Biology 1010 final
Typically, around how much energy is transferred from one trophic level up to the next trophic level of an ecosystem?
10%
Determined by studying biodiversity on islands of different sizes, biodiversity increases roughly 2-fold for every _________ increase in area.
10-fold
How many codons are needed to specify 3 amino acids?
3
Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) defines photons (light) in these wavelengths that plants use to photosynthesize.
400-700nm
During DNA replication, one DNA strand is copied to make a new DNA molecule composed of two DNA strands. This new DNA molecules contains
50% of the parent DNA.
Epigenetics refers to.
A change in gene expression without a change in DNA base sequence.
Which of the following scenarios would be least catastrophic to a gene and its protein product?
A deletion of 3 nucleotides.
Which of the following is an example of primary succession?
A massive flood has washed away soil leaving behind bedrock; later the bedrock is colonized by fungi, lichens, and mosses.
A keystone species can be best described as:
A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if they were removed the ecosystem would change drastically
A mouse that has the genotype AANnPpzz will have the same phenotype as a mouse with the genotype: (Note that the uppercase alleles A, N, P, and Z are dominant).
AaNNPPzz
The emergence of many diverse species from a common ancestor is called
Adaptative Radiation
Stanley Miller was the first to show that:
Amino Acids can be formed from inorganic compounds in the presence of hydrogen.
Which statement about bacteria is false?
Bacteria belongs to the same domain as archaea
Why was aerobic respiration a requirement for the emergence of eukaryotes?
Because eukaryotic cells are much more complex than prokaryotes, greater amounts of energy are required for their metabolism.
Of the following traits, which evolved first?
Bipedality
A Long term (10 year) set of experiments of Hare populations in Canadian taiga: i) removed predators, ii) added food, iii) removed predators + added food and iv) maintained a control. The results of this indicated _____ controls on the Hare populations.
Both top down and bottom-up controls
When do we speculate that hox genes were first developed?
Cambrian Explosion
Which eukaryotic organelle descends directly from a bacterial cell?
Chloroplasts
A "Ghost of Predation Past" refers to
Coevolution
A prey species developing thicker skin that protects against a predator species' attacks in an example of what?
Coevolution
Which is not a type of mutualism benefit?
Commensive
Hox Genes are:
Conserved amongst most animals, Responsible for the body plans in animals, Determine the anterior to posterior gene expression.
What mechanisms contribute to genetic variation of offspring?
Crossing over at synapsis, independent assortment of chromosomes during meiosis, random fertilization of gametes.
Which of the following organisms were the 1st to photosynthesize and introduce oxygen into Earth's atmosphere?
Cyanobacteria
Muscle cells, pancreas cells, and blood cells within one organism all have the same?
DNA
What is the central dogma of molecular biology?
DNA is transcribed into RNA and RNA is translated into proteins.
Which is not a mechanism of gene regulation in eukaryotes?
Destruction of genes.
Following Gause's competition experiment he concluded "In light of the evidence, we claim that if two or more species live in stable association, they must possess _____________________."
Different ecological niches.
Which type of selection has the greatest potential to lead to dimorphism or speciation?
Disruptive selection
Which RPI professor was highlighted during class due to their research on the origins of life?
Dr. Karyn Rogers
Which RPI Professor was highlighted during lecture for their work on cell division and protein abundance?
Dr. Scott Forth
Ecosystems are complex dynamic systems. They are characterized by all of the following statements except one. Choose the incorrect statement
Ecosystems tend to be stable on long temporal time scales because of recycling and regeneration.
All of the following are characteristics of ecosystems at high risk of invasion by invasive species except:
Ecosystems that are minimally disturbed or impacted by human activities (e.g., pristine ecosystems)
Which group of fossils represent the most ancient complex organisms on Earth?
Ediacaran
A reductionist approach to understanding an ecosystem would be
Examine the factors within the ecosystem individually.
What is eutrophication
Excessive nutrients in water causing excess algal growth
In Lake George climate change has been found to
Extend the growing season
___________ is a process in which the output of a system eventually affects its input, with the result that further output is either amplified or diminished.
Feedback
30 people are selected for a long-term mission to colonize a planet many light years away from Earth. The mission is successful and the population rapidly grows to several hundred individuals. However, certain genetic diseases are unusually common in this group, and their gene pool is quite different from that of the Earth population they have left behind. Which of the following phenomena has left its mark on this population?
Founder Effect
A population bottleneck will likely result in which of the following?
Genetic Drift
List the taxonomic categories in the correct order from most specific to most general?
