NATURAL HISTORY EXAM #1 STUDY GUIDE – Fall 2015
BRING A SCANTRON 882-ES AND No. 2 PENCIL
TOPICS TO BE COVERED:
Introduction to natural history and ecology ; the physical environment - geomorphology, soils, hydrology, climate,
oceanography; biomes of the world; biological communities of southern California: terrestrial environments,
marine and nearshore environments
ASSOCIATED READING:
 Geology Basics handout
 POINT LOMA Ch. 1-5 (skim 1, emphasize 2, 3, 4, 5)
 Starr & Taggart, Ecology & Behavior: “The Biosphere”
LABS TO STUDY - rocks, freshwater, chaparral
HOMEWORK TO STUDY – anything assigned prior to the exam
The following is a list of questions emphasizing key lecture and lab topics that you should know. If you can
answer these questions then you are well prepared for the exam. I will be happy to assist you with these
questions and give you feedback in class, after class, or in my office, but I do not provide an answer key per se
(that is, the lecture and lab notes and reading are the answer key).
Introduction to Natural History and Ecology
1. What is natural history?
2. Define “ecology.”
3. What are biotic factors?
4. What are abiotic factors?
5. What is a population?
6. What is a biological community?
7. What is an ecosystem?
Geology & Soils
(see Geology Basics handout)
1. What is magma?
2. What is the lithosphere?
3. What is a rock?
4. What factors are important in determining rock type?
5. Discuss the various factors shaped the earth’s surface as we know it.
6. Describe the rock cycle. (see image below)
a.
Compare and contrast various types of igneous rocks.
b.
What are the three subtypes of sedimentary rock and how is each formed?
c.
Metamorphic rocks are formed by subjecting other primary rock types to _____ and/or _____.
7. Explain the difference between external and internal earth shaping processes.
8. What causes volcanoes? Earthquakes?
9. What is “plate tectonics?” What evidence supports this scientific theory?
10. How fast do tectonic plates move?
11. Describe divergent plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, subduction zones, and transform
boundaries (faults)
12. Name the major fault shaping southern California and the one shaping San Diego County (see field trip
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worksheet).
13. What two types of sedimentary rocks did you see at Tourmaline Surf Park?
14. Explain why the geomorphology of San Diego has an important influence on San Diego’s biological
communities.
THE ROCK CYCLE
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What is the rhizosphere?
Describe how soil is formed.
Name and describe the characteristics of each horizon (layer) of a soil profile.
Describe the cycling of minerals between living organisms and soil.
What is the role of decomposers?
Which are the primary decomposer organisms?
What three particles sizes are used to classify soil texture?
Discuss how soil texture influences water availability.
How do soils vary with respect to regional climates and why.
Additional terms: weathering, erosion, deposition, topography, microclimate, convection currents, humus, topsoil,
litter, subsoil, parent material
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ADDED 9/21/15
Hydrology, Climate & Oceanography
24. Describe the hydrological cycle (see handouts from lecture).
25. What is groundwater?
26. What is weather? Climate? How do they differ?
27. What two weather patterns define the climate of an area?
28. What is the climate of San Diego?
a) Where else is this type of climate found?
b) What are the characteristics of such a climate?
29. What is the approximate annual rainfall in San Diego County?
30. What time of year does San Diego County have the most precipitation?
31. How predictable is the annual precipitation in San Diego County (i.e., is it highly variable or not)?
32. What is a rain shadow?
33. How does climate change with increasing altitude?
34. Explain why San Diego has many different regional weather patterns.
35. What is a “Santa Ana?”
36. What is upwelling? How is it affected by an El Niño event?
37. What are tides? How many occur each day in this area?
A Brief Tour Of The World’s Biomes & Biological Communities Of Southern California
38. Explain the distribution of the world’s biomes based on temperature and precipitation.
39. List the 5 major terrestrial biomes and describe the main features of each.
40. Compare and contrast the various types of forests, grasslands, tundras, deserts and shrublands
worldwide.
Terrestrial Environments (lecture & PL Ch. 4/5 for anything not in your lecture notes)
Describe the major vegetation types found in southern California, their features and adaptations
of organisms living within and give an example of where you might find them in San Diego County.
A CORRECT ANSWER FOR THIS QUESTION WILL BE LONG AND DETAILED!
 forest – high elevation (montaine) and riparian
 deserts – coastal and cold
 annual grasslands
 perennial grasslands
 chaparral
 coastal sage scrub
Additional terms: exotic, introduced, nonnative, naturalized, indigenous, endemic, drought deciduous, evergreen,
sclerophyllous, succulents, fire followers, basal burl, resprouter, bunchgrass, riparian, prairie, savannah, alpine
tundra, arctic tundra, temperate forest, tropical rain forest, taiga/boreal forest
Aquatic Environments (lecture & PL Ch. 3 for anything not in your lecture notes)
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Give an example of a logic ayatem.
Give an example of a lentic system.
Describe how a river changes from its head to its mouth.
What are vernal pools, how are they formed, why are they so rare (historically and even more so now)?
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/16/vernal-pools-hold-waters-of-life/
What is an estuary? What kind of water would you find there?
Estuaries have very _____ (high/low) productivity. Why?
Give at least two reasons that estuaries are biologically valuable.
Compare and contrast sandy shore habitats and rocky shore habitats:
a) what are the physical conditions at each?
b) What are some organisms that live in each?
Describe the zonation in a rocky shore habitat and explain why this zonation occurs.
How are the rock depressions that from the tidepools created?
What is kelp?
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52. Why are kelp forests of ecological value?
53. What factors change as you descend into the deep ocean?
54. Where would one find the highest density of marine organisms?
Additional terms: plankton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, nekton, benthos, intertidal, kelp, continental shelf,
brackish, tides, coral reefs
LABEL THE OCEAN REGIONS USING THE TERMS: open ocean, pelagic province, benthic province, oceanic zone,
neritic zone, continental shelf, hydrothermal vents.
DESCRIBE each of these habitats.
REVIEW YOUR HOMEWORK AND ANY LABS THAT COVER ANY OF THESE TOPICS
AND MAY HELP YOU LEARN THE MATERIAL. CONSIDER THE HOMEWORK
QUESTIONS TO BE ADDITIONAL STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS!!!
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