BIO 181 FINAL EXAM UPDATED VERIFIED
QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS (2026)
●● What happens when an organism runs out of energy?
Answer: it dies
●● A loss (reduction) of biodiversity also reduces an ecosystem's
________.
Answer: stability
●● If you had a billion dollars and wanted to use it to address the main
issue causing extinction, how would you spend your money?
Answer: conserving ecosystems of plants
●● Eukaryotes have _____________, which prokaryotes do not.
Answer: organelles
●● Which organisms are MOST likely to speciate?
Answer: a species with wide distribution; a species with wide range of
reproductive/courtship behaviors
,●● You catch, mark, and release 100 squirrels on NC State campus. A
week later, you trap 200 squirrels; 20 have the previous marks. What is
the estimated size of squirrels on NC State's campus?
Answer: 1000
●● You are researching two populations of prairie dogs.
Population A averages 8 baby prairie dogs per litter. Population B
averages 5 baby prairie dogs per litter.
Given what you know about the relationship between offspring number
and size, what prediction can you make?
Answer: c. Population B will have larger baby prairie dogs
●● What is the current extinction rate?
Answer: 100,000 species/yr
●● Order of Taxonomic Groups
Answer: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus,
Species
●● What is the largest contribution to extinction?
Answer: habitat destruction + climate change
,●● Ecology
Answer: study of relationships between organisms
●● Population
Answer: a subset of a species, living in the same place/time; interacts
frequently
●● Community
Answer: all of the populations (many different species) in a given area;
interspecies interactions
●● Ecosystem
Answer: community in an area + abiotic factors (rainfall, temperature,
nutrients)
●● Reproductive Growth (r)
Answer: (birth-death)+(immigration-emigration)/ starting population
size
●● Density-Dependent
Answer: limiting factor that depends on population size (predation,
disease, starvation)
, ●● Density-Independent
Answer: limiting factor that affects all populations in similar ways,
regardless of population size (weather, earthquakes, fires)
●● By spending lots of energy on raising young, ___-selected parents
perform acts of altruism known as ___________.
Answer: K : inclusive fitness
●● According to the idea of coevolution between predator and prey,
what happens if the prey species evolves a new defense against the
predator?
Answer: the evolution of a corresponding predator response will
overcome the prey's defense
●● Which location should support the most tertiary consumers?
Answer: a location on the equator
●● In the water cycle, ____ influences evaporation the most while ____
influences precipitation the most.
Answer: sunlight : altitude
●● Nitrogen is often a limiting nutrient in ecosystems because...
Answer: most organisms cannot use nitrogen from the atmosphere
QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS (2026)
●● What happens when an organism runs out of energy?
Answer: it dies
●● A loss (reduction) of biodiversity also reduces an ecosystem's
________.
Answer: stability
●● If you had a billion dollars and wanted to use it to address the main
issue causing extinction, how would you spend your money?
Answer: conserving ecosystems of plants
●● Eukaryotes have _____________, which prokaryotes do not.
Answer: organelles
●● Which organisms are MOST likely to speciate?
Answer: a species with wide distribution; a species with wide range of
reproductive/courtship behaviors
,●● You catch, mark, and release 100 squirrels on NC State campus. A
week later, you trap 200 squirrels; 20 have the previous marks. What is
the estimated size of squirrels on NC State's campus?
Answer: 1000
●● You are researching two populations of prairie dogs.
Population A averages 8 baby prairie dogs per litter. Population B
averages 5 baby prairie dogs per litter.
Given what you know about the relationship between offspring number
and size, what prediction can you make?
Answer: c. Population B will have larger baby prairie dogs
●● What is the current extinction rate?
Answer: 100,000 species/yr
●● Order of Taxonomic Groups
Answer: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus,
Species
●● What is the largest contribution to extinction?
Answer: habitat destruction + climate change
,●● Ecology
Answer: study of relationships between organisms
●● Population
Answer: a subset of a species, living in the same place/time; interacts
frequently
●● Community
Answer: all of the populations (many different species) in a given area;
interspecies interactions
●● Ecosystem
Answer: community in an area + abiotic factors (rainfall, temperature,
nutrients)
●● Reproductive Growth (r)
Answer: (birth-death)+(immigration-emigration)/ starting population
size
●● Density-Dependent
Answer: limiting factor that depends on population size (predation,
disease, starvation)
, ●● Density-Independent
Answer: limiting factor that affects all populations in similar ways,
regardless of population size (weather, earthquakes, fires)
●● By spending lots of energy on raising young, ___-selected parents
perform acts of altruism known as ___________.
Answer: K : inclusive fitness
●● According to the idea of coevolution between predator and prey,
what happens if the prey species evolves a new defense against the
predator?
Answer: the evolution of a corresponding predator response will
overcome the prey's defense
●● Which location should support the most tertiary consumers?
Answer: a location on the equator
●● In the water cycle, ____ influences evaporation the most while ____
influences precipitation the most.
Answer: sunlight : altitude
●● Nitrogen is often a limiting nutrient in ecosystems because...
Answer: most organisms cannot use nitrogen from the atmosphere
