BIO 202 EXAM 1

Describe the aspects of biology studied in the field ecology

How organisms interact with each other and with the environment.

Interactions between the environment and organisms drive evolutionary change.

Identify and describe the ecological levels that can be studied

Organismal level- how an individual organism is adapted to its environment .

Population level- population all the organisms belonging to the same species within an area at the same time.

Community level- community all the populations of different species interacting in a specific area.

Ecosystem level- living and non-living organisms all populations within the community and associated abiotic factors.

Biosphere- all areas on earth where life exists.

Differentiate between population density and population dispersal

population density- the number of individuals per unit area or volume living in a particular habitat.

population distribution- the pattern of dispersal of individuals living within a certain area.

Define biotic potential

maximum population growth rate under ideal conditions.

suvivorship curve

Type 1 curve- death comes late examples: large mammals elephants and humans

Type 2 curve- death is unrelated to age examples: perching birds, lizards, rodents

Type 3 curve- high death rate many die young and few live to old age examples: fish and invertebrates

most populations fall somewhere in between

Carrying capacity

largest number of organisms of a particular species that can be maintained indefinitely by a given environment

Differentiate between exponential and logistic growth

exponential growth-growth of a population in which there is a rapid increase over a short period of time due to an increase in the number of reproductive females in the population. This produces a J shaped growth curve.

Logistic growth- population increases that results in an S shaped curve; growth is slow at first, steepens, and then levels off due to environment resistance.

Differentiate between an opportunistic species and an equilibrium species

Opportunistic species- R strategists organisms are generalists and colonizers, population stays in the lag or exponential growth stage.

Equilibrium species- K strategists organisms are strong competitors and tend to be specialists

Differentiate between density-independent and density-dependent factors that control populations

Density independent-limiting factors are the factors that influence the size and growth of population irrespective of the population density. Example:drought, natural disasters, habitat destruction, and humans hunting

Density dependent limiting factors are the biological factors that influence the size and the growth of population depending on the density of the population. Example: predation, disease, competition of food and water

Explain the difference between species richness and species diversity

Species richness- number of species in a community

species diversity-variety of species that make up a community

Define niche

The role an organism plays in a community

Differentiate between fundamental niche and realized niche

Fundamental niche- what an organism could do without competition

Realized niche- narrow niche so there is no competition

Explain the difference between a generalist organism and a specialist organism

Generalist organism (R species)- diverse diet, live in variety of habitats, tolerates change, and broad niche.

Specialist organism(K species)- limited on their diet, very good competitors, have specific habitat requirements, narrow niche

Explain resource portioning and why organisms do this (competitive exclusion principle)

Resource portioning- mechanism that increases the number of niches by diving the resource, such as food or living space, among species

competitive exclusion principle- they will compete and someone will be defeated

Describe some basic and common defense mechanisms that prey should utilize.

Defense mechanisms- decrease the possibility of being eaten by a predator

Camouflage- the ability to blend into the background, which helps the prey avoid being detected by predator ex:snake

Warning coloration- tells the predator that the prey is potentially dangerous ex: poison dart frog

Startle response-elaborate structures that cause the predator to be confused or startled ex: caterpillar

Mimicry- the resemblance of one species to another that posses an overt anti-predator defense ex: scarlet king snake mimicking the venomous coral snake

Describe the following types of symbiotic relationships and give examples: mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism

Symbiotic relationship- close association between two different species over long periods of time

Mutualism (++) - symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit in terms of growth and reproduction ex: clownfish and anemones

Parasitism (+-) - symbiotic relationship in which the parasite benefits in terms of growth and reproduction to the determine of the host ex:tapeworm in dogs

commensalism(+0) -symbiotic relationship in which one species is benefited and the other species is not harmed or benefitted ex: bird making a nest in a tree

What is coevolution and how does it relate to symbiotic relationships?

Coevolution- when two species adapt in the response to selective pressure imposed by one another.

