Learning Objectives for General Biology II

Objectives for Chapters 52-56

• Chapter 52: An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere
• Chapter 53: Population Ecology
• Chapter 54: Community Ecology
• Chapter 55: Ecosystems
• Chapter 56: Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology

1. Define ecology and its relationship to abiotic and biotic components.
2. Distinguish among organismal ecology, population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and landscape ecology; and define biosphere.
3. Describe the relationship between ecology and evolutionary biology.
4. Explain the importance of temperature, water, light, and soil to living organisms.
5. Define climate and explain why there are seasons and latitudinal variation in climate.
6. Describe the effects which mountains and large bodies of water (oceans or Great Lakes) have on local climates.

Chapter 53: Population Ecology

1. Define the scope of population ecology.
2. Distinguish between density and dispersion.
3. Explain how ecologists measure density of a species.
4. Describe conditions which may result in clumped dispersion, uniform dispersion, and random dispersion of populations.
5. Define demography and life table.
6. Describe the characteristics of populations which exhibit Type I, Type II, and Type III survivorship curves.
7. Describe how number of reproductive episodes per lifetime, number of offspring per episode, and age at first reproduction affect a population's growth.
8. Define semelparity and iteroparity and describe the circumstances under which each is favored.
9. Define per capita rate of increase and carrying capacity; relate them to exponential and logistic growth; and explain why the logistic model may not fit real populations.
10. Distinguish between r-selected populations and K-selected populations.
11. Explain how negative feedback prevents unlimited population growth, especially the roles of competition for resources, territoriality, disease, predation, the accumulation of toxic wastes, and intrinsic factors.
12. Describe some populations with regular, cyclic fluctuations.
13. Compare the growth of human populations in historical and recent times, and define the demographic transition; explain how age structure affects human population growth; state the average estimate for the earth's carrying capacity; and explain what is meant by ecological footprint.

Chapter 54: Community Ecology

1. Explain how interspecific interactions may affect community structure.
2. Describe the competitive exclusion principle and its relationship to the ecological niche.
3. Explain what is meant by resource partitioning and character displacement.
4. Distinguish among predation, parasitism, and herbivory.
5. Explain how cryptic coloration and aposematic coloration aid an animal in avoiding predators.
6. Distinguish between Batesian mimicry and Muellerian mimicry, and describe how predators can use mimicry to obtain prey.
7. Describe several defense mechanisms evolved by plants to reduce predation by herbivores.
8. Define parasite and host, and distinguish between endoparasites and ectoparasites.
9. Distinguish between mutualism and commensalism and give an example of each.
10. Explain the relationship among species diversity, species richness and relative abundance.
11. State what is meant by trophic structure, trophic levels, food chain, and food web.
12. Explain what is meant by dominant species and keystone species.
13. Describe how natural and human disturbances can affect communities.
14. Distinguish between primary succession and secondary succession.
15. Explain how facilitation, inhibition, and toleration may be involved in succession.
16. Explain how species richness is related to latitudinal gradient (tropics vs. poles), geographic size (area), and island size & distance from the mainland.

Chapter 55: Ecosystems

1. Explain the importance of primary producers in ecosystems; list and describe the importance of the various consumer levels found in an ecosystem.
2. Explain the difference between gross primary production and net primary production.
3. List the factors that can limit primary production in an ecosystem.
4. Define trophic efficiency and explain why production declines at each trophic level.
5. Distinguish among pyramids of production, biomass, and numbers.
6. Describe the hydrologic (water) and carbon cycles.
7. Describe the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, including the processes of nitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.
8. Explain why the soil in tropical forests contains lower levels of nutrients than soil in temperate forests.
9. Using the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest as an example, describe how deforestation affects nutrient cycling.
10. Describe how agricultural practices can interfere with nitrogen cycling.
11. Explain how eutrophication can alter freshwater ecosystems.
12. Define biological magnification and explain why it occurs.
13. Describe why the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing, and the effects this may have on the earth.

Chapter 56: Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology

1. Define biodiversity and describe its three levels.
2. Describe three major threats to biodiversity, and explain the benefits of species and genetic diversity.
3. Distinguish between endangered and threatened species.
4. Describe the differences between the small population and declining population approaches to conservation.
5. Define minimum viable population size and effective population size.
6. Define population viability analysis, and describe how such analyses are generated. (Equations are not necessary!)
7. Describe how edges and movement corridors influence biodiversity.
8. Describe how restoration ecology and bioremediation are used to reverse declines in biodiversity.
9. Explain what is meant by sustainable development.