Biology Study Guide-Exam 1

Chapters (13-19; 34-38)

Chapter 1:

 Biology
1. the scientific study of life.

 People

1. Rachael Carson (pg. 683)

a. Wrote a book Silent Spring (1962) about the effects of DDT

on birds and insects.

 DDT- was used as a chemical fertilizer, but it lost its

killing power.

☘ Had harmful effects on migratory birds.

☘ Traces of the pesticide were turning up worldwide,

thousands of miles from where it was sprayed. (was
found in a mother's milk).

☘ The 1970's brought a series of legislative acts aimed at

curbing pollution and cleaning up the environment.

☘ The “control of nature” is a phrased conceived in

arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and
philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists
for the convenience of man.
- Rachael Carson, Silent
Spring

2. Jane Goodall

a. Goodall is best known for her study of Chimpanzee social

and family life. She began studying them in Tanzania
(1960).
  These findings suggest similarities between humans and
chimpanzees exist in more than genes alone, but can be
seen in emotion, intelligence, and family and social
relationships.

☘ She found that, “it isn’t only human beings who have
personality, who are capable of rational thought [and]
emotions like joy and sorrow.”

☘ Goodall insists that these gestures are evidence of "the

close, supportive, affectionate bonds that develop
between family members and other individuals within
a community,

 Goodall’s research is best known to the scientific

community for challenging two long-standing beliefs of
the day:

☘ that only humans could construct and use tools,

☼ Over the course of her study, Goodall found

evidence of mental traits in chimpanzees such as
reasoned thought, abstraction, generalization,
symbolic representation, and even the concept of
self, all previously thought to be uniquely human
abilities.

☘ And that chimpanzees were vegetarians (To keep the

hierarchy, chimps will kill others and babies to keep
there dominance. They also will feed on smaller
primates.

 Twelve Levels Of Life (pg 2)

1. Biosphere
a. Consists of all the environments on Earth that support life
(most regions of land, bodies of water, and the lower
atmosphere).

2. Ecosystems
a. Consists of all the organisms living in a particular area, as
 well as all nonliving, physical components of the
environment with which the organisms interact (air, soil,
water and sunlight).
 Ex: the Florida coast

3. Community
a. The entire array of organisms inhabiting a particular
ecosystem.
 Ex: all organisms on the Florida coast.

4. Population
a. Consists of all the individuals of a species living in a specific
area.
 Ex: A group of brown pelicans.

5. Organism
a. An individual living thing.
 ( bacterium, fungus, protist, plant, animal).
 Ex: a brown pelican.

6. Organ system
a. A group of organs that work together in performing vital
body functions.
 Ex; Nervous system

7. Organs
a. A structure consisting of several tissues adapted as a group
to perform specific functions.
 Ex: brain

8. Tissues
a. An integrated group of cells with common function,
structure, or both.
 Each organ is made up of several different tissues.

9. Cell
a. The basic unit of living matter separated from the
environment by a plasma membrane; the fundamental
structural unit of all life.
  2 types of cells:
☘ Prokaryotic- no membrane bound organelles.
☘ Eukaryotic- has membrane bound organelles.

10. Organelle
a. A membrane-enclosed structure with a specialized function
within a cell.

11. Molecule
a. A group of two or more atoms held together by covalent
bonds.
 Ex: DNA molecules.

12. Atom
a. The smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an
element.

 Seven Common Properties to All Organisms (pg 5)

1. Order
a. All things exhibit complex organization.

2. Regulation
a. Mechanisms maintain an organism's internal environment
within the limits that sustain life.
 Ex; maintain blood flow, maintain body temperature,
maintain water levels.

3. Growth and Development

a. Inherited information carried by genes, controls the pattern
of growth and development of the organism.

4. Energy Processing
a. Organisms take in energy and transform it to perform all of
life's activities.
 Ex: when a bear eats a fish, it will use the chemical
energy stored in the fish to power its own activities and
chemical reactions (metabolism).

