Exam 4

1) Important abiotic factors in ecosystems include which of the following?

A) temperature
B) water
C) wind
D) A and C only
E) A, B, and C

1) Important abiotic factors in ecosystems include which of the following?

A) temperature
B) water
C) wind
D) A and C only
E) A, B, and C

E) A, B, and C

2) Which of the following levels of organization is arranged in the CORRECT sequence from most to least inclusive?

A) community, ecosystem, individual, population
B) ecosystem, community, population, individual
C) population, ecosystem, individual, community
D) individual, population, community, ecosystem
E) individual, community, population, ecosystem

B) ecosystem, community, population, individual

3) Ecology as a discipline directly deals with all of the following levels of biological organization EXCEPT

A) population.
B) cellular.
C) organismal.
D) ecosystem.
E) community.

B) Cellular

4) Introduced species

A) often fail to colonize the new area.
B) may become common enough to become pests.
C) can disrupt the balance of the natural species with which they become associated.
D) B and C only
E) A, B, and C are all correct.

E) A, B, and C are all correct.

5) Which of the following abiotic factors has the greatest influence on the metabolic rates of plants and animals?

A) water
B) wind
C) temperature
D) rocks and soil
E) disturbances

C) Temperature

6) Coral reefs can be found on the southern east coast of the United States but not at similar latitudes on the southern west coast. Differences in which of the following most likely account for this?

A) sunlight
B) precipitation
C) day length
D) ocean currents
E) salinity

D) Ocean Currents

7) Which of the following causes Earth's seasons?

A) global air circulation
B) global wind patterns
C) ocean currents
D) changes in Earth's distance from the sun
E) the tilt of Earth's axis

E) The tilt of Earths Axis

8) Polar regions are cooler than the equator because

A) Sunlight strikes the poles at a lower angle.
B) there is more ice at the poles.the polar
C) atmosphere is thinner and contains fewer greenhouse gases.
D) the poles are farther from the sun.
E) the poles are permanently tilted away from the sun.

A) Sunlight strikes the poles at a lower angle.

9) Which of the following environmental features might influence microclimates?

A) Large boulder
B) freshly plowed field
C) forest canopy
D) log on the forest floor
E) All of the options are correct.

E)All of the options are correct.

10) Where would an ecologist find the most phytoplankton in a lake?

A) profundal zone
B) benthic zone
C) photic zone
D) oligotrophic zone
E) aphotic zone

C)Photic Zone

11) The MOST IMPORTANT factor(s) affecting the distribution of biomes is (are)

A) wind and water current patterns.
B) species diversity.
C) community succession.
D) climate.
E) day length and rainfall.

D) Climate

12) An area in which different terrestrial biomes grade into each other is known as a(n)

A) littoral zone.
B) vertically stratified canopy.
C) ecotone.
D) abyssal zone.
E) cline.

C) Ecotone

13) A population is correctly defined as having which of the following characteristics?
I. inhabiting the same general area
II. individuals belonging to the same species
III. possessing a constant and uniform density and dispersion

A) I only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I, II, and III

C) I and II only

14) A biologist reported that a sample of ocean water had 5 million diatoms of the species Coscinodiscus centralis per cubic meter. What was the biologist measuring?

A. Density
B. Dispersion
C. Carrying capacity
D. Quadrats
E. Range

A. Density

15) All of the following phrases could characterize a population EXCEPT:

A. Interacting individuals
B. Dispersion
C. Density
D. Several species
E. Boundaries

D. Several species

16) To measure the population density of monarch butterflies occupying a particular park, 100 butterflies are captured, marked with a small dot on a wing, and then released. The next day, another 100 butterflies are captured, including the recapture of 20 marked butterflies. One would estimate the population to be:

A. 200
B. 500
C. 1,000
D. 10,000
E. 900,000

B. 500

17) You are observing a population of lizards when you notice that the number of adults has SUDDENLY increase during a very short period and became higher than VERY RECENTLY observed. One explanation for such an observation would include:

A. Reduction in death rate
B. Increased immigration
C. Increased emigration
D. Decreased emigration
E. Both B and D

B. Increased immigration

18) How would the dispersion of humans in the United States best be described?

