BIO 160 General Ecology Final Exam Review
Final Wednesday December 15th 8-10 am RVR 1015 Exam will be approximately half based on previous exam and quizzes and half based on new material (Population Structure and Dynamics to Large Scale Ecology and Conservation). Format will be identical to the midterm. All previous exam and quiz questions may appear again as either a rearranged multiple choice question or short answer (fill in the blank) question - so study the concepts carefully. Essay questions will be drawn from the midterm and the topics below - you will be required to answer two essays from a larger list.
Potential New Material For Short Essay/Short Answer Topics:
Explain how population fluctuations might be produced by extrinsic(environmental) and intrinsic (inherent to population) factors.
Explain why extinction becomes more likely in small populations.
Explain a scheme for characterizing life histories and provide an example of tradeoffs between life history adaptations occurring within a single species.
Of the four possible state-space graphic representations of competitive outcomes for two competitors, explain which is the most likely to lead to coexistence and why.
Explain how dynamics can be generated in a simple predator and prey system and offer three factors that improve the probability of sustained coexistence.
Upon which mathematical models was the fisheries management principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) based and why did it fail to produce sustainable fisheries?
Define coevolution and explain its relevance to community ecology. Provide a clear example of coevolution among competitors (Consumer/prey; mutualists etc - see notes).
Introduce the concept of biological diversity (what is it and why is it important). Provide and explain two (2) natural factors that influence species diversity in a particular community. Recalling the article by Peter Vitousek et al. provide examples of and explain how two (2) distinct human influences occurring on a global scale are contributing to a loss of biological diversity.
Based upon the research of Ostfield et al., (Of mice and mast.) Clearly explain (including the effects on all related links) how feeding mice during times of low mast production would likely benefit forestry but be detrimental to hiking bird watchers from the Audubon Society?
Explain why warning (aposematic) coloration might be difficult to produce by natural selection in a population of drab but toxic or dangerous organisms. Then explain how it could have evolved
Compare and contrast the two extreme views on the nature of ecological communities that we discussed in class.
Using observations from your field trip to either the Sierra Nevada or the coast. Provide an example of an ecological community (define it clearly in terms of abiotic factors, zonation, representative species) and defend either of the two above-mentioned views of ecological communities.
Explain the "keystone species" concept. Provide two examples and explain what an ecologist would have to do to gather evidence to support the hypothesis that a particular species was really a keystone species.
Using two graphs (species diversity vs. time during succession; species diversity vs. disturbance level) explain how disturbance can influence the normal pattern of succession to maintain a relatively higher species diversity than if there were no disturbances at all.
Using two diagrams [1: state space with predator versus prey; and 2: population sizes (N h and p) versus time] explain how repeating population cycles (or fluctuations) might occur in a simple system of predator and prey populations.
Compare and contrast sea otters and/or sea stars and/or beavers as potential keystone species.
Explain the relationship between area and species diversity (biodiversity). Describe the pattern, provide an example and offer an explanation for the pattern.
Offer an explanation for the pattern of increasing global species diversity with decreasing lattitude.
Describe human impact on the water (or carbon, nitrogen) cycles.
Offer three important attributes of habitat patches and the values of those attributes for conservation purposes.
Other important items to review:
Lecture outlines: from Population Structure and Dynamics to Large Scale Ecology and Conservation.
Introduction to Inferential Statistics:
be able to distinguish between types of error (a and B)
define p and power and determine whether given value of p allows rejection of H0
choose an appropriate test for a given null hypothesis (t-test, ANOVA, regression, correlation, X2)
correctly interpret the results of the given tests