5. Response to the Environment

a. all organisms respond to environmental stimuli.
  Ex: Animals responding to a predator.

6. Reproduction

7. Evolutionary adaptation
a. Adaptations evolve over many generations as individuals
with traits best suited to their environment pass them off to
their offspring.

 Three Domains of Life (pg 7)

1. Bacteria (prokaryotes)
a. Most diverse and widespread prokaryotes and are divided
into several kingdoms.

2. Archaea (prokaryotes)
a. Many live in Earth's most extreme environments, such as,
boiling hot springs and salty lakes. Also, includes multiple
kingdoms.

3. Eukarya (eukaryotes)
a. Also, has multiple kingdoms: Protists, Plantae, Fungi, and
Animalia.

 Seven Taxonomic Levels

 a branch of biology that names and classifies species.

2. Kingdom
a. Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi and Animalia

3. Phylum
*Acronym: King Philip Comes Over For
Good Sex
4. Class

5. Order

6. Family
a. -idae

7. Genus
 a. the first part of a species binomial (ex: homo).

8. Species
a. a group whose members possess similar anatomical
characteristics and have the ability to interbreed and
produce viable, fertile offspring.
 Ex: Homo sapiens- The first word (genus) is always
capitalized and the second word (species) is always
lowercase.
 Evolution (pg 8)

1. Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (2 parts)

a. Evolution- descent with modification (2 parts)

 Unity of Life- descent from a common ancestor
 Diversity of Life- modification as species diverge from
ancestors.

b. Natural Selection (observed) (2 parts)

 Individual variation
☘ Individuals in a population vary in many heritable traits
(no 2 organisms are the same).

 Overproduction of offspring and competition

☘ a population of any species has the potential to
produce far more offspring than will survive to produce
offspring of their own.

 Which Leads to:

☘ Unequal Reproductive Success

☼ Individuals are unequal in their likelihood of
surviving and reproducing. Individuals best suited to
the environment will leave greatest number of
healthy, fertile offspring.

☘ Over Time, Favorable Traits Accumulate in a Population

☼ Over many generations, a higher and higher
proportion of individuals will have the advantageous
traits.
  Scientific Method (5 steps)

1. Observation
2. Question
3. Hypothesis
4. Predict
5. Test

 Two types of reasoning

1. Inductive reasoning (used in discovery science)

a. this kind of reasoning derives general principles from a

large number of specific observations.
 Apply something small to something big (ex: all
organisms are made up of cells).

2. Deductive reasoning (Hypothesis-based science)

a. is the logic used in hypothesis-based science to come up

with ways to test hypotheses.
 Flows from general to specific.

Chapter 13:

 Evidence that Reinforces the Evolutionary View (pg 262)

1. Biogeography

a. The geographic distribution of species.

b. This helps to explain that organisms evolve from ancestral
species.

2. Comparative Anatomy

a. illustrates that evolution is a remodeling process in which

ancestral structures that originally function in one capacity
become modified as they take on new functions

b. The kind of process that Darwin called descent.

  Homology- Similarity in characteristics that result from
common ancestry.

☘ Homologous structures- features that often have

different functions but are structurally similar because
of a common ancestor.

☼ Vestigial organs- an homologous structures that are

of marginal or perhaps no importance to the
organism.

3. Molecular biology

a. Molecular biology has enabled biologists to read a molecular

history of evolution in the DNA sequence of organisms.

 The heredity background of an organism is documented

in it DNA.

 Darwin's boldest hypothesis is that all life forms are

related.

☘ Molecular biology provides strong evidence for this

claim: all forms of life use the same genetic language
of DNA, RNA, and the genetic code is essentially
universal.

