Biology Spring Final Exam Review(ANT) Flashcards
What is the difference between a producer and consumer? Heterotroph and autotroph? Give examples of each.
Producers make their own energy, at the bottom (base) of a food pyramid. Examples include plants. Consumers must eat food to get their energy. Examples include fish, bunnies, humans. Autotrophs create energy through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis (plants, sone bacteria & archaea). Heterotrophs can’t do this so they must be consumers
How can a primary producer make its own food?
Photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Most do photosynthesis, by using light energy to make carbohydrates
What is the difference between an herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, decomposer, and scavenger? Give examples of each.
Herbivore – eats plants only. Ex: bunnies
Carnivore – eats animals only. Ex: lions
Omnivore – eats plants and animals. Example: humans
Decomposer – breaks down organic material. Ex: fungi
Scavenger – feeds off of dead or decaying organisms. Ex: vulture
What are trophic levels? How much energy is passed on to the next level? What happens to the rest of the energy that isn’t passed on? Study the energy, biomass, and numbers pyramids we discussed in class.
Trophic level – the “step” or level on a pyramid. Producers are always at the first trophic level, then primary consumers at the 2nd trophic level, secondary consumers at the 3rd ,etc.
Only 10 percent of the energy stored in an organism can be passed on to the next trophic level. Of the remaining energy, some is used for the organism’s life processes, and the rest is eliminated as heat.
What is biogeochemical cycling?
Cycles of matter through an ecosystem, including water, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon. Biogeochemical cycling ensures that nutrients will be circulated throughout the biosphere.
What’s the difference between abiotic and biotic factors? Give examples of each.
Abiotic – non living, examples: rocks, water, sunlight.
Biotic – living things, ex plants, animals, fungi.
What is the greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that maintains Earth’s temperature range.
What creates the different climate zones?
Earth has three main climate zones because of the differences in latitude
How is wind created?
Rising/falling air. The tendency for warm air to rise and cool air to sink results in global wind patterns.
What is a niche? Why can’t two species occupy the same niche at the same time?
A niche is an organism’s “role” in that ecosystem, including where it lives and how it gets its food and how it interacts with abiotic and biotic factors in its environment. No two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time because of the competitive exclusion principle.
What are the different types of succession? Know details of each.
Secondary succession begins on soil and primary succession begins on newly exposed surfaces.
What is a climax community? What would it look like?
When most of the succession process has finished and that ecosystem becomes relatively stable, usually biodiverse. Includes trees and shrubs and various animals.
Give examples of human caused disturbances that could cause succession.
Deforestation, pollution, etc
List the different biomes and details of each.
Temperate forest – has long cold winters and short hot summers. Home to conifers.
What are three characteristics of a population? What’s the difference between them?
Population density – the number of individuals of a species in that population per unit area
Growth rate – measures the growth (or lack thereof) of a population size.
Range - the areas inhabited by a population
What factors affect growth rate?
Influenced by immigration, emigration, death rate, and birth rate
What is the difference between logistic and exponential growth curves? Draw a graph for each.
Logistic is a period of exponential growth followed by a steady/leveling out when that population meets carrying capacity. Represents the various growth phase through which MOST populations grow through. S shaped curve
Exponential: rapid growth; J-shaped curve. Occurs when there is nothing limiting the population
What is an invasive species? How do they affect the ecosystem?
Species not native to that area. Can often be harmful and overrun the native species populations.
What is a limiting factor? Know the difference between a density-dependent limiting factor and density-independent limiting factors. Give examples of each.
Factors that limit the growth of a population.
Density-dependent – influence on population size/growth is due to the size/density of the population. A large, dense population is usually the most affected. Examples: hunting, new predator, parasitism, immigration, etc
Density-independent – limits population growth regardless of density of that population. Ex: earthquakes
What would a country that’s in the first, second, and third stage of demographic transition look like?
Countries in the first stage of demographic transition have a high death rate and a high birthrate.
What is monoculture farming? Advantages? Disadvantages?
Large scale farming of one particular crop. Advantage: ability to grow a lot of food. Disadvantage: can compromise the ecological health of the soil
There are four ways that humans are changing the environment. What are they?
Pollution, CO2 emissions, deforestation, using up fossils fuels, etc
What is sustainable development?
Using resources in ways that preserve ecosystem services
What are some pros and cons to the Industrial Revolution?
Pros: advancements in industry, tech, medicine, etc.
Cons: Data gathered confirm that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been increasing since the Industrial Revolution.
Most comes from burning fossil fuels.
What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources?
Nonrenewable - They cannot be replaced after they are used up.
What is DDT and how did it affect animals?
A pesticide used to kill insects. As DDT moves up the trophic levels in food chains or food webs its concentration increases. It had a disastrous effect when it got into the water, in particular harming the bird population because it affected the viability of their eggs.
