Download Outline and important questions to know for the exam

APES Exam review
Topic # 1 : The Living World
II. The Living World (10-15%)
A. Communities (Chapter 8)
1. Biological populations and communities
2. Species dynamics
a. Interactions among species (predation, symbiosis)
b. Types of species (keystone species, indicator species)
c. Species diversity and edge effects
3. Climate shifts & species movement
4. Ecological succession
B. Ecosystems & Energy Flow (Chapter 4)
1. Photosynthesis
2. Cellular respiration
3. Food webs and trophic levels
4. Ecological pyramids
5. Ecosystem services
C. Evolution & Biodiversity (Chapter 5)
1. Biodiversity
2. Natural selection
3. Evolution
4. Ecological niches
D. Biomes & Life Zones
1. Major terrestrial biomes (Chapter 6)
2. Major aquatic life zones (marine & freshwater) (Chapter 7)
E. Natural Biogeochemical Cycles (Chapter 4)
1. Carbon (photosynthesis, respiration)
2. Nitrogen (nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, ammonification, assimilation)
3. Phosphorus
4. Sulfur
5. Water
6. Conservation of matter
Important Questions
Ecosystem Structure & Diversity
1. What are the ecological levels of organization?
2. What is the portion of the earth’s biosphere that is closest to the core
3. What are the factors that give an individual a larger range of tolerance?
4. Which type of consumer are usually the first to suffer when an ecosystem is disrupted?
5. Which types of ecosystems have the highest net primary productivity?
6. Which factors help to determine an animal’s niche?
7. What does it mean by “survival of the fittest”?
8. Explain the phenomenon called the bottleneck event?
9. What is speciation?
10. What does evolution refer to?
11. Explain how evolutionary divergence occurs?
12. What is an endemic species?
13. What are the elements of an organism’s habitat?
14. A species is mostly likely to go extinct in which type of changing environment?
15. What is commensalism?
16. What is the difference between primary and secondary succession?
17. Which type of organisms serve as pioneer species during primary succession?
18. What are keystone species?
19. Why are coastal wetlands ecologically important?
20. The open ocean is divided due to what factor?
21. How is the open ocean divided?
22. What are the layers of the freshwater lake zone?
23. Which ocean zone contains the greatest total number of producers?
Natural Cycles & Energy Flow
1. What does the term geochemical cycle describe?
2. What does the law of conservation of mass mean?
3. What element is the basic building block of all organic molecules?
4. How do plants directly interact with carbon in the carbon cycle?
5. What are some carbon storage reservoirs?
6. Where do phytoplanktons obtain their carbon to construct shells?
7. What is lysocline?
8. How does calcium stored in subsurface rock return up to the surface?
9. What are some human activities that can alter the carbon and nitrogen cycle?
10. What is nitrification?
11. What are negative effects of human interference in the nitrogen cycle?
12. Where do carnivores get the majority of their nitrogen?
13. Where does most terrestrial phosphate come from?
14. What can result if excess phosphates are added into lakes and rivers?
15. Which type of pollution releases pollutants containing nitrogen carbon and sulfur?
16. What drives the hydrologic cycle?
17. What is percolation?
18. Where is most of the carbon in the earth’s crust stored?
19. What is the largest calcium reservoir?
20. What are the two final products of nitrification?
21. Which human activities add sulfur dioxide to the environment?