Resources

Chapter Overview Questions What major geologic processes occur within the earth and on its surface? What are nonrenewable mineral resources and where are they found? What are rocks, and how are they recycled by the rock cycle? How do we find and extract mineral resources from the earth’s crust, and what harmful environmental effects result from removing and using these minerals?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) Will there be enough nonrenewable mineral resources for future generations? Can we find substitutes for scarce nonrenewable mineral resources? How can we shift to more sustainable use of nonrenewable mineral resources?

Air Pollution

Chapter Overview Questions What layers are found in the atmosphere? What are the major outdoor air pollutants, and where do they come from? What are two types of smog? What is acid deposition, and how can it be reduced? What are the harmful effects of air pollutants? How can we prevent and control air pollution?

WATER POLLUTION

Chapter Overview Questions What pollutes water, where do these pollutants come from, and what effects do they have? What are the major water pollution problems in streams and lakes? What causes groundwater pollution, and how can it be prevented? What are the major water pollution problems affecting oceans?

Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d) How can we prevent and reduce surface water pollution? How safe is drinking water, and how can it be made safer?