Unnit 1 Principles of Biology and Ecology

UNIT SEVEN– PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY

STUDY GUIDE

The following is meant as a guide in preparing for this unit test. Questions on your unit exam are not limited to this study guide. However, by completing these questions in detail and reviewing the concepts they pertain to should be a useful tool in your preparation.

1. Define the terms biosphere, biome, ecology, and ecosystem
2. Differentiate between habitat and niche.
3. Differentiate between abiotic and biotic factors. Give a few examples of each.
4. Beginning with organism, list the levels of ecological organization

5.Name and define the type of symbiotic relationship:

1. Barnacles on a whale
2. Ticks on a dog
3. Lichens

6. What does a food chain represent? Within a food chain which organisms have the most available energy? Which have the least available energy? Why are most food chains only 3 to 4 links long?

7. Within an ecological pyramid, what happens to the amount of energy, the size of the population, and the amount of the biomass as the trophic levels increase? (What is biomass?)

1. Within an energy pyramid, energy from which organism (autotroph, heterotroph or decomposer) is consumed by all the others?
2. Draw a simple food chain that is 4 links in size. Label each organism using the appropriate terms:

Autotroph, producer, consumer, heterotroph, carnivore, herbivore, scavenger, decomposer. Some terms may be used more than once or not at all; it depends upon what you drew!

1. Define biogeochemical cycle.
2. What is the correct sequence for the following cycles: water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous?
3. Define the term limiting factor. What might be some examples?
4. What is the advantage to organisms to having a large zone of tolerance compared to others that appear intolerant?
5. During succession, what are pioneer species? What is a climax community?
6. Differentiate between primary and secondary succession. How might they be also be simil
7. Differentiate between weather and climate.
8. Besides latitude, what factors affect climate?
9. Name the following biomes:

a. Warm temperatures, large amounts of rain; vegetation in layers including a canopy and understory; most diverse biome

b. Dense evergreen forest (pine trees) also called taiga, no permafrost

c Dry, hot; annual evaporation exceeds the amount of rain

d. Area where freshwater and saltwater combine

e. Cold winters, humid summers, deciduous broad leaves that change color in the fall and drop from the tree

f. A treeless biome; frozen soil (permafrost); lichens

1. Within an aquatic biome what might be the three limiting factors?
2. List and describe the zones within a freshwater lake or pond.
3. List and describe the zones of the marine ecosystem.
4. Differentiate between dispersion and density.
5. Differentiate between density-independent and density-independent limiting factors.
6. List the four factors that affect population growth rate.
7. Compare graphs for exponential growth and logistic growth. Why do populations tend to follow exponential growth? How might limiting factors affect population growth?
8. Define the term carrying capacity. On a graph, what does the growth of a population look like as it reaches its carrying capacity?
9. Compare the reproductive pattern of k and r strategists.
10. What is the relationship between carrying capacity and birth and death rates?
11. What is demography? What have been some factors in the exponential growth of the human population?
12. What might an age structure graph look like for a country that has negative growth? For a country growing rapidly?
13. Define the term biodiversity.
14. Explain why areas of greater biodiversity are more stable than those areas with less biodiversity.
15. Why is biodiversity important to nature and people? List the direct and indirect economic values.
16. How does biodiversity change as you move away from the equator? How does biodiversity compare on a large island to a small island?
17. What is meant by aesthetic value?
18. What are the three types of biodiversity? Recognize examples of each.
19. Differentiate between background and mass extinction.
20. What is biological magnification? Within a food chain which type of organism is affected the greatest?
21. What factor is responsible for the destruction of the greatest number of habitats?
22. What is overexploitation?
23. What might be a cause of fragmented habitats and why are they harmful? What is habitat destruction? Which causes edge effect? Why is edge affect harmful?
24. How might the introduction of an exotic species into a new habitat be damaging?
25. Differentiate between a renewable and nonrenewable resource. When is a tree renewable? When does it become nonrenewable?
26. What is sustainable use?
27. Explain when and why the Endangered Species Act was passed.
28. Discuss the pros and cons of nature preserves.
29. How might habitat corridors be beneficial?
30. Review the objectives and analysis from all labs and activities:
31. Ecosystem in a Jar
32. Environment Affecting Eagle Population
33. Climates and Biomes
34. Lessons of the Kaibab
35. Review the bioethics “Development vs. Biodiversity” and be able to discuss what had to be decided and by whom, necessary facts, stakeholders and how they might be affected, values at stake, how you resolved the issue and if your resolution was fair to all, why or why not.