AP BIOLOGY EXAM 2025/2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Type III Surviorship Curve - ✔✔very high death rates for the young and then
declines for those few individuals that survive the early period (insects)
✔✔Symbiosis - ✔✔an ecological relationship between organisms of two different
species that live together in direct and intimate contact
✔✔Commensalism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the
other is neither helped nor harmed
✔✔Mutualism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit
✔✔Parasitism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which one organism (the parasite)
benefits at the expense of another (the host) by living either within or on its host
✔✔Intraspecific Competition - ✔✔interactions between the same species competing for
resources
✔✔Interspecific Competition - ✔✔competition for resources between individuals of two
or more species when resources are in short supply
✔✔Predation - ✔✔an interaction between species in which one species (the predator)
eats the other (the prey)
✔✔Aposematic Coloration - ✔✔the bright coloration of animals with effective physical or
chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators
✔✔Batesian Mimicry - ✔✔a type of mimicry in which a harmless species look like a
species that is poisonous or harmful to predators
✔✔Cryptic Coloration - ✔✔camouflage that makes a potential prey difficult to spot
against its background
✔✔Mullerian Mimicry - ✔✔a mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species
✔✔Pioneer Species - ✔✔the first species to colonize previously disrupted or damaged
ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more
biodiverse steady-state ecosystem
✔✔Climax Community - ✔✔in a community of organisms in a specific area there is one
state of equilibrium controlled solely by climate
, ✔✔Succession - ✔✔the process by which the structure of a biological community
evolves over time
✔✔Primary Succession - ✔✔a type of ecological succession that occurs in an area
where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not yet formed
✔✔Secondary Succession - ✔✔a type of succession that occurs where an existing
community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substance
intact
✔✔Photoautotrophs - ✔✔an organism that harnesses light energy to drive the synthesis
of organic compounds from Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
✔✔Chemoautotrophs - ✔✔an organism that needs only CO2 as a carbon source but
obtains energy by oxidizing inorganic substances
✔✔Herbivore - ✔✔an animal that eats mainly plants or algae
✔✔Carnivore - ✔✔an animal that mainly eats other animals
✔✔Detritivore - ✔✔a consumer that derives its energy and nutrients from nonliving
organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living
organism (a decomposer)
✔✔Food Chain - ✔✔the pathway along which food energy is transferred from trophic
level to trophic level, beginning with producers
✔✔Food Web - ✔✔the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem
✔✔Trophic Levels - ✔✔the positions organisms occupy in a food chain
✔✔Secondary Consumer - ✔✔a carnivore that eats herbivores
✔✔Primary Consumer - ✔✔a herbivore; an organism that eats plants or other
autotrophs
✔✔Biogeochemical Cycles - ✔✔any of the various chemical cycles, which involve both
biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems
✔✔Carbon Cycle - ✔✔forming the framework of organic molecules, photosynthesis &
cellular respiration circulate this nutrient
✔✔Phosphorus Cycle - ✔✔cycling of this nutrient through geologic processes such as
erosion and sedimentation
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Type III Surviorship Curve - ✔✔very high death rates for the young and then
declines for those few individuals that survive the early period (insects)
✔✔Symbiosis - ✔✔an ecological relationship between organisms of two different
species that live together in direct and intimate contact
✔✔Commensalism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the
other is neither helped nor harmed
✔✔Mutualism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit
✔✔Parasitism - ✔✔a symbiotic relationship in which one organism (the parasite)
benefits at the expense of another (the host) by living either within or on its host
✔✔Intraspecific Competition - ✔✔interactions between the same species competing for
resources
✔✔Interspecific Competition - ✔✔competition for resources between individuals of two
or more species when resources are in short supply
✔✔Predation - ✔✔an interaction between species in which one species (the predator)
eats the other (the prey)
✔✔Aposematic Coloration - ✔✔the bright coloration of animals with effective physical or
chemical defenses that acts as a warning to predators
✔✔Batesian Mimicry - ✔✔a type of mimicry in which a harmless species look like a
species that is poisonous or harmful to predators
✔✔Cryptic Coloration - ✔✔camouflage that makes a potential prey difficult to spot
against its background
✔✔Mullerian Mimicry - ✔✔a mutual mimicry by two unpalatable species
✔✔Pioneer Species - ✔✔the first species to colonize previously disrupted or damaged
ecosystems, beginning a chain of ecological succession that ultimately leads to a more
biodiverse steady-state ecosystem
✔✔Climax Community - ✔✔in a community of organisms in a specific area there is one
state of equilibrium controlled solely by climate
, ✔✔Succession - ✔✔the process by which the structure of a biological community
evolves over time
✔✔Primary Succession - ✔✔a type of ecological succession that occurs in an area
where there were originally no organisms present and where soil has not yet formed
✔✔Secondary Succession - ✔✔a type of succession that occurs where an existing
community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil or substance
intact
✔✔Photoautotrophs - ✔✔an organism that harnesses light energy to drive the synthesis
of organic compounds from Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
✔✔Chemoautotrophs - ✔✔an organism that needs only CO2 as a carbon source but
obtains energy by oxidizing inorganic substances
✔✔Herbivore - ✔✔an animal that eats mainly plants or algae
✔✔Carnivore - ✔✔an animal that mainly eats other animals
✔✔Detritivore - ✔✔a consumer that derives its energy and nutrients from nonliving
organic material such as corpses, fallen plant material, and the wastes of living
organism (a decomposer)
✔✔Food Chain - ✔✔the pathway along which food energy is transferred from trophic
level to trophic level, beginning with producers
✔✔Food Web - ✔✔the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem
✔✔Trophic Levels - ✔✔the positions organisms occupy in a food chain
✔✔Secondary Consumer - ✔✔a carnivore that eats herbivores
✔✔Primary Consumer - ✔✔a herbivore; an organism that eats plants or other
autotrophs
✔✔Biogeochemical Cycles - ✔✔any of the various chemical cycles, which involve both
biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems
✔✔Carbon Cycle - ✔✔forming the framework of organic molecules, photosynthesis &
cellular respiration circulate this nutrient
✔✔Phosphorus Cycle - ✔✔cycling of this nutrient through geologic processes such as
erosion and sedimentation
