Self-Quiz (Chapter 18)

How is the greenhouse effect related to global warming?

As the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere increases, more heat is retained, causing global warming.

What is the greenhouse effect?

Carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere absorb heat energy radiating from Earth and reflect it back toward Earth.

After a period of lower-than-average rainfall, drought-resistant individuals may be more prevalent in a plant population.

Evolution: As a result of random mutation, plants in a population vary in their resistance to drought. During dry periods, individuals that are more drought resistant leave more offspring than other individuals in the population. Therefore, the drought-resistant individuals pass along their genes. This process of natural selection leads to evolution of increased drought resistance.

Other organisms may compete with an individual for food and other resources, prey upon it, or change its physical and chemical environment.

Interactions within biological systems: Organisms in an ecosystem are connected in many ways, including competition and predation.

Solar energy from sunlight captured by chlorophyll during the process of photosynthesis powers most ecosystems.

Pathways that transform energy and matter: Photosynthesis is a pathway that uses light energy to produce energy-rich molecules from carbon dioxide and water.

Reptilian scales and the waxy coating on many leaves reduce water loss.

The relationship of structure to function: The structures of molecules like the keratin in reptilian scales and the wax that coats plant leaves create a water-tight barrier.

Which sea creatures might be described as a pelagic animal of the aphotic zone?

a deep-sea squid

Identify the following biomes on the graph below: tundra, northern coniferous forest, desert, temperate grassland, temperate broadleaf forest, and tropical forest. Image: shorturl.at/stGH1

a. desert; b. temperate grassland; c. tropical forest; d. temperate broadleaf forest; e. northern coniferous forest; f. tundra

What human activity is responsible for the greatest amount of deforestation?

agriculture

Seasonal migration is an example of a(an)

behavioral response

We are on a coastal hillside on a hot, dry summer day among evergreen shrubs that are adapted to fire. We are most likely standing in a

chaparral biome

Name several abiotic factors that might affect the community of organisms living inside a home fish tank.

light, water temperature, chemicals added

Place these levels of ecological study in order from the least to the most comprehensive: community ecology, ecosystem ecology, organismal ecology, population ecology.

organismal ecology, population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology

What three abiotic factors account for the rarity of trees in arctic tundra?

permafrost, very cold winters, and high winds

The formation of goose bumps on your skin in cold weather is an example of a(an)

physiological response

What populations of organisms are most likely to survive climate change via evolutionary adaptation?

populations of organisms that have high genetic variability and short life spans

The recent increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration is mainly a result of an increase in

the burning of fossil fuels and wood.