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ENVS 200 Final Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Metapopulation - ANS a population consisting of a collection of subpopulations, each one of
which has a realistic chance both of going extinct and of appearing again through
recolonization.
habitat patches - ANS Areas of suitable habitat for a species that are separated by areas of
unsuitable habitat.
disturbance - ANS Event that opens up a Gap
Gap - ANS patches within which many species suffer local extinction simultaneously. (In
forests, high winds, elephants, or simply the death of a tree through old age)
founder-controlled communities - ANS community where species are approximately
equivalent in their ability to invade gaps and can hold the gaps against all comers during their
lifetime. On each occasion that a population goes locally extinct a gap is opened up for invasion.
Priority Effect - ANS effect between competing species in which the species that arrives first
at a site is able to hold it against competing invades, whatever the outcome would be if they
competed as simultaneously arriving equals.
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dominance-controlled communities - ANS communities where some species are
competitively superior to others and an initial colonizer of a patch cannot necessarily maintain
its presence there.
community successions - ANS disturbances that open up gaps lead to reasonable predictable
sequences of species, because different species have different strategies for exploiting
resources - early species are good colonizers and fast growers, whereas later species can
tolerate lower resource levels and grow to maturity in the presence of early species, eventually
out-competing them.
climax stage - ANS community reaches a point when the most efficient competitors oust
there neighbors. In this sequence, if it runs its full course, then number of species first increases
(because of colonization) then decreases (because of competition).
primary succession - ANS sequence of species, where an opened-up gaps has not previously
been influenced by a community
secondary succession - ANS subsequent sequence of species where the species of an area
has been partially or completely removed but seeds and spores remain.
Chronosequence - ANS a sequence of communities that exist over time at a given location
(as a glacier retreats, the first stage of the succession may be observed just beyond its tip, with
later stages strung out further down the glacial valley, this series of communities currently in
existence can be used to infer what the succession must have been.
food web - ANS complex web of interactions between an organism, and other predators,
parasites, food sources, and competitors within its community.
Tropic level - ANS each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms
that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the
primary sources of energy.
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direct effects - ANS the direct impact of one individual on another when not mediated or
transmitted through a third individual (cheetah captures a gazelle or a bee pollinate a flower,
then you have observed a direct effect in action). Separated into categories such as predation,
competition, mutualism, etc.
indirect effects - ANS the impact of one organism or species on another that is mediated or
transmitted by a third. In other words, A (donor) has an effect on B (transmitter), which then
affects C (recipient).
super predator - ANS a predator at the top of a food chain, with no natural predators.
trophic cascade - ANS occurs when a predator reduces the abundance of its prey, and this
cascades down to the tropic level below, such as that prey's own resources increase in
abundance.
top-down control - ANS when a consumer limits a prey population. Typically the predators
controlling the abundance of the herbivores, so called top-down control.
bottom-up control - ANS The abundance of predator populations at higher trophic levels is
regulated by the abundance of prey populations at lower trophic levels
meta-analysis - ANS structured analyses of large numbers of of data sets with a view to
discerning consistent trends
Why is the world green? - ANS the world is green because top-down control predominates:
green plant biomass accumulates because predators keep herbivores in check.
typical sequence of dominant vegetation - ANS annual weeds > herbaceous perrenials >
shrubs > early successional trees > late successional trees
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ENVS 200 Final Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Metapopulation - ANS a population consisting of a collection of subpopulations, each one of
which has a realistic chance both of going extinct and of appearing again through
recolonization.
habitat patches - ANS Areas of suitable habitat for a species that are separated by areas of
unsuitable habitat.
disturbance - ANS Event that opens up a Gap
Gap - ANS patches within which many species suffer local extinction simultaneously. (In
forests, high winds, elephants, or simply the death of a tree through old age)
founder-controlled communities - ANS community where species are approximately
equivalent in their ability to invade gaps and can hold the gaps against all comers during their
lifetime. On each occasion that a population goes locally extinct a gap is opened up for invasion.
Priority Effect - ANS effect between competing species in which the species that arrives first
at a site is able to hold it against competing invades, whatever the outcome would be if they
competed as simultaneously arriving equals.
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, ©FYNDLAY 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
dominance-controlled communities - ANS communities where some species are
competitively superior to others and an initial colonizer of a patch cannot necessarily maintain
its presence there.
community successions - ANS disturbances that open up gaps lead to reasonable predictable
sequences of species, because different species have different strategies for exploiting
resources - early species are good colonizers and fast growers, whereas later species can
tolerate lower resource levels and grow to maturity in the presence of early species, eventually
out-competing them.
climax stage - ANS community reaches a point when the most efficient competitors oust
there neighbors. In this sequence, if it runs its full course, then number of species first increases
(because of colonization) then decreases (because of competition).
primary succession - ANS sequence of species, where an opened-up gaps has not previously
been influenced by a community
secondary succession - ANS subsequent sequence of species where the species of an area
has been partially or completely removed but seeds and spores remain.
Chronosequence - ANS a sequence of communities that exist over time at a given location
(as a glacier retreats, the first stage of the succession may be observed just beyond its tip, with
later stages strung out further down the glacial valley, this series of communities currently in
existence can be used to infer what the succession must have been.
food web - ANS complex web of interactions between an organism, and other predators,
parasites, food sources, and competitors within its community.
Tropic level - ANS each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms
that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the
primary sources of energy.
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, ©FYNDLAY 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
direct effects - ANS the direct impact of one individual on another when not mediated or
transmitted through a third individual (cheetah captures a gazelle or a bee pollinate a flower,
then you have observed a direct effect in action). Separated into categories such as predation,
competition, mutualism, etc.
indirect effects - ANS the impact of one organism or species on another that is mediated or
transmitted by a third. In other words, A (donor) has an effect on B (transmitter), which then
affects C (recipient).
super predator - ANS a predator at the top of a food chain, with no natural predators.
trophic cascade - ANS occurs when a predator reduces the abundance of its prey, and this
cascades down to the tropic level below, such as that prey's own resources increase in
abundance.
top-down control - ANS when a consumer limits a prey population. Typically the predators
controlling the abundance of the herbivores, so called top-down control.
bottom-up control - ANS The abundance of predator populations at higher trophic levels is
regulated by the abundance of prey populations at lower trophic levels
meta-analysis - ANS structured analyses of large numbers of of data sets with a view to
discerning consistent trends
Why is the world green? - ANS the world is green because top-down control predominates:
green plant biomass accumulates because predators keep herbivores in check.
typical sequence of dominant vegetation - ANS annual weeds > herbaceous perrenials >
shrubs > early successional trees > late successional trees
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