AP BIOLOGY THE COMPLETE EDITION
STUDY GUIDE 2024
Cocci --answer: Spherical bacteria.
Bacilli --answer: Rod-shaped bacteria.
Spirilla --answer: Spiral bacteria.
Plasmolyze --answer: When the membrane shrinks away from the cell wall as a result
of water loss.
Lyse --answer: Cell bursting.
Peptidoglycan --answer: Cell wall of prokaryotes, but not archaea. Made of a sugar
polymer and polypeptide.
Gram stain --answer: Used to classify prokaryotes based on cell wall composition.
Important for antibiotics; some antibiotics work on one but not the other.
Gram-positive bacteria --answer: Bacteria that have simple cell walls with much
peptidoglycan.
Gram-negative bacteria --answer: Bacteria that have complex cell walls with less
peptidoglycan but with lipopolysaccharides.
Very toxic and hard to treat.
Antibiotics --answer: Interfere with production of peptidoglycan; harm bacteria but
not eukaryotes.
Capsule --answer: Covers the cell wall in prokaryotes.
Pilli --answer: Hollow tubes used to move cells or exchange dna between bacteria by
conjunction.
Conjugation --answer: In bacteria, the direct transfer of dna between two cells that are
temporarily joined.
Plasmids --answer: Small rings of dna found naturally in some bacterial cells in
addition to the main bacterial chromosome. Can contain genes for antibiotic resistance,
or other "Contingency" Functions.
Endospore --answer: A thick-walled protective spore that forms inside a bacterial cell
and resists harsh conditions.
,Photoautotrophs --answer: Photosynthetic bacteria.
Chemoautotrophs --answer: Organisms that use hydrogen sulfide or other chemicals
as energy source instead of light.
Archaea --answer: Domain of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls lacking
peptidoglycan. Like eukaryotes, dna contains histone proteins.
Extremophiles --answer: Archaea that live in extreme environments.
Thermophiles --answer: Archaea that thrive in very hot environments, such as
volcanic springs.
Methanogens --answer: Archaea that release methane, a greenhouse gas.
Antibiotic resistance --answer: Resistance evolving rapidly in many species of
prokaryotes due to overuse of antibiotics, especially in agriculture.
Ecology --answer: Study of interactions between organisms and the environment.
Abiotic factors --answer: Nonliving components of environment.
Biotic factors --answer: All the plant and animal life of a particular region.
Biota --answer: Biotic factors.
Community --answer: All species that inhabit an area.
Biosphere --answer: The sum of all ecosystems.
Biogeographic realms --answer: Broad patterns of distribution due to continental drift
and barriers such as deserts and mountain ranges.
Dispersal --answer: Movement of individuals away from centers of high population
density or their area of origin.
Species transplant --answer: Movement of a species to areas where it was previously
absent.
Potential range --answer: An area where an organism could potentially survive and
reproduce.
Actual range --answer: Area an organism actually occupies.
Climate --answer: Prevailing weather conditions of an area.
Macroclimate --answer: Patterns on the global, regional and local level.
Microclimate --answer: Very fine patterns of climate influenced by features of the
environment such as shade ares and wind patterns.
,Turnover --answer: Seasonal changes in warm and cool water layers in lakes.
Biome --answer: Major types of ecological association that occupy broad geographic
regions.
Population density --answer: The size of the population within a particular unit of
space.
Dispersion --answer: Pattern of spacing among individuals.
Mark-recapture method --answer: A sampling technique used to estimate wildlife
populations.
Immigration --answer: New individuals moving into population. Increases population
size.
Emigration --answer: Movement out of population. Decreases population size.
Random dispersion --answer: Random spacing of individuals of the same species
within an area.
Clumped dispersion --answer: The most common pattern of dispersion; individuals
aggregated in patches.
Uniform dispersion --answer: The pattern in which individuals are equally spaced
throughout a habitat.
Territoriality --answer: Defense of a space against encroachment by other individuals.
Demography --answer: Study of vital statistics of a population and how they change
over time.
