BIO 212 Vandergon Exam Questions and Answers Fully Solved Latest Version 2025-2026
continental drift - Answers The hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's
surface.
Pangea - Answers A supercontinent containing all of Earth's land that existed about 225 million
years ago.
Laurasia - Answers Late Paleozoic, Northern Hemisphere continent composed of the present-
day continents of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia
Gondwana - Answers late Paleozoic continent that formed the southern portion of Pangaea,
consisting of all or parts of present-day South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica
seafloor spreading - Answers The process that creates new sea floor as plates move away from
each other at the mid-ocean ridges
subduction zone - Answers in tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under
a continental plate.
Biogeography - Answers Geographic distribution of species.
disjunct distribution - Answers Occurrence of widely distributed and isolated populations or
species within a taxon
dispersal - Answers the movement of organisms from one place to another
Vicariance - Answers The physical splitting of a population into smaller, isolated populations by
a geographic barrier.
Emigration - Answers movement of individuals out of an area
immigration - Answers Movement of individuals into a population
Wallace Line - Answers A line in the Indonesian region that demarcates two areas, each of
which is characterized by a distinct set of animal species.
Biosphere - Answers Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists,
including land, water, and the atmosphere.
Lithosphere - Answers the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Hydrosphere - Answers All the water at and near the surface of the earth, 97% of which is in
oceans
Latitudinal Zones - Answers Equatorial (Tropical), Sub tropical, Mid latitude, Sub polar, Polar
Ocean conveyer belt - Answers Constantly moving system of deep ocean water driven by
, temperature and salinity. The current moves water across the globe, warmer water rises to the
top, cools and then sinks to the bottom
greenhouse effect - Answers CO2 and water vapor in the atmosphere absorb heat energy
reradiated from the earth, leading to warming of atmospheric air. This is one of the leading
causes of global warming which is leading to climate change. CO2 and other greenhouse gases
are let into the atmosphere by sources such as emissions from cars, industrial plants, waste
disposal, trees, marine carbon pumps, and even animals. There are carbon sinks that absorb
this Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, the two main carbon sinks are: the forest and the
ocean.
Biome - Answers Major Biotic unit with distinctive dominant plants and animals. Biomes are
distinctive but their boundaries are not distinctive (ecotone), communities will blend into one
another. Ecocline: A gradient from one ecosystem to another. Ecotone: A transition area
between two biomes. Biome characteristics include - soil type, elevation, climate
(temperature/rainfall), seasons, fauna and flora, endemic species, food webs and human
influence or impacts. Biomes subdivisions include the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere(78%
nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, .93% argon, .04%), troposphere, and stratosphere
Food web - Answers Represents the feeding relationships within a community. describes the
transfer of food and energy, more complex than a food chain.
Palegic zone - Answers The pelagic zone contains all of the open ocean, from the surface to the
bottom of the sea. It contains the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. The pelagic zone, while
making up the vast majority of oceanic volume, contains relatively little of the total oceanic
biodiversity. Most life is found in the intertidal zone, or the benthic zone at the bottom of the
seafloor. The pelagic zone is home to large marine mammals like dolphins and whales, as well
as plankton.
epipelagic zone - Answers The epipelagic zone is the upper region of the pelagic zone extending
from the surface, to about 200m below the surface level. The epipelagic contains the nutrient-
rich photic zone, where phytoplankton live off of sunlight and nutrients brought by currents.
Nearly all other oceanic life depends on the "rain" of organic matter from the upper extenses of
the epipelagic zone.
mesoplagic zone - Answers Known as the twilight zone, the mesopelagic zone, extedning from
about 200m to 1000m in depth, is the region between the epipelagic zone, and the
abyssopelagic zone at the bottom of the ocean. Characteristic animals include: squid, species
of jellyfish, some fish and zooplankton.
photic zone - Answers The uppermost layer of the ocean that recieves sunlight consistently.
Contact with sunlight allows photosynthesis to occur in this layer. Primary producers are mostly
concentrated in this zone which makes it one of the most important zones.
continental drift - Answers The hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's
surface.
