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Water depth, water flow, salinity, and nutrient availability are important abiotic factors in aquatic
biomes True
Once nutrients sink to the bottom of lakes, they're no longer available to organisms. False
Explain how the open ocean is similar to the desert, and how it isn't. Like deserts, open
oceans have plenty of sunlight but very low productivity.
Unlike deserts, which are water limited, open oceans are nutrient limited.
Temperature forest in China and temperature forest in North America are part of the same biome
but are distinct ecosystems..explain Temperature forests in China and North America are
part of the same biome because they're both dominated by deciduous forests and have similar
temperature and precipitation profiles. However, the particular species found in each are different
due to historical factors making each ecosystem unique.
Compare the distribution of the natural terrestrial biomes of eastern North America with the
distrubution of anthropogenic biomes. The natural biome of eastern North America is
, BIO 212 EXAM 4 (FINAL) Questions and
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primarily temperate forest. However, most of this area's now occupied by human-influenced
biomes such as cities, suburbs, and farmland.
Which statement is the best explanation for seasonality on Mars? Mars is tilted on its axis
Scientists predict that global climate change will cause a greater increase in average temperature
at higher latitudes than in the tropics. This seems like good news since most of the worlds
biodiversity occurs in the tropics. However, recent data suggest that a smaller temperature
change in the tropics will cause a larger physiological response in organisms there than the larger
temperature change will in organisms in temperate areas. Based on what you have learned about
thermal niches in this chapter, propose a hypothesis to explain this. Temperature is
relatively constant in the tropics all year, whereas temperature fluctuates dramatically at higher
latitudes. Organisms that are physiologically adapted to constant temperatures may not have as
much genetic variation for traits that enable adaptation to higher temperatures. compared to
organisms at higher latitudes, which are adapted to tolerate different temperatures at different
times of the year.
Why are species like the lionfish considered invasive? They spread aggressively and
displace native species
, BIO 212 EXAM 4 (FINAL) Questions and
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DNA studies suggest that the lionfish invasion began with the few females released off the coast
of Florida, probably from a fish tank. Based on your knowledge of ocean currents, predict the
direction in which the lionfish dispersed most quickly. The North Atlantic Gyre flows in a
clockwise direction, so the prevailing current on the Florida coast would be south to north, and it
would disperse lionfish up the coast.
List the 5 main levels of ecological study, and write a question about the ecology of lionfish that
you could research at each level. Organismal: What range of salinities can lionfish
tolerate?
Population: What's the growth rate of the lionfish population?
Community: How are the lionfish affecting other species in the coral-reef community?
Ecosystem: How do lionfish affect the net primary productivity of the coral reef?
Global: How will climate change and ocean acidification affect the invasive behavior of lionfish?
Volunteer conservation organizations have hosted "lionfish derbies" and lionfish cookouts to
promote the capture of thousands of lionfish from reefs in Florida and the Bahamas.
Conservationists are also trying to promote a fishery for these small but tasty fish. Give one
reason that it would be easy to promote the consumption of lionfish. Describe one possible
challenge to this effort. It would be easy to convince people about the devastating effects