Bio Final

What is the Anthropocene Era?

Human impact on the planet

What is science?

Any system of objective knowledge

What is the general process of the scientific method?

Framework to consider ideas and evidence in a repeatable way

What is a hypothesis?

Tentative explanation based on previous knowledge

What are some limitations of science?

Super natural, religion, meaning of life

What is a scientific name?

a unique name for a species of plant or animal that is used in biology to avoid confusion

What is a common name?

name that is commonly used and easily recognized by most people

What is a standardized name?

name that has been formatted to be consistent and accurate

Why do we need scientific names instead of just using common names?

common names can vary greatly depending on location and language, leading to confusion when discussing organisms globally

Know the taxonomic levels and their order in the hierarchy from Domain to Species.

Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus

Dear King Philip Came Over For Grape Soda

What is the correct format for writing or typing a scientific name?

Genus first name, followed by the species name

How can evolution be described in terms of alleles in a population?

Change in allele frequencies in a population over time

What are alleles?

Different forms of a gene

What is artificial selection?

Human choose desirable traits and breed only those best expressing those traits

What are adaptations?

Inherited characteristics or behavior that enables an organism to survive and reproduce successfully in a given environment

How is herbicide resistance an example of natural selection?

Over time the herbicides that survive and reproduce gradually grow resistant

What is a phenotype?

Set of observable physical traits

How does natural selection affect poorly adapted phenotypes?

Poorly adapted phenotypes are “selected against”

How does natural selection affect well adapted phenotypes?

Well adapted phenotypes are “selected for”

Are adaptive phenotypes at one time necessarily going to be adaptive all of the time?

Adaptive phenotypes in one set of circumstances may be a liability in others

Does natural selection have a goal?

Enhanced reproductive success of a certain individuals from a population based on inherited characteristics

What is a mutation? Why is it important in evolution?

Random change in DNA, raw material for evolution

What is sexual selection?

Variation in ability to attract mates (may result in sexual dimorphism)

What is gene flow?

Movement of alleles between populations

What is genetic drift?

Change due to change

Founder effect?

Small group of individuals forms new populations

Bottleneck?

Many members of a population die leaving only a few survivors

What is extinction?

Failure to adapt to environmental change

What are some reasons why extinctions happen?

Habitat loss, new predator's, new diseases, bad luck

What is a mass extinction?

Great number of Species disappear over relatively short time

What is a population?

•Group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time.

What is ecology?

Scientific study of interactions

What is population ecology?

Scientific study of how environmental factors influence the features and size of a population over time

Why should you personally care about population ecology?

Affect on human health

You gotta eat

Human population growth

What is population dynamics?

Study of the factors that influence changes in a populations size

What are the 4 factors that influence population size?

Birth rate

Death rate

Immigration

Emigration

What do the Type I survivorship curves tell you about the characteristics of a species?

Much parental care, mortality highest in oldest individuals

What do the Type II survivorship curves tell you about the characteristics of a species?

Equal probability of dying at any age

What do the Type III survivorship curves tell you about the characteristics of a species?

Many offspring, little parental care, most die at any early age

What is a population pyramid?

Show age structure: proportions of populations in different age classes

What can you learn about a population from looking at a population pyramid?

% of population young

How do you know if a population is increasing in size?

Increasing % of population = growing population

How do you know if a population is stable in size?

Stable % of population = stable population

How do you know if a population is decreasing in size by looking at its population pyramid?

Decreasing % of population = declining population

What is the birth rate?

Number of deaths per unit time

What is the death rate?

Number of deaths per unit time

What is the growth rate of a population?

Per capita rate increased or r

What is r?

Birthrate - death rate

What does a negative r tell you about a population? Positive r?

-r = population shrinks

r = population grows

What does a graph of exponential growth look like?

J shape curve that slows then starts up

What is logistic growth?

S - shape that starts off slowly then slowly get to maximum

How logistic growth different from exponential growth?

logistic growth takes into account a "carrying capacity" where the population stabilizes, unlike exponential growth which assumes unlimited growth potential

What is carrying capacity (K)?

Maximum number of individuals that habitat can support indefinitely

Is carrying capacity of a population always the same?