A. Dense
B. Clumped
C. Random
D. Intrinsic
E. Uniform

D. Intrinsic

19)A table listing such items as age, observed number of organism alive each year, and life expectancy is known as a(n):

A. Life table
B. Mortality table
C. Survivorship curve
D. Rate table
E. Insurance table

A. Life table

19-22) Study Survivorship Curves

Study Survivorship Curves

23) Carrying capacity

A. Is calculated as the product of annual per capita birth rate (r)
B. Remains constant in the presence of density-dependent population regulation
C. Differs among species, but does not vary within a given species
D. Is often determined by energy limitation
E. Is always eventually reached in any population

D. Is often determined by energy limitation

24) Logistic growth of a population is represented by G =

A) rN/k
B) rN
C) rN (K+N)
D) rN ((K-N)/K)
E) rN ((N-K)/K)

D) rN ((K−N)/K )

25) Exponential growth of a population is represented by G =

A) rN/k
B) rN
C) rN (K+N)
D) rN ((K-N)/K)
E) rN ((N-K)/K)

B) rN

26) As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by the logistic equation?

A. The growth rate will not change
B. The growth rate will approach zero
C. The population will show an Allee effect
D. The population will increase exponentially
E. The carrying capacity of the environment will increase

B. The growth rate will approach zero

27) Which of the following characterizes relatively K- selected populations?

A. Offspring with good chances of survival
B. Many offspring per reproductive episode
C. Small offspring
D. A high intrinsic rate of increase
E. Early parental reproduction

A. Offspring with good chances of survival

28) Which of the following could be considered as a metapopulation?

A. A source and a sink population of butterflies
B. Two populations of tigers, one in Russia and one in India
C. Nearby bird populations in fragmented patches exhibiting asynchronous trends
D. Fish populations living in interconnected lakes

B. Two populations of tigers, one in Russia and one in India

29-31) Study Age-Frequency Pyriamids

Study Age-Frequency Pyriamids

32) The total sum of all organism's interactions with the biotic and abiotic resources of its environment is called its

Ecological Niche

33) According to the competitive exclusion principle, two species cannot continue to occupy the same

A. Environmental habitat
B. Biome
C. Range
D. Ecological Niche
E. Territory

D. Ecological Niche

34) Which of the following statements is consistent with the competitive exclusion principle?

A. The random distribution of one competing species will have a positive impact on the population growth of the other competing species.
B. Bird species generally do not compete for nesting sites.
C. Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the elimination of the less well adapted of two competing species.
D. Two species with the same fundamental niche will exclude other competing species.
E. Natural selection tends to increase competition between related species.

C. Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the elimination of the less well adapted of two competing species.

35) An insect that has evolved to resemble a (plant twig) will probably be able to avoid

A. parasitism
B. symbiosis
C. predation
D. competition
E. commensalism

C. predation

36) Which of the following is an example of cryptic coloration?

A. bands on a coral snake
B. brown color of tree bark
C. markings of a viceroy butterfly
D. colors of an insect-pollinated flower
E. a ʺwalking stickʺ insect that resembles a twig

E. a ʺwalking stickʺ insect that resembles a twig

37) Which of the following is an example of Batesian mimicry?

A. an insect that resembles a twig
B. a butterfly that resembles a leaf
C. a non-venomous snake that looks like a venomous snake
D. a fawn with fur coloring that camouflages it in the forest environment
E. a snapping turtle that uses its tongue to mimic a worm, thus attracting fish

C. a non-venomous snake that looks like a venomous snake

38)Which of the following is least likely to kill the organism it feeds on?

A. herbivore
B. predator
C. seed eater
D. carnivore
E. parasite

E. parasite

39) Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed. Which of the following terms would best describe this plant-herbivore interaction?

A. mutualism
B. commensalism
C. parasitism
D. competition
E. predation

A. mutualism

40) The species richness of a community refers to the

Number of different species present

41) Which of the following members of a marine food chain is most analogous to a grasshopper in a terrestrial food chain?

A. phytoplankton
B. zooplankton
C. detritivore
D. fish
E. shark

B. zooplankton

42) The dominant species in a community is

the most abundant or that collectively have the highest biomass.

43) In a tide pool, 15 species of invertebrates were reduced to 8 after one species was removed. The species removed was likely a(n)

A. Keystone Species
B. Exotic species
C. Virulent species
D. Threatened species
E. Endangered species

A. Keystone Species

44) When lichens grow on bare rock, they may eventually accumulate enough organic material around them to supply the foothold for later rooted vegetation. These early pioneering lichens can be said to do what to the later arrivals?