 Genetic Variation (pg 264)

1. 2 things produce genetic variation

a. Mutation
 a change in nucleotide sequence of DNA

b. Sexual Reproduction

 Two Main Causes of Evolutionary Change (pg 268)

 1. Natural Selection
a. Populations consist of varied individuals, and some variants
leave more offspring then others.

2. Genetic Drift
a. A change in the gene pool of a population due to chance
 The smaller the population, the more impact genetic drift
is likely to have.

b. Three situations where genetic drift can have a

significant impact on population

 Bottleneck Effect
☘ Earthquakes, floods, and fires may kill large numbers
of individuals, leaving a small surviving population that
is unlikely to have the same genetic makeup as the
original population.

 Founder Effect
☘ When individuals colonize an isolated island or other
new habitat.

 Gene Flow
☘ Where a population may gain or lose genetic makeup
when fertile individuals move in or out of a population.
☘ Narrows gene pools.

Chapter 14:
 Ways to Define a Species

1. The Biological Species Concept

a. Defines a species as a group of populations whose members
have the potential to interbreed in nature and produce
fertile offspring.
 Reproductive isolation- prevents genetic exchange (gene
flow) and maintians the gap between species.
☘ Members of one species don't mate with another
species because they will have sterile offspring. (ex:
mule, liger)

2. Morphological Species Concept

a. Classification of a species based on observable and
measurable physical traits such as shape, size, and other
features of morphology (form).
 Very subjective (not scientific).

3. Ecological Species Concept

a. Identifies species in terms of their ecological niches,
focusing on unique adaptations to particular roles in a
biological community.
 The space you fill in the environment.

4. Phylogenetic Species Concept

a. Defines a species as the smallest group of individuals that
share a common ancestor (same genetic history).
 Reproductive Barriers
1. A biological feature of an organism itself- to prevent
individuals of closely related species from interbreeding when
there ranges overlap.

2. Two Types of Barriers

a. Prezygotic Barriers (prevent mating or fertilization bw

species).

 Five Types:
☘ Temporal Isolation
☼ Mating or flowering occurs at different seasons or
times of the day
☘ Habitat Isolation
☼ Populations live in different habitats and do not
meet each other.
☘ Behavioral Isolation
☼ There is little or no sexual attraction bw different
species.
☘ Mechanical Isolation
☼ Structural differences in genitalia and flowers
prevent copulation or pollen transfer
☘ Gametic Isolation
☼ Male and/or female gametes die before uniting or
fail to unite. (sperm and egg aren't hospitable)

b. Postzygotic Barriers (operates after hybrid zygote is

formed).
  Three types:
☘ Inviablity
☼ Most hybrid offspring do not survive to reproduce.
☘ Sterility
☼ The hybrid reaches maturity, but sterile. (ex: a mule
can't reproduce)
☘ Hybrid Breakdown
☼ The first generation of hybrid offspring are fine, but
the second generation is either feeble or sterile.

 Three Shapes of Bacteria

1. Cocci- Berry shaped

2. Bacilli- Rod shaped

3. Spirilla- Spiral

 Four ways Plants have Adapted to Land

1. They obtain resources from the soil and air

a. Roots anchor and draw nutrients from soil
b. Leaves draw in CO2 for photosynthesis
c. Stems connects soil and air
 Xylem- dead cells convey water and minerals
 Phloem- living, distributes sugars

2. Support of the Plant Body

a. Lignin- the cell walls of some plant tissues, including xylem,
are thickened and reinforced by this chemical.

3. Maintaining Moisture
 a. A waxy cuticle helps to retain moisture.

4. Reproducing on Land
a. Gametangia- male and female structures that consist of
protective jackets of cells surrounding the gamete
producing cells
b. Sporangia- The protective structure where plants produce
spores.
 Spore- a cell that can develop into a new organism
without fusing with another cell.

