This Geography quiz is called 'Managing Ecosystems' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at senior high school. Playing educational quizzes is one of the most efficienct ways to learn if you are in the 11th or 12th grade - aged 16 to 18.
It costs only $12.50 per month to play this quiz and over 3,500 others that help you with your school work. You can subscribe on the page at Join Us
Ecosystems often need managing, either to prevent their destruction (by invasive species for example) or to allow sustainable use of their resources. This senior high school Geography quiz looks at some of the methods of management used, their advantages, their disadvantages and their effect on the environment.
Mankind has been managing the ecosystems since we were hunter-gatherers - not only to prevent their destruction, but also to exploit their resources. Forest clearings were maintained to allow deer to graze in these areas. The deer would shed their antlers yearly and these could be collected and used in mines as shovels and picks. Coppicing is the growth and management of trees to allow specific growth to be cut, for example the thinner branches for willow weaving, or thicker branches for hedging, making longbows and even for fire wood.
Ecosystems management looks at managing natural resources by focusing on maintaining ecosystems in a sustainable manner. This will help to meet both ecological and human needs now and in the future. This system of management needs to be adaptive to changing needs and new information. One key technique is to balance the needs of the ecosystems with the realistic facts of the context of the ecosystem and the humans that might use the area.
Ecosystems can be key sources of minerals such as building stone. The mining and quarrying has to be managed so as to limit the damage being done to the ecosystem whilst still allowing this important economic activity. Other management includes removing plants and animal species that are considered invasive, reducing access to areas during sensitive periods (such as the bird nesting season), removing or reducing predators, and creating methods by which people can continue to rely on the ecosystem for an income in a sustainable manner.
Try this quiz and see how much you have learned about the management methods used to prevent the destruction of ecosystems and to allow us to sustainably use their resources.