Evolution and Adaptation

Question 1

What is ecology?

Answer 1

The study of the interrelationships among plants and animals and microorganisms and their interactions with the environment.

Question 2

What is environment?

Answer 2

Literally means surroundings. From french word environs.

Question 3

What are the components of an environment?

Answer 3

Chemical, physical and biological.

Question 4

Does an environment have boundaries?

Answer 4

Strictly speaking the environment has no boundaries, but in practice it is common to restrict the discussion to a particular region.

Question 5

What is an organism?

Answer 5

An individual that has all the characteristics of life (cells to organ systems, capable of metabolism) and has the same genetic information in all its cells.

Question 6

What is a population?

Answer 6

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same environment and actively interbreeding.

Question 7

What is a community?

Answer 7

A number of populations living and interacting together in the same environment.

Question 8

What is a ecosystem?

Answer 8

The community plus its environment and the community members dependence upon each other and the abiotic components. The scale can vary considerably.

Question 9

Examples of a ecosystem?

Answer 9

pond, field, forest, desert, gastrointestinal system of animals, etc

Question 10

What is a biome?

Answer 10

Major type of ecosystem.

Question 11

Types of terrestrial biomes?

Answer 11

Tundra
Grasslands
Desert
Tropical rain forests, etc

Question 12

What determines the type of ecosystem that will develop into specific terrestrial biomes?

Answer 12

The amount of precipitation.

Question 13

Types of biome with percipitation

Answer 13

Biome				Precipitation
Desert				0 to 25 cm/year
Grasslands			25 to 75 cm/year
Dry forest			75 to 125 cm/year
Tropical rain forests       125 or more cm/yr

Question 14

What is a habitat?

Answer 14

The range of environments in which a species lives.

Question 15

What is a niche?

Answer 15

A unique functional position each type of species occupies in an ecosystem.

Question 16

What is evolution?

Answer 16

The process of genetic change by which species adapt to their environment or develop new ways of coping environmental stress.

Question 17

What is is the most fundamental organizing principle in biology?

Answer 17

The theory of evolution.

Question 18

Modern understanding of evolution is based on what?

Answer 18

Genetic theory.

Question 19

Evolution can be described based on the understanding that individuals in a population vary in numerous traits. What are these trait?

Answer 19

Morphological – related to structure (ex. height)
Biochemical – ex. ability to produce certain compounds
Behavioral – ex. aggressiveness in dogs

Question 20

What are the two mechanisms of evolution that act in combination?

Answer 20

Random variation and natural selection.

Question 21

What are random variations?

Answer 21

Are random mutations in the genetic code, and sorting and recombination of genetic material that occurs during meiosis.

Question 22

What are mutations cause by?

Answer 22

Errors in the biochemical processes of reproduction or by damage from chemical or physical agents (ex. ionizing radiation).

Question 23

What are adaptions?

Answer 23

Favorable traits which tend to increase the fitness of a population to an environment.

Question 24

Before molecular biology evolution was supported by what three types of evidence?

Answer 24

1. Fossil record.
2. Comparisons between the structure and function of different species.
3. Analyzing the geographical distribution of existing species.

Question 25

What is a genetic drift?

Answer 25

Random changes in traits occurring in a population.