BIO
150 EXAM #1 REVIEW SHEET
Note: This page is intended to guide your
studies. It is not an all-inclusive list of potential exam questions.
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notice. Check back periodically.
This page was last revised on 24 February 2006.
Ch. 1 - THE ORGANIZATION OF
BIOLOGY
I. Be able to describe and apply:
A. the steps of the scientific
method,
B. the requirements of science,
C. the concept of science as a way
of knowing something,
D. the levels of knowing in science,
E. the types of research in science.
II. Be able to describe and explain the important milestones in the
evolution of life on Earth.
III. Comprehend and apply the levels of organization of living things
in the biological hierarchy.
IV. Comprehend and apply the levels of the classification hierarchy
(aka: the classification system), including:
A. the name and ordering
of all the levels,
B. the names of the 3
domains,
C. the names of the 4
kingdoms of Eukarya and examples of organisms for each kingdom,
D. the application of
the classification hierarchy in expressing evolutionary relatedness among
organisms.
V. Comprehend, be able to interpret, and
apply the use of scientific names, including:
A. why do scientists use
scientific names,
B. where do scientific names
come from,
C. how are scientific names
used.
Ch. 53 - POPULATION ECOLOGY
I. Comprehend, be able to interpret, and apply:
A. what is a population,
B. the 3 primary factors that
effect population structure patterns,
C. the 3 main types of spacing
patterns found in a population (including examples of each)
D. the major environmental challenges to
living organisms
E. the factors affecting
population growth rates
F. an age distribution graph.
II. Be able to explain and use:
A. factors that effect
population levels, including the mathematic equation for a population;
B. life history tables,
including the terminology associated with these tables;
C. survivorship curves and how
they relate to mortality in the population;
D. examples of species for
each type of survivorship curve.
III. Master the concepts of:
A . exponential growth,
including the mathematic equation for the per capita rate of change of a
population,
B. intrinsic rate of growth,
including how to locate the point of greatest rate of change on a population
graph,
C. carrying capacity,
D. logistic growth,
E. fecundity
IV. Comprehend with confidence the concepts of:
A. how population density influences
birth and death rates,
B. dispersal and migration being
behavioral mechanisms that reduce population levels.
V. Be able to fully discuss and apply these concepts:
A. what is meant by life
history and how it effects population dynamics
B. how offspring are
considered evolutionary currency
C. senescence and how it
will effect population dynamics
D. the trade-offs within
an organism’s life history, including:
1. costs
of reproduction 2. lifetime
reproductive events (semelparity vs iteroparity)
3. Population reproductive strategies (K-selected vs
r-selected)
VI. With respects to managing
populations, be able to explain:
A. how life history
traits can be used to manage a population.
B. what the current
global population is for Homo sapiens
and its current doubling rate.
Ch. 54 - COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
I. Comprehend, be able to explain, and apply:
A. the concepts
of: 1. ecological community vs. community ecology
2. individualistic
community vs. holistic community
3. ecotone
B. competition for resources,
including the concepts
of: 1.
resource 2. limiting
resource
3. habitat
C. the concept of niche, including:
1. fundamental niche
2. realized niche
D. the competitive exclusion
principle
E. how species interact in their
quest for resources, including: 1.
competition 2. predation -and-
parasitism 3. symbiosis
II. Be able to explain and use concepts that relate to competition,
including:
A. Interspecific
competition vs. intraspecific competition
B. Interference
competition vs. exploitative competition
C. Item A and Item B are often
found in combinations in nature.
D. Why is competition
necessary in nature?
E. What is character
displacement and how does it effect competition.
III. Detail and analyze the concepts of predation and parasitism,
especially as they relate to:
A. coevolution
B. mimicry
C. secondary compounds
D. crypticity
E. aposomatic coloration
F. herbivory
G. reducing competition between
different prey species
IV. Comprehend and apply the various forms of symbiosis, including :
A. mutualism
B. commensalism
V. Be able to explain and use issues associates with an ecological
community, including:
A. species richness
B. keystone species
C. ecological succession,
especially: 1. primary succession 2.
secondary succession
VI. Be able to explain and apply concepts that relate to lake
eutrophication and oligotrophication
Ch. 55 - ECOSYSTEMS
I. Detail and analyze the concepts of nutrients cycles in an ecosystem,
including details that relate to:
A. water cycles
B. carbon cycles
C. nitrogen cycles
D. humans influences on
biogeochemical cycles
II. Given that energy flows through ecosystems, be able detail and
interpret how:
A. how solar energy drives global
climates.
B. photosynthesis drives the flow of
energy through most ecosystems, including the basic process of how energy is
acquired and stored.
C. the concepts of gross primary
production and net primary production relate to maintaining an ecosystem
D. latitude effects the amount of
energy in an ecosystem and also effects species richness.
III. As energy flows through a series of organisms in an ecosystem,
comprehend and apply the concepts of:
A. trophic levels,
including:
1. the name and position of each level 2.
examples of species for each level
B. feeding strategies
including: 1. the name and type of diet of
each 2. examples of species for
each feeding strategy
C. a food web
D. some ecosystems are not
powered by direct sunlight
IV. Be able to explain and use concepts that relate to trophic levels,
including:
A. pyramid of energy
B. pyramids of biomass &
numbers
C. biomagnification
D. how most energy used at a
trophic level is not transferred to the next level
Ch. 56 - CLIMATE AND BIOMES
I. Comprehend and be able to explain the concepts of geography that relate to
biology and evolution, including:
A. how atmospheric circulations
influence climates and biology
B. how oceanic currents are driven
by atmospheric circulations
II. Be able to identify and describe the biomes of Earth including plant and
animal species commonly associated with each biome.
III. Be able to fully discuss theses issues facing the global ecosystem
A. human population growth
B. biomagnification
C. clean drinking water
D. greenhouse gases and global
warming.
E. thinning ozone layer
F. solid waste
G. habitat destruction
H. species extinction