This relates to symbiotic relationships because species in symbiotic relationships tend to evolve together

Define the following food web terms

Autotroph, herbivore, producer, carnivore, heterotroph, detritivore, consumer, decomposer

Autotroph- organism that can capture energy and synthesize organic molecules from inorganic nutrients and produce their own food

herbivore- primary consumer in grazing food chain, plant eater

producer- photosynthetic organism at start of grazing food chain that makes its own food

carnivore- consumer in a food chain that eats other animals

heterotroph- organisms that cannot synthesize needed organic compounds from inorganic substances and these must take in organic food

detritivore- fead on dead organic matter and releases organic matter

consumer- organism that feeds on another organism in a find chain generally primary consumers eat plants and secondary consumers eat animals

decomposer-organism that eats organic molecules and release inorganic matter

Describe the flow of both heat and nutrients through the ecosystem

Nutrients can be cycled through an ecosystem but energy is simply lost over time. Energy and nutrients are passed around through the food chain, when one organism eats another organism.

Describe how energy is lost from one trophic level to the next and how this affects biomass. How much energy is lost at each level?

At each level, some of the biomass consumed is excreted as waste, some energy is changed to heat

90% of energy is lost at each level

Differentiate between grazing and a detrital food web

Grazing food web- begins with a producer and moves through successive trophic levels

detrital food web-begins with detritus. detritus provides energy to soil organisms such as earthworms.

food chain

A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten

food web

all the food chains in an ecosystem

trophic pryamid

the position of an organism in the food chain

hydrologic cycle (water cycle)

The continuous movement of water through the environment

carbon cycle

organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems exchange carbon dioxide with the atmosphere.

Phosphorous cycle

phosphorous moves from oceanic sediments and moves onto land due to geological uplift

nitrogen cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Differentiate between abiotic and biotic factors

abiotic- nonliving

biotic- living

define biodiversity

the variety of life on earth

contrast threatened species and endangered species. what organization manages endangered species in the united states?

threatened species- species that is likely to become an endangered species in the future

endangered species-species that is in peril of immediate extinction throughout all or most of its range

The us fish and wildlife service is the organization

explain the importance of genetic diversity in terms of species health.

populations with high genetic diversity are more likely to have some individuals that can survive a change in the structure of their ecosystem

what is an ecological hotspot and why are they important?

ecological hotspot- habitats that contain a large concentration of species. they are important because they have large amounts of biodiversity

list the top five causes of extinction

climate change, over explotation, pollution, habitat loss, and disease

what is the difference between exotic species and invasive species

exotic species-nonnative member of an ecosystem

invasive species- any exotic species that takes over a new habitat and drives out native species

describer how invasive species can be introduced and what habitats they are most harmful

they can be introduced by accidental transport, escape from cultivation or captivity, and human colonization of an area.

Islands can be affected the most because they have evolved in isolation an are highly specialized species have co-evolved.

describe the greenhouse effect and global climate change

greenhouse effect- reradiation of solar heat toward the earth, caused by an atmosphere that allows the suns rays to pass through but traps the heat in the same manner as the glass of a greenhouse

climate change- recent changes in the earths climate evidence suggests that this is primary due to human influence including the increased release of greenhouse gases.

identify the major greenhouse gasses and where they come from.

the major gasses are CO2 from buying of fossil fuel and destruction of forests

nitrous oxide N2O from fertilizers

methane CH4 from bacterial decomposition that occurs in anaerobic environments.

What are current and future effects of climate change?

currently the global climate warmed by 0.6 degrees Celsius and it is expected that earths temperature will rise to 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 if everything stays at the rate that it is now.

list the 4 types of pollution that can contribute to species extinction

acid deposition, eutrophication, ozone depletion, and synthetic organic chemicals.

what is ozone and what is its role in the atmosphere?

the ozone is a layer shield in the stratosphere it absorbs uv radiation from the sun

why does the ozone hole form and where is it located?

it is located in the south pole the ozone hole forms due to human activity and the pollutant CFC's break it down.

what are the effects of the ozone hole?

it can impair crop and tree growth, kill plankton that sustain life. the immune system and resistance to infections can become weakened due to the increase of uv radiation.