 Ecological Benefits of Fungi

1. Decomposers
2. Alcohol (with yeast)
3. Mushrooms
4. Penicillin
5. Blue Cheeses
6. Truffles
7. Bread

Chapter 18:

 Characteristic of Animal Body Plans

1. Radial Symmetry
a. An imaginary slice through the central axis divides a radial
symmetrical animal into mirror images
 Ex: anemone
 2. Bilateral Symmetry
a. Has a mirror image on the right and left side.
 Has an Anterior (a distinct head) and a Posterior (tail)
end'; and a Dorsal (back) and Ventral (bottom, belly),
surface.
 Example: lobster

3. Body Cavity
a. A fluid filled space between the digestive tract and the
outer body wall cushions the internal organs and enables
them to grow and move independently of the body wall.
 Animals with three layers tissues can be characterized by
a presences or absence of a body cavity.

4. Hydrostatic Skeleton
a. Soft bodied animals, have a non-compressible fluid in the
body cavity that provides a rigid structure against which
muscles contract, moving the animal.
 Ex: earthworms
Chapter 19:

 Four Characteristics of Phylum Chordata

1. Dorsal, Hollow Nerve Cord

2. Notochord
a. A flexible, supportive, longitudinal rod b/w digestive tract
and nerve cord.

3. Pharyngeal Slits

4. Post-Anal Tail
 Eight Characteristics of Humans

1. Bipedal- walk on two feet

2. Shorter Jaw and Flatter Faces

3. Larger Brain

4. Language

5. Symbolic Thought- think about objects and things not present

6. Complex Tools

7. Long-Term Pair Bonding

8. Long Parental Care

 Major Terrestrial Ecosystems of the World

1. Tundra
a. Where: Siberia and Northern Canada
b. Precipitation: 10 inches.
 Light all day in the summer
c. Soil: poor
 Has permafrost
d. Plants: Mosses, Lichens, Dwarf trees
e. Animals: Lemmings, Arctic Fox, Musk ox, Snowy owl.
Caribou and Deer-fly in the summer.
2. Boreal Forest
a. Where: North America and Eurasia
b. Precipitation: 20 inches
c. Soil: Acidic, Decomposing pine
 Permafrost is patchy
d. Plants: Spruces, firs, aspen, birch
e. Animals: Caribou, wolves, bear, moose, rabbit, sable, mink,
birds, and insects.

3. Temperate Rain Forest

a. Where: Northwest US, Southeast Australia.
b. Precipitation: 50 or more inches
c. Soil: Poor, but lots of leaf litter. Timber harvesting.
 Permafrost: no
d. Plants: Western Hemlock, Douglas fir, fern, lichen, moss.
e. Animals: Squirrels, rats, mule deer, birds and lizards.

4. Temperature Deciduous Forest

a. Where: Southeast US
b. Precipitation: 30-60 inches
c. Soil: Rich topsoil with a lower clay level.
d. Plants: Oak, Hickory, Maple, Beech, and Magnolia
e. Animals: Puma, Deer, Bear, rabbit, squirrel

5. Grassland
a. Where: IL, IO, MN, NE, KS, MT, SD.
b. Precipitation: 10-30 inches
c. Soil: Nutrients just below topsoil. Ag- rarest biome
d. Plants: tall grasses
 e. Animals: Bison, Elk, Wolves, Prairie dogs, fox, birds of prey

6. Chaparral
a. Where: Southwest US and Australia.
b. Precipitation: 30 inches
c. Soil: Thin. Frequent fires.
d. Plants: Evergreen shrubs, shrub oak.
e. Animals: Mule deer, wood rats, lizards, and birds.

7. Desert
a. Where: Africa, Peru, Chile, UT, NV.
b. Precipitation: below 10 inches.
c. Soil: Low in organic and high in minerals. Groundwater
consumption.
d. Plants: Cactus, yucca, Joshua trees
e. Animals: Gerbils, Kangaroo, rats, jack rabbit, fox, owl.

