Bio 11A
General Biology
Study Guide
Unit IV Review Questions
Ch. 35: Population Ecology
1. What are the levels of biological hierarchy above the organism level?
2. What factors directly affect population size and growth?
3. How do you define population growth?
4. What does "zero population growth" mean?
5. Describe exponential growth (curve shape, limiting factors) and give an example.
6. What is the equation that describes exponential growth?
7. Explain "density-dependent" and "density-independent" limiting factors.
8. Describe logistic growth (curve shape, limiting factors). What is carrying capacity?
9. What technological improvements led to a sudden increase in human population size?
Why?
10. How does a country's level of development effect the impact human population growth
has on the environment?
Ch. 36: Community Ecology
1. What is a biological community?
2. How do you determine diversity within a community?
3. Define habitat and niche.
4. What is interspecific competition? When does competition exist?
5. What is competitive exclusion?
6. What is resource partitioning? Describe an example.
7. What is coevolution? Describe two examples.
8. What is mimicry? What are the two different types of mimicry?
9. What is a keystone predator? Give an example.
10. Define the three types of symbiotic relationships and give an example of each.
Ch. 36: Ecosystems
1. Define ecosystem and give one example.
2. How do energy and nutrients move in an ecosystem?
3. What is trophic level? Define each of the following: producer, consumer, herbivore,
carnivore, omnivore, and detritivore.
4. How is a food chain different from a food web?
5. What is an energy pyramid? What happens to energy as it moves through a food
chain?
6. Define biogeochemical cycles. What do the arrows and boxes represent in a
biogeochemical diagram?
7. Describe the carbon cycle, including the five major carbon pools and the processes
that move carbon between these different pools.
8. How are fossil fuels produced? Why is this important to energy resource planning?
9. What is the greenhouse effect? Global warming?
10. What is biological magnification? What chemical features of DDT make it a good
candidate for biological magnification?
Ch. 34: Biosphere
1. What is the biosphere? What regions of the Earth make up of the biosphere?
2. Why does Earth's curvature result in unequal heating of its surface?
Spring 2002
Don Bard, Instructor
Bio 11A
General Biology
Study Guide
3. What are Hadley cells? Describe how these cells influence temperature and moisture
variation with latitude.
4. What is a rain shadow?
5. Describe the process of upwelling and why it produces summer fog along the CA
coast?
6. What is a biome? What biomes are found at 0, 30, 60, and 90 degrees latitude?
7. Discuss the features of the tropical rain forest and the chaparral biomes.
8. What physical condition characterizes the vast majority of the ocean realm?
9. What are hydrothermal vents? Describe the ecosystem that surrounds these vents.
Ch. 38: Conservation
1. What is the biodiversity crisis? Name 4 species in our local area that are threatened
or endangered.
2. What is the estimated rate of extinction today? Why is this significant?
3. Why is biodiversity important to the human population?
4. What is the geographic distribution pattern of species with regard to latitude?
5. What are biological hot spots? What biome is most typical of a hot spot?
6. What are endemic species? What is the effect of habitat loss on endemics?
7. What is the difference between a source and sink habitat?
8. What are movement corridors and how do they help fragmented populations?
9. What two restoration processes help degraded habitats recover? Give an example of
each process.
10. What is sustainable development? Why is conservation dependent on humans
becoming stewards of the land?
Spring 2002
Don Bard, Instructor