Why do tropical rainforests usually have poor soils?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: These forests are underlain by Oxisols which are the product of extreme weather. The soils are deep but contain small amounts of nutrients because of leaching. In the natural world, the nutrients are rapidly recycled into other plants once a plant has died. However, once the trees have been cut down, the soils are not able to sustain much agriculture.
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Which processes regulate the world's current level of species diversity?
A) Speciation and migration B) Mutation and humidity C) Extinction and speciation D) Endemism and climate change
A population in which the total fertility rate is 2 means that
A) birth rates and death rates are roughly equal. B) the population is neither increasing nor decreasing. C) the population will double in about 40 years. D) the population will decline by half in 40 years. E) both the birth rates and death rates are roughly equal and the population is neither increasing nor decreasing.
Your hand feels cold when you hold a cold can of soda. Energy is being transferred from your hand to the can by
A) convection. B) conduction. C) radiation.
People calling for more environmental stewardship generally believe that
A. pure capitalism should be used to make our economic decisions. B. better science and technology can fix our problems. C. we have an ethical responsibility to be caring managers of the earth. D. a mixture of market-based competition, improved technology, and government intervention can solve our problems. E. ecosystems have little instrumental value.