APES Ch. 11 Reading Guide

Last updated over 3 years ago
26 questions

Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

11-1: What are the major threats to aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services?
1

What are three general patterns related to marine biodiversity?

1

Identify three human activities from the HIPPCO acronym and explain how they are harming aquatic habitats.

1

(Read the Science Focus on pages 252-253.) What is ocean acidification? How does it cause harm to marine environments?

1

What are the changes to the fishing industry that have greatly increased overfishing in the past half-century?

5

Match the following types of fishing with their description.

Draggable itemCorresponding Item
Purse-Seine fishing
Individuals catch fish one or two at a time; one of the oldest methods of fishing with the lowest rate of by-catch.
Pole-fishing
large circular nets used to catch surface-dwelling fish; often trap and kill dolphins as by-catch.
Trawling
lines of baited hooks many miles long are pulled behind fishing boats; many types of organisms, including sea turtles, dolphins and sea birds are killed by this method
Drift-net fishing
large nets hung as deep as 50 feet below the surface and may be up to 40 miles long; trap an amount of bycatch as much as 1/3 of total weight of annual fish, then thrown overboard dead or dying
Long-lining
some in the water, some along the bottom, these large scooping nets are dragged behind the fishing vessels and have destroyed vast areas of ocean-bottom habitat.
1

What are the factors that play a role in the rapid rise of jellyfish populations?

1

Why should we protect sharks?

11-2: How Can We Protect and Sustain Marine Biodiversity?

1

Why is it so difficult to protect marine biodiversity? List four reasons.

1

What is an Exclusive Economic Zone? How are those zones different from the High Seas?

1

Why is an Ecosystem Approach favorable to a Species Approach with regards to protecting and maintaining biodiversity?

1

How can individuals help reduce the depletion and harming of marine biodiversity?

11-3: How Should We Manage and Sustain Marine Fisheries?

1

What is MSY, and why has the MSY concept not worked very well?

1

Describe "catch-share" systems and their effectiveness.

7

Match each type of fishery management problem/strategy with its solution/description.

Draggable itemCorresponding Item
Bycatch
Use nets that allow escape of unintended species
Aquaculture
Restrict locations of fish farms, improve pollution control
Fishery Regulations
Set low catch limits, improve monitoring/enforcement
Protection
Label sustainably harvested fish; publicize overfished species
Consumer Information
Reduce/Eliminated fishing subsidies
Economic Approaches
Establish no-fishing areas/protected marine areas
Nonnative Invasions
Kill or filter organisms from ship ballast; clean aquatic recreation gear

11-4: How Should We Protect and Sustain Wetlands?

1

What are three causes of the loss of coastal wetlands and marshes?

1

Explain the stated goal of current U.S. federal policy regarding coastal and inland wetlands.

1

What is mitigation banking? Does it work?

11-5: How Should We Protect and Sustain Freshwater Lakes, Rivers, and Fisheries?

1

Describe the Great Lakes and three of the invasive species that have caused problems in those lakes.

1

List three human-caused disruptions to river and stream ecosystems?

1

Describe what happened in the Columbia River and why it was so disruptive to the species that inhabit that waterway.

11-6: What Should Be Our Priorities for Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity?

6

State the six priorities that E.O.Wilson and other biodiversity experts have proposed to sustain aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Critical Thinking Questions

1

Why could sea turtles (see the Core Case Study) be considered indicator species? What does the plight of the world's sea turtles indicate about the ways in which we treat marine ecosystems?

1

What do you think are the three greatest threats to aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services? For each of them, explain your thinking. Overall, why are aquatic species more vulnerable to extinction hastened by human activities than terrestrial species are?

1

Why should you be concerned about jellyfish populations taking over large areas of the ocean? Why can jellyfish be considered an indicator species, and what does the explosion of jellyfish populations indicate about marine ecosystems?

1

How might continued overfishing of marine species affect your lifestyle? What are three things you can do to help prevent overfishing?

1

Some scientists consider ocean acidification to be one of the most serious environmental and economic threats that the world faces. How do you contribute to ocean acidification in your daily life? What are three things you could do to help reduce the threat of ocean acidification?