8. Savanna
a. Where: Africa, Northern Australia.
b. Precipitation: 30- 60 inches.
c. Soil: Low in minerals. (cattle)
d. Plants: Grasses, acacia
e. Animals: Wildebeests, antelope, giraffe, zebra, elephant

9. Tropical Rainforest
a. Where: Central America
 b. Precipitation: 80-180 inches
c. Soil: Weathered material, low in minerals. (deforestation)
d. Plants: Flowering plants, orchids, bromeliads.
e. Animals: Monkey, sloths, many things in the forest canopy

 Freshwater Stratification
1. Thermal Stratification
a. refers to the annual summer vertical gradient in water
temperature in lakes that results in the physical separation
of the water column into distinct thermal zones.

2. Three layers
a. Epilimnion
☘ Refers to the circulating, superficial layer of the lake
lying above the metalimnion.

b. Metalimniom
☘ refers to the layer of water in a lake between the
epilimnion and the hypolimnion, in which the
temperature exhibits the greatest difference in a
vertical direction.
☼ Thermocline - a transitional temperature layer that
is coincident with the metalimnion; it relates to the
surface water body zone with greatest temperature
change in a vertical direction.
✼ The thermocline forms within the metalimnion
during summer stratification. It is the plane of
maximum temperature decrease with respect to
depth.

c. Hypolimnion
☘ Refers to the deep layer of the lake lying below the
metalimnion and removed from surface influences
(e.g., wind-inducing mixing) and atmospheric contact
 (e.g., oxygen).

3. During the spring and fall season, thermal stratification breaks

down due to temperature change and the whole lake
circulates as one body.

4. As winter approaches, the temperature of the surface water

will drop as nighttime cooling dominates heat transfer. A point
is reached where the density of the cooling surface water
becomes greater than the density of the deep water, and
overturning begins as the dense surface water moves down
under the influence of gravity. This process is aided by wind or
any other process (currents for example) that agitates the
water. This effect also occurs in Arctic and Antarctic waters,
bringing water to the surface which, although low in oxygen, is
higher in nutrients than the original surface water. This
enriching of surface nutrients may produce blooms of
phytoplankton, making these areas productive.

 Three Patterns of Dispersal

 refers to the way individuals are spaced with their area.

1. Clumped Dispersion Pattern

a. Individuals are grouped in patches.
 Most common pattern in nature.
 Clumping often results from an unequal distribution of
resources in the environment.

2. Uniform Dispersion Pattern

a. Where individuals are evenly dispersed.
 Ex: an orchard, every tree is evenly spaced.

3. Random Dispersion Pattern

a. Individuals in a population are spaced in a unpredictable
 way, without a pattern.
 Ex: dandelions.
 Very rare.

 J and S Shaped Curves

1. Population Growth
a. Exponential Growth
 J curve- The lower part of the J, where the slope of the
line is flat, results from the relatively slow growth when N
is small. As the population increases, the slope becomes
steeper.
 It keeps going, because there is no restriction on the
abilities of the organisms to live, grow, and reproduce.
b. Limiting Factors
 Limiting factors are environmental factors that restrict
population growth.
 S curve or Logistic growth Model is a description of
idealized population growth that is slowed by limiting
factors as the population size increases.
 Carrying Capacity is the maximum population size that a
particular environment can sustain (“carry”).

c. What affects population growth

☘ Limited food supplies
☼ Decreases births and increases death
☘ Space
☼ Habitat loss, decreases births

☘ Population density
☼ Crowding increases disease and increases death.
☼ Ex: Warsaw ghetto.
 ☘ Weather
☼ extreme temps increase deaths.

 r/K Selection Theories

a. relates to the selection of combinations of traits in an
organism that trade off between quantity or quality of
offspring. The focus upon either increased quantity of
offspring at the expense of individual parental investment,
or reduced quantity of offspring with a corresponding
increased parental investment, is varied to promote success
in particular environments.

1. R-Selection
a. One life history pattern is typified by small-bodied, short
lived animals that develop and reach sexual maturity
rapidly, have a large number of offspring, and offer little or
no parental care. This set of life history traits occurs in
environments where resources are abundant, permitting
exponential growth.
b. It is called r-selection because r (the per capita rate of
increase) is maximized.

c. Habitats that favor r-selected species may experience

floods, hurricanes, droughts, or cold weather that create
new opportunities by suddenly reducing the population to
low levels.
d. Ex: small rodents, insects, dandelions.

