Exam 3 Polls/Problem Sets (quizlet)

Which of the following biomes requires high temperatures to exist?

a. Desert

b. Coniferous forest

c. Temperate broadleaf forest

d. Tropical forest

e. Both deserts and tropical forests

e. Both deserts and tropical forests

Which of the following biomes can only exist with very little precipitation?
A. Tropical forest
B. Coniferous forest
C. Temperate grassland
D. Arctic and alpine tundra
E. Desert

E. Desert

In an aquatic biome, does significant sunlight reach the benthic zone?

a. yes

b. no

c. it depends on the specific ecosystem

c. it depends on the specific ecosystem

Where would you expect to find the littoral zone of a lake?
A. The shallow water region along the shore
B. The open water region farther from shore with enough sunlight for photosynthesis
C. The deepest region, where light typically does not penetrate effectively
D. The bottom region where organisms tend to attach themselves to one spot
near the thermocline

A. The shallow water region along the shore

All of the following are true of r-strategist except

a. early maturation and reproduction

b. little parental care

c. few offspring

d. small offspring

c. few offspring

Which statement best describes the current growth of the global human population?

A. The human population is growing exponentially.

B. The human population is no longer growing exponentially but is still increasing rapidly.

C. The human population is decreasing.

D. The human population is steady with no significant increase or decrease.

B. The human population is no longer growing exponentially but is still increasing rapidly.

Which curve above best reflects survivorship in marine mollusks?

(E) Type III with lots of offspring but little to no care to that offspring, resulting in a decline almost immediately

Life tables are most useful in determining which of the following?

A carrying capacity

B the fate of a cohort of newborn organisms throughout their lives

C immigration and emigration rates

D population dispersion patterns

B the fate of a cohort of newborn organisms throughout their lives

An ecologist recorded 12 white tailed deer per square mile in one woodlot and 20 per square mile on another woodlot. What was the ecologist comparing?

A. density

B. dispersion

C. carrying capacity

D. range

A. density

The graph shows changes in a wild sheep population that were introduced to the island of Tasmania in the early 1800s. This graph indicates that the sheep population most likely is:

a. growing in excess of its carrying capacity, snice fluctuations in population size occurred after 1850

b. headed for extinction because of the population explosion around 1930

c. regulated by density independent factors, because there appears to be about a 10 year cycle of sharp declines in size

d. shifting from K selected strategy to an r selected strategy

e. stable after 1850 under the effects of density dependent regulating factors.

e. stable after 1850 under the effects of density dependent regulating factors.

What does not contribute to a species life history?

A. When reproduction begins

B. How often the organism reproduces

C. How many offspring are produced during each reproductive episode

D. How likely each offspring is to die by predation

D. How likely each offspring is to die by predation

Which country has the greatest ecological footprint (measured in hectares per person)?

a. India

b. Sweden

c. China

d. Japan

e. The United Kingdom

f. USA

f. USA

In the logistic equation dN/dt = rN , r is a measure of the population's intrinsic rate of increase. It is determined by:

a. birth rate and death rate

b. dispersion

c. density

d. carrying capacity

e. life history

a. birth rate and death rate

r strategists tend to have:

A. few offspring

B. little parental care

C. sigmoid growth curves

D. many competitors for resources

B. little parental care

What causes a sigmoidal growth curve (S-shaped curve) to level off?

A. The population stops reproducing.

B. Mortality decreases in the population.

C. The population shifts from a clumped to a uniformly spaced dispersion.

D. The population reaches the environmental carrying capacity.

E. Sigmoid growth curves don't level off.

D. The population reaches the environmental carrying capacity.

What is the fundamental difference between matter and energy in an ecosystem?

a. matter is cycled through ecosystem, energy is not

b. energy is cycled through ecosystem, matter is not

c. matter is used in ecosystem, energy is not

d. matter can not be created or destroyed, energy can

a. matter is cycled through ecosystem, energy is not

Which of the following organisms is most likely to be located at the apex (top) of the pyramid of biomass?

a. grass

b. grasshopper

c. snake

d. mouse

e. hawk

e. hawk

Due to biological amplification (also called biological magnification), you would expect toxins to be most concentrated in the tissues of:

a. Producers

b. Herbivores

c. Carnivores that eat herbivores

d. Carnivores that eat carnivores

e. Toxins would be equally concentrated in all of these groups.

d. Carnivores that eat carnivores

What is the key process or processes driving the phosphorus cycle?

a. evaporation

b. photosynthesis and respiration

c. the weathering of rocks

d. fixation by prokaryotes

c. the weathering of rocks

Which of the following is true about secondary consumers in an ecosystem?

a. They are eaten by primary consumers.

b. They are fewer in number than are primary consumers.

c. They contain the greatest total biomass in the system.

d. They eat only plants.

e. They are smaller and weaker than are primary consumers.

b. They are fewer in number than are primary consumers.

What is the major concern with CFCs in the atmosphere?

a. CFCs break down O2 molecules.

b. CFCs are toxic to breathe, even in very low concentrations.

c. CFCs make too many O2 molecules.

d. CFCs break down O3 molecules.

e. CFCs cause cancer when they make contact with human skin.

d. CFCs break down O3 molecules.

Which of the following statements best explains why there are seldom more than five trophic levels in a food chain?

a. Most carnivores function at more than one trophic level.

b. Trophic levels above this number contain too many individuals.

d. Top carnivores are too few in number to catch prey effectively.

e. Energy is lost from each trophic level.

e. Energy is lost from each trophic level.

What is the key process or processes driving the carbon cycle?

a. evaporation

b. photosynthesis and respiration

c. the weathering of rocks

d. fixation by prokaryotes

b. photosynthesis and respiration

In the nitrogen cycle, the transformation of gaseous nitrogen into nitrogen-containing compounds is performed primarily by:

a. fungi

b. prokaryotes

c. green plants

d. herbivores

e. carnivores

b. prokaryotes

Plants cannot incorporate nitrogen into organic compounds and therefore depend on ______ to make nitrogen available to them.

a. animals

b. bacteria

c. protists

d. fungi

e. viruses

b. bacteria

K selection includes selection of traits that are advantageous at high densities, when competition for resources is high, what kind of trait might they evolve for this?

a. Iteroparity

b. Semelparity

c. R-strategists

d. Low parental care

a. Iteroparity

The relationship between _____ and aerobic cellular respiration should be kept in mind when discussing the carbon cycle.

a. photosynthesis

b. trophic levels

c. pollution

d. food pyramids

e. food webs

a. photosynthesis

The number of individuals per unit area or volume is defined as:

a. Population dispersion

b. Population density

c. Clumped dispersion

d. Uniform dispersion

b. Population density

Which of the following is an example of random sampling?

a. Collecting a group of snails, 5 of them of stickers on them

b. Counting the number of bunny nests in a park

c. Capturing individuals in mist netting at regular times of the year

c. Capturing individuals in mist netting at regular times of the year

An elephant exhibits which type of reproduction?

a. Iteroparity

b. Semelparity

c. Density-independent reproduction

d. Uniform dispersion

a. Iteroparity

3. Which of the following is not a process of removing individuals from the population density?

a. Immigration

b. Emigration

c. Predation

d. Starvation

a. Immigration; moving INTO population not out

An organism that reproduces just once in their lifetime before dying exhibits:

a. Semelparity

b. Iteroparity

c. Uniform dispersion

d. Density-dependent reproduction

a. Semelparity

Who has the highest production efficiency?

a. birds

b. mammals

c. birds and mammals

d. fish

e. insects

E. Insects