Final Review

What is the relationship between latitude, solar energy, and climate in the three labeled zones?

• The lower the latitude, the more solar energy you receive which means climate is warmer

• The higher the latitude, the more solar energy you receive which means climate is warmer

• The lower the latitude, the less solar energy you receive which means climate is colder

• The lower the latitude, the more solar energy you receive which means climate is colder

Answer explanation

The closer you are to the middle of Earth, the more sunlight you get. With more sunlight, you have warmer climate. Thanks to Earth's tilted axis, the other regions do not get as much light.

In which zone would you expect to find a biome that is warm and humid throughout the year, has animals that are active year-round, and has extensive plant growth?

• Polar

• Temperate

• Tropical

Answer explanation

The tropical region is where you find all of Earth's rainforests which have warm and wet climate year-round, have animals that are active all year, and have extensive plant growth.

Why is the greenhouse effect an important process for maintaining life on Earth?

• It keeps Earth warm.

• It keeps Earth cool

• It reflects all heat

Answer explanation

The Greenhouse Effect traps heat on the surface of Earth. Without the effect, the Earth would be frozen over and have no life on it.

How does widespread deforestation affect the greenhouse effect and Earth's climate?

• Without forests, the greenhouse effect gets worse and Earth's climate gets warmer

• Without forests, the greenhouse effect gets worse and Earth's climate gets colder

• Without forests, the greenhouse effect gets better and Earth's climate gets warmer

• Without forests, the greenhouse effect gets better and Earth's climate gets colder

Answer explanation

Forests helped regulate greenhouse gasses that trap heat through something called photosynthesis. If a lot of forests are cut down, there would be too much carbon dioxide causing temperatures to increase globally.

Oceanic waters have a variable carrying capacity for phytoplankton and other photosynthetic organisms. The carrying capacity is very high near the surface and then decreases with depth. It is zero in the deepest oceanic waters. Why?

• The carrying capacity drops to zero because it is too cold in the deep ocean

• The carrying capacity drops to zero because there is too much pressure in the deep ocean

• The carrying capacity drops to zero because there is no light in the deep ocean

• The carrying capacity drops to zero because nothing survives in the deep ocean

Answer explanation

Phytoplankton need sunlight in order to survive. Without it, they cannot make their own food. The first 200m of ocean is the photic zone which means there is still sunlight. After that, the further down you go, the less sunlight there is until it is completely dark.

In which area do you think is more productive?

• Coastal Ocean

• Aphotic Zone

• Open Ocean

Answer explanation

Coastal Ocean is a part of the photic zone. It also has plants and animals floating/swimming around and unlike the intertidal zone, there isn't too many plants that would suffocate other types of organisms.

What has happened to the population density of rabbits over time?

• Increased

• Decreased

• Exponential

• Logistic

Answer explanation

While fluctuating for many years, overall we can say that the population has decreased from 1927 to 2007.

What affected the population the most? What type of limiting factor is it?

• Myomatosis/Density Dependent

• Rabbit Fleas/Density Dependent

• RHD/Density Dependent

• Rabbit Fleas/Density Independent

• Myomatosis/Density Independent

Answer explanation

We can see that Myxomatosis has caused the largest population decrease going from around 225 million to around 1-2 million. Myxomatosis is a disease and remember that diseases/parasites are density-dependent since the larger the population, the more it spreads.

What is most likely to occur during Stage 2 of the demographic transition?

• Slow Population Increase

• Slow Population Decrease

• Rapid Population Increase

• Rapid Population Decrease

Answer explanation

Looking at the graph, we can see that during stage II, the birth rate is greatly higher than the death rate. This is due to improvements in medicine and technology. Since birth rate is higher than death rate, population will increase.

What has changed in the United States as they have moved from stage I to II to III?

• Worse medicine, less technology, worse education, more kids

• Nothing has happened

• One Child Policy

• Better medicine, more technology, better education, less kids

Answer explanation

Moving from stage I to stage II is usually a sign that medicine and technology has gotten better leading to less deaths. Moving from stage II to stage III is a sign that due to better education, people moving on to demanding/better jobs which means focus is moved away from having a family leading to decreased birth rates.