AP bio random questions

A population of snails (Helicidae family) on the Galapagos islands has been studied for the past 70 years. It is polymorphic in terms of body color. The dominant type has brown stripes while the recessive is solid colored. A severe drought several years ago reduced the population size drastically, but now has since returned to Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The current population of snails exhibiting solid color is 17%. What can you expect the frequency of the homozygous striped shells to be? Give your answer to the nearest hundredth.

30 or 35%

Which of the following describes a metabolic consequence of a shortage of oxygen in muscle cells?

A buildup of lactic acid in the muscle tissue due to fermentation

The diagram above illustrates feedback control as exerted by the hormone thyroxine. Following surgical removal of the thyroid gland, the level of TSH in the blood will increase. Which of the following best explains this increase?

A decrease in thyroxine levels means a loss of inhibition to the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary leading to increased TSH secretion

Sickle-cell anemia is associated with a mutation in the gene encoding the beta subunit of hemoglobin that results in a change from glutamic acid to valine at position 6. All other amino acids are identical to a normal hemoglobin molecule. Based on the information above, which of the following mutations is the most likely cause of sickle-cell anemia?

A single base-pair substitution in the gene encoding the beta subunit

Which plant hormone causes stomata to close?

Abscisic acid

Darwin's finches are an example of

Adaptive Radiation

The endocrine system incorporates feedback mechanisms that maintain homeostasis. Which of the following demonstrates negative feedback by the endocrine system?

After a meal, blood glucose levels become elevated, stimulating beta cells of the pancreas to release insulin

Which of the following statements best supports the claim that organisms share fundamental processes as a result of evolution?

All organisms share a genetic code organized into triplet codons

The equation above shows one of the reversible reactions that occur in blood. After exercise, an athlete's blood pH has dropped below the normal level. How will normal blood pH be restored?

An increase in breathing rate will lead to a decrease in blood CO2 and H plus concentration

The processes illustrated in the models depicted above all result in which of the following?

An increase in genetic variation

Within a forest ecosystem, there is a large amount of diversity among members of a warbler species.Of the following stages of meiosis illustrated for atypical cell, which contributes most to diversity among the warblers?

Answer: C (2 sets of X's' meet in the middle)

Information is transmitted through the nervous system when one neuron signals another neuron. The structure of neurons enables transmission to proceed quickly and efficiently. Which of the following diagrams correctly identifies both the structure of neurons and the direction of information flow between neurons?

Answer: D

A researcher is investigating the relationship between the existing species diversity in a community and the ability of an introduced non-native species to destabilize the community. Which of the following graphs is most consistent with the claim that communities with high diversity are more resistant to change than are communities with low diversity

Answer: D As species diversity increases, survival of invaders decreases because more niches are occupied

The healthy human immune system responds to pathogens with both specific and nonspecific processes. Which of the following models depicts a nonspecific response?

Answer: b, Macrophage

The validity of the cladogram is best supported by molecular evidence for which of the following changes in the amino acid composition of the beta-hemoglobin protein during the evolution of these species?

Arginine to leucine at position X on the cladogram

Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) is important in maintaining homeostasis in mammals. ADH is released from the hypothalamus in response to high tissue osmolarity. In response to ADH, the collecting duct and distal tubule in the kidney become more permeable to water, which increases water reabsorption into the capillaries. The amount of hormone released is controlled by a negative feedback loop. Based on the model presented, which of the following statements expresses the proper relationship between osmolarity, ADH release, and urine production?

As tissue osmolarity rises, more ADH is released, causing less water to be excreted as urine

The differences in sparrow songs among sympatric species of sparrows is an example of

Behavioral isolation

Scientists have found that the existing populations of a certain species of amphibian are small in number, lacking in genetic diversity, and separated from each other by wide areas of dry land. Which of the following human actions is most likely to improve the long-term survival of the amphibians?

Building ponds in the areas of dry land to promote interbreeding between the separated populations

Butterflies of the genus Colias live in the Rocky Mountains, where they experience a wide range of temperatures. Different variants of a particular glycolytic enzyme in the flight muscles are optimally active at different temperatures. Within the same population, some individual butterflies fly most effectively at 29 C° , while others fly most effectively at 40°C. Still others can be equally active at both temperatures. Which of the following claims is most consistent with the observed butterfly behavior?

Butterflies that express two variants of the enzyme are active over a greater range of temperature

The electrophoresis results best support which of the following conclusions?

Cells from different tissue share a common ability to use genetic material from a foreign source to produce protein

A dog is following the scent of a jackrabbit. Which of the following accurately describes how the dog's brain integrates information for smell?

Chemoreceptors cells in the nasal cavity sends impulses to the appropriate area of the brain.

In one region of New Jersey there are two distinct species of snake

Disruptive Selection

Testosterone oxido-reductase is a liver enzyme that regulates testosterone levels in alligators. One study compared testosterone oxido-reductase activity between male and female alligators from Lake Woodruff, a relatively pristine environment, and from Lake Apopka, an area that has suffered severe contamination. The graph above depicts the findings of that study. The data in the graph best support which of the following claims?

