Sunset

Graduate Take-Home Exam

  1. What assumptions are inherent in economic cost quotes? In what ways does assigning a value to ecosystems contribute to and detract from conservation efforts? [250 words; 10 points]
In-Class Exam

  1. In class, we discussed various costs associated with biological invasions. List several costs associated with buffel grass in the Sonoran Desert (do not restrict your response to economic costs). [6 points]

  2. Researchers at Texas A&M University are funded to create cold-tolerant strains of buffel grass by the federal government (specifically, USDA Agricultural Research Service). How might resource managers at Saguaro National Park attempt to influence scientists and policy makers on this issue? [4 points]

  3. What was the overall objective of the research project at Fort Huachuca? [2 points] Do the results apply to other grasslands in Arizona? Why or why not? [4 points]

  4. List 3 items you consume that travel more than 100 miles before they arrive in Tucson. [6 points] Where do these items originate? [3 points]

  5. In your opinion, which of the following is more sustainable: (1) using water in the desert to grow food so that transportation of that food is not required or (2) growing food in an area that requires fewer inputs of fertilizer and water but must be transported. [0 points] Describe the advantages and disadvantages associated with each. [6 points]

  6. The human economy eventually must be described with what term (vs. expanding or contracting)? [2 points] Why? [2 points]

  7. List two factors that limit the use of sustainable products (such as, for example, solar power and locally grown organic food)? [4 points] Describe ways to overcome the constraints you identify. [6 points]

  8. List the 3 Rs in order of importance. [3 points]

  9. List a product that you consume, then list three externalities associated with that product. [6 points]

  10. We discussed the 1999 Ecography article by Reed Noss in considerable detail, with a focus on Table 1. Select two of the eleven parameters described in Table 1, and briefly describe Noss's interpretation of them with respect to traditional natural resource management and conservation biology. [6 points]