By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify major viral illnesses that affect humans
Compare vaccinations and anti-viral drugs as medical approaches to viruses

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe how viruses were first discovered and how they are detected
Discuss three hypotheses about how viruses evolved
Describe the general structure of a virus
Recognize the basic shapes of viruses
Understand past and emerging classification systems for viruses
Describe the basis for the Baltimore classification system

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

List the steps of replication and explain what occurs at each step
Describe the lytic and lysogenic cycles of virus replication
Explain the transmission of plant and animal viruses
Discuss some of the diseases caused by plant and animal viruses
Discuss the economic impact of plant and animal viruses

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify new technologies and methods for describing biodiversity
Explain the legislative framework for conservation
Describe principles and challenges of conservation preserve design
Identify examples of the effects of habitat restoration
Discuss the role of zoos in biodiversity conservation

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define biodiversity in terms of species diversity and abundance
Describe biodiversity as the equilibrium of naturally fluctuating rates of extinction and speciation
Identify historical causes of high extinction rates in Earth’s history

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify chemical diversity benefits to humans
Identify biodiversity components that support human agriculture
Describe ecosystem services

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify significant threats to biodiversity
Explain the effects of habitat loss, the introduction of exotic species, and hunting on biodiversity
Identify the early and predicted effects of climate change on biodiversity

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the effects of abiotic factors on the composition of plant and animal communities in aquatic biomes
Compare and contrast the characteristics of the ocean zones
Summarize the characteristics of standing water and flowing water freshwater biomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define biogeography
List and describe abiotic factors that affect the global distribution of plant and animal species
Compare the impact of abiotic forces on aquatic and terrestrial environments
Summarize the effects of abiotic factors on net primary productivity

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define global climate change
Summarize the effects of the Industrial Revolution on global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
Describe three natural factors affecting long-term global climate
List two or more greenhouse gases and describe their role in the greenhouse effect

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify the two major abiotic factors that determine terrestrial biomes
Recognize distinguishing characteristics of each of the eight major terrestrial biomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define ecology and the four basic levels of ecological research
Describe examples of the ways in which ecology requires the integration of different scientific disciplines
Distinguish between abiotic and biotic components of the environment
Recognize the relationship between abiotic and biotic components of the environment

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Discuss the biogeochemical cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur
Explain how human activities have impacted these cycles and the potential consequences for Earth

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the basic ecosystem types
Explain the methods that ecologists use to study ecosystem structure and dynamics
Identify the different methods of ecosystem modeling
Differentiate between food chains and food webs and recognize the importance of each

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe how organisms acquire energy in a food web and in associated food chains
Explain how the efficiency of energy transfers between trophic levels affects ecosystem structure and dynamics
Discuss trophic levels and how ecological pyramids are used to model them