Unit 1
This term describes the variety of life across all levels of ecological organization.
What is biodiversity?
The three main types of biodiversity
What are genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity?
The formula for calculating population growth rate
What is (Births + Immigration – Deaths – Emigration) ÷ Total Population?
The atmospheric layer that contains the ozone layer
What is the stratosphere?
The primary source of energy for most ecosystems
What is the sun?
The term for the variety of species living in a particular area
What is species richness?
The maximum population size an environment can sustainably support
What is carrying capacity?
The deflection of moving air/water due to Earth’s rotation, creating trade winds and westerlies
What is the Coriolis Effect?
Name one example of a keystone species and explain its role.
Answers will vary. One example is: What is the sea otter, which controls sea urchin populations and maintains kelp forest ecosystems?
Give one example of an ecosystem service provided by wetlands.
Answers will vary. Examples include: What is flood control or water filtration?
The type of survivorship curve humans typically exhibit
What is Type I survivorship curve?
Explain the difference between El Niño and La Niña events
El Niño warms Pacific waters, disrupting weather; La Niña cools Pacific waters, often intensifying normal patterns
The biome which is characterized by permafrost, low biodiversity, and short growing seasons
What is the tundra?
Explain the difference between generalist and specialist species
Generalists can thrive in a wide range of conditions; specialists have narrow niches.
Explain the difference between density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors.
Density-dependent factors (like disease) vary with population size; density-independent factors (like natural disasters) affect regardless of size
The four major spheres of Earth’s systems
What are Atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere (geosphere), and biosphere?
Explain the difference between GPP (Gross Primary Productivity) and NPP (Net Primary Productivity).
GPP is the total energy captured by producers; NPP is GPP minus respiration losses.
Explain how natural selection leads to adaptations in populations over time.
Favorable traits increase survival and reproduction, becoming more common in future generations.
Name the stage on the Demographic Transition Model where birth rates remain high but death rates decline.
Stage 2 (Transitional stage).
Describe how plate tectonics influence the formation of volcanoes and earthquakes
Movement of plates at boundaries causes subduction, rifting, and faulting, leading to volcanic activity and seismic events