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Biology 130 – Ecology
Final Review
Below I have listed the topics from the second portion of the course that I consider
important. I have lectured on the topics of greatest import and my exam will focus on
that material. Do not ignore the book as it gives examples that will help conceptually to
understand the various topics. Although the exam is not written, I would expect the bulk
of the exam to be short answer essay. I will also ask you to interpret graphs and explain
the meaning of various lines (these will be things you have already seen), interpret and
evaluate equations and variables and graph certain functions. I may ask you to do
simple calculations and/or qualitatively explain the meanings of formulae.
Define co-evolution.
What are resources? What is a limiting resource? What is the niche of a species?
What is competition? Distinguish between Exploitive Competition and Interference
Competition.
What is the Competitive Exclusion Principle?
What is the competition coefficient? How is this feature used to predict population
growth rates for the two competing species?
How might an inferior competitor coexist with a superior competitor? You should know
at least one reason how this could (and does) happen!
What is apparent competition?
Are there any good examples of competition? What is the source of this evidence?
What is resource partitioning and how does this relate to the realized niche?
Describe and give a hypothetical or real example of character displacement.
Be able to label a curve and note the type of functional response and what that line is
telling us. (Type I, II or III).
Be able to interpret the Type III functional response and specifically describe what is
happening at the low prey densities.
You do not need to know the formulae that describe the growth rates of the predator and
prey populations, however, I want you to know the variables and constants associated
with the equations.
What is meant by coupled oscillations? Why do we often see oscillations of predator
and prey populations out of synch?
Consider an example of predator/prey, parasite/hose, parasitoid/host or herbivore/plant.
Describe co-evolutionary changes in both members of the interacting pair in terms of
physiological, behavioral and morphological types of adaptations. You should be able to
describe at least one specific example of this type of antagonistic relationship.
Know coloration patterns that may be observed, including camouflage and aposematic
coloration.
Know the three types of mutualistic relationships, the general benefits to the involved
species and specific examples of each.
Why do species cheat when it comes to receiving benefits (mainly in mutualistic types of
relationships)?
What is commensalism? Provide an example of this relationship and describe the
effects on the interacting species.
What is amensalism? Provide an example of this relationship and describe the effects
on the interacting species.
Be able to define the concept of community.
What are ecotones? How are these used to define boundaries in communities, or is it
the other way around?
Be able to describe the two general models that define community membership. You
should be able to evaluate graphs and attribute the relevance of one hypothesis over
another.
What sorts of phenomena can contribute to community composition other than prevailing
environmental conditions and biotic interactions (e.g. historical events such as
continental drift and the creation of refugia; phylogenetic history and speciation; and
certainly mass extinctions).
Be able to calculate species richness for a community of organisms.
Why do we employ diversity indices to compare communities rather than just species
richness? You should be able to justify you answer!
How can we compare diversities among communities? How can we compare
similarities?
What do we mean by ecological diversity?
What is meant by the bottom up proposal for community structure?
What is meant by the top down model to describe community structure?
What is a climax community? Be able to give a general description of what this concept
means.
List and describe two reasons sexual reproduction may be favored over asexual
reproduction.
Know the costs of sexual reproduction.
What is the Red Queen Hypothesis? How does this correlate with environmental
stability and sexual vs. asexual reproduction?
What is sexual selection? Distinguish between intersexual selection and intrasexual
selection.
What is Runaway Selection? What does this lead to in a species?
What is the handicap principle?
Which sex typically does the mate selection? Why?
What is the significance of courtship or nuptial feeding? Know at least two reasons.
Distinguish between monoecious and gonochorism.
What are some benefits of being a hermaphrodite?
Know the different types of mating systems (promiscuity, polygyny, monogamy and
polyandry). What sorts of circumstances would lead to each of the different systems
(e.g. availability of resources, required care of the young, certainty of paternity, etc.).
What is the parent/offspring conflict? What are the opposing selective forces?
Why might siblicide be of selective value to a parent? If resource limitations are at the
heart of this, why have more than a single offspring?
How might brood parasitism evolve? What are the potential costs and benefits?
What is the “ideal free distribution” of resource utilization?
What is extinction? Imagine that you are studying a group of large mammals that are
restricted to areas of the Cascades. If, in the past, you know it had been eliminated from
the southern half of its range, how would you go about studying the situation with the
intent to reintroduce the species. (Note – this could be a very large question, but I
believe I will want something rather superficial)
You have been hired by a consulting firm to evaluate the species diversity of birds in
three areas along the Willamette River. They wish to build condos at two of the three
locations and need to know if there are any “sensitive” species in the proposed areas.
What information will you take from each of the sites (be able to list at least four). How
would you insure that you have sampled each of the sites thoroughly? How would you
maintain consistency of sampling effort between the sites? How would you evaluate the
differences among the sites?
How might we define the term ecosystem? There are two tightly coupled features of
ecosystems that form the basis for much of the study, and much of our understanding of
the relationships among the members in these entities. What are they?
What was Lotka’s Mill-wheel of life? Why was this so important?
What can we say about the efficiency of transfer of energy from one trophic level to
another? Where does the energy go that is not passed? What features limited the
number of trophic levels?
The other major feature of ecosystems is the study of nutrients. You should know the
cycling of nutrients among the four general categories and how they get from one
compartment to another.
Know how to calculate the transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next for an
ecosystem. If I provide you with parameters and efficiencies, you should be able to give
calculate energy flow.
Know 2 or 3 factors that influence NPP.
What is the bottom line calculation of ecological efficiency for a trophic level.
What is the residence time for energy? Why is this valuable information?
Be able to discuss at least one of the nutrient cycles and the way anthropogenic
(human) activities have influenced that cycle.