2. K-selection
a. Large bodied, long-lived animals develop slowly and
produce few, but well cared-for, offspring.
b. Occurs in environments where the population size is near
carrying-capacity (K), so it is called K-selection.
c. Population growth in these situations is limited by density-
dependent factors. Because competition for resources is
 keen, K-selected organisms gain an advantage by allocating
energy to their own survival and to the survival of their
descendants.
d. Typically stable climate.

 Age Structure pyramids

1. Rapid Growth (base- lots of children; Peak- no old people) ex:
afghanistan
2. Slow Growth (Base- not as many kids; Peak- no old people) ex:
US
3. Decreasing Growth (Base- no new births, middle- has biggest
population, peak- no old people) ex: Italy

 Competitive Exclusion Principle:

1. Community- all the populations in an area

2. Competitive Exclusion Principle- if there are 2 species

competing for the same resource, one will out compete the
other. No two species can have the same niche.
a. the competitive exclusion principle, is a proposition which
states that two species competing for the same resources
cannot stably coexist if other ecological factors are
constant. One of the two competitors will always overcome
the other, leading to either the extinction of this competitor
or an evolutionary or behavioral shift towards a different
ecological niche. The principle has been paraphrased into
the maxim "complete competitors cannot coexist".

3. In general, the effect of inter-specific competition is negative

for both populations (-/-).
 Mutalism- both populations benefit (+/+).
 ☘ ex: flowers and pollinators; plants and mycorrhizae;
hippo and the microbes that live in its stomach.
 Predation- refers to an interaction in which one species
(the predator) kills and eats another (the prey). (+/-)
 Herbivory- consumption of plant parts or algae by an
animal. (+/-)

4. If you don't want to be eaten- you have to think smarter:

a. Batesian mimicry- when a harmless organism mimics a
dangerous organism.
 Ex: King snake and Coral snake
b. Mullerian Mimicry- when two unpalatable organisms look
alike.

 Water Cycle

1. Precipitation is condensed water vapor that falls to the Earth's

surface. Most precipitation occurs as rain, but also includes
snow, hail, fog drip, graupel, and sleet.
a. Canopy interception is the precipitation that is intercepted
by plant foliage and eventually evaporates back to the
atmosphere rather than falling to the ground.

2. Runoff includes the variety of ways by which water moves

across the land. This includes both surface runoff and channel
runoff. As it flows, the water may infiltrate into the ground,
evaporate into the air, become stored in lakes or reservoirs, or
be extracted for agricultural or other human uses.

3. Infiltration is the flow of water from the ground surface into the
ground. Once infiltrated, the water becomes soil moisture or
groundwater.

4. Subsurface Flow is the flow of water underground, in the

 vadose zone and aquifers. Subsurface water may return to the
surface (eg. as a spring or by being pumped) or eventually
seep into the oceans. Water returns to the land surface at
lower elevation than where it infiltrated, under the force of
gravity or gravity induced pressures. Groundwater tends to
move slowly, and is replenished slowly, so it can remain in
aquifers for thousands of years.

5. Evaporation is the transformation of water from liquid to gas

phases as it moves from the ground or bodies of water into the
overlying atmosphere. The source of energy for evaporation is
primarily solar radiation. Evaporation often implicitly includes
transpiration from plants, though together they are specifically
referred to as evapotranspiration.

6. Sublimation is the state change directly from solid water (snow

or ice) to water vapor.

7. Advection is the movement of water — in solid, liquid, or vapor

states — through the atmosphere. Without advection, water
that evaporated over the oceans could not precipitate over
land.

8. Condensation is the transformation of water vapor to liquid

water droplets in the air, producing clouds and fog.