Biology: Final Exam Study Guide

How might a mountain range affect the types of plants and animals found in an area?

As you move up from base to summit, temperatures go up. Therefore, the types of plants and animals also change

If you were a paleontologist investigating fossils from the Cenezoic Era, what fossils might you find?

Flowering plants, insects, birds, and mammals, including humans.

How is reproductive isolation related to the formation of new species?

For new species to evolve, populations must be re productively isolated from each other.

How are the members of the kingdom Fungi different from members of the kingdom Plantae? How are members of the two kingdoms similar?

Fungi are heterotrophic; Plantae are autotrophic. Both are nonmotile.

How does genetic drift lead to a change in a population's gene pool?

Genetic drift causes random changes in allele frequencies in small populations.

What type of isolating mechanism was important in the formation of Galápagos finch species?

Geographic isolation

List the characteristics used to describe a population

Geographic range, population density, population distribution, growth rate, and age structure

How might hox genes contribute to variation?

Hox genes regulate timing of genetic control in the embryo. Even small changes in timing can cause variation in traits.

What substances probably made up Earth's early atmosphere?

Hydrogen cyanide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and water.

What recent research findings support Darwin's theory of evolution?

Peter and Rosemary Grant have provided evidence of the process of evolution through their studies of changes of beak size and shape in Galápagos finches.

According to Malthus what factors limited population growth?

War, famine, and disease

In genetic terms what indicates that evolution is occurring in a population?

When there is a change in the relative frequency of alleles in a population.

describe the functions of all organelles

golgi apparatus: modify,sort,package proteins chloroplast: capture the energy from sunlight and convert it mitochondrion: convert chemical energy stored in food er: the site where the lipid sites of the cell membrane are assembled along with proteins

population density

# of individuals per unit area

carrying capacity

#of organisms and area or region it can sustain

What are the two functions of the cytoskeleton?

- helps keep shape - aids in movement

What is a fossil?

A fossil is the preserved remains of an ancient organism.

What is a gene pool? How are allele frequencies related to gene pools?

A gene pool is the combined genetic information of all members of a particular population. Allele frequencies are the number of times certain alleles occur in a particular gene pool compared with other alleles.

Identify how a limited resource can affect the size of a population. Give an example that illustrates this situation.

A resource that's limited can also affect long-term survival of species. Panda's and bamboo are a great example of this.

How are eras and periods related?

After Precambrian Time, the basic divisions of the geologic time scale are eras and periods.

Why do you think age-structure diagrams can help predict future population trends?

Age-structure diagrams include data on younger individuals in age groups that will contribute to population growth as members of those groups mature.

What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?

Allele frequencies in a population remain constant unless one or more factors cause the frequencies to change.

How is an organism's niche determined?

An organism's niche is determined by how it uses available resources to survive and how it interacts with other species.

List three characteristics that determine the structure of aquatic ecosystems.

Aquatic ecosystems are determined primarily by the depth, flow, temperature, and chemistry of the overlying water.

What are the three domains of life?

Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

What are the six kingdoms of life as they are now identified?

Archaebacteria, Eubacteria, Protista, Plantae, Fungi, and Animalia.

Why do scientists avoid using common names when discussing organisms.

Because common names vary among languages and even among regions within a single country.

Explain how behavior can play a role in the evolution of species.

Behavioral isolation can occur when two populations that could otherwise interbreed do not because of differences in behavior. This can lead to the evolution of different species.

How are living things organized for study?

Biologists use a classification system to name organisms with a universally accepted name. They also group organisms in a logical manner. Organisms placed into a particular group are more similar to one another than they are to organisms in other groups.

What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors?

Biotic is living things and abiotic is nonliving things

What factors explain why populations in different countries grow at different rates?

Birthrates, death rates, and the age structure of a population

How are directional selection and disruptive selection similar? How are they different?

Both are types of selection on polygenic traits in which the curve shifts away from the middle. In directional selection, the curve shifts toward one end, and in disruptive selection, toward both ends.

According to Lamarck, how did organisms acquire traits?

By using their bodies in new ways.

What is the basic structure of a cell membrane?

Cell membranes are, at their most basic, composed of a phospholipid bilayer with some surface proteins embedded around the surface. Plasma membranes contain phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins and carbohydrates that are arrayed in regular, repeating rows to form a highly plastic surface for the cell.

What gene indicates that yeasts and humans share a common ancestor?

