EVPP 111 Lecture

EVPP 111 Lecture

Exam #1 Study Guide

Spring 2004

Human population issues

What are some of the environmental problems/issues that are caused/exacerbated by the rapid increase in human population?
To what is the exponential increase in human population over the past couple of centuries attributed?
What are the current trends in human population growth?
What is growth rate and on what four factors is it based?
What is zero population growth?
What is the natural rate of increase?
What is the total fertility rate?
What is the replacement fertility rate?
What is meant by the age structure of a population?
What is meant by a population pyramid?
How is a population pyramid constructed (what information does it contain)?
What does a population pyramid for an expanding population look like?
What does a population pyramid for a declining population look like?
What does a population pyramid for a stable population look like?
What is the significance of the proportion of a population that is in the pre-reproductive or reproductive years?
What factors affect the total fertility rate?
What are the three general categories of factors that affect growth rate?
What are some cultural factors that affect population growth?
What role do infant mortality rates play in the TFR?
What role does the importance of children in the labor force play in the TFR?
What role does the average age at marriage play in the TFR?
What role do educational and employment opportunities for women play in TFR?
What role do family planning policies play in TFR?
How is total fertility rate affected by culture and cultural traditions?
How is the total fertility rate affected by the social and economic status of women?
What effect does the availability of educational opportunities to women have on total fertility rate?
What effect does the availability of family planning services have on total fertility rate?
Describe the discrepancy between individual resource demands in developing vs. developed nations.
What is meant by the term "nonrenewable" resources?
What is meant by the term "renewable" resources?
What is urbanization?
What are the effects of human overpopulation on nonrenewable resources?
What are the effects of human population on renewable resources?
What is "people overpopulation"?
What is "consumption overpopulation"?
In the simple model of human impacts on the environment that was presented, what are the three factors most important in determining environment impact?
How does the geographical distribution of people affect the impact of population growth?
What is the "demographic transition"?
What are the four stages of the demographic transition?
What are the characteristics of the pre-industrial stage of the demographic transition?
What are the characteristics of the transitional stage of the demographic transition?
What are the characteristics of the industrial stage of the demographic transition?
What are the characteristics of the post-industrial stage of the demographic transition?

Communities

What is a population?
what is a community?
how does a community differ from a population?
what are the four main properties of a community?
explain what is meant by the "diversity" of a community and why it is important
what are the two components of community diversity?
explain what is meant by "species richness" of a community
explain what is meant by "relative abundance of different species" in a community
explain what is meant by the "prevalent form of vegetation" of a community and why it is important
explain what is meant by the "stability" of a community and why it is important
explain what is meant by the "trophic structure" of a community and why it is important
how could a community appear to have relatively little diversity even though it has a large number of individuals and many different species?

What are the different types of interspecific interactions?
Who benefits, who is harmed, who is unaffected in competition, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism?
what is competition and what role does a limiting resources play in it?
What is interspecific versus intraspecific competition?
under what circumstances does interspecific competition occur?
What are the possible outcomes of competition?
what concept forms the basis of the competitive exclusion principle?
Describe the Gause experiment.
What is stated in the competitive exclusion principle?
what is a niche?
What are some of the factors that can be used to describe a niche?
Describe the competitive exclusion principle experiment with the barnacles.
distinguish between the term "niche" and "habitat"
what are the two types of niches discussed in class and how are they different?
what is the relationship between a population's niche and the competitive exclusion principle?
can two species that are so similar that they compete for the same limiting resource coexist?
What is meant by local extinction?
What is resource partitioning and an example?
What is character displacement and an example?

what is predation?
what is a predator?
what is a prey?
can animals and plants be involved in predator-prey interactions?
What is herbivory?
why do organisms evolve mechanisms to defend against predation?
what is coevolution?
What are anit-predator defense mechanisms?
what are the two categories of defenses plants have evolved against herbivores?
What are examples of mechanical defenses of plants?
What are examples of chemical defenses of plants?
what are the major types of defensive mechanisms that animals have evolved to protect against predation?
What are examples of mechanical defenses of animals?
What are examples of chemical defenses of animals?
what is camouflage?
What is cryptic coloration?
What is aposematic coloration?
What is deceptive coloration?
what is mimicry?
what are the two types of mimicry?
describe the difference between the two types of mimicry

what are predator-prey interactions?
What is a functional response?
what are some of the reasons that predators rarely drive their prey to extinction in the wild?
how can predator-prey relationships help maintain community diversity?
what is a keystone species?
what can happen to community diversity when a keystone species is removed?
What examples of keystones species were discussed in class and what happened to the diversity of the community in their presence versus in the absence?