Genus, family, order, class, phylum
Which of the following is a characteristic of Aegyptoithecus Zeuxis?
Had a very large brain.
How does living matter evade decay to thermodynamic equilibrium?
Having metabolism
A carrier of a genetic disorder who does not show symptoms is most likely to be ________ and transmit it to an offspring
Heterozygous for the trait and able
Which species was one of the first to use complex tools and walk upright?
Homo Habilis
Studies of DNA support which of the following?
Homo sapiens originated in Africa
The levels of organization from most specific to least specific are
Individual -> Population -> Community -> Ecosystem -> Biome -> Biosphere
What 2 important words define a complex dynamic system?
Interdependent and connected
Competition between 2 males of the same species for a mate is best described as
Intraspecific Competition
What was the iron catastrophe?
It was an intense heat that caused earth to melt causing heavy metals to sink to the core and lighter material to rise to the surface.
Tiktaalik was an important discovery because:
It was the missing link between fish and tetrapods.
Which of the following is true about double stranded DNA?
Its 3D conformation is quite different from RNA's 3D conformation.
Parts of Europe at higher northern latitudes like England tend to be much warmer than other areas with similar latitudes (e.g., Greenland). This is due to:
Large ocean currents like the Gulf Stream deliver warm water and air to England, but not Greenland.
During snowball earth and the white stage of earth...
Life was sustained near volcanic activity.
The cell membrane of all living organisms is made up of:
Lipid Bilayer
Satellites such as Keppler 22 and TESS are scanning many planets for signs of life. What are these satellites predominantly looking for?
Liquid Water
All of the following are characteristics of successful invasive species except:
Low genetic variablilty
From what method do we know approximately what earth was like when it was formed?
Meteorite analysis
Studies of different species of warbles that live in Vermont coniferous forests have shown that to avoid conflict, the species nest and forage at different heights of the trees. This is known as
Microhabitat partitioning.
During lecture, we discussed the findings of a new research a paper about microplastics. This paper discussed:
Microplastics have been detected in human blood for the first time.
Which eukaryotic organelle descends directly from a bacterial cell?
Mitochondrion
Biodiversity is generally greater at
More stable environments relative to dynamic environments.
Which of the following is incorrect regarding emergence?
Most properties of an emergent system can be predicted based on the properties of the individual components.
Which of the following is NOT true regarding Homo Neanderthalensis?
Neanderthals had smaller brains than Homo Sapiens
A mutualist relationship where each species benefits from the association, but can't survive independently of its partner(s) is
Obligate
Archaea are:
Often found in extreme habitats such as low acidity and high temperature.
Protocells
Out competed other protocells when self-replicating material was within them.
Prior to the RED stage the atmosphere lacked abundant?
Oxygen
Bonded iron formations arise from:
Oxygen reacting with iron, causing it to rust out of the oceans about 2.4 billion years ago.
What is correct order of Mitosis stages?
Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinesis.
During the Hadean Era, -4BYA, what possible life form could have emerged?
Protocells
Which of the following is the correct timeline to the oxygen revolution?
Protocells, archaea, photosynthetic bacteria, eukaryotes, oxygen revolution.
Which of the following is a biological macromole that can both store heritable information and catalyze chemical reactions?
RNA
Biodiversity is greatest in which biome?
Rainforest
Dr. Kayla Coldsnow and Dr. Rick Relyea of RPI were highlighted during lecture due to their research on?
Rapid evolution of zooplankton to road salt.
What are the two main approaches to scientific inquiry that were presented in class?
Reductionist and Holistic
Which of the following correctly describes the role and importance of spliceosomes?
Removes introns to create an unbroken code for translation.
Which of the following is not a cause of dead zones in oceans?
Salinization
According to the Gaia hypothesis, the earth acts like a "___________" that controls its environment through positive & negative feedback mechanisms
Self-maintaining biotic/abiotic organism
A current leading hypothesis about the first system of inheritance in the earliest life forms involves:
Self-replicating RNA molecules aided by ribosomes
Which of the following is NOT one of the seven requirements for life?
Sexual Reproduction
miRNA is responsible for?
Silencing numerous genes
Which of these cells is considered a gamete?
Sperm
The oldest evidence of cellular life on Earth is:
Stromatolites dated at -3.5BYA, in which fossilized prokaryotic cells were found.
Organisms living near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean get their energy from
Sulfur compounds
Buildup of the element iron causes a star to die. What happens when a star dies?
The dead star explodes, and the energy generated overcomes barriers imposed by the concentration of iron allowing other higher elements to be formed.
Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy's species) is important in the human linage because this species is
The earliest known biped of the human linage
Which of the following is not true regarding order primates?
The earliest primates were much larger than primates today.
The forelimbs of humans, cats, and bats have a number of detailed similarities in their construction. What best explains these similarities?
The forelimbs are similar because all of these organisms inherited the basic forelimbs design from a common ancestor.
Endosymbiosis explains how eukaryotes arose from symbiotic relationship between 2 types of cells; which of the following is true about this relationship?
The host cell was of archaeal linage, and the endosymbiont was from a bacterial linage.
Scientists hypothesize that a major factor promoting adaptative radiation of mammals was probably?
The mass extinction of dinosaurs
What is species richness?
The number of species in an ecosystem.
The goldilocks zone refers to?
The orbital region around a star where liquid water could exist on the surfaces of earth-like planets.
For a planet, which of the following is least likely to promote the emergence of life?
The presence of atmospheric oxygen.
An example of microhabitat partitioning occurs in conifer trees in Vermont. Different species of warblers live in the same tree. What happens when one species disappears from the tree?
The remaining species expand their territory in the tree
The reason pea hens' mate with peacocks with large tails and many eyespots is that...
The size and spot density are indicative of peacock fitness shown as an increased survival rate of chicks.
Which of the following describes the greenhouse effect?
The sun's heat is trapped in a planet's lower atmosphere because the atmosphere is more transparent to the sun's visible light relative to the infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface.
Zircons are important because?
Their appearance in the geological record is the earliest evidence of liquid water on Earth.
Cane toads are a major invasive species in Australia that threaten the biodiversity of the continent. They were brought to Australia for what purpose?
They were introduced as a biological control intended to prey upon pest insects (beetles).
Which nucleotide is not found in RNA?
Thymine
How did scientists change the behavior of the male polygamous Montante Vole to become monogamous?
Transferred the male polygamous vole a gene for a hormone that caused monogamy.
This person independently converged on the idea of evolution by natural selection.
Wallace
How does TESS locate planets?
Watch and keep track of the light of a star.
Under what circumstances can simple chance affect the frequency of genes in a population?
When the population is very small thus amplifying the effect of random chance.
With limited resources, conservation biologists need to prioritize their efforts. Of the following choices, which should receive the greatest attention for the goal of conserving biodiversity?
a declining keystone species in a community.
After fertilization the zygote, or fertilized egg has:
a diploid chromosome number- one from each parent.
A community is defined as
a group of individuals of different species living in the same place at the same time.
A population is defined as.
a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and interbreed.
An ecosystem is?
a group of organisms and its environment (where biotic and abiotic interactions take place).
A carbon sink is
a system that retains carbon.
Populations
are limited by the carrying capacity.
RNA polymerase:
attaches to DNA to make RNA.
In deep-water communities along hydrothermal vent systems, primary production takes place via
chemosynthesis
Tiktaalik, the missing link between fish and tetrapods, was
closely related to a lobe-finned fish.
When two organisms attempt to utilize the same resource, the result is
competition
Biotic factors that affect biomes include
competition for resources such as food, light
A species of bush is found in abundance throughout an ecosystem and grows both berries and leaves. A bear is very efficient and will eat only the berries, while a deer living in the same area must eat and fully digest both the berries and leaves. This is an example of _______________ competition.
exploitative
Which of the following options lists major events in the history of earth in the proper order, from earliest to most recent?
first prokaryotes, photosynthesis, then eukaryotes; colonization of land by plants and fungi.
Moderate levels of disturbance create conditions that
foster greater species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance
During transcription, an RNA molecule is formed
inside the nucleus
Physical fighting over shared resources is:
interference competition
The land portion of the earth is the
lithosphere
What type of RNA is considered coding RNA?
mRNA
The modern view of nature is that
nature is never at an equilibrium.
The fundamental structural subunits of DNA and RNA are
nucleotides
Primary production in the oceans is generated by
phytoplankton
A plant that grows on a newly cooled lava flow is called
pioneer species
Evolution operates to produce changes in
population
The earliest theory that connects carbon dioxide emissions with an increase in global temperature came from.
the chemist Svante Arrhenius.
Why do seasons of the year occur, why is summer warmer than winter?
the earth's axis of rotation is tilted relative to the plane of earth's orbit around the sun
The net primary production (NPP) of an ecosystem is
the energy remaining after autotrophs (plants) have met their own energetic needs
allopatric speciation implies that
there is a geographic barrier between 2 populations.
Gross Primary Production (GPP) is the
total amount of energy fixed by all autotrophs (plants) per unit area and time.
