Chapter+Questions

Chapter Questions!!!!
 * Chapter 1 **

1. Location: Central Europe Bordering Countries: Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy Topography: Mountains, valleys, rivers 2. Major Languages: Slovenian (>90%), Serbo-Croatian (about 4.5%) Slovenian Flag

3. Slovenia is a considered a “country in transition” by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but is more developed than not. Clues: Advanced economy, democracy, high literacy rate, low birth/infant mortality rates, low “total fertility rate,” low birth/death rates, high “school life expectancy,” advanced communications 4. No. Like many countries in the world right now, Slovenia is experiencing economic troubles 5. Slovenia’s average ecological footprint is 3.9, putting them at a 1.5 ecological deficit. Slovenia is suffering from affluenza because its resource intake has been rising dramatically and is now much higher than its biocapacity. 6. Native Costumes


 * CHAPTER 3!! **


 * 1) Vines grow well in the hills in Slovenia and are eaten by animals like birds, which are eaten by wolves. Squirrels also eat the vines and are eaten by wolves. Roe deer enjoy plants too and are eaten by wolves and bears, but the bears also like to eat the berries that grow on the vines.
 * 2) There are many plants in Slovenia. Slovenia is also densely covered by forests. Since there are so many plants, the GPP is very high. Over one million new trees are planted in Slovenia each year and the cutting down of trees is regulated very well. These measures ensure that there will also be a high NPP available to consumers.
 * 3) Some producers found in Slovenia are vines, flowers, and an abundant amount of different tree species. Some herbivores found in Slovenia are squirrels, which eat nuts and berries. An omnivore found in Slovenia is the capercaillie, which eats nuts and berries as well as insects. A carnivore in Slovenia is the wolf. A scavenger in Slovenia is the raven. A decomposer in Slovenia is the mushroom. Many different types of mushrooms live in Slovenia’s vast stretches of forest.
 * 4) Humans are having an impact on the water cycle in Slovenia, so the government is enacting laws and beginning projects designed to preserve the rivers and animals and plants living in and around them.
 * 5) Slovenia is doing lots of research on their environment and because of that research they are protecting parts of the environment. Slovenia is home to many different plant and animal species, most of which live in Slovenia’s vast expansion of woods and forests. As part of Natura 2000, Slovenia is protecting over one-third of its land and the animals and plants on it, from human interference.

CHAPTER 4

1. Although Slovenia only takes up about .004 % of Earth’s surface, it is home to over 1% of all living creatures and over 2 % of all land and freshwater animals. Being the third most forested country in Europe, Slovenia is home to a wide diversity of animals and plants. Over 60 % of Slovenia is covered in forests, which are home to a vast variety of plant and animal species 2. Some fossils have been found of fish and crabs in Slovenia. Also, fossils of 13 million year old sea horses have been found that are helping scientists figure out how sea horses spread throughout the world by drifting in currents. The fossils, found in 2009, show examples of the only known extinct species of sea horse and show similarities and differences between it and sea horses today. 3. Slovenia is considered part of the Mediterranean/ Chaparral biome. the Chaparral biome has rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Many of the plants found in the Chaparral biome have hard, waxy leaves that allow them to retain lots of water during the hot, dry summer months. Since the soil in the Chaparral biome is not always of great quality, the plants and trees there have also evolved to deal with those conditions as well. 4. During the Late Permian Era the ocean water around Slovenia became so anoxic that it could have been one of the causes of the mass extinction at the time. 5. Indicator Species: Freshwater crayfish—they are endangered and if they keep dying off, it is an indicator that the rivers and lakes they live in are becoming even more polluted. Keystone Species: The bear is common throughout Slovenia and eats lots of things like berries and some meat. If the bear disappeared, then the small plants and animals it eats would overpopulate Foundation Species: All the plants in Slovenia’s forests are foundation species, but especially the plants with tough, waxy leaves. Many animals have evolved to eat these types of leaves, so if they disappeared, the animals would have nothing to eat. Nonnative Species: The Mediterranean Chaparral is being taken over, in some parts by grassy areas. The grassy areas are disrupting the tree canopy and are causing more forest fires. Specialist Species: The Western Capercaillie is a specialist that primarily feeds on blueberries and their leaves.

1. a. Interspecific competition: In the forests of Slovenia, the owls that live there compete with wolves and lynxes for small mammals to eat. b. Parasite and host: Lots of ticks or mosquitoes in the forest feed off of mammals c. Commensalism: Tawny owl uses old squirrel or magpie nests to roost d. Predator and Prey: the brown bear eats the marble trout e. Mutualism: Carniolan honey bee pollinates flowers and gets food
 * Chapter 5 **

2. a: Owls live in small family units, wolves live in medium-sized packs, and lynx usually live alone b: Ticks and mosquitoes live in little units—in clumps. c: Tawny owls live in small family units, tree squirrels live mostly alone d: Brown bears live alone but will gather in large groups around major food sources. Marble trout live in groups e: Honey bees live in hives and flowers live mostly in clumps.

3. r-selected: Olm (female lays about 70 eggs at once), oak tree (releases tons of acorns, but only a few grow into trees) k-selected: Eurasian Lynx (1-4 per litter, babies stay with mother for 10 months), hedgehog (only about 3-4 per litter, and leave the nest at about 6 weeks) Mr. O!! CLICK THIS, PLEASE! :)

4. Most of the succession in Slovenia is secondary. Since most of the country is covered in forests, there are often forest fires or just old trees dying. After something like this happens, the ecosystem has to build back up, but not from scratch.

5. For a stable Slovenian ecosystem, it is able to survive because of inertia (persistence). Because most of Slovenia is forest, the forests are able to recover quickly after a minor change because of great diversity.

Chapter 6! J

1. The population of Slovenia is about 2,003,136. Its growth rate is -0.142 %. Its growth rate is ranked 211th of all the countries in the world, which makes it far below average. 2. The birth rate is about 8.92 per 1000 people. Its death rate is about 10.74 per 1000 people. Its migration rate is .4 per 1000 people, which is 64th in the world. 3. The rate at which people in Slovenia are having kids does not meet the replacement rate, which is about 2.1. Because of this, the population is steadily declining. 4. Slovenia is in a state of post-industrial transition. 5. The problem, if any, with Slovenia’s population growth, is that there really is none. The population is getting very old and not enough children are being had to replace those who are growing older. This could pose problems down the line when the older population needs to be taken care of by the younger population. 6. Family planning is very important in any country, but especially in developing countries. In many developing countries like India and parts of Africa, family planning is not readily available to the masses. In many countries, too, women do not have as many rights as they do in developed countries like America and Britain. Family planning helps women make choices based on what they want and makes it so the man of the household does not run everything, since many of the developing countries are still based on patriarchy and rights for men.