BSC1930 Final Exam

Biology

Autotroph

organisms that can produce their own food. They get their energy from the sun. an example would be Grass.

Ecology

The scientific study of how organisms interact with their environment

What are ecosystem good and services? Give examples

Ecosystem goods and services are things the ecosystem provides that benefits human society. An example of a good would be raw materials such as wood. An example of service would be water treatment and filtration

Biotic Factors

Biotic factors are the living organisms of an ecosystem

Population

a group of interacting individuals of one species

Community

all of the interacting populations in an ecosystem

Organism

an individual living being

Ecosystem

Consists of the living and non-living components in the biosphere

Biosphere

Consists of all live on Earth

Keystone species

a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance

Ecological succession

the process that describes how the structure of a biological community changes over time.

Species diversity

the number of species and abundance of each species living in a particular location

Interspecific interactions

Interactions between members of different species. The effect on each species may be beneficial, neutral, or harmful.

Competitive exclusion principle

The concept that populations of two species cannot coexist in a community if their niches are nearly identical. Using resources more efficiently and having a reproductive advantage, one of the populations will eventually out compete and eliminate the other

Trophic levels

Ranks in the hierarchy of feeding relationships within an ecosystem. Members of one trophic level consume the members of lower trophic levels (if any) and are themselves consumed by higher trophic levels (if any)

Know the different trophic levels

Producers -> Primary Consumers -> Secondary Consumers -> Tertiary Consumers -> Quaternary Consumers

Primary succession

occurs when an area has been rendered virtually lifeless with no soil

What are the different ways biodiversity is decreasing?

Habitat destruction, overharvesting, invasive species, pollution and global climate change

Ecological footprint

An estimate of the amount of land and water required to sustain one person

What are the human impacts on the environment? Be specific.

We are cutting down forests, building along the coastlines, hunting species to extinction, introducing foreign species into new environments and polluting the air and water

Producer

an organism that makes organic food molecules from carbon dioxide, water, and other inorganic raw materials.

Do producers and/or consumers go through photosynthesis?

Producers go through photosynthesis, consumers do not.

Where does photosynthesis take place?

inside the cells of plants and algae in organelles called chloroplasts.

What are the reactants of photosynthesis?

water, light, and carbon dioxide.

How does CO2 enter a plant?

The underside of the leaf is covered in tiny holes called stomata, these allow the CO2 to diffuse into the leaf from the air.

What are angiosperms and how are they important for humans?

Angiosperms are flowering plants, which forms seeds inside a protective chamber called an ovary. They are one of our main sources for food.

Why is studying human population growth important in the study of ecology?

Because humans have a disproportionately high impact on nearly all ecosystems.

Bioremediation

the use of living organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems.

What is the difference between crops labeled "certified organic" and "100% natural"?

"Certified Organic" is certified by the USDA because they are 95% or more ingredients free of genetic modification, they are free of synthetic pesticides, and they are free of synthetic fertilizers. "100% Natural" is not standardized or informative.

Monoculture Farming

focus on farming one crop at a time. It is the predominant method of farming in America today.

What are the benefits of polyculture farming?

It can reduce the need for pesticides, and it is more sustainable.

Why is using round-up becoming an issue in regards to GMOs?

Because some plants carry a trait called roundup resistance and so when they are sprayed with it, the GMOs will not die as they would have if they hadn't been modified.

What are ways sustainable farming occurs?

Polyculture farming, manure and nitrogen-fixing plants instead of fertilizer, natural predators instead of insecticides, less fossil fuels in production and transportation, careful water usage, soil conservation, and no pollution of waterways.

Abiotic Factors

The non-living components

biome

A type of ecological community that occupies a particular zone

How are terrestrial biomes determined globally?

climate

What terrestrial region has been most affected by global climate change?

The Arctic

What are the effects of deforestation on the water cycle?

Forests transport large quantities of water into the atmosphere. That water replenishes the clouds and instigates rain to maintain the forests. Deforestation causes rain to be lost from the area by flowing away as river water and causing permanent drying.

What creates global precipitation patterns?

Uneven heating of the atmosphere which causes air circulation and results in global precipitation patterns.

What are the greenhouse gases and which one is having the biggest effect on global warming?

any of the gases in the atmosphere that absorb heat radiation. Carbon Dioxide is having the biggest effect.

How does the greenhouse effect work?

When the Sun's energy reaches Earth's atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases

What are some negative effects of global climate change?

Ice caps are melting too fast, the sea level is rising and we are experiencing longer and more intense heat waves.

What is the main reason for global climate change?

The amount of greenhouse gases that humans generate

How are precipitation patterns changing?

The average annual precipitation in the US has increased by about 5% over the past 50 years. The change is not affecting all regions equally. There is decreased precipitation in the Southeast and parts of the Southwest and Northwest and then in the Northeast and Midwest there is increased precipitation.

Ocean acidification

the reduction in the pH of the ocean over time which is caused primarily by an increase in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

What can people do to slow down global climate change?

Place restrictions on development in certain areas of the land and sea, restrict hunting of endangered species, switch to sustainable farming techniques, and using bioremediation.

