FOR 3213

Example Examination 1

1. Show in a figure how gross primary production and net primary production change over the life of a stand of trees.

2. Describe two characteristics of the forest community that make it capable of being very efficient at cycling nutrients. What are two traits of the forest community that demonstrate its high efficiency at cycling nutrients?

3. Briefly describe two ways nutrients are taken up by plants and three ways they are lost from plants.

4. Briefly describe and give an example of five attributes of an ecosystem.

5. What are the components of NPP? How are the relative magnitudes of these components different between a forest and prairie? Briefly explain why these differences exist.

6. Briefly describe two major forest types of the United States – climate, species, location, productivity, unique characteristics.

7. Describe what happens to the trophic web when a forest is clearcut. Continue your discussion for several years during vegetation recovery after the harvest.

8. What was one of the major findings of the ecological research in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens over the ten years after the eruption? How was this finding explained?

9. Describe the walnut plantation we visited during the lab session. What was planted there and what was the purpose of the plantation? What was done to control environmental variability at the site?

10. What are the direct effects of forest harvesting on site nutrients? Describe the factors that determine the magnitude of these direct effects.