Earth Systems Science Final Exam UCA Fall 2019 Connolly
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED SOLUTIONS
Mild Mid-Latitude (C) - ✔✔Climate group with relatively moderate temperatures and strong
seasonality. Mediterranean (Csa,Csb) - ✔✔Climate type with dry summers, mild coastal
and hot inland summers, on the western side of landforms, and are highly affected by the
Westerlies in the winter. Humid Subtropical (Cfa) - ✔✔A climate type on the eastern side of
landforms, have hot summers due to a high continentality, wetter than other types in
group, and with little precipitation seasonality. Cfa (Humid Subtropical) - ✔✔To what
climate group does Arkansas belong? Marine West Coast (Cfb,Cfc) - ✔✔A climate type
that is further N/S than others in group, found on west coasts with ample precipitation
(constant drizzly weather), and is influenced by the Westerlies and on-shore flow of
moisture. Severe Mid-Latitude Climates (D) - ✔✔Climate group that is wet year-round, with
short summers and long winters, and is only found in the Northern Hemisphere. Humid
Continental (Dfa,Dfb,Dwa,Dwb) - ✔✔Climate type found on eastern side of continents
with year round moisture. Sub Arctic (Dfc,Dfd,Dwc,Dwd) - ✔✔Climate type with brief
summers and long winters, influenced by westerlies in the summer, relatively low
precipitation, and extreme continentality. Polar Climates (E) - ✔✔Climate group with no
summers and no trees, a large annual net loss of radiation, and high albedo. Tundra (ET) -
✔✔Climate type with short, cool summers, some vegetation and some naked ground. Ice
Sheets (EF) - ✔✔Climate type with permanent ice cover, little to no precipitation, low
insolation, high albedo, and high elevation. Highland (H) - ✔✔A climate group influenced
by elevation/altitude and exposure. No climographs can be made of this group. These
climates are a mosaic of microclimates that can be split into vertical zones. Exposure -
✔✔Degree of shelter from wind and erosion. Highlands experience a high level of this.
Slope Aspect - ✔✔The direction in which a slope is facing. Noted by a cardinal direction.
Biogeography - ✔✔The study of how environmental factors affect locations, distributions,
and patterns of organisms. Ecosystem - ✔✔Communities of organisms that function
together in an interdependent relationship with the environment. Population -> Community
-> Ecosystem - ✔✔What are the three levels of ecosystem organization? Autotrophs -
✔✔Organisms that make their own food/energy. Heterotrophs - ✔✔An organism that
obtains food/energy by eating other organisms or their by-products. Herbivore - ✔✔A
consumer that eats only plants. Carnivore - ✔✔A consumer that eats only animals.
Omnivore - ✔✔A consumer that eats both plants and animals. Detritivore - ✔✔A consumer
that eats dead plant and animal matter. They recycle matter, which is necessary because
, Earth is a closed ecosystem. - ✔✔Why are detritivores so important? Law of Conservation
of Matter - ✔✔Matter is not created or destroyed, only changes forms. Matter -
✔✔Anything that occupies space and is perceptible to the senses. Law of Conservation of
Energy - ✔✔Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changes forms. Energy - ✔✔The
ability to do work/cause change. Potential and Kinetic Energy - ✔✔What are the two main
types of energy we discussed? Potential Energy - ✔✔Stored, higher quality energy, low
entropy. Kinetic Energy - ✔✔The energy of movement, lower quality energy, high entropy.
Entropy - ✔✔The amount of disorder in a system. The First Law of Thermodynamics -
✔✔Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The
Second Law of Thermodynamics - ✔✔Every energy transfer or transformation increases
the entropy of the universe (lowers the quality of the energy). Trophic Level - ✔✔A feeding
level in a food chain or food web. Food Chain - ✔✔Feeding sequence in an ecosystem.
Food Web - ✔✔Overlapping food chains in an ecosystem. Nutrient Cycles - ✔✔The
circular flow of an element through abiotic and biotic systems. Elements - ✔✔A molecule
that cannot be further decomposed into constituents. Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus -
✔✔What are the three main nutrient cycles? Nitrification - ✔✔Makes solid nitrogen from
atmospheric N2. Denitrification - ✔✔N2 from solid nitrogen, adds to the atmosphere.
Atmosphere, Ocean, and Biomass - ✔✔What are the three main reservoirs of the carbon
cycle? Weathering of phosphorus rocks - ✔✔What is the only way that phosphorus is
released into the cycle? Habitat - ✔✔Where an organism lives. Generalist - ✔✔A species
with wide ranging diet. In absence of a predator, this group can overtake an ecosystem.
Specialist - ✔✔A species with a small ranging diet that is susceptible to disturbances.
Succession - ✔✔Over time, communities are replaced. One community alters the
environment in a way that is ideal for another. Primary Succession - ✔✔An ecological
succession that begins in an area where no biotic components exist. (Takes thousands of
years) Climax Community - ✔✔Community that is in equilibrium, assumes no disturbance
has occurred since establishment. Secondary Succession - ✔✔An ecological succession
that occurs after a disturbance (partial disruption). (Faster than its counterpart). Law of
Tolerance - ✔✔Degree to which living organisms are capable of tolerating changes in their
environment. Range of Tolerance - ✔✔The limits to the abiotic conditions that a species
can tolerate. Temperature, Moisture, Light, and Soil - ✔✔What are 4 limiting abiotic
factors? Competition, Predation, and Food Supply - ✔✔What are 3 limiting biotic factors?