Cladistic analysis traces the process of evolution in a group of organisms by focusing on unique features that appear in some organisms but not in others.

Name three types of community interactions that can affect an ecosystem.

Community interactions, such as competition, predation, and various forms of symbiosis, can powerfully affect an ecosystem.

List three density-dependent limiting factors.

Competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism, disease, stress from overcrowding

What is convergent evolution? Describe an example.

Convergent evolution is when unrelated organisms come to resemble one another, such as dolphins and sharks come to resemble one another.

What did Darwin's travels reveal to him about the number and variety of living species?

Darwin's travels showed him that the diversity of living species was far greater than he had previously known.

What is osmosis?

Diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane

Describe three patterns of natural selection on polygenic traits. Which one leads to two distinct phenotypes?

Directional selection favors one extreme; stabilizing selection favors the middle of the range; disruptive selection favors both extremes and leads to two phenotypes.

What is the main way that active transport differs from diffusion?

During active transport the particles (molecules) in solution move in the opposite direction observed with diffusion, moving from low solute concentration to higher solute concentration. To do this active transport requires the use of energy.

How did tortoises and birds differ among the islands of the Galápagos?

Each Gala ́ pagos island had its own type of tortoises and birds that were clearly different from the tortoises and birds on other islands

What role have mass extinctions played in the history of life?

Each disappearance of so many species left habitats open and made way for the rapid evolution of new species.

Describe the system for naming species that Linnaeus developed.

Each species s assigned a two-part scientific name.

What two ideas from geology were important to Darwin's thinking?

Earth is very old, and the same processes that shaped Earth millions of years ago continue in the present.

define a wetland and an estuary

Estuary - where river meats sea Wetland - where water covers soil at least partly

Which kingdoms include only prokaryotes? Which kingdoms include only heterotrophs?

Eubacteria and Archaebacteria include only prokaryotes. Fungi and Animalia contain only heterotrophs.

What are the differences between prokaryotic cells and Eukaryota cells?

Eukaryotic cells that contain nuclei and Prokaryotic cells do not contain nuclei.

What is evolution? Why is evolution referred to as a theory?

Evolution, or change over time, is the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient ones. Evolution is referred to as a theory because it is a well- supported explanation of phenomena that have occurred in the natural world.

List six distinct ecological zones that can be found in the ocean. Give two abiotic factors for each zone

In addition to the division between the photic and aphotic zones, marine biologists divide the ocean into zones based on the depth and distance from shore: the intertidal zone, the coastal ocean, and the open ocean.

Which type of dating provides an absolute age for a given fossil? Describe how this is done.

In relative dating, paleontologists to estimate a fossil's age compared with that of other fossils. In radioactive dating, scientists calculate the age of a sample based on the amount of remaining radioactive isotopes it contains.

Many more fossils have been found since Darwin's day, allowing several gaps in the fossil record to be filled. How might this information make relative dating more accurate?

Index fossils enable scientists to date the rock layer in which it is found. Scientists can also use them to date rocks from different locations.

Describe how natural selection can affect traits controlled by single genes.

It can lead to changes in allele frequencies and the evolution of traits.

Describe the role of the nucleus in the cell.

It controls all of the cell's processes

How did Lyell's Principles of Geology influence Darwin?

It suggested Earth was very old and continued to change, allowing time for living things to change and for evolution to occur.

Would a barnacle's DNA be more similar to the DNA of a crab or that of a limpet. Explain.

It would be more similar to the DNA or crab because barnacles and crabs have a closer evolutionary relationship.

Darwin found fossils of many organisms that were different for many living species. How would this finding have affected his understanding of life's diversity?

It would have greatly increased his estimates of biological diversity.

What are the seven taxonomic categories of Linnaeus's classification system? Rank these taxa in hierarchical order, beginning with the largest level and ending with the smallest.

Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Lamarck's hypotheses of evolution. How did they contribute to scientific thought? Why have they been rejected?

Lamarck's hypotheses, such as the inheritance of acquired characteristics, have been rejected because they are known to be incorrect. However, their focus on adaptation and evolution paved the way for Darwin and other scientists.

What is macroevolution? Describe two patterns of macroevolution.

Macroevolution refers to large-scale evolutionary patterns and processes that occur over long periods of time. Convergent evolution is when unrelated organisms come to resemble one another, while extinction is the disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range.

Why might kingdom Protista be thought of as the "odds and ends" kingdom.