what substances contribute to acid deposition and what produces them

sulfur dioxide from power plants and nitrogen oxides in automobile exhausts

what substances contribute to cultural eutrophication and where do they come from

excess nutrients contribute to this they come from runoff from agricultural fields, fertilized lawns, and waste water from sewage plants

what are the effects of cultural eutrophication on a body of water

algae grows in abundance, algae bloom will appear on the surface . decomposers break down the algae but use a lot of oxygen while doing this resulting in other species losing oxygen like fish resulting in massive fish kill

relate dissolved oxygen to eutrophication and thermal pollution

the elevated temperature generally decreases the level of dissolved oxygen in the water

what is thermal pollution and what causes it

a temperature increase in a body of water that is caused by human activity and has a harmful effect on water quality and on the ability of that body of water to support life

what causes salinity increases in ground and soil

low precipitation, high surface evaporation, weathering of native rocks, irrigation with saline water, and poor cultural practices.

what is a watershed

an area of land that drains or "sheds" water into a specific waterbody

what is fecal coliform bacteria and why do we measure it

it is organisms that are present in the environment and in the feces of all warm-blooded animals and humans and we measure it to check for possible contamination by biological pathogens.

what is the purpose of the allium test

evaluating and ranking environmental chemicals with reference to their toxicity

understand basic patterns of plant growth we saw in lab 2

acidic solution had the least amount of growth. Roots are unable to effectively grow through acidic subsurface soil, which forms a barrier and restricts access to stored water

Saline salts in the soil can absorb water. less water being available for uptake by the plants, increasing water stress and root dehydration. This is referred to as a physiological drought

enriched

control solution had the most amount of growth because the solution with the high concentration of solutes is ideal for roots

in regards to groundwater and surface water what is infiltration and what is runoff?

infiltration- precipitation that soaks into the soil.

Runoff- is precipitation that does not soak into the soil but instead moves on the Earth's surface toward streams.

what is a bioswale and what is its purpose?

Bioswales are landscape features that collect polluted stormwater runoff, soak it into the ground, and filter out pollution. Bioswales are similar to rain gardens but are designed to capture much more runoff coming from larger areas of impervious surfaces like streets and parking lots.

what is a green roof?

spaces on top of buildings where gardens and grasses are planted to assist temperature control, supply food, and reduced rainwater runoff

what is CITIES and what does it do?

convention of international trade of endangered species, it protects animals

describe the difference between a flagship species and keystone species

flagship species- species that evoke a strong emotional response in humans, cute, ex: pandas and tigers

keystone species- species whose activities significantly affect community structure ex: bats and bears

explain habitat fragmentation and the edge effect

habitat fragmentation occurs when larger areas of habitat are split into separate, smaller areas.

edge effect- the edge habitat is slightly different from that of the interior. wildlife abundance is considered to be related to inherent beneficial aspects of edge,

what components of the environment are overseen by the EPA?

Air-clean air act est.1963

water- clean water act test.1977

land-wilderness act set.1970

endangered species-endangered species act est. 1973

hazardous waste and toxic substances including pesticides

know the general contributions of Darwin and Wallace to evolutionary theory

discovered that evolution was driven by natural selection

Wallace and Darwin differed in the theory of evolution in that Wallace believed plants and animals evolved to their environment and Darwin believed adaptations were driven by competition and that those organisms with traits that favored survival would pass those traits to their offspring. darwin the earth is very old

summarize the stages of evolution by natural selection

Variation, Inheritance, Selection, Time and Adaptation.

list examples of evidence that Darwin gathered that supported his idea of natural selection

finches beaks on the island

a population of giant tortoises found in the Galapagos Archipelago have longer necks than those that lived on other islands with dry lowlands.

fossils and similarities between related living organisms

give examples of how the mechanisms of evolutionary change can be identified and studied

Natural Selection, Genetic Drift, Mutations and Gene Flow

Interpret one example from each area of study - fossil, anatomical, biogeographical, and biochemical - as evidence supporting the descent of all life from a common ancestor.

FOSSILS - transitional fossils

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL - different mix of plants and animals is expected whenever geography separates continents, islands etc.

