CEP Ecosystem Restoration 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal law provides the primary legal framework for wetland restoration projects requiring dredge-and-fill activities in the United States?
- Clean Water Act Section 404 (Correct answer)
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Endangered Species Act Section 7
- Coastal Zone Management Act
Correct answer: Clean Water Act Section 404
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the US, which governs most wetland restoration construction activities.
Question 2: In prairie restoration, the practice of 'plug planting' is best described as:
- Broadcasting seed mix across bare soil
- Transplanting small rooted plant starts into prepared substrate (Correct answer)
- Applying herbicide to remove invasive species first
- Installing erosion-control fabric before seeding
Correct answer: Transplanting small rooted plant starts into prepared substrate
Plug planting involves transplanting small rooted native plants (plugs) into restoration sites to establish vegetation faster than direct seeding alone.
Question 3: What term describes the minimum viable population (MVP) threshold concept in restoration ecology?
- The smallest population with a 95% chance of persisting for 100 years (Correct answer)
- The number of individuals needed to establish a breeding colony
- The density of organisms per hectare required for ecosystem function
- The genetic diversity index above which inbreeding depression is avoided
Correct answer: The smallest population with a 95% chance of persisting for 100 years
MVP is typically defined as the smallest isolated population having a 95% (or similar) probability of survival for 100 years despite stochastic events.
Question 4: A restoration planner is designing a riparian buffer. Which factor most directly determines the appropriate buffer width to achieve water quality protection?
- Adjacent land use and pollutant loading (Correct answer)
- Species richness of the target plant community
- Distance to the nearest municipal water supply
- Prevailing wind direction across the riparian zone
Correct answer: Adjacent land use and pollutant loading
Buffer width requirements are primarily driven by the type and intensity of adjacent land uses and the corresponding pollutant loads the buffer must intercept.
Question 5: The 'reference site' approach in restoration ecology is used primarily to:
- Establish legal precedent for compensatory mitigation credits
- Define target conditions and success metrics for a restoration project (Correct answer)
- Identify invasive species that should be removed from the site
- Determine grant funding eligibility under federal restoration programs
Correct answer: Define target conditions and success metrics for a restoration project
Reference sites represent relatively undisturbed examples of the target ecosystem type and are used to set measurable ecological goals for restoration.
Question 6: Which of the following best characterizes 'passive restoration'?
- Removing stressors and allowing natural recovery without active intervention (Correct answer)
- Planting native species while simultaneously controlling invasives
- Rebuilding soil structure through amendments and tillage
- Installing exclusion fencing to prevent herbivore grazing
Correct answer: Removing stressors and allowing natural recovery without active intervention
Passive restoration relies on natural regeneration by eliminating or reducing the disturbance pressures that prevent ecosystem recovery.
Question 7: In stream channel restoration, a 'natural channel design' approach relies most heavily on:
- Regional hydraulic geometry relationships and geomorphic principles (Correct answer)
- Concrete channel liners to stabilize banks
- Uniform Manning's n roughness coefficients for all streams
- Federal flood insurance rate maps for channel dimensions
Correct answer: Regional hydraulic geometry relationships and geomorphic principles
Natural channel design uses regional curves relating drainage area to channel dimensions (width, depth, meander) derived from stable reference reaches in the same physiographic region.
CEP Ecosystem Restoration 2
Which federal law provides the primary legal framework for wetland restoration projects requiring dredge-and-fill activities in the United States?