Study Questions for Bio 101
Ecology and Ecosystems
1.
Define the term “ecosystem” and “food chain”.
2.
Describe the difference between the biotic and abiotic elements of an ecosystem.
3.
Name the source of energy for all living things in the biosphere.
4.
Describe how nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous are recycled and reused in different living things.
5.
Name examples of consumers, decomposers, carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.
6.
Construct a food chain from a real ecosystem, naming the different trophic levels.
7.
Describe the difference between a food chain and a food web.
8.
Define the term “primary productivity” and describe its importance to an ecosystem.
9.
Define the term “biomass” and explain how this quantity changes for successive trophic levels.
10.
Explain the shape of an energy pyramid and what it means.
11.
Explain how energy is transferred or lost between successive trophic levels and how this affects the biomass of organisms at higher trophic levels.
12.
Draw a diagram showing the cycling of water in the biosphere (the hydrologic cycle).
13.
Draw a diagram showing the cycling of carbon in the biosphere.
14.
What human activities are especially adding to the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere?
15.
Draw a diagram showing the cycling of nitrogen in the biosphere.
16.
Draw a diagram showing the cycling of phosphorous in the biosphere.
17.
Define the term “eutrophication”, describing what causes it and why it is an environmental problem.
18.
Define the term “biological magnification”, describing what causes it and why it is an environmental problem.