Conservation & Sustainability Flashcards
7 cards from real CFP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Conservation & Sustainability flashcards as text
Which federal act provides the primary framework for protecting and restoring riparian habitat critical to anadromous fish species in the United States?
Answer: Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act regulates water quality and protects wetlands and riparian zones that anadromous fish depend on for spawning and rearing.
In watershed management, what is the primary purpose of maintaining a vegetated riparian buffer strip?
Answer: Filter sediment and nutrients before they enter the stream
Vegetated riparian buffers intercept surface runoff, trapping sediment and excess nutrients that would otherwise degrade aquatic habitat.
Large woody debris (LWD) placed in a stream during habitat restoration primarily benefits fish by:
Answer: Creating hydraulic complexity and pool habitat
LWD slows flow, creates scour pools, and forms cover, increasing habitat complexity and diversity for fish.
A fisheries manager identifies excessive fine sediment smothering salmonid spawning gravels. The MOST direct upstream cause to investigate is:
Answer: Riparian vegetation removal and soil disturbance
Removal of riparian vegetation destabilizes stream banks and allows eroded soil to deliver fine sediment that clogs spawning gravel interstitial spaces.
Which spawning habitat characteristic is measured using an Embeddedness Index?
Answer: Degree to which gravels are surrounded by fine sediment
Embeddedness describes how deeply gravels are buried in fine sediment, which directly affects egg-to-fry survival by limiting hyporheic water flow.
The concept of a 'reference reach' in stream restoration is used to:
Answer: Provide a baseline of natural channel form and function as a restoration target
A reference reach is an unimpaired or minimally disturbed section of stream that represents restoration potential for degraded reaches in the same hydro-geomorphic class.
Dam removal projects are most frequently justified from a fisheries conservation standpoint because they:
Answer: Reconnect fragmented fish populations and restore migratory access
Removing dams eliminates passage barriers, allowing migratory fish like salmon and shad to access historical spawning habitat and reconnecting isolated populations.