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57 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
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What characteristics would you use to asses whether something was alive or not? How many of these characteristics does something need to follow in order to be considered alive?

Homeostasis,


reproduction, organization, metabolic systems,


cell membrane,


hereditary (inheritance)



All of them

The scientific method rarely proceeds in a straight line

Name and describe the basic steps of the scientific method

Observe


Formulate a hypothesis


Devise a testable prediction


Conduct a critical experiment


Draw a conclusion and make revisions

What features must a scientifically useful hypothesis possess?

Mutually exclusive


Generates testable predictions


Can be repeated

In a carefully designed experiment, how similar should the control and experimental groups be?

Nearly identical other than the treatment itself

Why do scientists commonly repeat the same experiment over and over again?

To get the most accurate answer

A scientist evaluating logic tests taken by men and women makes sure that she doesn't know which tests were completed by men and which were completed by women. Why is this important?

To remove bias

Does attending class to improve your performance in a biology course? List a hypothesis and design an experiment. Distinguish the treatment, control, independent and dependent variable.

Students who attend class more do better in exams than students who don't.


The treatment: hours of class attended


Control: students who didn't attend class at all


Independent variable: hours of class attended


Dependent variable: exam scores

Does the statement evolution is just a theory have any merit? Explain.

A theory is a hypothesis substantially supported by data. So the phrase is incorrect, and it should be evolution is just a hypothesis

Compare and contrast a hypothesis from a theory.

A hypothesis is an explanation to a phenomenon


A theory is a repeatedly tested hypothesis and exceptionally well-supported by data

Are viruses living organisms? Which of the following characteristics of viruses suggest that they ARE living?

A. They contain genetic information that is passed on when they reproduce (hereditary)


B. They cannot reproduce or get and use energy (metabolize) without a host


C. They are found in almost every ecosystem on earth


D. They can move through a variety of materials including the air, body fluids, etc

Why is it important that an experiment include a control group?

A. Without a control group, there's no basis for knowing if a particular result is due to the variable being tested or some other factor


B. The control group is the group that the researcher is in control of; it is the group in which the researcher predetermines the nature of the results


C. The control group provides a reserve of experimental subjects


D. A control group assures that an experiment will be repeatable

Describe the terms individual, population, community, and ecosystems as they are related to one another.

Individual-individual organisms


Populations-groups of individual organisms that interbreed with each other


Communities-populations of different species that interact with each other in the locale


Ecosystems-all living organisms and non-living elements that interact in a particular area

What does the term carrying capacity mean?

The limit on growth

Distinguish exponential population growth from logistic population growth by drawing a graph. Which types of growth do most populations follow?

Most follow logistic growth

Distinguish density-dependent and density-independent factors.

Density-dependent factors are caused by density in areas, like crowding, disease, overuse of environment



Density-independent factors are not caused by density in areas, like earthquakes, floods, fires, and razing a forest

Have humans shown logistic or exponential growth for the majority of our history?

Exponential growth

Have humans exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet? How does human activity keep changing their carrying capacity?

We have found many ways to exceed the carrying capacity by cutting down density-dependent factors

How does the ecological footprint for the US compare to the rest of the world?

It has the biggest ecological footprint and is using more resources than it can afford

What can age structure pyramids tell us about the expected future growth of a population?

Shows us information about a population (i.e. Men and women, death rates, and birth rates, etc)

When more than two members of the same species live in the same place at the same time, they constitute:

A. A population


B. An ecosystem


C. A community


D. A niche

Disease is spreading more quickly between individuals who live in close proximity (close together) such as in a nesting colony of penguins. Disease can be considered:

A. Competitive exclusion


B. A density-independent factor


C. Parasitism


D. A density-dependent factor


E. Carrying capacity

It is difficult to determine the carrying capacity for humans because we are not affected by density-independent factors

A. True


B. False

What is a community? What is a niche?

Community-populations of different species that interact with each other within a locale


Niche-ways in which an organism utilizes the resources of the environment

Be able to define and recognize examples of the categories of community interactions:

Competition:


(Resource partitioning- both species adapt to share niche


Competitive exclusion- stronger species win niches and other species gets locally extinct)


Predation- one species eats the other


Symbiosis:


(Mutualism- both species benefit


Commensalism- one species benefits, the other is neither harmed nor benefited)


Parasitism- one species is benefited while the other is harmed

What roles do camouflage, warning coloration, mimicry, chemical defenses, and mechanical defenses play in predator-prey relationships?

Prey has these defense mechanisms to protect itself from its predators

Contrast dominant and keystone species.

Dominant species- those that typically outcompete other species


Keystone species- have an unusually large influence on thee presence or absence of other species in the community

Happens every 2-7 years.

A rain shadow is a dry region on the landward side of a mountain range. How is it formed?

Wind blows from oceans toward land and rises when it hits the mountains, rising air cooks and it rains, when the air falls it gets warm again and then holds more water, leaving the land dry.

Global weather patterns are mainly determined by the amount of solar energy falling on an area. The amount of solar energy that falls on area largely depends on the angle at which this light hits the earth. Explain what this means.

Solar energy hitting at the equator is spread out over a smaller area than the same amount of energy hitting near the poles. This leads to warmer temperatures at the equator.

Why are most major deserts found at 30• latitude? Explain in terms of air circulation patterns and rainfall.

