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16) “Sloppy clear-cuts” ________.
A) are done on mountain slopes
B) mimic changes in a forest after severe windstorms
C) result in uneven aged stands
D) stop soil erosion
E) are a form of selection system
17) In Canada, trees are being removed at a faster rate than they are growing back on ________
land.
A) forest industry
B) national forest
C) privately owned
D) national park
E) non-national public forest
18) Selection systems are timber harvesting methods that ________.
A) are the most cost-efficient in the short term
B) have the greatest impacts on forest ecosystems
C) leave seed-producing or mature trees uncut to provide for future forests
D) are ecologically harmless
E) are very popular with timber companies
19) The Canadian Forest Service ________ national forest land.
A) has the responsibility to preserve timber on Dominion lands and to develop policies to
encourage tree culture in
B) was created by the Harper administration in 2007 to loosen environmental protection and
restricting public oversight of
C) directs timber companies to remove small trees, underbrush, and dead trees to reduce fires in
D) offers subsidies to timber companies for road building on
E) was created to set up the formation of land trusts on
20) According to the FAO study described in the Surveying Earth’s Forests segment, between
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1990 and 2005 different types of forests either increased or decreased in size. Arrange the
following forest types in order of increasing area (the first decreased the most or increased the
least, and the last increased the most).
A) primary forest, productive plantations, forest for soil protection, forest for recreation
B) productive plantations, primary forest, forest for soil protection, forest for recreation
C) primary forest, forest for soil protection, productive plantations, forest for recreation
D) primary forest, forest for soil protection, forest for recreation, productive plantations
E) primary forest, forest for recreation, forest for soil protection, productive plantations
21) ________ will NOT result in forests in which most of the trees are of similar age.
A) Selection systems
B) Clear-cutting
C) Shelterwood
D) Seed-tree approach
E) Swidden forestry
22) Today deforestation occurs at the fastest rate in ________.
A) tropical rainforests
B) temperate rainforests
C) chaparral
D) temperate deciduous forests
E) boreal forests
23) Second-growth forests ________.
A) support less diversity than the forests they replace
B) include the forests in Clayoquot Sound
C) are less abundant on Earth today than they were 500 years ago
D) in North America are mostly in British Columbia and Alaska
E) are those forests in the National Parks that are protected from logging
24) According to the 2011 FAO assessment on global forests ________.
A) the world loses about 7 million hectares of forest per year
B) most of the forests are still publicly owned
C) the amount of carbon held in forests is increasing
D) secondary forests are lost more quickly than primary forests
E) more than 15% of forests are now designated for biodiversity conservation
25) Forests reach their greatest ecological complexity when ________.
A) they are frequently burned
B) they are frequently logged using clear-cutting
C) they are in the fast growth stage in the early stages of recovering from logging
D) they are mature and exhibit a multi-level canopy
E) shrubs and other ground cover plants are absent
26) Salvage logging ________.
A) eliminates wildfires from forests
B) has no effect on the severity of wildfires
C) increases the number of habitats for wildlife by stimulating new growth
D) increases erosion
E) significantly decreases long-term timber yield (by more than 60%)
27) Salvage logging does NOT ________.
A) create uneven age stands
B) make sense from an economic point of view
C) help in replanting burned forests
D) reduce the number of habitats for animals
E) involve removal of less valuable wood
10.5 True/False Questions
1) Forests cover 20% of Earth’s surface.
2) Livestock graze one-quarter of Earth’s surface.
3) Timber harvests are currently increasing in developing nations and decreasing in developed
nations.
4) Agriculture covers 38% of Earth’s terrestrial surface.
5) Most of the world’s forests are privately owned.
6) Cropland covers more land than rangeland.
7) To achieve maximum sustainable yields of timber, forest managers recommend cutting the
trees when they reach their maximum size.
8) Since the 1900s, the forest cover of the United States has decreased substantially.
1) Why should we protect forests?
2) How has the Smokey the Bear campaign damaged forest health? What is the importance of
fire in ecosystem management? What is the cost of fire suppression for ecosystem health? What
is the alternative to fire suppression?
3) Why do trees need water?
4) Why have environmentalists and ranchers been at loggerheads? What threat has recently seen
them aligned on the same side?
5) Who owns the forest land that is home to timber harvesting in Canada? Why was the national
forest service established and what was its mission?
6) What part of American history makes it difficult for the United States to suggest halting
deforestation in a temperate or tropical rain forest? How did deforestation proceed in the United
States? Why was deforestation in United States different than it was in a tropical rainforest?
7) Explain salvage logging.
8) Discuss the factors causing and spreading forest fires.
10.7 Scenario-Based Questions
Read the following scenario and answer the questions below.
Natural disasters are a fundamental and unavoidable element of our environment. Some
observers have commented that natural disasters on Earth have become more frequent, intense,
and destructive in recent years. People settled in many regions of Canada need to be watchful of
oncoming tornados, mud slides, fires, hurricanes, and flooding. As we have seen in recent years,
disasters such as these can directly kill thousands of people and other organisms. Indirectly, they
significantly alter the habitats of many organisms, as the soil, air, and water are adversely
affected by these events and their aftermaths. Many say that modern human lifestyle choices
have contributed to the devastating nature of these natural disasters. Burning fossil fuels alters
climate, making hurricanes more intense. Suppressing fires can lead to fires that burn out of
control, as they have fuel that has built up for years. Deforestation makes areas more susceptible
to erosion. Sediment that runs off can pollute waterways so terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
can become irreversibly damaged. Little environmental stresses are magnified.
1) Which of the following human activities most directly contributes to an increased incidence of
mud slides?
A) aquifer depletion
B) application of nitrogen-containing fertilizers
C) hunting
D) deforestation
E) oil drilling
2) Which of the following techniques can best lower the likelihood and intensity of mud slides in
a region?
A) clear-cutting
B) adaptive management
C) selective removal of mature trees from an area
D) ecosystem-based management
E) salvage logging
3) Which of the following techniques can lower the likelihood and intensity of catastrophic forest
fires?
A) clear-cutting
B) adaptive management
C) selective removal of mature trees from an area
D) ecosystem-based management
E) salvage logging
4) Burning wooded areas to clear land for ranching can contribute to increased hurricane
intensity because ________.
A) trees serve as a wind block during hurricanes
B) trees store carbon and then release carbon when burned, so tree burning can increase
atmospheric greenhouse gases and promote global climate change
C) smoke destroys the ozone layer
D) heat generated from fires creates circular air currents
E) hurricanes strengthen over rangeland
5) Burning wooded areas to clear land for ranching can pollute rivers by ________.
A) increasing evaporation from the newly cleared areas
B) increasing sediment runoff
C) decreasing transpiration by vegetation
D) heat generated from fires warms the water, reducing concentration of dissolved oxygen in
water
E) creating conditions for mini-tornadoes
6) The increased incidence of catastrophic fires in western Canada in recent years has been
attributed primarily to ________.
A) an increase in prescribed burns
B) an increase in vandalism
C) a decrease in federal funding to fight forest fires in national parks
D) increased carelessness of campers
E) long-term fire suppression