Members of the kingdom Protista display the greatest variety, sharing characteristics with plants, fungi, or animals; protists cannot be classified in any other group.

What molecules were the end products to Miller and Urey's experiments?

Miller and Urey's experiments suggested how simple compounds found on the early Earth could have combined to form the organic compounds needed for life.

Why was the kingdom Monera divided into two separate kingdoms?

Monera was divided into two kingdoms because scientists have come to recognize profound differences among two broad group of Monera

How do fossils form?

Most fossils are formed in sedimentary rock when water carries small particles from existing rock to lakes and seas. Dead organisms are buried by layers of sediment which forms new rocks.

What happens during diffusion?

Movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration.

In what kinds of organisms is cell specialization a characteristic?

Multicellular organisms need specialized cells

How are the three types of symbiotic relationships different? How are they similar?

Mutalism: Both species benefit; Menalism: only one specie benefits, the others are neither helped nor harmed; Parasitism: One species benefits and the other is harmed. They are similar in that all three, two species live close together.

What two processes can lead to inherited variation in populations?

Mutations and the genetic shuffling that results from sexual reproduction

Evaluate the significance of mutations to the process of biological evolution. (Hint: How does mutation affect genetic variation?)

Mutations increase genetic variation, which is needed for natural selection to bring about evolutionary change.

How is artificial selection dependent on variation in nature?

Nature provides the variation, and humans select the variations that are useful.

Could life arise from non life today? Explain.

No, current conditions are life supporting not life generating.

How is information about evolutionary, or phylogenetic, relationships useful in classification?

Organisms are placed in various taxonomic groups based on evolutionary descent.

Compare and contrast the hypotheses of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium

Punctuated equilibrium is the pattern of long, stable periods interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change. Gradualism involves a slow, steady change in a particular line of descent.

What characteristics would you expect tundra animals to have?

Sample: Well insulated with thick coats of fur/hair or layers of feathers.

Use scientific evidence to evaluate Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

Scientific advances in many fields of biology, along with geology and physics, have confirmed most of Darwin's hypotheses. Specific examples of evidence supporting Darwin's theory include similarities in embryology and homologous structures.

How are genes used to help scientists classify organisms?

Scientists compare the DNA of different organisms to establish similarities between them and reconstruct possible evolutionary relationships.

What geologic era is known as the Age of Mammals? When did this era begin?

The Cenezoic Era began about 65 million years ago and continues to the present.

How did the invention of the Microscope help the development of the Cell Theory?

The Invention of the Microscope helped the development of the cell theory because it allowed the scientists to actually discover that everything was made up of cells, and what cells do to come up with that theory. If the scientists did not see that cells existed, they could not have observed the cells easily and they would not be able to construct the cell theory.

What is the difference between exponential growth and logistic growth

The biggest difference, however, is that the line in the logistic growth graph changes direction and begins to level off as it nears the carrying capacity. That means that the maindifference between exponential and logistic growth is thatlogistic growth takes into account carrying capacity.

What three statements describe the cell theory?

The cell theory states: All living things are composed of cells. Cells are the basic units of structure and function in living things. New cells are produced from existing cells.

Summarize the role of organisms, including microorganisms, in maintaining the equilibrium of a marine ecosystem while a dead whale decays on the ocean floor.

The disturbance that causes the succession begins with a large whale dying and sinking to the bottom of the ocean floor. The whale carcass attracts scavengers and decomposers who eat the decaying meat. Then, within a year, most of the whale's tissues have been eaten. The remainder of the carcass is then eaten by a much smaller number of fish. The decomposition of the whale's body will enrich the surrounding sediments with nutrients. When only the skeleton is left, a third community moves in. Heterotrophic bacteria will begin to decompose the oils found inside whale bones. During this process, they will release chemical compounds that serve as energy sources for other bacteria. This chemosynthetic bacteria will also support a wide variety of nearby organisms living on the bones.

According to the endosymbiotic theory, how might chloroplasts and mitochondria have originated?

The endosymbiotic theory proposes that eukaryotic cells arose from living communities formed by prokaryotic organisms.

What can be learned from the fossil record?

The fossil record provides evidence about the history of life on Earth. It also shows how different groups of organisms, including species, have changed over time.

What types of evidence did Darwin use to support his theory of change over time?

The fossil record, geographic distribution of species, homologous structures, and similarities in embryology

Describe the function of the cell membrane and cell wall?

