General Review for the Quiz
1. Ecologists study the interactions between _____________ and their _____________.
They are concerned with the ________________ and ________________ of species
in varying environments.
2. The biosphere is a thin layer of earth where _________________________________.
3. Ecologists study factors that affect species. Floods, precipitation and climate are
examples of (abiotic/biotic) factors. Humans and other species are examples of
(abiotic/biotic) factors.
4. Species that are purposefully or unintentionally brought to a new area by humans are
called _____________________________. These species are a (abiotic/biotic) factor.
5. What is temperature in different biomes affected by? What does it vary by? ________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. The amount of sunlight on a particular biome and its season is determined by ______
____________________________. Where is there no variation in sunlight or season?
Why? _______________________________________________________________
7. What type of climate does the equator have? Humid or dry? Hot or cold? What type
of climate do the areas around the equator have? What general abiotic factor affects
the precipitation to cause this variance in climate? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8. Aquatic biomes are defined by three things: _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9. Freshwater biomes are defined by three things: ______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
10. A fish named Kreather swims through a place of important primary producers (such
as dinoflagellates) that provides protection and shelter for it and its friends. Little
does Kreather know that his habitat also feeds millions of people per year and
protects the coasts from huge waves. Kreather lives in the _____________________.
11. Kreather is losing places to live because his habitat is declining at a fast rate. What
are some things that are destroying his habitat? ______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
12. How are wetlands important to us? ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
13. Kreather’s distant cousin Creather lives in a place of salinity less than the ocean but
more than freshwater. He probably lives in a(n) ______________________________.
Why is the water this way? ______________________________________________
Creather’s habitat is the site for __________________________________________.
14. What is Iowa’s main (natural) terrestrial biome? Prairie, a.k.a. __________________
______________________. There are lots of non-woody plants. What things keep
woody plants from being successful? ______________________________________
15. Why is it that farmers exploit the soil of our prairies? _________________________
Why is the soil that way? ________________________________________________
16. Kreather’s other distant cousin Bob swims in the beginning part of a river, known as
the ________________. The water is generally cool and has high oxygen levels,
meaning it is (oligotrophic/eutrophic). After swimming through the middle reaches,
Bob comes to the ________________________ of the river and there is a lot of
sedimentation. The sediment holds decaying things in water, meaning there is less
oxygen and thus (oligotrophic/eutrophic).
17. What are the three ways that humans have impacted Iowa’s rivers? ______________
_____________________________________________________________________
How does this affect this aquatic biome? ___________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
18. What are the 5 population attributes that we study? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
19. Kelly Scientist wants to count the population size of buffalo. She attempts a census,
but finds it near impossible to count each one (could YOU tell them apart?). She
could _______________________________________________________________.
20. The _______________ of a species—or number of individuals per unit area—affects
what? _______________________________________________________________
21. Kelly notices that buffalo exist in clumped distributions. What does this suggest about
the buffalo? They have (positive/neutral/negative) interactions, such as____________
_____________________________________________________________________
22. Kelly notices that wild turkeys exist in uniform distributions. What does this suggest
about them? They have (positive/neutral/negative) interactions, such as____________
_____________________________________________________________________
23. Kelly notices that weeds exist in random distributions. What does this suggest about
the weeds? They have (positive/neutral/negative) interactions, such as_____________
_____________________________________________________________________
24. Demography studies the factors that affect __________________________________.
One particular factor is the sex ratio of a population. For humans, the
(secondary/primary) sex ratio is 50:50 to indicate the number of (newborn/adult) girls
to guys. The (secondary/primary) sex ratio is not 50:50 due to many factors affecting
the (newborn/adult) population.
25. Another factor of demography is age structure. Kelly notices that for a prairie beetle
all adults die before the next generation of beetles are born, demonstrating
_______________________ generations. For a prairie plant, many different ages of
plants exist at one time, demonstrating _______________________ generations.