Climate and Environmental Change
Farmers in Vermont notice their apple trees are flowering earlier each spring. What environmental factor is most likely responsible for this change?
Warming spring temperatures (earlier warming triggers earlier blooming)
A female sea turtle lays hundreds of eggs on the beach, but only a few survive to adulthood. What are reasons for only having a few survive?
Predation, human impact, pollution, health problems etc.
What is habitat fragmentation, and how can it affect animal movement?
Breaking large habitats into smaller pieces limits migration, feeding, and breeding opportunities.
What term describes the maximum number of organisms an environment can support?
carrying capacity
As ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching events increase. Explain why this affects fish populations that live in coral reefs.
Coral death reduces habitat and food sources for reef fish, causing fish populations to drop.
Why might a predator species that hunts in packs (like wolves) have a better chance of survival than one that hunts alone?
Group hunting increases success rate and allows capture of larger prey.
A rainforest is cleared for palm oil plantations. What happens to biodiversity in that area?
Biodiversity decreases. fewer niches, loss of native species, dominance by few cultivated ones.
If a drought reduces available water, what happens to the carrying capacity for deer in the area?
It decreases, because fewer resources are available to sustain the population.
Coffee plants require cool, high-altitude climates. What might happen to coffee production as global temperatures rise?
Production areas will move to higher altitudes or decrease overall, reducing yield and quality.
Desert insects are active only at night to conserve water. What kind of adaptation is this; structural, behavioral, or physiological?
Behavioral adaptation, changing activity pattern to avoid heat and water loss.
Hunters illegally capturing pangolins for their scales cause a population decline. What human activity is this an example of?
Poaching which is llegal hunting for trade or profit.
Why is disease spread more of an issue for groups rather than individuals?
Spread faster and to more animals
A type of moss can only grow in cold tundra regions. What would happen to its range if permafrost continues to melt?
Its range would shrink or shift northward, since it can’t survive warmer soil temperatures.
Atlantic salmon migrate upstream to spawn in freshwater rivers. How does this behavior ensure species survival?
It protects eggs from ocean predators and ensures offspring grow in nutrient-rich, safer waters.
Explain one indirect way humans can affect marine life through everyday actions.
Runoff of fertilizers or plastics from land enters oceans, causing pollution and harming marine species.
In a lake, algae grow rapidly when fertilizer runs off from nearby farms. Explain how this affects the oxygen levels and fish populations.
Eutrophication occurs where algae bloom, oxygen drops, fish suffocate and die.
Explain how a gradual increase in temperature could alter species interactions in a forest ecosystem.
Some species migrate or die off, allowing new species to invade, changing predator-prey and competition relationships.
Which behavior is better for survival and reproduction: Individual Behavior or Group Behavior? Why?
Group
A law bans shark finning to protect shark populations. Predict how this change might affect other marine species in the food web.
Fish populations that sharks eat may increase, causing shifts in coral reef or ocean ecosystem balance.
How can the introduction of an invasive species, like zebra mussels, alter the carrying capacity of a freshwater ecosystem?
They outcompete native species for food and space, reducing biodiversity and lowering the carrying capacity for others.