Campbell Biology : Concepts and Connections

Jane B. Reece, Martha R. Taylor, Eric J. Simon

Chapter 34

The Biosphere: An Introduction to Earth's Diverse Environments - all with Video Answers

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Chapter Questions

Problem 1

You have seen that Earth's terrestrial biomes reflect regional variations in climate. But what determines these climatic variations? Interpret the following diagrams in reference to global patterns of temperature, rainfall, and winds.
a. Solar radiation and latitude:
b. Earth's orbit around the sun:
c. Global patterns of air circulation and rainfall:

Noah Boudrie

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 2

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
The most complex and diverse biome

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 3

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
Ground permanently frozen

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 4

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
Deciduous trees such as hickory and birch

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 5

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
Mediterranean climate

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 6

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
Spruce, fir, pine, and hemlock
trees

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 7

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
Home of ants, antelopes, and lions

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 8

Match each description on the left with the correct biome on the right.
a. chaparral
b. savanna
c. taiga
d. temperate broadleaf forest
e. temperate grassland
f. tropical rain forest
g. arctic tundra
North American plains

Matthew Glaub

Numerade Educator

Problem 9

Changes in the seasons are caused by
a. the tilt of Earth's axis toward or away from the sun.
b. annual cycles of temperature and rainfall.
c. variation in the distance between Earth and the sun.
d. an annual cycle in the sun's energy output.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 10

What makes the Gobi Desert of Asia a desert?
a. The growing season there is very short.
b. It is hot.
c. Temperatures vary little from summer to winter.
d. It is dry.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 11

Which of the following sea creatures might be described as a pelagic animal of the aphotic zone?
a. a coral reef fish
b. an intertidal snail
c. a deep-sea squid
d. a harbor seal

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 12

Why do the tropics and the windward side of mountains receive more rainfall than areas around latitudes $30^{\circ}$ north and south and the leeward side of mountains?
a. Rising warm, moist air cools and drops its moisture as rain.
b. Descending air condenses, creating clouds and rain.
c. There is more solar radiation in the tropics and on the windward side of mountains.
d. Earth's rotation creates seasonal differences in rainfall.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 14

An ecologist monitoring the number of gorillas in a wildlife refuge over a five-year period is studying ecology at which level?
a. organism
b. population
c. community
d. ecosystem

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 15

Many plant species have adaptations for dealing with periodic fires. Such fires are typical of a
a. chaparral.
b. savanna.
c. temperate grassland.
d. $a, b,$ and $c$

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator

Problem 16

Tropical rain forests are the most diverse biomes. What factors contribute to this diversity?

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 17

What biome do you live in? Describe your climate and the factors that have produced that climate. What plants and animals are typical of this biome? If you live in an urban or agricultural area, how have human interventions changed the natural biome?

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 18

Aquatic biomes differ in levels of light, nutrients, oxygen, and water movement. These abiotic factors influence the productivity and diversity of freshwater ecosystems.
a. Productivity, roughly defined as photosynthetic output, is high in estuaries, coral reefs, and shallow ponds. Describe the abiotic factors that contribute to high productivity in these ecosystems.
b. How does extra input of nitrogen and phosphorus (for instance, by fertilizer runoff) affect the productivity of lakes and ponds? Is this nutrient input beneficial for the ecosystem? Explain.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 19

In the climograph below, biomes are plotted by their range of annual mean temperature and annual mean precipitation. Identify the following biomes: arctic tundra, coniferous forest, desert, grassland, temperate forest, and tropical forest. Explain why there are areas in which biomes overlap on this graph.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 20

The North American pronghorn looks and acts like the antelopes of Africa. But the pronghorn is the only survivor of a family of mammals restricted to North America. Propose a hypothesis to explain how these widely separated animals came to be so much alike.

Dennis Howard

Numerade Educator

Problem 21

In $1954,$ workers at Michigan State University began spraying the elm trees on campus annually with DDT to kill disease-carrying bark bectles. In the spring of 1955 large numbers of dead robins were found on the campus. Observers thought perhaps the robins died after eating earthworms contaminated by DDT the previous spring. Suggest how scientists could have investigated the scientific validity of this idea.

Noah Boudrie

Numerade Educator