Pangea - Answers A supercontinent containing all of Earth's land that existed about 225 million
years ago.
Laurasia - Answers Late Paleozoic, Northern Hemisphere continent composed of the present-
day continents of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia
Gondwana - Answers late Paleozoic continent that formed the southern portion of Pangaea,
consisting of all or parts of present-day South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica
seafloor spreading - Answers The process that creates new sea floor as plates move away from
each other at the mid-ocean ridges
subduction zone - Answers in tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under
a continental plate.
Biogeography - Answers Geographic distribution of species.
disjunct distribution - Answers Occurrence of widely distributed and isolated populations or
species within a taxon
dispersal - Answers the movement of organisms from one place to another
Vicariance - Answers The physical splitting of a population into smaller, isolated populations by
a geographic barrier.
Emigration - Answers movement of individuals out of an area
immigration - Answers Movement of individuals into a population
Wallace Line - Answers A line in the Indonesian region that demarcates two areas, each of
which is characterized by a distinct set of animal species.
Biosphere - Answers Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life exists,
including land, water, and the atmosphere.
Lithosphere - Answers the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Hydrosphere - Answers All the water at and near the surface of the earth, 97% of which is in
oceans
Latitudinal Zones - Answers Equatorial (Tropical), Sub tropical, Mid latitude, Sub polar, Polar
Ocean conveyer belt - Answers Constantly moving system of deep ocean water driven by
, temperature and salinity. The current moves water across the globe, warmer water rises to the
top, cools and then sinks to the bottom
greenhouse effect - Answers CO2 and water vapor in the atmosphere absorb heat energy
reradiated from the earth, leading to warming of atmospheric air. This is one of the leading
causes of global warming which is leading to climate change. CO2 and other greenhouse gases
are let into the atmosphere by sources such as emissions from cars, industrial plants, waste
disposal, trees, marine carbon pumps, and even animals. There are carbon sinks that absorb
this Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere, the two main carbon sinks are: the forest and the
ocean.
Biome - Answers Major Biotic unit with distinctive dominant plants and animals. Biomes are
distinctive but their boundaries are not distinctive (ecotone), communities will blend into one
another. Ecocline: A gradient from one ecosystem to another. Ecotone: A transition area
between two biomes. Biome characteristics include - soil type, elevation, climate
(temperature/rainfall), seasons, fauna and flora, endemic species, food webs and human
influence or impacts. Biomes subdivisions include the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere(78%
nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, .93% argon, .04%), troposphere, and stratosphere
Food web - Answers Represents the feeding relationships within a community. describes the
transfer of food and energy, more complex than a food chain.
Palegic zone - Answers The pelagic zone contains all of the open ocean, from the surface to the
bottom of the sea. It contains the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. The pelagic zone, while
making up the vast majority of oceanic volume, contains relatively little of the total oceanic
biodiversity. Most life is found in the intertidal zone, or the benthic zone at the bottom of the
seafloor. The pelagic zone is home to large marine mammals like dolphins and whales, as well
as plankton.
epipelagic zone - Answers The epipelagic zone is the upper region of the pelagic zone extending
from the surface, to about 200m below the surface level. The epipelagic contains the nutrient-
rich photic zone, where phytoplankton live off of sunlight and nutrients brought by currents.
Nearly all other oceanic life depends on the "rain" of organic matter from the upper extenses of
the epipelagic zone.
mesoplagic zone - Answers Known as the twilight zone, the mesopelagic zone, extedning from
about 200m to 1000m in depth, is the region between the epipelagic zone, and the
abyssopelagic zone at the bottom of the ocean. Characteristic animals include: squid, species
of jellyfish, some fish and zooplankton.
photic zone - Answers The uppermost layer of the ocean that recieves sunlight consistently.
Contact with sunlight allows photosynthesis to occur in this layer. Primary producers are mostly
concentrated in this zone which makes it one of the most important zones.
