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AP Biology Study Guide
Chapter 37: Communities and Ecosystems
Opening Essay
1. Explain how hippos contribute to the ecological communities in which they live.
Community Structure and Dynamics
2. Define a biological community. Explain why the study of community ecology isimportant.
3. Define interspecific competition, mutualism, predation, herbivory, and parasitism, and provide examples of each.
4. Define an ecological niche. Explain how interspecific competition can occur when the niches of two populations
overlap.
5. Describe the mutualistic relationship between corals and dinoflagellates.
6. Define predation. Describe the protective strategies potential prey employ to avoidpredators.
7. Explain why many plants have chemicals, spines, or thorns. Define coevolution and describe an example.
8. Explain how parasites and pathogens can affect community composition.
9. Identify and compare the trophic levels of terrestrial and aquatic food chains.
10. Explain how food chains interconnect to form food webs.
11. Describe the two components of species diversity. Explain why large fields of a single crop are vulnerable to
devastating disease.
12. Define a keystone species. Explain why the long-spined sea urchin is considered akeystone species.
13. Explain how disturbances can benefit communities. Distinguish between primary and secondary succession.
14. Explain how invasive species can affect communities.
Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics
15. Compare the movement of energy and chemicals through ecosystems.
16. Compare the primary production of tropical rain forests, coral reefs, and open ocean. Explain why the
differences between them exist.
17. Describe the movement of energy through a food chain. Explain why there are more producers than consumers
and why eating meat counts as a great luxury.
18. Explain how carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle within ecosystems.
19. Describe the results of the long-term study of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Explain why this
ecosystem is particularly useful for this sort of experimentation.
20. Define cultural eutrophication and explain its causes. Describe the experiment conducted by Dr. David
Schindler that demonstrated the impact of phosphorus pollution in aquatic ecosystems.
C. Gay 4/12/09
Steamboat Springs High School AP Biology
Key Terms
abiotic reservoir
herbivory
biogeochemical cycle
interspecific interactions
biological control
interspecific competition
biomass
invasive species
chemical cycling
keystone species
coevolution
mutualism
community
nitrogen fixation
decomposer
predation
decomposition
primary consumer
detritivore
primary production
detritus
primary succession
disturbance
producer
ecological niche
quaternary consumer
ecological succession
secondary consumer
ecosystem
secondary succession
energy flow
species diversity
food chain
tertiary consumer
food web
C. Gay 4/12/09
Steamboat Springs High School AP Biology