Life tables --answer: Age-specific summaries of survival patterns of a population.
Cohort --answer: A group of individuals of the same age.
Survivorship curves --answer: Graph of the proportion of a cohort still alive at each
age.
Type i --answer: Curve that shows low death rate at early and mid-life and drops at
old age, as seen in humans and large animals.
Type ii --answer: Curve that represents constant death rate over lifespan small animals
and invertebrates.
Type iii --answer: Curve that drops sharply at the start then levels off once individuals
reach a critical age, as seen in organisms that produce large numbers of offspring.
, Reproductive rates --answer: Study of females to determine reproductive output and
how it varies with age of female.
Reproductive table (fertility schedule) --answer: Age-specific summary of
reproductive rates in a population.
Life history --answer: Traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and
survival.
Big-bang reproduction --answer: Species that have only a single reproductive
opportunity, such as agave and salmon.
Repeated reproduction --answer: Species that reproduce over and over.
Semelparity --answer: Big-bang reproduction.
Iteroparity --answer: Repeated reproduction.
Per capita offspring --answer: Average number of offspring produced per individual
during a specified period of time.
Per capita death rate --answer: Expected number of deaths in a population in a
specified period of time.
Reproductive rate --answer: Difference between per capita birth and per capita death
rates.
Zero population growth (zpg) --answer: When per capita birth and death rates are
equal. (r = 0)
Exponential growth --answer: Population increase under ideal conditions, when r > 0.
Forms a j-shaped curve.
Logistic growth --answer: When limiting factors restrict size of population to the
carrying capacity of the environment. Forms an s-shaped curve.
Carrying capacity (k) --answer: Maximum population size that a particular
environment can support.
K - selected species --answer: Life history traits sensitive to population density. Small
number of large offspring, extensive parental care, repeated reproduction.
R-selected species --answer: Life history traits maximize reproductive success in
uncrowded environments. Many small offspring that mature quickly, little if any
parental care.
Density-independent regulation --answer: When birth or death rates do not change
with population density.
STUDY GUIDE 2024
Cocci --answer: Spherical bacteria.
Bacilli --answer: Rod-shaped bacteria.
Spirilla --answer: Spiral bacteria.
Plasmolyze --answer: When the membrane shrinks away from the cell wall as a result
of water loss.
Lyse --answer: Cell bursting.
Peptidoglycan --answer: Cell wall of prokaryotes, but not archaea. Made of a sugar
polymer and polypeptide.
Gram stain --answer: Used to classify prokaryotes based on cell wall composition.
Important for antibiotics; some antibiotics work on one but not the other.
Gram-positive bacteria --answer: Bacteria that have simple cell walls with much
peptidoglycan.
Gram-negative bacteria --answer: Bacteria that have complex cell walls with less
peptidoglycan but with lipopolysaccharides.
Very toxic and hard to treat.
Antibiotics --answer: Interfere with production of peptidoglycan; harm bacteria but
not eukaryotes.
Capsule --answer: Covers the cell wall in prokaryotes.
Pilli --answer: Hollow tubes used to move cells or exchange dna between bacteria by
conjunction.
Conjugation --answer: In bacteria, the direct transfer of dna between two cells that are
temporarily joined.
Plasmids --answer: Small rings of dna found naturally in some bacterial cells in
addition to the main bacterial chromosome. Can contain genes for antibiotic resistance,
or other "Contingency" Functions.
Endospore --answer: A thick-walled protective spore that forms inside a bacterial cell
and resists harsh conditions.
,Photoautotrophs --answer: Photosynthetic bacteria.
Chemoautotrophs --answer: Organisms that use hydrogen sulfide or other chemicals
as energy source instead of light.
Archaea --answer: Domain of unicellular prokaryotes that have cell walls lacking
peptidoglycan. Like eukaryotes, dna contains histone proteins.
Extremophiles --answer: Archaea that live in extreme environments.
Thermophiles --answer: Archaea that thrive in very hot environments, such as
volcanic springs.
Methanogens --answer: Archaea that release methane, a greenhouse gas.
