BIOL 180 Exam Concepts and Questions with Answers | 2026/2027 | Complete
Biology Exam Study Guide
What is the most important difference between species richness and species diversity? -
(ANSWER)Species diversity takes species number AND relative frequency into account.
What is the key difference between primary productivity and net primary productivity? - (ANSWER)Net
primary productivity represents just the energy used to build biomass.
"Diversity leads to stability." This slogan claims that ecosystems with a large number of species present
are more stable than ecosystems with a low number of species. Which of the following lines of evidence
support this claim? - (ANSWER)As the number of plant species increases, resistance and resilience
increases
What is biomass? - (ANSWER)total organic matter, usually measured per plant or per square meter
Why would a sampling effect lead to higher productivity in an experimental plot? - (ANSWER)If a few
highly productive species are present in a community, biomass production will be a function of whether
or not they are present.
What is a functional group? - (ANSWER)Species that use resources or allocate resources in a similar way
In biological communities, what is "resistance?" - (ANSWER)degree of change during and after a
disturbance
In biological communities, what is "resilience?" - (ANSWER)ability to "bounce back" after a disturbance,
to the pre-disturbance conditiion
What is a "natural experiment?" - (ANSWER)an unplanned/unmanipulated change in environmental
conditions that can be exploited to answer a question
What is the difference between climate and weather? - (ANSWER)Climate consists of long-term
conditions; weather consists of short-term conditions.
, BIOL 180 Exam Concepts and Questions with Answers | 2026/2027 | Complete
Biology Exam Study Guide
What causes the Earth's seasons? - (ANSWER)The Earth is tilted on its axis; when the northern
hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, it warms and we're in summer. When it's tilted away, that's winter.
When warm air rises and cools, what happens? - (ANSWER)The air expands and cools, and water
condenses into droplets and falls. Rain!
Why does it rain so much in the Olympic Peninsula? (This is a peninsula west of Seattle, home of the
Olympic mountains.) - (ANSWER)Warm, wet air from the Pacific is pushed up as it passes over the
mountains. The air expands and cools, and the moisture falls as rain.
Why is it so dry in Eastern Washington, on the other side of the Cascade mountains from Seattle? -
(ANSWER)Air coming from over the Pacific Ocean loses its water as it climbs up the Cascades, casting a
rain shadow on the east side of the mountains.
Almost every liquid gets less dense as it warms. Water gets MORE dense as it warms from 0C to 4C. Why
is this bizarre aspect of water so important? - (ANSWER)When the frozen (or nearly frozen) surface of a
lake warms, the water sinks, which pushes nutrient-rich water up from the depths.
Deep oceans do not have a high concentration of fish. Why might that be? - (ANSWER)Light does not
penetrate down into the deep ocean, so there are very few primary producers (plants), so there's little
for fish to eat.
Why does the highly productive fishery off the coast of Peru occasionally have extremely bad years? -
(ANSWER)In El Niño years, the trade winds—which drive an upwelling of nutrients—decrease.
The resource use efficiency hypothesis is an explanation for why productivity increases when plant
species diversity increases. Which of these predictions follows from this hypothesis? - (ANSWER)There
should be a strong positive relationship between the number of functional groups in an experimental
plot and biomass.
Biology Exam Study Guide
What is the most important difference between species richness and species diversity? -
(ANSWER)Species diversity takes species number AND relative frequency into account.
What is the key difference between primary productivity and net primary productivity? - (ANSWER)Net
primary productivity represents just the energy used to build biomass.
"Diversity leads to stability." This slogan claims that ecosystems with a large number of species present
are more stable than ecosystems with a low number of species. Which of the following lines of evidence
support this claim? - (ANSWER)As the number of plant species increases, resistance and resilience
increases
What is biomass? - (ANSWER)total organic matter, usually measured per plant or per square meter
Why would a sampling effect lead to higher productivity in an experimental plot? - (ANSWER)If a few
highly productive species are present in a community, biomass production will be a function of whether
or not they are present.
What is a functional group? - (ANSWER)Species that use resources or allocate resources in a similar way
In biological communities, what is "resistance?" - (ANSWER)degree of change during and after a
disturbance
In biological communities, what is "resilience?" - (ANSWER)ability to "bounce back" after a disturbance,
to the pre-disturbance conditiion
What is a "natural experiment?" - (ANSWER)an unplanned/unmanipulated change in environmental
conditions that can be exploited to answer a question
What is the difference between climate and weather? - (ANSWER)Climate consists of long-term
conditions; weather consists of short-term conditions.
, BIOL 180 Exam Concepts and Questions with Answers | 2026/2027 | Complete
Biology Exam Study Guide
What causes the Earth's seasons? - (ANSWER)The Earth is tilted on its axis; when the northern
hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, it warms and we're in summer. When it's tilted away, that's winter.
When warm air rises and cools, what happens? - (ANSWER)The air expands and cools, and water
condenses into droplets and falls. Rain!
Why does it rain so much in the Olympic Peninsula? (This is a peninsula west of Seattle, home of the
Olympic mountains.) - (ANSWER)Warm, wet air from the Pacific is pushed up as it passes over the
mountains. The air expands and cools, and the moisture falls as rain.
Why is it so dry in Eastern Washington, on the other side of the Cascade mountains from Seattle? -
(ANSWER)Air coming from over the Pacific Ocean loses its water as it climbs up the Cascades, casting a
rain shadow on the east side of the mountains.
Almost every liquid gets less dense as it warms. Water gets MORE dense as it warms from 0C to 4C. Why
is this bizarre aspect of water so important? - (ANSWER)When the frozen (or nearly frozen) surface of a
lake warms, the water sinks, which pushes nutrient-rich water up from the depths.
Deep oceans do not have a high concentration of fish. Why might that be? - (ANSWER)Light does not
penetrate down into the deep ocean, so there are very few primary producers (plants), so there's little
for fish to eat.
Why does the highly productive fishery off the coast of Peru occasionally have extremely bad years? -
(ANSWER)In El Niño years, the trade winds—which drive an upwelling of nutrients—decrease.
The resource use efficiency hypothesis is an explanation for why productivity increases when plant
species diversity increases. Which of these predictions follows from this hypothesis? - (ANSWER)There
should be a strong positive relationship between the number of functional groups in an experimental
plot and biomass.
