STUDY GUIDE: EXAM 1

 

Definitions: biosphere, ecology, thermal radiation, convection cell, prevailing wind, doldrums, laurel wilt

What are 3 factors that shape climate?

How much TSI is taken in by the Earth’s land and oceans?

The 7 major terrestrial biomes of the world and their distinguishing characteristics

The basic differences between the 8 major aquatic biomes

 

Definition of a population

In what year did the world population start to suddenly increase? What do you think might be the cause for this?

Be able to understand the following population growth formula: Birth rate (b) − death rate (d) = rate of natural increase (r).

What factors could result in high birth rates and lower death rates?

Be able to tell whether a factor is density independent or density dependent.  Ex: the effects of disease on a population is often a density dependent factor: the more organisms in a given area, the more likely it will spread. 

Know what carrying capacity is.

 

Definitions: evolution, microevolution, macroevolution, adaptation

Examples of microevolution

The 4 mechanisms of evolution and what they are

The 3 types of natural selection

What sexual selection is and how mate choice is maintained in a population

 

 

Know what factors can limit adaptations in organisms

Know the biological definition of species (reproductively isolated, capable of producing viable offspring)

Know the difference between pre and postzygotic isolation mechanisms and examples of each

Speciation: what it is, how it happens

Allopatric versus sympatric speciation

Why should we try to understand adaptation and speciation?

 

The 3 most common types of interactions and their definitions

The most common types of mutualisms and how they differ

Know that mutualisms, exploitation, and competition affect the distribution and abundance of species, the behavior of other species, and even the existence of other species.

3 main groups of exploiters

How consumers and food organisms exert selective pressure on each other

The 2 main types of competition and how they are defined

Character displacement: what is is/how it develops

 

 

What food chains and food webs are and how energy flows through them

Definition of keystone species and how they affect communities

Difference between primary and secondary succession

Eutrophication: what it is and how it can be reversed

Why is community change caused by humans unique compared to other organisms?

 

 

How energy movement in an ecosystem is unidirectional

How energy is captured in ecosystems

What NPP is, and why it is an important measurement

How NPP changes in different terrestrial ecosystems compared to marine and aquatic ecosystems

How trophic levels can be represented in a pyramid

How nutrients are cycled between organisms