Biology Final Exam – Comprehensive Study Guide with
Practice Questions and Correct answers for Cells, Genetics,
Evolution, Ecology, and Body Systems
Interdependence - correct answer Organisms rely on other organisms to survive. Ex: Snails
need plants to eat, and plants need bacteria to recycle nutrients that they need to grow.
Autotrophs - correct answer Organisms that make their own food/energy. Ex: sunflowers.
Decomposers - correct answer Organisms that cause decay, and they put the nutrients back
into the environment. Ex: mushrooms.
Heterotrophs - correct answer Gets food/energy from somewhere else. Ex: Humans.
Niche (both Fundamental and Realized) - correct answer The role that an organism has in the
environment. Fundamental is what the organism can endure. Realized is what the organism
actually does.
Primary Productivity - correct answer How fast producers make energy from the sun.
Succession - correct answer When ecosystems evolve and species are replaced. Ex: when plants
grow back after a forest fire. Ex: when moss grows where a glacier used to be.
Invasive Species - correct answer A species that's brought into an area, not native to it. Ex:
Asian carp.
Competition - correct answer When different species use the same resources. Ex: when plants
compete for room to grow.
Coevolution - correct answer When species adjust themselves back and forth. Ex: Clownfish
have an immunity to anemone toxins. Ex: Monarch butterflies are poisonous so that they won't
get eaten by birds.
Detritivores - correct answer Organisms that eat dead and rotting things. Ex: Vultures.
Trophic Levels - correct answer A level on the food chain according to how an organism gets its
energy. Primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer.
Biomass - correct answer The dry mass of organic matter in a trophic level. Most at the bottom
of the pyramid.
Abiotic factors - correct answer Nonliving things that affect an environment, like the climate.
Biotic factors - correct answer Living things in an ecosystem, like plants and animals.
,Levels of organism/ecological organization - correct answer Individual, Population, Community,
Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere.
Primary succession - correct answer Succession that happens when there's NO SOIL. Ex: Moss
growing where a glacier used to be.
Secondary succession - correct answer Succession where there is already soil, but it's been
damaged. Ex: Trees growing back after a forest fire.
Habitat - correct answer A certain place where a specific species lives. Ex: a bird's nest.
Ecosystem - correct answer Includes community and abiotic factors in an area.
Types of Consumers - correct answer Herbivores (like a deer), carnivores (like a dog), and
omnivores (like a grizzly bear).
Types of Symbiotic Relationships - correct answer Predation - one thing killing another (a grizzly
bear and a salmon), parasitism - one thing is harmed and the other benefits (a flea and a dog),
mutualism - both organisms benefit (bees and flowers), and commensalism - one benefits and
one is unaffected (cattle egrets and cattle).
Factors that affect primary productivity - correct answer Amount of available water - The plant
needs water to survive. Sunlight - The energy comes from the sun. Carbon dioxide - This
increases biomass. Trace elements (like nitrogen and potassium) - helps in being a food source.
Movement of energy through a food chain and web - correct answer The arrows point where
the energy is moving, so it goes from producer to primary consumer, and then to secondary
consumer, and so forth.
Energy pyramid - LEAST amount of energy - correct answer The top has the least amount of
energy because energy is lost every time it gets transferred.
Energy pyramid - MOST amount of energy - correct answer The producers have the most
energy because they get it directly from the sun.
Ecosystem imbalance - correct answer The ecosystem would become unbalanced if one
organism/species were removed.
Limiting factors of a food web - correct answer Energy loss during transfer limits the length of
food chains.
10% Rule - correct answer Only 10% of energy is passed onto the next trophic level; it does NOT
always apply.
Competition - correct answer Communities living in the same area have to compete for
resources, limiting population growth.
, Resource partitioning - correct answer Using the same resource in different ways to avoid
competition.
Temporal partitioning - correct answer Using the resource at different times to avoid
competition.
Spatial partitioning - correct answer Using different areas of the habitat to avoid competition.
Morphological partitioning - correct answer Using different resources based on different
evolved body features.
Primary Producer - correct answer Plankton in the food web.
Primary consumer - correct answer Krill and Adelie penguin in the food web.
Secondary consumer - correct answer Blue whale, albatross, squid, leopard seal in the food
web.
Tertiary consumer - correct answer Albatross, leopard seal, Adelie penguin in the food web.
Krill and Adelie penguin relationship - correct answer The krill is eaten by the squid, which is
eaten by the Adelie penguin.
Population dynamics of albatross and krill - correct answer If the squid population declined, the
krill population would probably increase, and the albatross population would decline.
Energy pyramid analysis - correct answer Using and analyzing an energy pyramid to determine
the dynamics of an ecosystem.
Energy values for Fishes (yellow) - correct answer 39.09 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Fishes (red-orange) - correct answer 300.7 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Insects/Snails - correct answer 3538 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Plants - correct answer 20810 kcal/m^2.
Energy transfer efficiency from Plants to insects/snails - correct answer 17.00144161%.
Energy transfer efficiency from insects/snails to fishes (red-orange) - correct answer About
8.5%.
Energy transfer efficiency from fishes (red-orange) to fishes (yellow) - correct answer About
13%.
Energy available to a predator from the highest trophic level - correct answer About 3.909
kcal/m^2.
Energy received by plants from the sun - correct answer 4162000 kcal/m^2 if they only store
0.5% of the energy.