A. tolerate
B. inhibit
C. facilitate
D. exclude
E. concentrate

C. facilitate

45-46) Study Food webs

Study Food webs

47) Biomanipulation can best be described as

A) removing many of the next higher trophic level organisms so that the struggling trophic level below can recover.
B) a means of reversing the effects of pollution by applying antidote chemicals that have a neutralizing effect on the community.
C) an example of how one would use bottom-up model for ecosystem restoration.
D) adjusting the population numbers of each of the trophic levels back to the numbers that they were before man started disturbing ecosystems.
E) monitoring and adjusting the nutrient and energy flow through a community with new technologies.

A) removing many of the next higher trophic level organisms so that the struggling trophic level below can recover

48) A cow's herbivorous diet indicates that it is a(n)

A. primary consumer
B. secondary consumer
C. decomposer
D. autotroph
E. producer

A. primary consumer

49) To recycle nutrients, the minimum an ecosystem must have is

A. producers
B. producers and decomposers
C. producers, primary consumers, and decomposers
D. producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers
E. producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, top carnivores, and decomposers.

B. producers and decomposers

50) The main decomposers in an ecosystem are

A. Fungi
B. Incects
C. Prokaryotes
D. Fungi and Prokaryotes

Fungi and Prokaryotes

51) Which of these ecosystems has the highest net primary productivity per square meter?

A. savanna
B. open ocean
C. boreal forest
D. tropical rain forest
E. temperate forest

D. tropical rain forest

52) After looking at the accompanying figure, what can be said about productivity in this ecosystem?

A. Nothing can be said based on this information.
B. About 90% of the energy is lost between most trophic levels.
C. About 10% of the energy is lost between most trophic levels.
D. Productivity increases with each trophic level.

B. About 90% of the energy is lost between most trophic levels.

53) Consider the food chain of grass → grasshopper → mouse → snake → hawk. About how much of the chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis of the grass (100 percent) is available to the hawk?

A. 0.01%
B. 0.1%
C. 1%
D. 10%

A. 0.01%

54) A 3-hectare lake in the American Midwest suddenly has succumbed to an algal bloom. What is the likely cause of this in freshwater ecosystems?

Nutrient Runoff

55) Using the accompanying figure, what is the predicted change in temperature under a model with continued (Very high) emission of greenhouse gases?

A. 7°C
B. 1°C
C. −4°C
D. 3°C
E. 0°C

A. 7°C

56) Which of the following statements about energy flow is INCORRECT?

A. Secondary productivity declines with each trophic level.
B. Only net primary productivity is available to consumers.
C. About 90% of the energy at one trophic level does not appear at the next.
D. Eating meat is probably the most economical way of acquiring the energy of photosynthetic productivity.
E. Only about one-thousandth of the chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis reaches a tertiary-level consumer.

D. Eating meat is probably the most economical way of acquiring the energy of photosynthetic productivity.

57) The high levels of pesticides found in birds of prey is an example of

A. predation
B. eutrophication
C. biological magnification
D. the green world hypothesis.
E. chemical cycling through an ecosystem.

C. biological magnification

58) A toxic pollutant would probably reach its highest concentration in which species?

A. hawks - tertiary consumer
B. snakes - secondary consumer
C. shrews - secondary consumer
D. grasshoppers - primary consumer
E. grass - primary producer

A. hawks - tertiary consumer

59) _________ Consumer
(Instead of blank. it could say Primary, Secondary, Tertiary...)

A. hawks
B. snakes
C. shrews
D. grasshoppers
E. grass

Study it

60) Agricultural lands frequently require nutritional supplementation because

A. nitrogen-fixing bacteria and detrivores do not cycle nutrients as effectively as they do on wild lands.
B. the nutrients that enter the plants are not returned to the soil on lands where they are harvested.
C. the prairies that comprise good agricultural land tend to be nutrient-poor.
D. grains raised for feed must be fortified, and thus require additional nutrients.
E. cultivation of agricultural lands inhibits the decomposition of organic matter

B. the nutrients that enter the plants are not returned to the soil on lands where they are harvested.