BIOLOGY 180 LATEST 2026 TEST PAPER QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔What is a wildlife corridor? - ✔✔A strip of habitat that connects two preserved areas.
✔✔In biology, how is "sustainability" defined? - ✔✔Using resources only as fast as they
are replaced.
✔✔Per kcal of food produced, which of the following sources of animal protein requires
the most land and water, and generates the largest quantity of greenhouse gases? -
✔✔Beef.
✔✔What does it mean to say that a plant community provides ecosystem services? -
✔✔It improves the ability of the abiotic environment to support life.
✔✔Scientists estimate that the total value of ecosystem services provided to humans by
other organisms is: - ✔✔More than twice the gross national produce of all nations
combined.
✔✔What is "ex situ" conservation? - ✔✔preserving species in zoos, botanic gardens, or
aquaria
✔✔What is ecological restoration? - ✔✔Efforts by humans to increase biodiversity and
biomass in degraded habitats.
✔✔How can we measure biodiversity? - ✔✔Genetic diversity:Freq(Heterozygotes); # of
alleles.
• Species richness:# of species
• Species diversity:# of species, weighted by frequency
• Functional diversity: # of functional groups
• Phylogenetic diversity: Age of common ancestors
✔✔Gross primary productivity: - ✔✔Total energy captured by producers
✔✔Net primary productivity (NPP): - ✔✔GPP minus cellular respiration and other
metabolic processes
✔✔Why is NPP so important? - ✔✔Everybody else (including us) depends on it for food
✔✔In most experiments where species richness is plotted
on the x-axis and biomass on the y-axis, the curve
asymptotes relatively quickly (often at about 10 species).
What does this observation suggest? - ✔✔At some point, something besides high
species
, richness limits overall productivity.
✔✔It is common to observe that overall productivity
increases as the number of species in experimental
ecosystems increases. Which of the following hypotheses
best explains this pattern? - ✔✔1.As you add more species, you are more likely to get a
species with exceptionally high biomass production.
2. Different species use resources in different ways, so overall resource use is higher.
3. As you add more species, you are more likely to see mutualistic interactions that
increase overall biomass production.
✔✔Suppose that experimental plots contain a single plant
species. Each plot has the same number of individuals, but
genetic variation ranges from none (all clones) to high (all
very different). Would the relationship with NPP be the same or different than observed
for species richness? - ✔✔Same because similar mechanisms are at work.
✔✔Does plant species richness affect a community's
response to addition of CO2 and/or N? - ✔✔When CO2, N, or CO2 + N are
added, productivity increases with
increased species richness.
✔✔Does plant species richness affect resistance to
disturbance? - ✔✔Yes, as species richness increases so does resistance
✔✔Does plant species richness affect resilience? (recovery
from disturbance) - ✔✔Yes, as species richness increases so does resilience
✔✔Why are there deserts at 30o N & 30o S? - ✔✔The Sun heats equatorial air,
which rises and is forced North
or South. That air falls around
30o N & S.
✔✔At what latitudes does it rain most? - ✔✔The equator and 60°
✔✔Notice the direction of the arrows near
the Earth's surface. Why is there a
"polar front"? - ✔✔Warm air moving north
meets cold air moving south
✔✔. In June (our summer), do you expect
the "equatorial low" to shift North or
South? - ✔✔North
ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔What is a wildlife corridor? - ✔✔A strip of habitat that connects two preserved areas.
✔✔In biology, how is "sustainability" defined? - ✔✔Using resources only as fast as they
are replaced.
✔✔Per kcal of food produced, which of the following sources of animal protein requires
the most land and water, and generates the largest quantity of greenhouse gases? -
✔✔Beef.
✔✔What does it mean to say that a plant community provides ecosystem services? -
✔✔It improves the ability of the abiotic environment to support life.
✔✔Scientists estimate that the total value of ecosystem services provided to humans by
other organisms is: - ✔✔More than twice the gross national produce of all nations
combined.
✔✔What is "ex situ" conservation? - ✔✔preserving species in zoos, botanic gardens, or
aquaria
✔✔What is ecological restoration? - ✔✔Efforts by humans to increase biodiversity and
biomass in degraded habitats.
✔✔How can we measure biodiversity? - ✔✔Genetic diversity:Freq(Heterozygotes); # of
alleles.
• Species richness:# of species
• Species diversity:# of species, weighted by frequency
• Functional diversity: # of functional groups
• Phylogenetic diversity: Age of common ancestors
✔✔Gross primary productivity: - ✔✔Total energy captured by producers
✔✔Net primary productivity (NPP): - ✔✔GPP minus cellular respiration and other
metabolic processes
✔✔Why is NPP so important? - ✔✔Everybody else (including us) depends on it for food
✔✔In most experiments where species richness is plotted
on the x-axis and biomass on the y-axis, the curve
asymptotes relatively quickly (often at about 10 species).
What does this observation suggest? - ✔✔At some point, something besides high
species
, richness limits overall productivity.
✔✔It is common to observe that overall productivity
increases as the number of species in experimental
ecosystems increases. Which of the following hypotheses
best explains this pattern? - ✔✔1.As you add more species, you are more likely to get a
species with exceptionally high biomass production.
2. Different species use resources in different ways, so overall resource use is higher.
3. As you add more species, you are more likely to see mutualistic interactions that
increase overall biomass production.
✔✔Suppose that experimental plots contain a single plant
species. Each plot has the same number of individuals, but
genetic variation ranges from none (all clones) to high (all
very different). Would the relationship with NPP be the same or different than observed
for species richness? - ✔✔Same because similar mechanisms are at work.
✔✔Does plant species richness affect a community's
response to addition of CO2 and/or N? - ✔✔When CO2, N, or CO2 + N are
added, productivity increases with
increased species richness.
✔✔Does plant species richness affect resistance to
disturbance? - ✔✔Yes, as species richness increases so does resistance
✔✔Does plant species richness affect resilience? (recovery
from disturbance) - ✔✔Yes, as species richness increases so does resilience
✔✔Why are there deserts at 30o N & 30o S? - ✔✔The Sun heats equatorial air,
which rises and is forced North
or South. That air falls around
30o N & S.
✔✔At what latitudes does it rain most? - ✔✔The equator and 60°
✔✔Notice the direction of the arrows near
the Earth's surface. Why is there a
"polar front"? - ✔✔Warm air moving north
meets cold air moving south
✔✔. In June (our summer), do you expect
the "equatorial low" to shift North or
South? - ✔✔North
