BIO 180 ACTUAL 2026 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔competition - ✔✔when individuals use the same resources, results in lower fitness
for both
✔✔consumption - ✔✔one organism eats or absorbs nutrients from another, increases
consumers fitness and decreases victims fitness
✔✔mutualism - ✔✔when two species interact to increase both organisms fitness
✔✔intraspecific competition - ✔✔competition between members of same species
✔✔interspecific competition - ✔✔when individuals from different species compete for
the same resources
✔✔niche - ✔✔range of resources an organism can use
✔✔competitive exclusion principle - ✔✔two species that occupy the same niche can not
coexist
✔✔fundamental niche - ✔✔total theoretical range of environmental conditions a species
can tolerate
✔✔realized niche - ✔✔portion of fundamental niche that a species actually occupies
✔✔niche differentiation - ✔✔evolutionary change in resource use caused by
competition over generations
✔✔character displacement - ✔✔evolutionary change that occurs in species traits that
enables species to exploit different resources
✔✔integrated pest management - ✔✔strategies to maximize crop and forest
productivity while using a minimum of insecticides or other types of potentially harmful
compounds
✔✔coevolutionary arms race - ✔✔repeating cycle of reciprocal adaptation
✔✔constitutive defenses - ✔✔traits that are present even in the absence of consumers
✔✔batesian mimicry - ✔✔natural selection favored mimic species that resemble the
unpalatable species
, ✔✔inducible defenses - ✔✔physical, chemical, or behavioral defensive traits are
induced in the prey in response to presence of a consumer
✔✔species richness - ✔✔count of how many species are present in a given community
✔✔species diversity - ✔✔weighted measure that incorporates both number of species
and relative abundance
✔✔food chain - ✔✔map to link consumption interactions with organisms
✔✔food web - ✔✔summary of all consumption interactions within a community
✔✔keystone species - ✔✔species that has much greater impact on distribution and
abundance of surrounding species than its abundance and total biomass would suggest
✔✔trophic cascade - ✔✔when changes in top-down control cause conspicuous effects
two or three links away in a food web
✔✔climax community - ✔✔culmination of an evolving community, stable environment
that does not change over time
✔✔disturbance - ✔✔any strong, short-lived disruption to a community that changes the
distribution of living and/or nonliving resources
✔✔disturbance regime - ✔✔the characteristic disturbances that affect a given ecological
community
✔✔succession - ✔✔recovery that follows a severe disturbance
✔✔primary succession - ✔✔when a disturbance removes the soil and its organisms as
well as organisms that live above soil
✔✔secondary succession - ✔✔when a disturbance removes some or all of the
organisms from an area but leaves soil intact, including seeds and microorganisms
within the soil
✔✔pioneering species - ✔✔Those species that appear first in recently disturbed areas.
✔✔weed - ✔✔plant that is adapted for growth in disturbed soils
✔✔facilitation - ✔✔when presence of an early-arriving species makes conditions more
favorable for the arrival of certain later species
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔competition - ✔✔when individuals use the same resources, results in lower fitness
for both
✔✔consumption - ✔✔one organism eats or absorbs nutrients from another, increases
consumers fitness and decreases victims fitness
✔✔mutualism - ✔✔when two species interact to increase both organisms fitness
✔✔intraspecific competition - ✔✔competition between members of same species
✔✔interspecific competition - ✔✔when individuals from different species compete for
the same resources
✔✔niche - ✔✔range of resources an organism can use
✔✔competitive exclusion principle - ✔✔two species that occupy the same niche can not
coexist
✔✔fundamental niche - ✔✔total theoretical range of environmental conditions a species
can tolerate
✔✔realized niche - ✔✔portion of fundamental niche that a species actually occupies
✔✔niche differentiation - ✔✔evolutionary change in resource use caused by
competition over generations
✔✔character displacement - ✔✔evolutionary change that occurs in species traits that
enables species to exploit different resources
✔✔integrated pest management - ✔✔strategies to maximize crop and forest
productivity while using a minimum of insecticides or other types of potentially harmful
compounds
✔✔coevolutionary arms race - ✔✔repeating cycle of reciprocal adaptation
✔✔constitutive defenses - ✔✔traits that are present even in the absence of consumers
✔✔batesian mimicry - ✔✔natural selection favored mimic species that resemble the
unpalatable species
, ✔✔inducible defenses - ✔✔physical, chemical, or behavioral defensive traits are
induced in the prey in response to presence of a consumer
✔✔species richness - ✔✔count of how many species are present in a given community
✔✔species diversity - ✔✔weighted measure that incorporates both number of species
and relative abundance
✔✔food chain - ✔✔map to link consumption interactions with organisms
✔✔food web - ✔✔summary of all consumption interactions within a community
✔✔keystone species - ✔✔species that has much greater impact on distribution and
abundance of surrounding species than its abundance and total biomass would suggest
✔✔trophic cascade - ✔✔when changes in top-down control cause conspicuous effects
two or three links away in a food web
✔✔climax community - ✔✔culmination of an evolving community, stable environment
that does not change over time
✔✔disturbance - ✔✔any strong, short-lived disruption to a community that changes the
distribution of living and/or nonliving resources
✔✔disturbance regime - ✔✔the characteristic disturbances that affect a given ecological
community
✔✔succession - ✔✔recovery that follows a severe disturbance
✔✔primary succession - ✔✔when a disturbance removes the soil and its organisms as
well as organisms that live above soil
✔✔secondary succession - ✔✔when a disturbance removes some or all of the
organisms from an area but leaves soil intact, including seeds and microorganisms
within the soil
✔✔pioneering species - ✔✔Those species that appear first in recently disturbed areas.
✔✔weed - ✔✔plant that is adapted for growth in disturbed soils
✔✔facilitation - ✔✔when presence of an early-arriving species makes conditions more
favorable for the arrival of certain later species
