Study Guide-Ecology of the Southwest EXAM
#1
**YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL READING & LECTURE MATERIAL**
KEY POINTS-LECTURES
Week 1: Ecology
1). What is ecology, or what do ecologists do?
2). What are the four levels of organization of ecology?
3). What is symbiosis and what are the different types?
4). What are the four factors that affect the distribution of organisms?
the Southwest
1). How are we defining the Southwest for this course?
2). What are the major differences between the Colorado Plateau region and the San Juan
Mountains?
3). What are the major life zones for these areas and what influences where these life
zones are located?
Week 2: Species Evolution
1). Who was Charles Darwin and what is Darwinism?
2). What are the two main types of evolution?
3). What are the two main causes of microevolution?
4). What are the four postulates of natural selection from the origin of species?
5). What is allopatric speciation?
6). Discuss adaptations in the Southwest—these are in Peterson's RM and SW Forests
Week 3: Biogeography
1). What is biogeography and what implications do past community distributions have
for future distributions of plant communities?
2). What are the two main sources for biogeographic information?
3). What influence did the Laurentide Ice Sheet have on communities in the Southwest
and how have some major vegetation species responded to different climates (20,000
years BP to present)?—look in RM Futures book
4) What is the Younger Dryas period and what does it mean for climate change in the
future?
Human Ecology (from reading)
1). Know information about your group of native peoples of the Southwest (e.g., were
they farmers, hunters, pastoralists, gathers).
Week 4: Environment
1). What are four reasons for natural climate change over geologic time?
2). Climate 101- Why do we have different temperatures at the Earth’s surface?
3). Climate 101-Why do we have different amounts of precipitation at the Earth's
surface?
