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[UCSB] EEMB 2 - Midterm 1 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
What is ecology? Ans: The distribution and abundance of organisms and WHY (what
factors, interactions, etc.)
What book did Aristotle write that contributed to ecology? What did he contribute?
Ans: Historia Animalium; he was able to explain 'divine' events with natural
processes
What book triggered the environmental movement of the 60's, and the first time
ecology was seen as rigorous and serious? Ans: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Any environment is made up of its ________________ and ________________
components. Ans: Biotic and abiotic
What are abiotic components? Give examples. Ans: Nonliving components of an
environment, e.g. temperature, soil composition, etc.
What are biotic components? Give examples. Ans: Living components of an
environment, e.g. competition, predation, etc.
We learn less and less as we move (lower/higher) on the biological scales. Ans:
Higher
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What is a population? Ans: Two or more individuals of the same species in a defined
geographical location
What is a community? Ans: Two or more populations of two or more different
species living in a defined geographical location
What is an ecosystem? Ans: A collection of communities and their physical
environment
What 3 'spheres' make up the biosphere? Ans: Lithosphere, hydrosphere, and
atmosphere
We gain _________ but lose ___________ when making experiments to study
ecology (rather than studying ecology out as it is naturally) Ans: We gain accuracy
but lose authenticity
What is the purpose of ecology? Ans: To predict, manage, and control the
environment
How do we use statistics to estimate the size of a population? Ans: By taking a
random sample to act as a small representative subset and basing our estimate off of
that
P-value Ans: The probability value; how much 'confidence' we have in our
conclusions (if less than 5%, generally acceptable)
What do we use frequency distribution for? Ans: To find probability
Is biological data generally distributed in a 'normal' curve? Ans: Yes
What does the Z-test in statistics tell us? Ans: How much above or below the mean
something is
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What is Graunt the father of? Ans: Demography (1662)
What kind of growth was Leeuwenhoek interested in? Ans: Population growth (ie,
insects) (1687)
What did Malthus believe? Was he right or wrong? Ans: That populations grow
exponentially but food grows linearly, this was wrong (1798)
What did Quetelet believe? Ans: That growth (population, food, etc.) is somehow
controlled by the environment (logistic growth)
What did Verhulst do? Ans: Came up with an equation (describes the logistic growth
of populations) to prove Quetelet's theory of logistic growth
What is Farr's rule? Ans: As population density increases, so do mortality rates
What were Forbes and Cowles the first to study? Ans: Community regulation and
succession (species replacement)
What did Robert Ross study? Ans: Systems analysis (mathematical modeling of the
spread of infectious disease)
What did Tansley, Clements, and Elton study? Through what means? Ans: The
"why" of ecology, through experiments - became more or less the fathers of modern
ecology (early 1900's)
Weather Ans: Short-term atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place
Climate Ans: Average atmospheric conditions and the extent of their variation over
a long time
What causes seasons? Ans: The tilt of Earth's axis
[UCSB] EEMB 2 - Midterm 1 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
What is ecology? Ans: The distribution and abundance of organisms and WHY (what
factors, interactions, etc.)
What book did Aristotle write that contributed to ecology? What did he contribute?
Ans: Historia Animalium; he was able to explain 'divine' events with natural
processes
What book triggered the environmental movement of the 60's, and the first time
ecology was seen as rigorous and serious? Ans: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Any environment is made up of its ________________ and ________________
components. Ans: Biotic and abiotic
What are abiotic components? Give examples. Ans: Nonliving components of an
environment, e.g. temperature, soil composition, etc.
What are biotic components? Give examples. Ans: Living components of an
environment, e.g. competition, predation, etc.
We learn less and less as we move (lower/higher) on the biological scales. Ans:
Higher
, Page | 2
What is a population? Ans: Two or more individuals of the same species in a defined
geographical location
What is a community? Ans: Two or more populations of two or more different
species living in a defined geographical location
What is an ecosystem? Ans: A collection of communities and their physical
environment
What 3 'spheres' make up the biosphere? Ans: Lithosphere, hydrosphere, and
atmosphere
We gain _________ but lose ___________ when making experiments to study
ecology (rather than studying ecology out as it is naturally) Ans: We gain accuracy
but lose authenticity
What is the purpose of ecology? Ans: To predict, manage, and control the
environment
How do we use statistics to estimate the size of a population? Ans: By taking a
random sample to act as a small representative subset and basing our estimate off of
that
P-value Ans: The probability value; how much 'confidence' we have in our
conclusions (if less than 5%, generally acceptable)
What do we use frequency distribution for? Ans: To find probability
Is biological data generally distributed in a 'normal' curve? Ans: Yes
What does the Z-test in statistics tell us? Ans: How much above or below the mean
something is
, Page | 3
What is Graunt the father of? Ans: Demography (1662)
What kind of growth was Leeuwenhoek interested in? Ans: Population growth (ie,
insects) (1687)
What did Malthus believe? Was he right or wrong? Ans: That populations grow
exponentially but food grows linearly, this was wrong (1798)
What did Quetelet believe? Ans: That growth (population, food, etc.) is somehow
controlled by the environment (logistic growth)
What did Verhulst do? Ans: Came up with an equation (describes the logistic growth
of populations) to prove Quetelet's theory of logistic growth
What is Farr's rule? Ans: As population density increases, so do mortality rates
What were Forbes and Cowles the first to study? Ans: Community regulation and
succession (species replacement)
What did Robert Ross study? Ans: Systems analysis (mathematical modeling of the
spread of infectious disease)
What did Tansley, Clements, and Elton study? Through what means? Ans: The
"why" of ecology, through experiments - became more or less the fathers of modern
ecology (early 1900's)
Weather Ans: Short-term atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place
Climate Ans: Average atmospheric conditions and the extent of their variation over
a long time
What causes seasons? Ans: The tilt of Earth's axis
