Exam 1 Flashcards
What does “oikos” means?
house
What does “reductionism” mean?
breaking complex things into parts that can be understood separately
Who wrote “silent spring”?
Rachel Carson
What was silent spring about?
pesticides
How did silent spring change the science of ecology?
by raising awareness of human impacts in natural systems
How did silent spring change the science of ecology?
by raising awareness of human impacts in natural systems
What best describe ecology?
the study of living systems
Which level of organization in ecology is the most inclusive?
Landscape
Explain why ecologists publish papers in a wide variety of scientific journals
Ecology is interdisciplinary
What major unexpected ecological change was caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam?
collapse of the Mediterranean sardine fishery
What are the two measurable environmental factors that influence terrestrial ecosystems the most?
Temperature and precipitation
Which is a biotic ecological factor?
disease
What is quantified on the y-axis of a one-dimensional niche’ diagram?
population density
If a transplanted organism dies, what does this suggest about that organism’s niche’?
Best definition of “climate”
prevailing weather conditions
Why is it warmer at the equator than the north pole?
because of the angle of solar incidence
Why is it warmer in the summer than the winter?
because of the angle of solar incidence
why is it dryer on the leeward side of an island?
because rising air causes rain to fall on the windward side
How does Coriolis’ acceleration, influence weather patterns?
Why are most of the Earth’s deserts at 30 degrees north latitude?
Which biome is South Carolina associated with?
Which biome has the highest evapotranspiration rates?
Tropical forest
Which biome is the hottest?
Which biome is the driest?
desert
Which biome is heavily influenced by coastal atmospheric moisture?
chaparral
Explains the absence of trees on the tundra
permafrost
A plant term primarily associated with temperate broadleaf forests
Least likely to be found in the southern hemisphere
A terrestrial biome that is not influenced by latitude
alpine
Dominated by “softwood” trees
How much of our planet is covered in water?
71%
How deep is most of the Earth’s water?
How does water depth limit aquatic ecosystems?
by influencing light availability
Which organisms is most likely to be benthic?
a clam
Describes a babbling brook
lotic
What is the temperature of nearly all of the Earth’s ocean water?
4 degree C
Why does the temperature of the oceans remain so stable?
What conditions are required for coral reefs to develop ?
Associated with hydrothermal vent communities
How deep is the hadal zone?
What is the approximate age of the Earth (and the rest of the solar system)?
4.6 billion years
What Eon of the geologic time scale are we in today?
Which type of organism appeared first on Earth?
bacteria
When did the most recent mass extinction event take place?
66 million years ago
Which animal is extinct?
the wooly mammoth
What organism on the Galapagos Islands did Charles Darwin use to model the process of Natural Selection?
finches
What concept that was missing from Charles Darwin’s logic has been brought into modern evolutionary theory?
Which of the five Kingdoms was the last one to appear on Earth?
plants
What word did Charles Darwin never use in hid scientific Publications?
What was the name of the ship that carried Charles Darwin around the world?
the Beagle
Under what conditions does genetic drift become more likely?
in a small populations
Which is NOT a condition of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?
stable environmental conditions
The phenotype of star-bellied sneetches is controlled by a single 2-allele gene. Star-bellies are dominant, and plain-bellies are recessive.
What is the genotype of a sneetch with no star?
ss
If 75% of the sneetches in a population have star-belies, what is the approximate frequency of the recessive allele?
If 75% of the sneethces in a population have star-bellies, what is the approximate frequency of the dominant allele?
What proportion of the sneethces on beaches are heterozygous for the star-belly gene?
0.50
Associated with microevolution
gene frequencies
Theoretical outcome for a population in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
unpredictable evolutionary change
All alleles at all gene loci in all individual of a population
a gene pool
NOT required to define a genetic population
all individuals must be the same age
Which is a vital rate that influences evolutionary fitness?
reproduction rate
What type of selection is demonstrated by bees that die in the act of protecting the hive?
What type of selection is demonstrated by colorful male betta fish (siamese fighting fish) that can be bought at a pet store.
sexual selection
What type of selection is demonstrated by corn plants with large aggregate fruits (ears)?
artificial selection
What famous evolutionary case study illustrated natural selection in moth populations?
industrial melanism
Explains why sickle cell disease is common in sub-Saharan Africa
adaptive heterozygosity
Unlikely to exhibit sexual selection
a tree
Explain why human birth weights generally fall between 6 to 9 lbs
stabilizing selection
Explain why moths in southeastern Great Britain are generally darker in color
darker moths are more likely to survive and reproduce there
Promotes rare traits and suppresses common ones