Natural selection

A process in which organisms with certain inherited characters are more likely to survive and reproduce than are organisms with other characters; unequal reproductive success

Microevolution

A change in a population's gene pool over a succession of generations, evolutionary changes in species over relatively brief periods of geological time

Alleles

alternative versions of genes

Adaptation

an inherited character that enhances an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

Species

a group of populations whose members possess similar anatomical characteristics and have the ability to interbreed

How does natural selection work?

Favorable traits in a population are transmitted through generations. It is how living organisms adapt and change for their environment.

Do populations or individuals evolve? Explain

Natural selection works on individuals through heritable traits, but the individual does not evolve. The population evolves.

How does sexual recombination allow for genetic variation? Be sure to understand crossing over and independent assortment

it produces a new arrangement of existing genes. During the formation of gametes, chromosomes exchange pieces with one another during the process of crossing over, and then randomly sort apart from each other during independent assortment.

What are (and explain) the four mechanisms that change gene pools over generations?

Genetic Drift

Bottleneck and Founder effect

Gene flow

Sexual Selection

Allopatric speciation

occurs when a physical barrier isolates a population.

Behavioral Isolation

members of a species often identify each other through specific rituals, markings or smells

Mating time differences

many species are only able to reproduce at specific times

Habitat isolation

if species live in different habitats they may never meet

Mechanical incompatibility

members of different species cannot mate because of incompatible anatomy

Gametic incompatibility

the gametes of different species usually cannot fertilize each other

Hybrid weakness

if two members of different species do manage to mate, a hybrid organism may result. Those hybrids may be unfit, or sterile and unable to reproduce themselves, or produce unfit offspring

Explain how antibiotic resistance occurs

Antibiotics kill the most susceptible viruses quickly but it takes a higher concentration of antibiotic to kill the tougher viruses. If the treatment is stopped prematurely, the virus population will rebound and have an increased resistance

Genetic Drift

a change in the gene pool of a population due to chance.

Bottleneck effect

a genetic drift resulting from a drastic reduction in population size

Founder effect

the genetic drift resulting from the establishment of a small, new population whose gene pool differs from that of the parent population

Gene flow

the gain or loss of alleles from a population by the movement of individuals or gametes into or out of the population.

Sexual Selection

a form of natural selection in which individuals with certain characteristics are more likely than other individuals to obtain mates.

Mutualism

an interspecific interaction beneficial to both species

Predation

an interspecific interaction in which a predator species kills and eats a prey species

Herbivory

an interspecific interaction the eating of plant parts by an animal

Parasites

in a host from which it obtains nutrients but it doesn't kill the host

Pathogens

disease-causing microorganisms

Heterotrophs

organisms that eat other organisms for their energy an example would be a Cow.

Secondary succession

occurs after a disturbance that kills much of the life in an area but leaves the soil intact

consumer

an organism that obtains its food by eating plants or animals that have eaten plants.

Do producers and/or consumers go through Cellular respiration?

yes both go through cellular respiration

Where does cellular respiration take place?

in the mitochondria in both plants, animals, and microorganisms

What are the products of photosynthesis?

Oxygen and glucose

Sustainable development

the long-term prosperity of human societies and the ecosystems that support them.

Polyculture farming

focuses on many crops grown in the same place

How is temperature changing?

There has been an increase in temperature by 1.8 degrees F and parts of Antarctica and the northernmost regions of the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing the largest temperature increases.

Sympatric speciation

occurs with no geographic isolation.

Darwinian Fitness is measured only in terms of the number of healthy offspring produced

true

speciation is a slow and gradual process

false

which is not a method bacteria use to generate new combinations of genes?

binary fission

The eastern meadowlark and the western meadowlark are two bird species that look very similar to each other. Why do biologists not consider them the same species?

species are not determined by appearance but by their ability to interbreed naturally, the two species experience the reproductive barrier of habitat isolation, and the two species do not live in the same habitat and thus do not interbreed in nature

individuals with variations that make them best suited to their environment are, on average, more likely to ________?

survive and reproduce

which of the following is evidence for evolution?

cells with common features and chemically similar DNA, Bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics over time, and mosquitoes becoming resistant to pesticides

you are an ecologist creating mini ecosystems to study climate change. which of the following should you do to get your system to have more moisture in the air?

warm the air

which of the following is in the correct order from least reliable to most reliable when it comes to linking the events to climate change?

wildfire, extreme rain, heat wave

As climate change continues, which of the following can be anticipated in the United States?

an increase in heavy downpours

Due to warming temperatures, some areas are receiving more of their annual precipitation in form of snowstorms instead of rainstorms

False

Identify the principal role of photosynthesis

to convert solar energy into the chemical energy of sugars

Agriculture is directly related to our biogeochemical cycles. How are agricultural practices interfering with the chemical cycles and causing harm?

too much nitrogen from artificial fertilizer can leach into waterways causing dead zones, and the need for fossil fuels and land promotes deforestation which removes plants and increases CO2 in the atmosphere

the goal of sustainable development is to maintain the productivity of the Earth's ecosystems indefinitely

True

You create a high nutrient recipe for compost tea which can be misted onto the roots of plants. What type of farming is this?

Aeroponic