NO

What is a/an introduced/exotic/alien/non-native species?

A species living outside of its native distribution

How could a non-native species be introduced? (We talked about several ways this could happen.)

• On purpose

• Pet release / escape

• Shipping

What are some examples of the impacts that invasive species can have where they invade?

Zebra Mussels - Has a huge impact on ecosystems where they invade

Brown-headed cowbirds - Negative effect on songbirds

How can we manage invasive species?

Prevention, Control, Eradication

What is prevention?

Early detection and rapid response

What is control?

– Ballast water exchange

– Various methods to remove organisms from ballast water

Whst is eradication?

Often very difficult

What is ecology?

scientific study of how organisms interact with one another and the environment and abundance and distribution of organisms

What is community ecology?

•Community = all species that interact with one another within a particular area.

•Studies interactions between species

What are the species interactions competition?

-/-

What are the species interactions mutualism?

+/+ both partners benefit

What are the species interactions commensalism?

+/0 one species benefits, other not significantly affected

What is a symbiosis?

•Close physical interaction between species

Which community interactions are considered a type of symbiosis?

• Mutualism

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

What is the difference between predators and parasites?

predatos usually kill their prey and parasites usually do not kill their host at least right away

How can prey defend themselves from predators?

- Camouflage

– Warning colors

– Weapons and structural defenses

What is a keystone species?

makes up a small proportion of the community by weight, yet has a large influence on community diversity

What is ecological succession?

gradual change in a community’s species composition

What are the characteristics of pioneer species?

the first to colonize

What is a climax community?

not much change at this point

What is an ecosystem?

all biotic (organisms) + abiotic (nonliving), components within a defined area

What does ecosystem ecology study?

–Nutrient cycling

–Energy flow

–between organisms and the atmosphere, soil, or water

What is a food chain?

series of organisms that successively eat each other

Trophic level?

position in the food chain

What are autotrophs, producers?

Primary producer/autotroph

– Directly or indirectly provide energy for all other organisms

What are heterotrophs, consumers?

• Consumer/heterotroph

  • Obtain energy from producers or other consumers

What are decomposers/detritivores?

• Decomposers

  • break down detritus

What is a primary consumer?

•Herbivores – primary consumer

What is a secondary consumer?

• Carnivores – secondary or tertiary consumers

What is a food web?

network of interconnected food chains

Is it more realistic than a food chain? Why or why not?

A food web is more realistic than a food chain

What is an energy pyramid?

Each trophic level is a block whose size is directly proportional to the energy stored in new tissues per unit time

Why does it take less acreage of corn to support human vegetarians compared to human meat-eaters?

The lower humans eat on the food chain, the more people we can feed

What is biological magnification (or biomagnification)?

When a substance becomes more and more concentrated in the tissues of organisms at higher trophic levels

What can happen to DDT in food webs?

Birds that are carnivores accumulate DDT in their tissues, produce brittle egg shells

What is a biogeochemical cycle?

Organisms / environment interactions continuously recycle elements

• Water

• Nitrogen

• Phosphorus

• Carbon

Know that “hydrologic cycle” and “water cycle” mean the same thing.

YES

What is nitrogen fixation?

Certain types of bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen gas to a different form of nitrogen that plants can use

What are the human activities that affect the nitrogen cycle?

Burning fossil fuels, which adds nitrogen to the atmosphere, which is one cause of acid rain

What human activity is affecting the P cycle?

Using mining of phosphorus in the soil to make fertilizers which increase the amount of phosphorus available to plants

What are the general characteristics of an oligotrophic?

Oligotrophic

– low nutrients

– low algal biomass

– high clarity

What are the general characteristics of an eutrophic system?

Eutrophic

– high total nutrients

– high algal productivity

could have extensive macrophyte populations

– cyanobacteria blooms

– low clarity

– large [O2] variation

– may have frequent fish kills

What is eutrophication?

Changes caused by increased nutrient additions

What is a limiting nutrient (or limiting resource)?

Oligotrophic

What are the negative impacts of an algal bloom?

taste and odor problems in water supply

– potential for toxic blooms

– alter food webs

What is a HAB?

Toxins can cause problems

– If ingested

– With skin contact

– If inhaled

(volatilized toxins)