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Marisol Guerra
Unit V
Period 3
AP Biology
CHAPTER 50
1. Explain why the field of ecology is a multidisciplinary science.
It is a multidisciplinary science because it includes many levels and types of
interactions between organisms and their environments.
2. Describe the relationship between ecology and evolution.
Events that occur in the frame of what is sometimes called ecological time translate
into effects over the longer scale of evolutionary time.
3. Explain the importance of temperature, water, light, soil, and wind to living organisms.
Temperature – important because most organisms are unable to moderate their body
temperature.
Water – it is essential to life but availability varies among habitats.
Light – provides the energy that drives nearly all ecosystems
Soil – limit the distribution of pants and the animals that feed upon them, this
contributing to patchiness in terrestrial biomes.
Wind – amplifies the effects of environmental temperature on organisms by
increasing heat loss due to evaporation and convection (the wind-chill factor)
4. Describe how environmental changes may produce behavioral, physiological,
morphological, or adaptive responses in organisms.
Behavioral – limited to animals and this response is in the sense of muscular reaction
to a stimulus
Physiological – regulation and homeostasis are the regulars
morphological – organisms that react to some change in the environment with
responses that alter the form of internal anatomy of the body
Adaptive responses – produced by environmental changes and natural selection
occurs
5. Describe the characteristics of the major biomes: tropical forest, savanna, desert,
chaparral, temperate grassland, temperate forest, taiga, tundra.
Tropical Forest – average temp. 23* C, rainfall is dependent on whether it is tropical
rain forest, tropical dry forest or tropical deciduous forest
Savanna – grassland with scattered individual trees
Desert – the driest of all terrestrial biomes, characterized by low and unpredictable
precipitation
Chaparral – coastal areas characterized by mild, rainy winters and long, hot, dry
summers.
Temperate grassland – found in regions of relatively cold winter temperatures
Temperate Forest – throughout midlatitude regions where there is suffieicent
moisture to support the growth of large trees.
Taiga – largest terrestrial biome, characterized by long, cold winters and short, wet
summers that are occasionally warm.
Tundra – plant forms are limited to low shrubby or matlike vegetation
6. Using a diagram, identify the various zones found in the marine environment.
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CHAPTER 52
1. Define the scope of population ecology.
Individuals of one species that simultaneously occupy the same general area; they rely
on the same resources and are influenced by similar environmental factors
2. Distinguish between density and dispersion.
Density is the number of individuals per unit area or volume and dispersion is the
pattern of spacing among individuals within the geographical boundaries of the
population.
3. Explain how ecologists measure density of a species.
They can estimate the number in a given area, use the mark-recapture method or
using indirect indicators such as droppings and such
4. Explain how age structure, generation time, and sex structure of populations can affect
population growth.
Age structure – the number of individuals in each age range
Generation time – the average span between the birth of individuals and the birth of
their offspring
Sex structure – proportion of individuals of each sex
These effect population growth because if they rates were to change the number of
birth rates and death rates would either increase of decrease
5. Describe the characteristics of populations which exhibit Type I, Type II, and Type III
survivorship curves.
Type I – humans (relatively flat at the start, reflecting low death rates during early
and middle life, dropping steeply as death rates increase among older age groups.
Type II – intermediate, with mortality more constant over the lifespan (hydra-lizard
species)
Type III – drops sharply at the left of the graph, reflecting very high death rates for
the young, but then flattens out for those individuals that have survived to a certain
critical age. (organisms that produce very large number of offspring but provide
little or no care, such as fishes.)
6. Explain how density-dependent factors affect population growth.
A density-dependent factor is one that intensifies as the population increases in size.
They reduce the population growth by decreasing reproduction or by increasing
mortality in a crowded population.
7. Describe how weather and climate can function as density-independent factors in
controlling population growth.
The weather and climate can influence the amount of food produced therefore
controlling population growth.
8. Explain how density-dependent and density-independent factors may work together to
control a population's growth.
Density-independent factors may affect the species of one kind of animal at a
specific time while the density-dependent factors are affected because there is no
food left over after the density-independent factors took over.
