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All 15 Flashcards — Overexploitation
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Question
Define overexploitation.
Answer
Overexploitation is using a natural resource faster than it can be replaced by reproduction or regrowth.
💡 Hint
Use > replace
Question
State the core meaning of overexploitation in one phrase.
Answer
Overexploitation means unsustainable use: take more than can be replaced.
💡 Hint
Unsustainable use
Question
Give an example of overexploitation in fisheries.
Answer
Overfishing can cause stock collapse and alter food webs, e.g. Atlantic cod declined dramatically due to heavy fishing.
💡 Hint
Named example: Atlantic cod
Question
Explain how poaching can rapidly reduce populations.
Answer
Poaching often removes breeding adults, so birth rates fall and populations decline quickly.
💡 Hint
Remove breeders → rapid decline
Question
Explain why overexploitation can cause population collapse.
Answer
If removal exceeds reproduction, population size declines. Once numbers drop too low, recovery becomes difficult.
💡 Hint
Removal > reproduction
Question
Give two examples of overexploitation.
Answer
Overfishing, poaching, and logging of old-growth forests are common examples.
💡 Hint
Any two: overfishing/poaching/logging
Question
Explain one ecosystem impact of overfishing.
Answer
Removing top predators or key species can cause trophic cascades and change community structure.
💡 Hint
Trophic cascade
Question
Explain how overexploitation affects food webs.
Answer
Removing organisms breaks feeding links, reduces energy transfer, and can trigger trophic cascades.
💡 Hint
Break links → trophic cascades
Question
Explain why overexploitation reduces ecosystem resilience.
Answer
Fewer individuals and species remain, so the ecosystem has less functional diversity and recovers less well after disturbance.
💡 Hint
Less diversity → lower resilience
Question
State one sign that a resource is being overexploited.
Answer
Declining population size or catch per unit effort (more effort needed to get the same catch).
💡 Hint
Falling population / lower catch per effort
Question
State one management method that makes exploitation more sustainable.
Answer
Use quotas or regulated harvesting so removal stays below replacement rate.
💡 Hint
Keep removal below replacement
Question
Explain how logging can be overexploitation.
Answer
Old-growth forests may be cut faster than they regrow, reducing habitat and biodiversity for decades.
💡 Hint
Cut > regrow
Question
State the biodiversity link to include in exam answers on overexploitation.
Answer
Overexploitation reduces population sizes, which can reduce species richness and lower ecosystem resilience.
💡 Hint
Fewer individuals → lower biodiversity/resilience
Question
State one solution to overexploitation.
Answer
Sustainable management such as quotas, seasonal bans, protected areas, or selective gear reduces removal rates.
💡 Hint
Quotas/bans/protected areas/selective gear
Question
State one exam-ready cause → effect chain for overexploitation.
Answer
Overexploitation removes organisms faster than they reproduce, reducing population size and disrupting energy transfer in food webs.
💡 Hint
Take > reproduce → population down → food web disrupted
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