Bergmann's Rule - ✔✔(Warm-blooded) Animals that live in cold climates have large body
size. ex. Polar Bear Allen's Rule - ✔✔(Warm-blooded) Animals that live in cold climates
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED SOLUTIONS
Mild Mid-Latitude (C) - ✔✔Climate group with relatively moderate temperatures and strong
seasonality. Mediterranean (Csa,Csb) - ✔✔Climate type with dry summers, mild coastal
and hot inland summers, on the western side of landforms, and are highly affected by the
Westerlies in the winter. Humid Subtropical (Cfa) - ✔✔A climate type on the eastern side of
landforms, have hot summers due to a high continentality, wetter than other types in
group, and with little precipitation seasonality. Cfa (Humid Subtropical) - ✔✔To what
climate group does Arkansas belong? Marine West Coast (Cfb,Cfc) - ✔✔A climate type
that is further N/S than others in group, found on west coasts with ample precipitation
(constant drizzly weather), and is influenced by the Westerlies and on-shore flow of
moisture. Severe Mid-Latitude Climates (D) - ✔✔Climate group that is wet year-round, with
short summers and long winters, and is only found in the Northern Hemisphere. Humid
Continental (Dfa,Dfb,Dwa,Dwb) - ✔✔Climate type found on eastern side of continents
with year round moisture. Sub Arctic (Dfc,Dfd,Dwc,Dwd) - ✔✔Climate type with brief
summers and long winters, influenced by westerlies in the summer, relatively low
precipitation, and extreme continentality. Polar Climates (E) - ✔✔Climate group with no
summers and no trees, a large annual net loss of radiation, and high albedo. Tundra (ET) -
✔✔Climate type with short, cool summers, some vegetation and some naked ground. Ice
Sheets (EF) - ✔✔Climate type with permanent ice cover, little to no precipitation, low
insolation, high albedo, and high elevation. Highland (H) - ✔✔A climate group influenced
by elevation/altitude and exposure. No climographs can be made of this group. These
climates are a mosaic of microclimates that can be split into vertical zones. Exposure -
✔✔Degree of shelter from wind and erosion. Highlands experience a high level of this.
Slope Aspect - ✔✔The direction in which a slope is facing. Noted by a cardinal direction.
Biogeography - ✔✔The study of how environmental factors affect locations, distributions,
and patterns of organisms. Ecosystem - ✔✔Communities of organisms that function
together in an interdependent relationship with the environment. Population -> Community
-> Ecosystem - ✔✔What are the three levels of ecosystem organization? Autotrophs -
✔✔Organisms that make their own food/energy. Heterotrophs - ✔✔An organism that
obtains food/energy by eating other organisms or their by-products. Herbivore - ✔✔A
consumer that eats only plants. Carnivore - ✔✔A consumer that eats only animals.
Omnivore - ✔✔A consumer that eats both plants and animals. Detritivore - ✔✔A consumer
that eats dead plant and animal matter. They recycle matter, which is necessary because
, Earth is a closed ecosystem. - ✔✔Why are detritivores so important? Law of Conservation
of Matter - ✔✔Matter is not created or destroyed, only changes forms. Matter -
✔✔Anything that occupies space and is perceptible to the senses. Law of Conservation of
Energy - ✔✔Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changes forms. Energy - ✔✔The
ability to do work/cause change. Potential and Kinetic Energy - ✔✔What are the two main
types of energy we discussed? Potential Energy - ✔✔Stored, higher quality energy, low
entropy. Kinetic Energy - ✔✔The energy of movement, lower quality energy, high entropy.
Entropy - ✔✔The amount of disorder in a system. The First Law of Thermodynamics -
✔✔Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The
Second Law of Thermodynamics - ✔✔Every energy transfer or transformation increases
the entropy of the universe (lowers the quality of the energy). Trophic Level - ✔✔A feeding
level in a food chain or food web. Food Chain - ✔✔Feeding sequence in an ecosystem.
Food Web - ✔✔Overlapping food chains in an ecosystem. Nutrient Cycles - ✔✔The
circular flow of an element through abiotic and biotic systems. Elements - ✔✔A molecule
that cannot be further decomposed into constituents. Nitrogen, Carbon, and Phosphorus -
✔✔What are the three main nutrient cycles? Nitrification - ✔✔Makes solid nitrogen from
atmospheric N2. Denitrification - ✔✔N2 from solid nitrogen, adds to the atmosphere.
Atmosphere, Ocean, and Biomass - ✔✔What are the three main reservoirs of the carbon
cycle? Weathering of phosphorus rocks - ✔✔What is the only way that phosphorus is
released into the cycle? Habitat - ✔✔Where an organism lives. Generalist - ✔✔A species
with wide ranging diet. In absence of a predator, this group can overtake an ecosystem.
Specialist - ✔✔A species with a small ranging diet that is susceptible to disturbances.
Succession - ✔✔Over time, communities are replaced. One community alters the
environment in a way that is ideal for another. Primary Succession - ✔✔An ecological
succession that begins in an area where no biotic components exist. (Takes thousands of
years) Climax Community - ✔✔Community that is in equilibrium, assumes no disturbance
has occurred since establishment. Secondary Succession - ✔✔An ecological succession
that occurs after a disturbance (partial disruption). (Faster than its counterpart). Law of
Tolerance - ✔✔Degree to which living organisms are capable of tolerating changes in their
environment. Range of Tolerance - ✔✔The limits to the abiotic conditions that a species
can tolerate. Temperature, Moisture, Light, and Soil - ✔✔What are 4 limiting abiotic
factors? Competition, Predation, and Food Supply - ✔✔What are 3 limiting biotic factors?
Bergmann's Rule - ✔✔(Warm-blooded) Animals that live in cold climates have large body
size. ex. Polar Bear Allen's Rule - ✔✔(Warm-blooded) Animals that live in cold climates
