Study topics for Test 1
Topics covered: # 1, 2 and 3

Note from 09/15/2008. This is the final list of the study topics for test 1.

1. Describe four main steps of the empirical scientific method. Who proposed the scientific method? What are major characteristics of scientific hypothesis in the context of the empirical scientific method?
2. Describe ecology as a science. Give definition of ecology. Name and define three major branches of ecology.
3. Describe ecological, economical and societal consequences of introduction of the Nile perch into lake Victoria. Be able to describe the food webs in lake Victoria prior to and after the introduction of the Nile perch. Explain how abiotic environment (e.g. water quality) affected the population outburst of this invasive species.
4. Describe mechanisms of dispersal and seed germination of the guanacaste tree in Costa Rica prior to and after the human settlements. Explain the change in the primary consumers in this ecosystem with increasing human activities in the area. Explain how knowledge of the relationships between the primary consumers and the guanacasta tree was used to restore tropical dry forests in Costa Rica.
5. Name and briefly describe major ecological concepts that found their application in stem cell research and describe the characteristics of stem cells which can be best explained by analogy with the respective ecological processes.
6. What is wavelength and frequency of radiation? Explain the relationship between the surface temperature of a body and the amount and wavelength of the energy emitted from this body. Define main types of radiation based on the wavelengths and be able to give wavelength ranges for each radiation type.
7. Describe the energy balance of Earth; name and quantify different sources of input and output (with numbers). Be able to calculate the input and output energy balance of Earth.
8. Define and describe greenhouse effect. Name major greenhouse gases. Explain the difference between the natural and anthropogenic greenhouse effect.
9. Define climate. Explain how and why the amount of solar radiation and climate changes with the latitude. Define isotherms.
10. Explain how and why the climate changes with the altitude. Be able to name different layers (strata) of the atmosphere. What is a mountain rain shadow and how it is formed?
11. Explain how and why the amount of solar radiation received by Earth and temperature change seasonally. Define equinox and solstice and be able to describe the pattern of solar irradiation, temperature and daily variation in sunlight at equinox and solstice at different latitudes (i.e. equator, Tropics of capricorn and Canbcer, temperate and high latitudes).
12. Describe the global pattern of air circulation and how it affects precipitation patterns. Describe seasonal variation of precipitation patterns in tropics and subtropics (alternation of wet and dry periods). Explain what is Coriolis effect and how it influences global circulation and prevailing wind directions. Define trade winds, westerlies and easterlies and describe with which latitudes and air circulation cells these winds are associated.
13. Explain what adiabatic cooling is. Explain and be able to determine relative humidity and dewpoint temperatures from Temperature vs Water vapor pressure graphs. Explain how these concepts are involved into the global air circulation and precipitation patterns.
14. Explain why major deserts are located around 30 degrees N and S latitude. How seasonal shifts of tropical convergence affect global precipitation patterns?
15. Explain differences between macroclimate and microclimate.  How does the concept of microclimate apply to the human habitats?
16. Define natural and anthropogenic climate change. What are Milankovitch cycles and how they affect global climate? What are the three periods of the Milankovitch cycles?
17. Describe short-term climate oscillations: Southern Oscillations and Pacific Decadal Oscillations. How frequent are these oscillations and how they affect the global climate? Which indexes are used to predict El Nio and La Nina and which parameters do the take into account?
18. Be able to describe geographical changes in temperatures, upwelling and precipitation patters (wet vs drought) associated with El Nino or La Nina.
19. Explain causes of the anthropogenic climate change. What are the main contributing gases to the global climate change? IPCC climate change models and their predictions: Rise in temperature, sea level and ocean acidification. Be able to give examples of ecological effects of the climate change in the past 100 years (e.g. changes in species distributions, population densities, sex ratios, coral bleaching, disease prevalence etc.)
20. Define radiative forcing and explain radiative forcing of different anthropogenically released components of the atmosphere.