9. List the three major characteristics of a life history and explain how each affects the:
Death rate, birth rate, and number of offspring per breed
a. Number of offspring produced by an individual
death rate – if they are killed before able to reproduce
birth rate – the number of births in one offspring
# of offspring per breed – how many more offspring can survive
b. Population's growth
death rate – reduces population
birth rate – increases population
# of offspring produced – increases population
10. Explain how predation can affect life history through natural selection.
Predation helps to morph organisms to be able to survive and evolve through natural
selection.
11. Distinguish between r-selected populations and K-selected populations.
r-selected (opportunistic populations) – likely to be found in variable
environments in which population densities fluctuate
K-selected (equilibrial populations) – those that are likely to be living at a density
near the limit imposed by their resources.
CHAPTER 53
1. Explain the relationship between species richness, relative abundance, and diversity.
They are all an amount of a certain species in a specific area.
2. List four properties of a community, and explain the importance of each.
Competition, predation, environmental patchiness, and coevolution
3. Explain how interspecific competition may affect community structure.
Interspecific competition affects the community structure because if it the
competition between two different species within the same area therefore changing
the structure because of the need for resources.
4. Describe the competitive exclusion principle, and explain how competitive exclusion may
affect community structure.
Competitive exclusion principle – two species with similar needs for the same
limiting resources cannot coexist in the same place. It affects the community
because it states that two different species with the same needs can’t stay in the same
place therefore limiting the type of species in certain areas.
5. Distinguish between an organism's fundamental niche and realized niche.
Fundamental niche – refers to the set of resources a population is theoretically
capable of using under ideal circumstances.
Realized niche – the resources a population actually uses
6. Distinguish between Batesian mimicry and Mullerian mimicry.
Batesian mimicry – a palatable species mimics the appearance of a harmful or
unpalatable one
Mullerian mimicry – two or more unpalatable aposematically colored species
resemble each other.
7. Explain the role of predators in community structure.
Predators help to control the amount of species in a given area, they establish the
death rate in certain organisms
8. Distinguish among parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism.
Parasitism – one organism the parasite, harms the host
Mutualism – both partners benefit from the relationship
Commensalism – one partner benefits without significantly affecting the other
9. Distinguish between primary succession and secondary succession.
Primary succession – begins in an essentially lifeless area where soil has not yet
formed
Secondary succession – occurs where an existing community has been cleared by
some disturbance that leaves the soil intact.
CHAPTER 54
1. Explain the importance of autotrophic organisms with respect to energy flow and nutrient
cycling in ecosystems.
Autotrophic organisms use energy and nutrient cycling to balance out the
ecosystems.
2. List and describe the importance of the four consumer levels found in an ecosystem.
Primary consumers (eat producers) , Secondary consumers (eat herbivores), Tertiary
consumers (eat carnivores that have eaten the herbivores), and Quaternary
consumers (eat carnivores that are smaller than they are)
3. Explain how gross primary productivity is allocated by the plants in an ecosystem.
The plants are the primary producers for they begin the food web or food cycle and
therefore gross primary productivity is allocated.
4. Explain why productivity declines at each trophic level.
Productivity declines because the variety of organisms decline and the bigger the
organism the bigger their meal must be
5. Distinguish between energy pyramids and biomass pyramids.
Energy pyramids – are stacked one species on top of the other and goes from the
most amount of energy used per species to the least
Biomass pyramids – each tier represents the standing crop biomass in a trophic level.
6. Describe the carbon cycle, and explain why it is said to result from the reciprocal
processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
See pg. 1155 in Biology book
7. Describe the nitrogen cycle, and explain the importance of nitrogen fixation to all living
organisms.
See pg. 1155-1156 in Biology book Only certain organisms can fix nitrogen on its
own therefore making nitrogen fixation very important.
8. Explain how phosphorus is recycled locally in most ecosystems.
Plants use phosphorus in the type of phosphate and is recycled through rain and
weathering of rocks into a phosphate solution
9. Describe how increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide could affect the
Earth.
Increased concentrations of CO2 can lead to a continuous interruption in the Earth’s
atmosphere and therefore hurting our ecosystem.
10. Describe how human interference might alter the biosphere.
Human interference can completely alter the biosphere and make it hazardous for all
living things to be able to live in and feed off of.