Site 1. On the east side of the park with the kudzu, you set up ten 1m x 1m plots on the forest floor. In each plot you count the number of individuals of the rare plant.
Site 2. On the west side of the park without the kudzu, you set up ten 1m x 1m plots of the forest floor. In each plot you count the number of individuals of the rare plant.
Which of the following represents the hypothesis that you are testing with this experiment?
a) Kudzu will eventually grow on the west side of the park.
b) Kudzu will kill off the trees in the preserve by strangling them.
c) Kudzu should be removed from the preserve because it is killing the rare plant.
d) Kudzu is negatively affecting populations of the rare plant in the preserve.
e) None of these choices is an appropriate hypothesis for your study.
Answer: d
Difficulty: Medium
Bloomcode: Application
Learning Objective 1: LO 1.4 Describe environmental science and the role of the scientific method. TERMINAL LO
Learning Objective 2: LO 1.4.2 Outline the scientific method. ENABLING LO
Section Reference 1: 1.4 Environmental Science
43. A state agency has contacted you to do a scientific assessment of kudzu in a nature preserve in southern Georgia. They are concerned about the effects of the non-native invasive vine on a small rare plant that grows on the forest floor in the preserve, but which is found nowhere else in the state. Kudzu is only growing in the east side of the preserve because it hasn't yet had time to invade further. In order to assess the effects of kudzu on the rare plant, you set up the following experiment:
Site 1. On the east side of the park with the kudzu, you set up ten 1m x 1m plots on the forest floor. In each plot you count the number of individuals of the rare plant.
Site 2. On the west side of the park without the kudzu, you set up ten 1m x 1m plots of the forest floor. In each plot you count the number of individuals of the rare plant.
Based solely on the data represented in the associated table, what can you report to the agency that contracted you to do this study?
| Site | Mean number of individuals of rare plant per plot |
| Site 1 | 1.7 |
| Site 2 | 4.2 |
a) Kudzu is shading out the rare plant.
b) The rare plant is unaffected by the presence of the kudzu.
c) Fewer individuals of the rare plant grow in the presence of kudzu when compared to areas without.
d) It will be impossible to remove kudzu from the park because it grows too fast.
e) Kudzu grows much faster than the rare plant and will dominate the preserve within a decade.
Answer: c
Difficulty: Medium
Bloomcode: Application
Learning Objective 1: LO 1.4 Describe environmental science and the role of the scientific method. TERMINAL LO
Learning Objective 2: LO 1.4.2 Outline the scientific method. ENABLING LO
Section Reference 1: 1.4 Environmental Science
44. Which of the following represents a common-pool resource?
a) fresh water
b) atmosphere
c) forests
d) marine fisheries
e) all of these choices are correct
Answer: e
Difficulty: Medium
Bloomcode: Application
Learning Objective 1: LO 1.3 Define sustainability and sustainable development. TERMINAL LO
Learning Objective 2: LO 1.3.2 Relate Garrett Hardin’s description of the tragedy of the commons in medieval Europe to common-pool resources today. ENABLING LO
Section Reference 1: 1.3 Sustainability
45. The hypothesis that best describes the Lake Washington case study is that:
a) Lake Washington is unfit for public recreation.
b) increases in cyanobacteria numbers are a direct response to increased nutrient availability.
c) if the sewage is diverted, then the water quality of the lake will return to previous levels.
d) bacteria from municipal sewage are increasing in the lake.
e) human activity has had no impact on Lake Washington, it is undergoing a natural process.
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
Bloomcode: Application
Learning Objective 1: LO 1.5 List the five stages in addressing environmental problems. TERMINAL LO
Learning Objective 2: LO 1.5.2Briefly describe the history of the Lake Washington pollution problem of the 1950s and how it was resolved. ENABLING LO