AP AP Environmental History & Human-Nature Interactions 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The introduction of New World crops—especially potatoes and maize—to Europe and Asia after 1500 had what primary demographic effect?
- Caused widespread famine due to monoculture dependence
- Fueled significant population growth by providing high-calorie, adaptable food sources (Correct answer)
- Replaced grain farming and caused economic depression in rural areas
- Had minimal impact because European diets were already adequate
Correct answer: Fueled significant population growth by providing high-calorie, adaptable food sources
Calorie-dense New World crops supported population explosions in Europe, China, and Africa, helping global population grow from roughly 500 million to over 1 billion by 1800.
Question 2: What term describes the process by which European colonizers transformed colonial landscapes by introducing their familiar plants, animals, and farming practices?
- Biological imperialism
- Ecological imperialism (Correct answer)
- Agricultural colonialism
- Environmental mercantilism
Correct answer: Ecological imperialism
Historian Alfred Crosby coined 'ecological imperialism' to describe how European biota—weeds, pests, livestock—accompanied colonizers and transformed colonial environments.
Question 3: The near-extinction of the American bison in the 19th century was primarily caused by:
- Drought and habitat loss from climate change
- Commercial hunting to supply hides and bones to Eastern markets, often with government encouragement to undermine Plains Indians (Correct answer)
- Competition from introduced cattle herds that spread disease to bison
- Indigenous overhunting after acquiring firearms and horses
Correct answer: Commercial hunting to supply hides and bones to Eastern markets, often with government encouragement to undermine Plains Indians
Commercial hunters slaughtered an estimated 30–60 million bison between 1870 and 1890, with US government support intended to destroy Plains Indian subsistence.
Question 4: Which environmental consequence was most directly associated with sugar plantation agriculture in the Caribbean after 1500?
- Introduction of tropical diseases that devastated European settlers
- Widespread deforestation to create plantation fields and supply fuel for sugar processing (Correct answer)
- Soil enrichment through crop rotation practiced by plantation owners
- Creation of irrigation systems that transformed arid islands into fertile zones
Correct answer: Widespread deforestation to create plantation fields and supply fuel for sugar processing
Sugar plantations required clearing forests for fields and enormous amounts of wood to boil cane juice, stripping Caribbean islands of their original forest cover.
Question 5: The Irish Potato Famine (1845–1852) illustrates which environmental history concept?
- How industrialization reduces agricultural productivity
- The dangers of monoculture agriculture and crop genetic uniformity (Correct answer)
- How colonialism always improves food security in subject nations
- The role of soil exhaustion in triggering revolution
Correct answer: The dangers of monoculture agriculture and crop genetic uniformity
Ireland's dependence on a single potato variety (Lumper) left its food supply vulnerable to the Phytophthora infestans blight, causing mass starvation and emigration.
Question 6: China's 'Great Leap Forward' (1958–1962) is an example of environmental history because it:
- Pioneered sustainable farming techniques that spread globally
- Caused massive environmental destruction through forced collectivization and deforestation for steel production, contributing to famine (Correct answer)
- Restored deforested areas through state-directed reforestation campaigns
- Banned pesticide use and protected biodiversity in agricultural zones
Correct answer: Caused massive environmental destruction through forced collectivization and deforestation for steel production, contributing to famine
Policies like cutting forests for backyard furnaces, sparrow extermination campaigns, and forced cropping quotas damaged ecosystems and contributed to a famine killing 15–55 million.
AP AP Environmental History & Human-Nature Interactions 2
The introduction of New World crops—especially potatoes and maize—to Europe and Asia after 1500 had what primary demographic effect?