Final Exam, Spring 2003
Answers are in BOLD, BLUE font (NOTE: Answers for questions that ask for examples have a few of the possible answers that are acceptable - there may be other correct answers)
Answers are in BOLD, BLUE font (NOTE: Answers for questions that ask for examples have a few of the possible answers that are acceptable - there may be other correct answers)
7. Discuss eutrophication in freshwater lakes as it relates to the N-cycle. Include a discussion of the ramifications to the Carbon cycle and to biodiversity of lakes.
8. Consider the transport of carbon dioxide in blood of mammals. Address, in one sentence each, the following: 1) the forms in which carbon dioxide is transported, 2) the relationship between carbon dioxide in the blood and blood pH, and 3) how increased carbon dioxide in inhaled air affects breathing rate (9 points).
9. Apply the concept of countercurrent exchange to one of the following two systems by: 1) identifying the specific matter or energy that is exchanged, 2) explaining how countercurrent exchange helps maintain homeostasis, and 3) listing the physiological system(s) involved (8 pts):
a. Nephron in a Mammalian kidney
OR
b. Arctic wolf legs
10. Ammonia is the least energetically expensive nitrogenous waste to produce. Why don’t all animals excrete ammonia (4 points)?
11. Using Fick’s Law of Diffusion briefly state why mammals are relatively inefficient in gas exchange capacity, and then describe the adaptations they possess to help overcome those inefficiencies (6 points).
12. List one type of invertebrate with an open and one with a closed circulatory system. For one of the two, explain in one sentence one advantage to having that type of circulatory system (6 points).
13. The respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems are closely tied together. Provide three examples of how control and regulatory mechanisms of one system affect at least one of the other two systems during normal glucose metabolism or in a diabetic. Be specific (15 points).
14. List one abiotic factor discussed in class and list two adaptations that plants have evolved to deal with extremes in that factor (6 points).
15. Choose either grass-dominated or tree-dominated biomes at different latitudes. Compare and contrast two specific biomes of the general type you chose, with regards to: 1) annual temperature and precipitation patterns, 2) plant and animal diversity, and 3) annual primary productivity (9 points).
16. List two life history traits. Describe how each may evolve differently in different species, depending on particular environmental conditions (8 points).
17. Relate the concept of succession to either the study of soils formation or the cycling of nutrients in soil (6 points).
18. Explain one reason why food webs are more useful to study than trophic levels when examining energy flow in ecosystems, and one drawback to using a food web approach to study energy flow in ecosystems. Use no more than ONE sentence to answer each part (8 points).
19. Briefly describe, in one sentence each, two examples that illustrate the energetic or nutrient cycle connections between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (8 points).
20. Explain the importance of two of the following factors when considering metapopulations. Limit yourself to one sentence per factor (8 points).
21. For each of the following graphs, answer the associated questions. There are four questions in this section, each worth 3 pts = 12 points.
a. Describe the relationship between the theoretical curve depicted in Figure 1 and real population dynamics?
b. What is the utility of studying a theoretical population growth curve such as the one in Figure 1?
c. What is, approximately, the carrying capacity for the population in Figure 2, and what is the biological meaning of carrying capacity?
d. If this represented a theoretical growth curve for a population of fish prior to humans harvesting them, what recommendation would you give to fishermen if they asked you to what population size they should harvest (i.e., what population size should they leave behind) to allow them to maintain a maximum sustainable yield?
22. Select one biogeochemical cycle and use a schematic drawing to illustrate part of that element’s major reservoirs, forms, and processes that move it from one reservoir to another or change it from one form to another. Use three processes to illustrate the cycle, include the biota, and indicate one way that humans are disrupting the cycle (10 points).
23. Lake Victoria, in Africa, is a large, deep, isolated lake that, until recently, contained hundreds of species of cichlid fishes found nowhere else (i.e., they’re endemic). They are threatened by the recent introduction of a top predator, the Nile perch. Many Lake Victoria cichlids have reduced population sizes or have become extinct since the Nile perch introduction. Use specific concepts from Biology 112, that you identify, to explain in OUTLINE form (DO NOT write an essay): 1) the high proportion of endemic species, 2) why the cichlids might be succumbing to the Nile Perch, and 3) what we need to know or do to preserve the remaining species (15 points).
Return to CP's BIOLOGY 112 Page
SIGN
our GUESTBOOK
© Copyright 2005 Department of Biology, PO Box 7118, Davidson College,
Davidson, NC 28035-7118