Practice Questions and Correct answers for Cells, Genetics,
Evolution, Ecology, and Body Systems
Interdependence - correct answer Organisms rely on other organisms to survive. Ex: Snails
need plants to eat, and plants need bacteria to recycle nutrients that they need to grow.
Autotrophs - correct answer Organisms that make their own food/energy. Ex: sunflowers.
Decomposers - correct answer Organisms that cause decay, and they put the nutrients back
into the environment. Ex: mushrooms.
Heterotrophs - correct answer Gets food/energy from somewhere else. Ex: Humans.
Niche (both Fundamental and Realized) - correct answer The role that an organism has in the
environment. Fundamental is what the organism can endure. Realized is what the organism
actually does.
Primary Productivity - correct answer How fast producers make energy from the sun.
Succession - correct answer When ecosystems evolve and species are replaced. Ex: when plants
grow back after a forest fire. Ex: when moss grows where a glacier used to be.
Invasive Species - correct answer A species that's brought into an area, not native to it. Ex:
Asian carp.
Competition - correct answer When different species use the same resources. Ex: when plants
compete for room to grow.
Coevolution - correct answer When species adjust themselves back and forth. Ex: Clownfish
have an immunity to anemone toxins. Ex: Monarch butterflies are poisonous so that they won't
get eaten by birds.
Detritivores - correct answer Organisms that eat dead and rotting things. Ex: Vultures.
Trophic Levels - correct answer A level on the food chain according to how an organism gets its
energy. Primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer.
Biomass - correct answer The dry mass of organic matter in a trophic level. Most at the bottom
of the pyramid.
Abiotic factors - correct answer Nonliving things that affect an environment, like the climate.
Biotic factors - correct answer Living things in an ecosystem, like plants and animals.
,Levels of organism/ecological organization - correct answer Individual, Population, Community,
Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere.
Primary succession - correct answer Succession that happens when there's NO SOIL. Ex: Moss
growing where a glacier used to be.
Secondary succession - correct answer Succession where there is already soil, but it's been
damaged. Ex: Trees growing back after a forest fire.
Habitat - correct answer A certain place where a specific species lives. Ex: a bird's nest.
Ecosystem - correct answer Includes community and abiotic factors in an area.
Types of Consumers - correct answer Herbivores (like a deer), carnivores (like a dog), and
omnivores (like a grizzly bear).
Types of Symbiotic Relationships - correct answer Predation - one thing killing another (a grizzly
bear and a salmon), parasitism - one thing is harmed and the other benefits (a flea and a dog),
mutualism - both organisms benefit (bees and flowers), and commensalism - one benefits and
one is unaffected (cattle egrets and cattle).
Factors that affect primary productivity - correct answer Amount of available water - The plant
needs water to survive. Sunlight - The energy comes from the sun. Carbon dioxide - This
increases biomass. Trace elements (like nitrogen and potassium) - helps in being a food source.
Movement of energy through a food chain and web - correct answer The arrows point where
the energy is moving, so it goes from producer to primary consumer, and then to secondary
consumer, and so forth.
Energy pyramid - LEAST amount of energy - correct answer The top has the least amount of
energy because energy is lost every time it gets transferred.
Energy pyramid - MOST amount of energy - correct answer The producers have the most
energy because they get it directly from the sun.
Ecosystem imbalance - correct answer The ecosystem would become unbalanced if one
organism/species were removed.
Limiting factors of a food web - correct answer Energy loss during transfer limits the length of
food chains.
10% Rule - correct answer Only 10% of energy is passed onto the next trophic level; it does NOT
always apply.
Competition - correct answer Communities living in the same area have to compete for
resources, limiting population growth.
, Resource partitioning - correct answer Using the same resource in different ways to avoid
competition.
Temporal partitioning - correct answer Using the resource at different times to avoid
competition.
Spatial partitioning - correct answer Using different areas of the habitat to avoid competition.
Morphological partitioning - correct answer Using different resources based on different
evolved body features.
Primary Producer - correct answer Plankton in the food web.
Primary consumer - correct answer Krill and Adelie penguin in the food web.
Secondary consumer - correct answer Blue whale, albatross, squid, leopard seal in the food
web.
Tertiary consumer - correct answer Albatross, leopard seal, Adelie penguin in the food web.
Krill and Adelie penguin relationship - correct answer The krill is eaten by the squid, which is
eaten by the Adelie penguin.
Population dynamics of albatross and krill - correct answer If the squid population declined, the
krill population would probably increase, and the albatross population would decline.
Energy pyramid analysis - correct answer Using and analyzing an energy pyramid to determine
the dynamics of an ecosystem.
Energy values for Fishes (yellow) - correct answer 39.09 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Fishes (red-orange) - correct answer 300.7 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Insects/Snails - correct answer 3538 kcal/m^2.
Energy values for Plants - correct answer 20810 kcal/m^2.
Energy transfer efficiency from Plants to insects/snails - correct answer 17.00144161%.
Energy transfer efficiency from insects/snails to fishes (red-orange) - correct answer About
8.5%.
Energy transfer efficiency from fishes (red-orange) to fishes (yellow) - correct answer About
13%.
Energy available to a predator from the highest trophic level - correct answer About 3.909
kcal/m^2.
Energy received by plants from the sun - correct answer 4162000 kcal/m^2 if they only store
0.5% of the energy.
