BIOLOGY 135 - 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 5Lecture 1 (August 22): Natural History*What is Natural History? - Wikipedia: “…the research and study of organisms including plants or animals in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study” - “The systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms*How was Natural History studied? • Field journal of observations • Collections (coalesced into Natural History Museums) • Comparative studies *Identifying Animals • Piecing together clues:- The Animal • Appearance • Behavior • Sound- Signs left behind • Scat • Tracks • Architecture (nests, burrows, caches…)- The Habitat*Observation and Inference: • Observations are KEY in science • Inference from those observations is somewhat inevitable• Inference must be acknowledged • Separate what you think, from what you know.*Niko Tinbergen:- Hatched Egg experiment- Does the color of the hatched egg interfere with the camouflage of the nest?o Would another color keep the newly hatched safer?Lecture 2 (August 27): Geology*Early Geology • Descriptions of rocks and minerals • Theory of Geomorphology - marine fossils far from the ocean - sedimentary uplift - erosion - soil deposition*Centuries of Geology:• 1600’s – Geology is its own discipline: - Debate between science & religion - Describing Earth’s rock strata • 1700’s – Increasing scientific perspective: - Questioning the age of Earth - Competing views of how Earth was formed - Age of Earth increased from 4-5K to 75K years old• 1800’s – Stratographical columns: - Aging via rock strata & fossils throughout the world - Estimated Earth was millions of years old • 1900’s – Increasing technology: - Radiometric dating - Earth estimated at 2 BY *1912 – Wegner: ‘Continental Drift’ - Based on: o Continental shapes and fossil, topographical, & climatological similaritieso No mechanism for movement… o Decades of debate – ‘convection currents’ proposed as “Mechanis” *1950’s – Paleomagnetism:- rocks of different ages have different directions of magnetic fields *1950-60’s – Technology Advances: - Marine Geology • Sea-floor spreading • Magnetic field reversals - Seismic Imaging • Ocean crust can disappear into the mantle *1965 – Theory of Plate Tectonics:- Convergent: Crust is destroyed and recycled back into the interior of the Earth as one plate dives under another.- Divergent: New crust is created as one or more plates pull away from each other.- Transform Boundary: Two plates are sliding horizontally past one another.Lecture 3 (August 29): Evolution*What is Evolution? • Genetic change in populations over time. • Evolution is: – A fact.o Not under debate in the scientific community. – A scientific theory. o The diversity of life on Earth is best explained scientifically by the Theory of Evolution: Descent, with modification, from a common ancestor As overwhelming scientific evidence exists, not under debate in the scientific community - When a scientist is heard to not accept the Theory of Evolution, it istypically a person from a different field of study that does not understand the evidence behind evolution.– An area of active research.o The facts of evolution and the Theory of Evolution are supported by evidence derived from scientific research across many disciplines. o There are still gaps in our understanding of evolution and the world in general,thus the need for continued research.o The body of research delving into the nitty-gritty details of the mechanisms underlying evolution, typically referred to as ‘evolutionary theory’ –  Not to be confused with ‘the Theory of Evolution’*Side Story:- Genotype v Phenotype • Genotype: A variant at the genetic level for a trait. • Phenotype: The physical expression of a trait.- Adapt v Acclimate • Adaptation: A trait that has evolved through natural selection and makes a population more fit for survival in its environment (or for reproduction). • Acclimation: An individual adjusts (acclimates) to a changed environment.What are the mechanisms for evolution? • Sources of genetic variation - Mutation - Recombination(sex) - Gene Flow (Migration)• Sources of differential survival & reproduction - Random Events: Genetic Drift - Non-random Processes: Selection • Natural Selection o Avoiding predators o Obtaining food o Abiotic factors• Artificial Selection o Intentional o Inadvertent • Sexual Selection o Mate choice o Mate competitionLecture 4 (September 3): The Palouse*What is the Palouse? • Rolling hills of deep soil • “Palouse” 1) Name of the Palus tribe converted into French ‘pelouse’ meaning ‘land with short and thick grass’.2) Originally French word applied to the region, then applied to the local tribe.*How was the Palouse formed? • 17MYA: Basalt flows started:o In some long stretches between flows, soil would build up and vegetation would grow.o Layers of sand and gravel washed down from the mountains now contain potablewater.• 15MYA: Clarkia Fossil Beds formed: o Ancient lake, mostly plant & fish fossils o Fossils indicate climate more similar to eastern North America• 14MYA: 2,220 ft. canyon through Moscow & Pullman: o Later basalt flows filled in, porous rock now contains our aquifer• 13KYA – Lake Missoula floods: o Washed away loess and basalt • 6KYA – Mt Mazama (Crater Lake) erupts:o Ash provides moisture-retention properties of loess o Effects echoed in 1980 with Mt. St. Helens eruption*The Palouse hills • Based on studies of particle size and composition, the ‘loess’ was transported here o Includes volcanic ash from the Cascades (marker beds for dating) o Silt from the Columbia River Basin area o Glacial ‘flour’*Habitats of the Palouse:- Prairie - Steptoes - Edges- Agriculture - Canyons - Urban*Ecological Roles (Trophic Levels) • Autotrophs (Producers) • Heterotrophs (Consumers) – Primary consumers (herbivores) – Secondary consumers (carnivores) – Tertiary consumers – Scavengers/Detritivores*Ecological Roles (Species Interactions) • Detritivore/Detritus (Vulture/Dead animal) • Consumer/Resource (Herbivore/Plant) • Competition (Wolf v. Eagle/prey)• Mutualism (Bumblebee/Flower)*Ecological Roles (Niche Partitioning) - Time: diurnal/nocturnal - Place: open field/brush - Specific Resource: small seeds/large