The function of the cell membrane is to protect the cell and it also regulates the movement of particles in and out of the cell. The cell wall can only be found in a plant cell. It's function is to protect the cell and provides support for a growing plant. The cell wall is a tough rigid structure that surrounds the cell membrane and gives the cell a regular, box-like shape.

What are two key events from the Mesozoic Era?

The increasing dominance of dinosaurs and the appearance of flowering plants.

Describe the relationship between evolutionary time and the similarity of genes in two species.

The longer it has been since two species descended from a common ancestor, the more different their genes are likely to be.

How did the addition of oxygen to Earth's atmosphere affect life of that time?

The rise of oxygen in the atmosphere drove some life forms to extinction, while other life forms evolved new, more efficient metabolic pathways that used oxygen for respiration.

The theory of evolution by natural selection explains in n scientific terms, how living things evolve over time. What is being selected in this process?

The traits that help an organism survive in a particular environment

List the major biomes, and give one characteristic feature of each.

The world's major biomes include tropical rain forest, tropical dry forest, tropical savanna, desert, temperate grassland, temperate woodland and shrubland, temperate forest, northwestern coniferous forest, boreal forest, and tundra. Each of these biomes is defined by a unique set of abiotic factors—particularly climate—and a characteristic assemblage of plants and animals.

how might the damming of a river affect an estuary at the rivers mouth?

There would be a higher salt content

What are the two kinds of tropical forests and their characteristics?

Tropical rain forest-->rain is relatively constant Tropical dry forest-->precipitation is season with a 6-7 moth dry season

what structure do all cells have?

a cell membrane they contain dna

What is binomial nomenclature?

a two-word naming system.

What evolutionary milestone involving animals occurred during the Devonian period?

animals began to invade the land

What natural factors can change a population's size?

birthrate, death rate, and the rate at which individuals enter or leave the population

How are biomes classified?

by the amount of precipitation and temperature in the ecosystem

demographic transition

dramatic change in birth and death rates; low birth rate = growth and vis versa

Density independent and factor that affects humans?

hurricane; kills and displaces.

Where did life exist during the early Paleozoic era?

in the sea

If entire lynx pop disappears, hare population?

increases

List the level of biological organization in multi cellular organisms from most simple to most complex.

individual cells tissues organs and organ systems

If you examine an unknown cell under the microscope and discover that the cell contains - chloroplasts, what could you infer about the organism from which the cell came?

it is a plant cell

What is the greenhouse effect?

light passes through the atmosphere; hits the earth; the light is absorbed and changed; the heat dissipates back to outer space; some heat is trapped by greenhouse gases and warms the earth

A biologist recorded the bird species in her region. then, she spotted a bird that was bot suppose to live in that region. Why might this bird be there?

migration, climate change, normal feeding area doesn't have enough food, it might have gotten caught up in a wind current.

predict which organelles would be most common in muscle cells

mitochondria

Describe the general trend of human population growth that has occurred over time.

most of human existance: slowly increased last 500 years, the human population has been growing more rapidly.

Describe Earth's three main climate zones, and explain why they exist.

polar zones, temperate zones, tropical zones

What is the difference between primary succession and secondary succession?

primary succession is where no soil exists secondary succesion is where a community is destroyed but the soil is not

compare the process used to produce a tem and a sem

specimens have to be cut into thin slices for a tem but they dont for a sem

Demography

study of human populations

How is a cell like a factory?

the different organelles are like specialized machines and assembly lines, cell like factories follow instructions and produce products

What are the main factors that determine Earth's climate?

trapping of heat by the atmosphere, the latitude, the transport of heat by winds and ocean currents, and the amount of precipitation that results

How are unicellular organisms similar to multi cellular organisms?

unicellular (bacteria and some eukaryotes) and multicellular organisms (like us) both have the basic unit of life, the cell. each cell is considered the basic unit of life because it can act on its own and have do the biochemical processes that a normal cell would do in order to live

What is the relationship between competition and population size?

when populations become crowded, individuals compete for food, water, space, sunlight, and other essentials

what factors might cause the carrying capacity of a population to change

when the birth rate and death rate are the same, when immigration equals emigration, and when population growth stops

Describe two ways in which heat is transported in the biosphere.

wind and ocean currents

Compare standing-water ecosystems to flowing-water ecosystems. How are they different?

• Water in a flowing-water ecosystem moves rapidly near the source and slows near the mouth. • Water in a standing-water ecosystem has little net flow but circulates within the system.