BIO 107 UNIT 4 EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
What environmental conditions influence carrying capacity? - Answer-Resource
availability and pathogens (infectious disease)
With carrying capacity, is the population growth model exponential or logistic? - Answer-
Logistic
In terrestrial environments, where is the primary productivity the greatest? - Answer-
Warm, wet climates (think tropical)
What limits primary productivity in aquatic systems? - Answer-Lack of light (away from
the surface), and low nutrients (away from the shore and where there is no upwelling)
How does nitrogen fixation occur? - Answer-Wildfires, lightning strikes, bacteria, and the
human developed method called the Haber-Bosch process
What component of the nitrogen cycle do wetland restoration projects aim to enhance? -
Answer-Denitrification
Ecology - Answer-The study of how living things interact with each other and their
environment
Biotic - Answer-living things
Abiotic - Answer-Non-living things (temperature, mineral nutrients, wind, soils, and
water quantity/quality)
Abiotic and biotic conditions in an area define.... - Answer-An ecosystem
What defines which organisms can live in a certain environment? - Answer-Abiotic
components
4 levels of ecology - Answer-organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems
Biosphere - Answer-Encompasses all of the ecosystems on earth
, organismal ecology - Answer-The branch of ecology concerned with the morphological,
physiological, and behavioral ways in which individual organisms meet the challenges
posed by their biotic and abiotic environments.
population ecology - Answer-Focuses on the number of individuals in an area and how
and why population sizes changes over time
community ecology - Answer-The study of how interactions between species affect
community structure and organization
ecosystem ecology - Answer-The study of how nutrients and energy are stored and how
they move among organisms and through the surrounding atmosphere, soil. And water
Atmospheric Circulation - Answer-hot air rises, moves, cools and sinks, and is heated
again
Along the equator.... - Answer-Air rises as it is warmed by solar radiation
30 degree latitude - Answer-Deserts; dry air sinks around 30 degrees because it has
lost most of its moisture producing rain near the equator
ocean circulation - Answer-Ocean water exchanges heat with the atmosphere
Currents move energy from place to place
Currents are caused by - Answer-Wind moving across the water and by density
differences related to temperature and salinity
Upwelling - Answer-the upward movement of ocean water toward the surface as a
result of diverging currents; stimulates primary production
Downwelling - Answer-The movement of water from the surface to greater depths; may
deliver oxygen to deeper water; leads to reduced productivity
Climate - Answer-Overall weather in an area over a long period of time
Biome - Answer-Large, distinctive complex of plant communities created and
maintained by climate
8 biomes - Answer-Tundra, boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, scrub
forest/shrubland, grassland, desert, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest
Major determinant of biomes - Answer-Temperature and percipitation
primary productivity - Answer-The amount of light energy turned into nutrients by
photosynthetic organisms
AND ANSWERS
What environmental conditions influence carrying capacity? - Answer-Resource
availability and pathogens (infectious disease)
With carrying capacity, is the population growth model exponential or logistic? - Answer-
Logistic
In terrestrial environments, where is the primary productivity the greatest? - Answer-
Warm, wet climates (think tropical)
What limits primary productivity in aquatic systems? - Answer-Lack of light (away from
the surface), and low nutrients (away from the shore and where there is no upwelling)
How does nitrogen fixation occur? - Answer-Wildfires, lightning strikes, bacteria, and the
human developed method called the Haber-Bosch process
What component of the nitrogen cycle do wetland restoration projects aim to enhance? -
Answer-Denitrification
Ecology - Answer-The study of how living things interact with each other and their
environment
Biotic - Answer-living things
Abiotic - Answer-Non-living things (temperature, mineral nutrients, wind, soils, and
water quantity/quality)
Abiotic and biotic conditions in an area define.... - Answer-An ecosystem
What defines which organisms can live in a certain environment? - Answer-Abiotic
components
4 levels of ecology - Answer-organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems
Biosphere - Answer-Encompasses all of the ecosystems on earth
, organismal ecology - Answer-The branch of ecology concerned with the morphological,
physiological, and behavioral ways in which individual organisms meet the challenges
posed by their biotic and abiotic environments.
population ecology - Answer-Focuses on the number of individuals in an area and how
and why population sizes changes over time
community ecology - Answer-The study of how interactions between species affect
community structure and organization
ecosystem ecology - Answer-The study of how nutrients and energy are stored and how
they move among organisms and through the surrounding atmosphere, soil. And water
Atmospheric Circulation - Answer-hot air rises, moves, cools and sinks, and is heated
again
Along the equator.... - Answer-Air rises as it is warmed by solar radiation
30 degree latitude - Answer-Deserts; dry air sinks around 30 degrees because it has
lost most of its moisture producing rain near the equator
ocean circulation - Answer-Ocean water exchanges heat with the atmosphere
Currents move energy from place to place
Currents are caused by - Answer-Wind moving across the water and by density
differences related to temperature and salinity
Upwelling - Answer-the upward movement of ocean water toward the surface as a
result of diverging currents; stimulates primary production
Downwelling - Answer-The movement of water from the surface to greater depths; may
deliver oxygen to deeper water; leads to reduced productivity
Climate - Answer-Overall weather in an area over a long period of time
Biome - Answer-Large, distinctive complex of plant communities created and
maintained by climate
8 biomes - Answer-Tundra, boreal forest, temperate deciduous forest, scrub
forest/shrubland, grassland, desert, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest
Major determinant of biomes - Answer-Temperature and percipitation
primary productivity - Answer-The amount of light energy turned into nutrients by
photosynthetic organisms
