Graduate Take Home Exam
- Vegetation management decisions used to be based on biological
criteria
(back in the "good old days"). Within the last few decades, they have
been
based largely on economic criteria. More recently, vegetation management
decisions have been based on social and political criteria. We seem to be
moving away from management based on biology and ecology, at least on
federally managed lands. Vegetation managers are essentially applied
ecologists; they are not political or social scientists. Can they remain
true to their education as applied ecologists and still contribute to
decision-making in today's society? How? Please be specific. [300 words
or fewer; 10 points]
- This course attempts to reach seniors and graduate students, and
graduate students are expected to complete additional work in exchange for
graduate credit. However, it is difficult to reach both audiences
simultaneously. We have been largely dissatisfied with our numerous and
varied attempts to offer a meaningful graduate experience in this course.
Thus, we seek your input on how to do so, within the constraints of a
4-credit course (i.e., completely separate class meetings for the two
target audiences is unacceptable). How can we elevate RAM 546 to a level
that is meaningful for graduate students? This question is not a gift;
please take it seriously. [No limit; 10 points]
- You have been hired by Saguaro NP to develop a general management
strategy for dealing with current and future plant invasions. Describe
the
elements of your recommended strategy. You are to focus on all the plant
invasion problems, so the management strategy must be general in nature.
In your answer, please address the current efforts employed by Saguaro NP
to deal with plant invasions and evaluate these within the context of your
recommended strategy. [600 words or fewer, 30 points]
In-Class Exam
- List 3 objectives underlying the use of recent clearcuts by the Forest
Service on Mt. Lemmon. [6 points]
- Quantitatively describe differences in the height of aspen at 7800'
and 9000' at sites we visited on Mt. Lemmon. [3 points]
- Describe the phenology of stem growth for conifers characterized by
"fixed" growth. [3 points]
- List 4 specific strategies the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is
using to mitigate or minimize the effects of the 1996 Cottonwood fire. [4
points]
- The Lakeside Ranger District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
has determined that several plant communities are too common, and others
are too rare. Specifically, they would like to increase Vegetative
Structural States (VSS) 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A at the expense of VSS 1, 4C,
and 5C. Briefly describe the physiognomy of the desired states, and
describe several specific strategies that are being used to facilitate the
transformation of states. [10 points]
- World-wide, what is the human population growth rate? Describe the
implications of this growth rate for vegetation management at two
different scales--landscape and local. [9 points]
- BHP Copper in San Manuel has recently implemented a vegetation
rehabilitation project known as IMPACT that ____________. [3 points]
- will eliminate salt cedar from riparian areas
- uses livestock to revegetate mine tailings
- will restrict off road vehicle use in riparian areas
- restores abandoned crop land
- none of the above
- Abandoned crop fields along the San Pedro River on BHP Copper lands
return naturally to _____________. [3 points]
- desert scrub and herbaceous weeds
- mesquite bosque
- salt cedar
- any of the above
- Spreading of municipal sewage sludge (biosolids) to accelerate
revegetation on mine tailings at BHP Copper in San Manuel is an
economically feasible alternative to ______________. [3 points]
- planting of Eucalyptus
- spreading horse manure
- growing alfalfa
- capping with top soil
- none of the above
- Fire policy at Saguaro National Park has been adjusted for sites
______________; at these sites, all fires are classified as "wildfires."
[3 points]
- near the park boundary
- on calcareous soils
- below 8000 feet elevation
- invaded by yellow star thistle
- below 5000 feet elevation
- Herbicides are only infrequently used to control non-native plants in
Saguaro NP because ________________. [3 points]
- of the cumbersome bureaucratic red tape
- they don't work
- resource managers are opposed to their use
- they are too expensive
- it's too windy
- The following non-native plant(s) have been found in Saguaro National
Park. Circle all that apply. [3 points]
- salt cedar
- fountain grass
- red brome
- Bermuda grass
- buffel grass
- Lehmann lovegrass
- C3 photosynthetic pathway plants generally have a
competitive advantage over C4 plants under which of the
following environmental conditions. Circle all that apply. [3 points]
- high temperatures typical of Tucson summers
- low atmospheric CO2 concentrations typical of the
"pre-industrial" period
- high atmospheric CO2 concentrations that are expected in
the next century
- moist summers around Tucson during the monsoon
- moist springs around Tucson during a strong El Niño
- It is difficult to predict future human land use practices across the
Earth's surface because this component of global change responds heavily
to ___________. [3 points]
- socioeconomic forces
- atmospheric CO2 concentrations
- sea level
- Bill Gates
- atmospheric methane concentrations
- Ecosystem stability has two components. Circle the two components
from the list below. [3 points]
- reassurance
- resilience
- rectification
- resistance
- redemption
- rehabilitation
- According to a 1993 report by the Office of Technology Assessment, the
cost of clearing zebra mussels from intake pipes associated with
industrial and municipal water-works in the US will reach _______________
over a 10-year period. [3 points]
- $31,000
- $310,000
- $3,100,000
- $31,000,000
- $310,000,000
- $3,100,000,000
- Describe one example of how different aspects of global change might
interact to determine future vegetation structure or function. [6
points]
- Provide an example of how basic scientific understanding of vegetation
has fostered a specific vegetation management strategy. [6 points]
- Many non-native plant invasions in preserves and parks consist of
several large primary populations and many peripheral satellite
populations. Describe a general strategy for controlling the continued
spread of this type of invasion. [6 points]
- Explain the "grass/fire cycle" as it presumably relates to invasion of
non-native grasses into the Sonoran Desert. [10 points]
- Biological invasion represents an important aspect of global change
that has many ecological and economic impacts. Most importantly,
biological invasions are exacerbating the biodiversity crisis. Explain
the rationale behind this statement. [7 points]