Zoology 470 Limnology
Final May 12, 2009
Total 200 points
On the day of the exam you will be given 10 of these questions to answer (20 points each).
You will be expected to support all your answers with examples from the literature.
Where appropriate quantify your answers using appropriate units. If using graphs, label all axes with appropriate units and scales .
This will be a closed book exam.
1) Compare and contrast models of stream function including the stream continuum hypothesis, stream spiraling, the serial discontinuity concept, and patch dynamics.
2) For an invertebrate group that occurs in freshwaters in Pacific Islands: a) outline the diversity of the group from West to East b) describe ideas about origins of the group c) relate the life cycle of the organisms to their Pacific-wide distribution
3) For three major functional feeding groups of stream invertebrates important in continental streams, give 2-3 examples of species and describe their feeding ecology.
4) Compare and contrast the seasonal changes in water parameters (temperature, motion, nutrient content etc.) in temperate lakes and temperate streams.
5) Compare the nutrient spiraling concept with the effects of stratification/turnover in lakes on nutrient availability and distribution in space and time. Support your statements with examples from the literature.
6) Discuss the concept of stream adjustment using your knowledge of hydrology channel processes and the physical and chemical nature of erosion. Support your statements with examples from the literature.
7) Exemplify the relationship between a. the forces that create lake basins b. the resulting morphometry c. the physical and biological sequellae
8) Compare and contrast the cycles of sulfur and iron in lakes.
9) How does predation affect the size relationships among zooplankton. Defend your answer with experimental results from the literature.
10) Discuss the mechanisms by which “top-down” community control has been hypothesized to affect the levels and dynamics of limiting nutrients in lakes.

11) Discuss inorganic salt content of inland waters relating it to parent material, climate and geographical location. Use real examples to illustrate your model.
12) Compare and contrast long waves short waves and seiches in lakes.
13) How do fishes structure communities in lakes and streams? How are the two processes similar and how do they differ. Support your statements with examples from the literature.
14) “The Lake as a Microcosm” and “The Stream and its Valley” likened the two types of ecosystems. How valid is this comparison? Why do you say this?
15) Graph and discuss oxygen and carbon dioxide in different types of lakes explaining how the vertical distribution of these two gasses comes about.
16) Discuss how hydrological data is used to make statements about “50 year floods”, and what does this actually mean?
17) Characterize the estuarine habitat in physical, chemical and biological terms. Discuss from an evolutionary viewpoint, the population of these habitats.
18) Compare and contrast the ecology and life history of lake rotifers, lake copepods and lake cladocerans. How do these factors influence their functioning in the lake ecosystem?
19) Construct a simple model of the flows of carbon through a stream ecosystem from inputs to exports, giving relative flows through the different pathways.
20) Compare and contrast water column feeding fishes from lakes and streams. Support your statements with examples from the literature.
21) Briefly outline the phosphorous cycle in lakes indicating relative transfer rates
22) Discuss the biogeochemistry of silica in lakes, including the sources, sinks and biological and physic-chemical processes involved.