Antibiotic resistance --answer: Resistance evolving rapidly in many species of
prokaryotes due to overuse of antibiotics, especially in agriculture.
Ecology --answer: Study of interactions between organisms and the environment.
Abiotic factors --answer: Nonliving components of environment.
Biotic factors --answer: All the plant and animal life of a particular region.
Biota --answer: Biotic factors.
Community --answer: All species that inhabit an area.
Biosphere --answer: The sum of all ecosystems.
Biogeographic realms --answer: Broad patterns of distribution due to continental drift
and barriers such as deserts and mountain ranges.
Dispersal --answer: Movement of individuals away from centers of high population
density or their area of origin.
Species transplant --answer: Movement of a species to areas where it was previously
absent.
Potential range --answer: An area where an organism could potentially survive and
reproduce.
Actual range --answer: Area an organism actually occupies.
Climate --answer: Prevailing weather conditions of an area.
Macroclimate --answer: Patterns on the global, regional and local level.
Microclimate --answer: Very fine patterns of climate influenced by features of the
environment such as shade ares and wind patterns.
,Turnover --answer: Seasonal changes in warm and cool water layers in lakes.
Biome --answer: Major types of ecological association that occupy broad geographic
regions.
Population density --answer: The size of the population within a particular unit of
space.
Dispersion --answer: Pattern of spacing among individuals.
Mark-recapture method --answer: A sampling technique used to estimate wildlife
populations.
Immigration --answer: New individuals moving into population. Increases population
size.
Emigration --answer: Movement out of population. Decreases population size.
Random dispersion --answer: Random spacing of individuals of the same species
within an area.
Clumped dispersion --answer: The most common pattern of dispersion; individuals
aggregated in patches.
Uniform dispersion --answer: The pattern in which individuals are equally spaced
throughout a habitat.
Territoriality --answer: Defense of a space against encroachment by other individuals.
Demography --answer: Study of vital statistics of a population and how they change
over time.
Life tables --answer: Age-specific summaries of survival patterns of a population.
Cohort --answer: A group of individuals of the same age.
Survivorship curves --answer: Graph of the proportion of a cohort still alive at each
age.
Type i --answer: Curve that shows low death rate at early and mid-life and drops at
old age, as seen in humans and large animals.
Type ii --answer: Curve that represents constant death rate over lifespan small animals
and invertebrates.
Type iii --answer: Curve that drops sharply at the start then levels off once individuals
reach a critical age, as seen in organisms that produce large numbers of offspring.
, Reproductive rates --answer: Study of females to determine reproductive output and
how it varies with age of female.
Reproductive table (fertility schedule) --answer: Age-specific summary of
reproductive rates in a population.
Life history --answer: Traits that affect an organism's schedule of reproduction and
survival.
Big-bang reproduction --answer: Species that have only a single reproductive
opportunity, such as agave and salmon.
Repeated reproduction --answer: Species that reproduce over and over.
Semelparity --answer: Big-bang reproduction.
Iteroparity --answer: Repeated reproduction.
Per capita offspring --answer: Average number of offspring produced per individual
during a specified period of time.
Per capita death rate --answer: Expected number of deaths in a population in a
specified period of time.
Reproductive rate --answer: Difference between per capita birth and per capita death
rates.
Zero population growth (zpg) --answer: When per capita birth and death rates are
equal. (r = 0)
Exponential growth --answer: Population increase under ideal conditions, when r > 0.
Forms a j-shaped curve.
Logistic growth --answer: When limiting factors restrict size of population to the
carrying capacity of the environment. Forms an s-shaped curve.
Carrying capacity (k) --answer: Maximum population size that a particular
environment can support.
K - selected species --answer: Life history traits sensitive to population density. Small
number of large offspring, extensive parental care, repeated reproduction.
R-selected species --answer: Life history traits maximize reproductive success in
uncrowded environments. Many small offspring that mature quickly, little if any
parental care.
Density-independent regulation --answer: When birth or death rates do not change
with population density.