ANATOMICAL - homologous structures, same sets of organized bones, embryological development, vestigial structures

BIOCHEMICAL - all organisms use the same biomolecules, same DNA triplet code, same 20 amino acids in their proteins

define the following: microevolution, population genetics, and gene pool

microevolution- change in gene frequencies between populations of a species over time

population genetics- the study go gene pool frequencies and their changes within a population

gene pool-total of alleles of all the individuals in a population

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

to calculate allele snd genotype frequencies

mutation

mutation- change to the DNA sequence which can serve as a source of new genetic variation

it generates the genetic variation on which the evolutionary process depends

assertive mating

assertive mating-the tendency for people to choose mates who are more similar (positive) or dissimilar (negative) to themselves in phenotype characteristics than would be expected by chance

it evolved from a combination of different factors, which vary across different species.

directional selection

directional selection- occurs when individuals with traits on one side of the mean in their population survive better or reproduce more than those on the other

the traits that are selected for will permanently increase, while the traits selected against will be lost

bottleneck effect

bottleneck effect is an extreme example of genetic drift that happens when the size of a population is severely reduced

polygenic trait

polygenic trait- a characteristic, such as height or skin color, that is influenced by two or more genes

sexual selection

sexual selection-A form of natural selection wherein male or female is attracted by certain characteristics, behaviour, etc., in the opposite sex.

gene flow

the transfer of genetic material from one population to another

stabilizing selection

a type of natural selection in which genetic diversity decreases as the population stabilizes on a particular trait value.

inbreeding

the mating of close relatives in species that are normally outbreeding

founder effect

the reduction in genomic variability that occurs when a small group of individuals becomes separated from a larger population

disruptive selection

a form of natural selection occurring in a population where extreme traits are favored over intermediate traits.

sexual dimorphism

the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species

reproductive isolation

the inability of a species to breed successfully with related species due to geographical, behavioral, physiological, or genetic barriers or differences

genetic drift

the change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random chance.

Hetrozygous advantage and role in evolution

describes the case in which the heterozygous genotype has a higher relative fitness than either the homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive genotype. Heterozygote advantage remains a classic explanation for the maintenance of genetic variation in the face of selection.

Define macroevolution and describe how it differs from microevolution

macroevolution-evolution of groups larger than an individual. microevolution-a change in gene frequency within a population

briefly explain the biological species concept

a group of organisms that can successfully interbreed and produce fertile offspring

differentiate between pre-zygotic and post-zygotic isolation and give examples

pre-zygotic prevents the fertilization of eggs A common example is behavior isolation where two different species utilize different calls, rituals, or dances and will not attract mates of a different species.

post-zygotic reduces the gene flow between related species.

This is generally the case for hybrid offspring between goats and sheep.

hybrid def and example

hybrid- the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction.An example of an animal hybrid is a mule. The animal is produced by a cross between a horse and a donkey.

habitat isolation def and example

habitat isolation-Habitat isolation is a form of reproductive isolation, in which reproduction between two populations (generally two species that are capable of interbreeding) is restricted because each population occupies a different habitat. if two populations of flies exist in the same geographical area, but one group lives in the soil and another lives on the surface of the water, members of the two populations are very unlikely to meet and reproduce.

behavioral isolation def and example

behavioral isolation-when species are reproductively isolated from others due to differences in behavior

male fireflies use specific light patterns to attract females.

mechanical isolation def and example

mechanical isolation- physical incompatibility between reproductive organs of two organisms. flowering plants that do not have the correct shape for a pollinator will not receive a pollen transfer, and will therefore not be fertilized.

gamete isolation def and example

gamete isolation- occurs when the two organisms/species mate successfully but can not form a zygote

the sea urchins Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and S.

temporal isolation def and example

temporal isolation- occurs when two populations differ in their periods of activity or reproductive cycles

describe allopatric and sympatric speciation

allopatric-occurs when a species separates into two separate groups that are isolated from one another

sympatric speciation-the evolution of a new species from a surviving ancestral species while both continue to inhabit the same geographic region

What is convergent evolution?

the process in which organisms that are not closely related independently evolve similar features.

contrast the following terms: analogous features and homologous features and give examples

analogous features-features of different species that are similar in function but not necessarily in structure and which do not derive from a common ancestral feature. examples: wings of birds and butterflies, flippers of Penguins and Dolphins, eyes of the octopus and of mammals, sweet potato and potato.

homologous features-similar physical features in organisms that share a common ancestor, but the features serve completely different functions examples: the limbs of humans, cats, whales, and bats.

briefly describe the role of development genes in evolution

changes in the expression of developmental genes have helped bring about large-scale evolutionary transformations.