what is the definition of a symbiotic relationship?
what are the three main types of symbiotic relationships?
what is parasitism?
how is parasitism similar to/different from predator-prey relationships?
what is commensalism?
why is it thought that few cases of absolute commensalism exist?
what is mutualism?
What examples of parasitism, mutualism, commensalism were discussed?
What is the parasite and what is the host is a parasitic relationship?

what is a disturbance in an ecological sense?
What kind of effect can a disturbance have on a community?
What are some examples of disturbances?
what is ecological succession?
what are the two types of ecological succession?
define primary succession
what are the characteristics of primary succession?
What factors affect primary succession?
define secondary succession
what factors affect secondary succession?
what are the characteristics of secondary succession?
What is a climax community?
What is a pioneer community?
What are the characteristics of a pioneer community?
what characteristics does a climax community exhibit as compared to a successional community?
Describe primary aquatic succession

Ecosystems: Energy flow and material cycling

what is an ecosystem?
In what ways do ecosystems differ and in what characteristics do the share?
what are the two fundamental processes of ecosystems?
what is energy flow?
what is material cycling?
why is the transfer of energy in an ecosystem referred to as energy flow instead of energy cycling?
What is the ultimate source of energy in ecosystems?
What is the global energy budget?
What happens to incoming energy form the sun (reflected, absorbed, etc.)?
What role do energy transformations play in sustaining life?
In what form does energy enter the earth system?
In what form does energy leave the earth system?
What determines the routes of energy flow and chemical cycling in ecosystems?

what is a trophic structure?
what is the significance of the trophic structure relative to energy flow and chemical cycling in an ecosystem?
what is a food chain?
what are producers (autotrophs) and what role do they play in a ecosystems?
What are examples of producers?
what type of organism is the main producer in terrestrial ecosystems?
what are consumers (heterotrophs) and what role do they play in ecosystems?
What are examples of consumers?
describe the relationships between producers and primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary consumers?
what are detritivores and are they considered producers or consumers?
what is detritus?
What are decomposers?
where do producers get their energy?
where to consumers get their energy?
what is decomposition, who carries it out and what is its importance in an ecosystem?
What are trophic levels?

what is a food chain?
what is a food web?
what is the relationship between food chains and a food web?
what is the relationship between trophic structures and food webs?

what is biomass?
what is primary productivity?
What is gross primary productivity?
What is net primary productivity?
Specifically, how does primary productivity vary among ecosystems?
What are the major limits to productivity in terrestrial ecosystems?
What are the major limits to productivity in aquatic ecosystems?
What is secondary productivity?
what is a pyramid of energy?
What is pyramid of biomass?
What is a pyramid of numbers?
what is the basic trend of energy flow in ecosystems from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level?
what is the basic trend in number of organisms in ecosystems from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level?
what is the basic trend in amount of biomass in ecosystems from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level?
energy can't be created or destroyed so what happens to the energy that doesn't make it from one trophic level to the next higher trophic level?
how does the amount of energy available to top-level consumers compare with the amount of energy available to lower-level consumers?
why are most food chains limited to 3 -5 levels?
What is the general rule of thumb for the percentage of energy ingested at one trophic level that is available to the next trophic level?

explain the statement "meat is a luxury for humans" in terms of an energy pyramid and the availability of energy at different trophic levels in a food chain
how does matter cycle through ecosystems?
What are biogeochemical cycles?
What are the four reservoirs of the earth system through which matter cycles?
What are the two main determinants of cycling time through biogeochemical cycle?
What are the three main categories of biogeochemical cycles?
What are examples of gaseous biogeochemical cycles?
What are examples of sedimentary biogeochemical cycles?

Labs that are "fair game" for this lecture exam:

6 billion humans
Population pyramids
Simulated mark-recapture
Tigers: survival & extinction
Predator-prey interactions: bean simulation
Predator-prey interactions: Populus
Sustainable island