The following questions refer to the publication, "The State of the Hudson, 2009".
1. Who authored/published this report?
2. What type of paper is it printed on?
3. The Hudson River's native tribal name "Mahicantuck" is descriptive of its tidal action, which characterizes what type of "fresh" waterway?
4. In what year did Henry Hudson and his crew initially explore and describe the Hudson River?
5. How far north does the tidal salt water "wedge" typically flow?
6. How large is the Hudson River watershed?
7. Where is the Hudson River's source considered to be?
8. How long is the river? What is its widest? What is its deepest?
9. Name two factors that affect the northern-most limit of the salt wedge.
10. Which portions of the Hudson are most regularly swimmable?
11. In what year was the federal Clean Water Act passed?
12. Name two (2) specific benefits that sewage treatment has afforded the river.
13. What notorious industrial toxin was dumped directly into the Hudson by General Electric for many years but was eventually illegalized in 1977?
14. Name two (2) pharmaceutical contaminants that are currently increasing in concentration in the river.
15. What is the current source of greatest pollution in the Hudson?
16. What physical practice has greatly reduced the shallow water habitats & marshlands along the Hudson?
17. Name three (3) beneficial, ecological roles played by these shallow water habitats & marshlands.
18. What aquatic plant was artificially transplanted from Eurasia in the 1880s, and is threatening the native water celery?
19. What types of animals are the most abundant in the Hudson?
20. Name three (3) "species" of marine fish that migrate into the Hudson to spawn.
21. Are bald eagles indigenous to the Hudson?
22. Name three (3) "species" of birds that began returning to the Hudson river habitats in the late 1970s.
23. Name four (4) alien species that have been introduced into the Hudson.
24. Name three (3) deleterious effects the alien zebra mussel has had on the river's ecology.
25. How much Hudson River fish does the NYS Health Dept. state is safe for children and women of child-bearing age to consume?
26. Name three (3) fish populations that are still decreasing in the Hudson.
27. Namethree (3) ways in which vegetation of riparian zones act as "buffers" to protect water quality.
28. Name three (3) effects that stormwater runoff from developed tracts of land can negatively impact the river's ecology.
29. What percent of the land in the Hudson River region is privately owned?
30. What heavy metal from air pollution contaminates the Hudson River and its tributaries, and can be found in high concentration in most fish, and in even higher concentrations in birds that eat these fish?
31. Which type of terrestrial biome predominates in the Hudson River Valley and immediate environs?
32. Name two (2) large predators that were once commonly found in this area, but have largely disappeared since the 1800s.
33. How many different species of plants and animals can be found in the Hudson and its watershed?
34. How many of these species are considered endangered, threatened, or of special concern?
35. During the past 30 years, how many acres of freshwater wetlands have been lost along the Hudson and its watershed?
36. Name two (2) animals whose populations have increased in this area, with deleterious effects.
37. If the global warming trend continues for the next 60 years, the climate of the Hudson Valley will become very similar to that of what current area in the eastern U.S.?
38. The transplanted zebra mussel is an ever-growing threat to the Hudson River's ecology. The (hypothetical) Asian River Otter is a voracious feeder on zebra mussels. State three (3) reasons why it might be a bad idea to introduce this otter into the Hudson to control zebra mussel populations.