Because the air falls at 30• and as it falls it warms, and as it warms it retains more moisture which mean it doesn't rain and keeps the land dry

How do conditions differ during an El Niño year? What is the one thing that causes all of these changes?

The surface temperature stays the same in the central Pacific Ocean which keeps the currents warm, causing flooding and fish and birds either migrating or dying.


The thing that causes the changes is diminished west winds.

What are the natural reservoirs (storage sites) for carbon, phosphorous, and nitrogen? Which of these is most greatly altered by human activities? How are each recycled?

Carbon- ocean and atmosphere (recycled by exhaling and burning fossil fuels)


Phosphorous- soil (recycled by urea)


Nitrogen- atmosphere (recycled by rock erosion and decomposition)

Just 3-5 levels

Nutrients cycle but energy doesn't. Why?

Because energy is used.

What is the ultimate source of energy for our planet?

The sun

What would happen to ecosystems without decomposers?

The wastes wouldn't get broken down so then nothing could be reused

Discuss the 10% rule of energy transfer through food webs

Primary producer (10,000) -> primary consumer (1,000) -> secondary consumer (100) -> tertiary consumer (10) {top predators/carnivores are rare}

Prey reduce their risk of predation through physical and behavioral defenses. Which of the following is NOT a physical defense for the reduction of predation?

A. The armor of an armadillo


B. The spiciness of a jalapeño pepper


C. The camouflage of a praying mantis


D. The alarm call of a Belding's ground squirrel


E. The warning coloration of a monarch butterfly

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) and the Commin Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) are found in different continents. However, both hunt for small mammals and birds in open country. Therefore, these two species:

A. Exhibit character displacement


B. Exhibit resource partitioning


C. Competitively inhibit one another


D. Occupy similar niches

Keystone species are always the most abundant species in a community.

A. True


B. False

Earth's largest ecosystems, biomes, are defined primarily by:

A. The seasonal variability in temperature


B. The seasonal variability in rainfall


C. Elevation


D. A & B


E. All of the above

During El Niño's conditions,

A. A steady wind blows westward from South America to Asia, pushing warm surface water with it


B. South America experiences extremely dry weather


C. The sea level in Southeast Asia and Australia increase by half a meter


D. Cold water, and this nutrient, upwelling off the coast of South America is diminished and as a result, fish populations plummet

Which of the following nutrient cycled has the smallest atmospheric component,

A. The nitrogen cycle


B. The carbon cycle


C. The phosphorous cycle


D. None of the above; the atmosphere s the major reserve for all 3

The size of a food web (number of tropic levels) is determined by the number of primary producers and thus the amount of solar energy

A. True


B. False

Biodiversity is most commonly defined as the number f distinct species in a habitat, though sometimes this is slightly modified to include the number of different classes or families of organisms. At what levels can biodiversity be considered?

Ecosystems


Species


Genes and alleles

If extinction is a natural process, why is the hereby rate of extinction considered a biodiversity crisis? Which type of extinction is natural and which type of extinction is a concern?

Background extinctions are natural, and mass extinctions cause concern because many species go extinct quickly due to sudden environmental changes.

Why should we protect biodiversity?

Because it's good for the earth, therefore good for us

What are biodiversity hotspots? Where are they usually located? Why here?

Regions of specific biodiversity under threat of destruction



Tropical rainforests, coral reefs, and islands



Close to the equator

Discuss three factors that influence biodiversity?

Solar energy available


Evolutionary history of an area


Rate of disturbance

How does disturbance and succession influence biodiversity?

It changes or brings in new species in a habitat with an intermediate amount of disturbance tends to have the greatest species in richness

What are some human-related causes for loss of biodiversity?

Introduction of exotic species


Over exploitation


Deforestation


Habitat fragmentation


Burning fossil fuels


Climate change

What is over exploitation? What are some things we can do to stop it?

Using too many of earth's resources and organisms



Stop taking so many things from the earth and ocean

What is global climate change and how is it caused by human activities?

Change in concentration of of greenhouse gases


Caused by burning of fossil fuels and deforestation

Name two key characteristics that make an invasive species particularly harmful.

Have no predators so their population grows unchecked


Native plants and animals can't compete or defend themselves

How does deforestation influence both biodiversity and carbon dioxide levels (greenhouse gases)

drives away or kills the forest species


Kills trees and plants that use carbon dioxide

What are the byproducts of the burning of fossil fuels and what are the impacts of these byproducts on the ecosystem?

Carbon dioxide, water, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide


It creates acid rain, climate change, and air pollution

Why do scientists say we're going through a mass extinction rated than a background extinction event right now?

A. Because humans are hunting more animals than our ancestors, leading to increased over exploitation


B. Because human-induced changes in climate change, deforestation, and habitat fragmentation are accelerated and thus impacting thousands of species in a very short period of time


C. Because acid rain is leaching important minerals out of our soil, decreasing primary productivity and thus the base of our food webs


D. Scientists believe we are going through a background extinction, not mass extinction

With a biological magnification, a _________ will have the highest pollution load.

A. Producer


B. Herbivore


C. Carnivore


D. All will have similar levels of pollutants

Acid rain has both direct and indirect effects on an ecosystem. Which of the following is matched correctly?

A. Direct-- leaching of essential elements from the soil


B. Direct-- decrease in calcium content of shells and thus increased predation on these organisms


C. Indirect-- loss of leaves from tree


D. All of the above are matched correctly


E. None of the above are matched correctly