KSU BIOLOGY 198 FINAL EXAM 2026 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, extinction is a
possible outcome for two species occupying the exact same niche in a habitat.
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, relocation is a
possible outcome for two species occupying the exact same niche in a habitat.
✔✔F - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, continued
existence in equilibrium is a possible outcome for two species occupying the exact
same niche in a habitat.
✔✔Coevolution - ✔✔A population of a plant species evolves a trait which allows them to
produce a chemical that makes the small mammal herbivores that eat them sick. This
results in a population of small mammals evolving a trait that makes them immune to
the effects of the plant's defense mechanism. This is an example of:
✔✔keystone - ✔✔A ______ species has a disproportionately large effect on community
structure relative to its biomass or abundance.
✔✔Microcosm - ✔✔You are curious about the effects of increased nitrogen inputs in
aquatic ecosystems. You design an experiment in which you recreate an aquatic
ecosystem in two tanks: A and B. You plan to add N fertilizer into Tank A and have
Tank B be your control. You have designed a _______ experiment.
✔✔P (Phosphorus) - ✔✔What is often the limiting nutrient in aquatic ecosystems?
✔✔declining - ✔✔When r is negative in the exponential growth equation, a population is
_________.
✔✔Highest - ✔✔Because of biomagnification, we would expect to see the highest
concentration of the toxic chemical in the _______ trophic level.
✔✔photosynthesis - ✔✔Autotrophs receive energy from the sun through a process
called _________.
✔✔consumers - ✔✔Photosynthesis plays a role in the function of an ecosystem
because energy from autotrophs is transferred through different __________.
✔✔First - ✔✔_____ Law of Thermodynamics: energy cannot be created nor destroyed,
but it can be changed from one form to another.
✔✔10 - ✔✔What percentage of energy is passed on from each trophic level?
, ✔✔desert, tundra - ✔✔What biome has the lowest NPP?
✔✔increase - ✔✔As a population approaches its carrying capacity, the effects of
density-dependent factors ______.
✔✔older - ✔✔In a Type I Survivorship Curve, most organisms die at a(n) _________
age.
✔✔G (growth) - ✔✔As N approaches K, the logistic growth equation predicts that _____
will increase.
G=rN(K-N/K)
✔✔biodiversity - ✔✔The higher the NPP in an environment, the higher the ________.
✔✔resource partitioning - ✔✔Several coexisting species live in the same environment,
eat the same food, but live in different parts of the same environment (microhabitats).
This is an example of ______________.
✔✔competition - ✔✔An interaction between two species when both attempt to use the
same resources is ___________.
✔✔NPP (net primary productivity) - ✔✔The portion of stored energy remaining in plants
after they have fueled their own life processes is referred to as _______.
✔✔secondary success - ✔✔The process by which plants and animals reestablish
themselves in a forest that was burned ten years earlier is called _________.
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: When plants respire, they release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.
✔✔F (oxygen) - ✔✔True or False: When plants photosynthesize, they release carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.
✔✔biota pool - ✔✔When plants photosynthesize, they add carbon to the ___________.
✔✔carbon dioxide - ✔✔When plants die, they are consumed by detritivores and
decomposers that release ________ into the atmosphere and store some carbon in the
soil.
✔✔carnivores, secondary - ✔✔Compare a terrestrial food chain (plants → caterpillars
→ robins → cats) to an aquatic food chain (algae → mosquito larva → catfish → bald
eagles.
Both the robin and the catfish are ________ and ____________ consumers.
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, extinction is a
possible outcome for two species occupying the exact same niche in a habitat.
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, relocation is a
possible outcome for two species occupying the exact same niche in a habitat.
✔✔F - ✔✔True or False: According to the competitive exclusion principle, continued
existence in equilibrium is a possible outcome for two species occupying the exact
same niche in a habitat.
✔✔Coevolution - ✔✔A population of a plant species evolves a trait which allows them to
produce a chemical that makes the small mammal herbivores that eat them sick. This
results in a population of small mammals evolving a trait that makes them immune to
the effects of the plant's defense mechanism. This is an example of:
✔✔keystone - ✔✔A ______ species has a disproportionately large effect on community
structure relative to its biomass or abundance.
✔✔Microcosm - ✔✔You are curious about the effects of increased nitrogen inputs in
aquatic ecosystems. You design an experiment in which you recreate an aquatic
ecosystem in two tanks: A and B. You plan to add N fertilizer into Tank A and have
Tank B be your control. You have designed a _______ experiment.
✔✔P (Phosphorus) - ✔✔What is often the limiting nutrient in aquatic ecosystems?
✔✔declining - ✔✔When r is negative in the exponential growth equation, a population is
_________.
✔✔Highest - ✔✔Because of biomagnification, we would expect to see the highest
concentration of the toxic chemical in the _______ trophic level.
✔✔photosynthesis - ✔✔Autotrophs receive energy from the sun through a process
called _________.
✔✔consumers - ✔✔Photosynthesis plays a role in the function of an ecosystem
because energy from autotrophs is transferred through different __________.
✔✔First - ✔✔_____ Law of Thermodynamics: energy cannot be created nor destroyed,
but it can be changed from one form to another.
✔✔10 - ✔✔What percentage of energy is passed on from each trophic level?
, ✔✔desert, tundra - ✔✔What biome has the lowest NPP?
✔✔increase - ✔✔As a population approaches its carrying capacity, the effects of
density-dependent factors ______.
✔✔older - ✔✔In a Type I Survivorship Curve, most organisms die at a(n) _________
age.
✔✔G (growth) - ✔✔As N approaches K, the logistic growth equation predicts that _____
will increase.
G=rN(K-N/K)
✔✔biodiversity - ✔✔The higher the NPP in an environment, the higher the ________.
✔✔resource partitioning - ✔✔Several coexisting species live in the same environment,
eat the same food, but live in different parts of the same environment (microhabitats).
This is an example of ______________.
✔✔competition - ✔✔An interaction between two species when both attempt to use the
same resources is ___________.
✔✔NPP (net primary productivity) - ✔✔The portion of stored energy remaining in plants
after they have fueled their own life processes is referred to as _______.
✔✔secondary success - ✔✔The process by which plants and animals reestablish
themselves in a forest that was burned ten years earlier is called _________.
✔✔T - ✔✔True or False: When plants respire, they release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.
✔✔F (oxygen) - ✔✔True or False: When plants photosynthesize, they release carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere.
✔✔biota pool - ✔✔When plants photosynthesize, they add carbon to the ___________.
✔✔carbon dioxide - ✔✔When plants die, they are consumed by detritivores and
decomposers that release ________ into the atmosphere and store some carbon in the
soil.
✔✔carnivores, secondary - ✔✔Compare a terrestrial food chain (plants → caterpillars
→ robins → cats) to an aquatic food chain (algae → mosquito larva → catfish → bald
eagles.
Both the robin and the catfish are ________ and ____________ consumers.
