CWD Water Quality & Management 5

Question 1

Which macroinvertebrate order is considered most sensitive to water quality degradation and is used as a biotic integrity indicator in wetlands?

Accepted Answer

Plecoptera (stoneflies)

Answer

Diptera (true flies)

Answer

Oligochaeta (tubifex worms)

Answer

Chironomidae (midges)

Question 2

The term 'hydroperiod' is most relevant to wetland water quality because it determines:

Accepted Answer

The duration and timing of inundation that drives redox chemistry and nutrient cycling rates

Answer

The salinity gradient between wetland and adjacent marine waters

Answer

The hydraulic residence time of pollutants in a constructed wastewater wetland only

Answer

The seasonal water temperature regime affecting fish spawning habitat

Question 3

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act requires that for any federally permitted activity affecting wetlands, the applicant must obtain:

Accepted Answer

A water quality certification from the state in which the discharge will occur

Answer

An environmental impact statement from the lead federal agency

Answer

A biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Answer

A consistency determination from the state coastal management program

Question 4

In a prairie pothole wetland, sediment resuspension during wind events primarily degrades water quality by:

Accepted Answer

Increasing turbidity and releasing bound phosphorus from sediments into the water column

Answer

Releasing dissolved organic carbon that acidifies the water column

Answer

Concentrating heavy metals at the sediment-water interface

Answer

Decreasing water temperature through evaporative cooling of disturbed sediments

Question 5

A wetland mitigation bank is required to demonstrate 'functional lift' primarily by showing:

Accepted Answer

Improvement in wetland functions and services compared to baseline pre-restoration conditions

Answer

Net increase in wetland acreage greater than the acreage of permitted impact

Answer

Zero net loss of upland buffer habitat surrounding the mitigation site

Answer

Compliance with state stormwater quantity standards at the bank site

Question 6

Which parameter best distinguishes a naturally acidic bog from an acidified lake impacted by atmospheric acid deposition?

Accepted Answer

Sulfate-to-chloride ratio; acid deposition sites show elevated SO4:Cl ratios

Answer

pH alone is diagnostic because bogs and acid-deposited lakes have identical pH ranges

Answer

Total dissolved solids; bogs always have higher TDS than acid-deposited lakes

Answer

Dissolved oxygen; bog waters are always hypoxic while acid lakes are well oxygenated

Question 7

Which of the following management actions would MOST directly improve dissolved oxygen levels in a hypereutrophic wetland?

Accepted Answer

Reducing external nutrient loading to decrease algal biomass and organic oxygen demand

Answer

Adding lime to raise pH above 8.0

Answer

Installing water control structures to permanently raise water levels

Answer

Planting submersed aquatic vegetation to compete with algae for nutrients