Environmental contamination reduces total testosterone oxido-reductase activity in females.

Ethylene is an organic compound produced by ripening fruits. In a controlled experiment, researchers found that ethylene gas stimulated the ripening process in newly harvested fruits. Which of the following describes the most likely connection between natural ethylene production and fruit ripening?

Ethylene gas is a chemical signal through which ripening fruits trigger the ripening process in other fruits.

The diagram above shows the progression of ecological events after a fire in a particular ecosystem. Based on the diagram, which of the following best explains why the oak trees are later replaced by other trees?

Eventually the other trees grow taller than the oak trees and form a dense canopy that shades the understory.

The table shows the changes in allele frequencies of a specific gene in two populations of randomly mating small mammals after 30 years. The populations inhabit adjacent equatorial islands that have similar topography and climate. Which of the following is the most reliable conclusion that can be drawn from analysis of the data above?

Genetic drift has occurred in population 1.

Hydrangea macrophylla is a species of plant with blue or pink flowers. Flower color in Hydrangea macrophylla plants is thought to be determined primarily by soil conditions rather than by inherited differences. Which of the following will provide the most direct evidence that flower color in Hydrangea macrophylla is due primarily to soil conditions?

Growing cuttings from the same Hydrangea Macrophylla plant under controlled conditions that vary only in regard to soil pH

To investigate whether an organism in the study is capable of both photosynthesis and respiration, a comparison of which treatment groups is most appropriate?

I and II

One model of a sustainable fisheries practice is for individual fish to be removed from a natural population at a rate equal to the highest possible growth rate of an ideal population. The graph above represents a population of bluefin tuna living along the Atlantic coast. At which labeled point in the graph is the population growth rate the highest?

III

High blood cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia, HC) can lead to cardiovascular problems such as atherosclerosis and heart attack. Exercise and monitoring of diet can often control cholesterol levels; however, in certain cases HC is inherited as an autosomal dominant disease caused by a mutation in a single gene. A man with high cholesterol levels is about to marry a woman whose total cholesterol levels are also higher than average. A physician has suggested they get tested for the HC allele. Which of the following is a valid ethical question concerning the test?

If both have the allele for HC, should an insurance company raise their rates because of the results of the test?

On a large volcanic island, researchers are studying a population of annual herbaceous plants. Which of the following observations best supports the prediction that speciation will occur within the existing plant population?

Lava has separated the population into two areas: an upload forest and lowland marsh.

Gregor Mendel's pioneering genetic experiments with pea plants occurred before the discovery of the structure and function of chromosomes. Which of the following observations about inheritance in pea plants could be explained only after the discovery that genes may be linked on a chromosome?

Most offspring of a given cross have a combination of given traits that is identical to that of either one parent or the other - When two genes are close together on the same chromosome, they do not assort independently and are said to be linked.

Over several years, bacteria were isolated from members of a human population and tested for antibiotic resistance. The percent of bacterial isolates that were found to be antibiotic resistant is presented in the graph above for each year of the study. Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information presented in the graph?

Natural selection over multiple generations is favoring antibiotic resistance in the population of bacteria.

If a dam is built downstream and prevents salmon migration to the test sites, which of the following most accurately predicts the impact on nitrogen influx?

Nitrogen influx will decrease because there will be less bear-salmon interaction

Researchers conducted a controlled experiment to investigate the effect of diet on the health of beef cattle. The initial hypothesis was that an abrupt change in diet will benefit beef cattle by reducing the sizes of bacterial populations living in the digestive systems of the cattle. In the experiment, the researchers determined the relative abundance of two bacterial species found in the rumen of cattle. The rumen is a part of the stomach that acts as a fermentation chamber in cattle and other ruminants. Shown in the table are the results from before and after an abrupt change in the cattle's diet. Based on the results, which of the following best explains why the initial hypothesis should be revised?

One of the bacterial species increased in response to the change in diet.

In a species of cactus, the number of spines on a plant is genetically determined. The graph above shows frequency distributions for populations of the cactus species growing in the presence or absence of two herbivores: peccaries (a New World pig) and wasp larvae. Which of the following best accounts for the different frequency distributions in the graph?

Peccaries eat cacti with a smaller number of spines, and wasp larvae eat cacti with a greater number of spines.

The area covered by tropical rain forest is reduced by millions of hectares per year due to agriculture and logging. Which of the following best describes a likely result of tropical rain forest deforestation?

Populations of plants and animals will decrease as more rain forest disappears, leading to a decrease in biodiversity.

Which part of evolutionary theory did Darwin develop after reading Thomas Malthus?

Populations tend to grow exponentially, overpopulate, and exceed their resources.

Matings between individuals from the two populations of Rhagoletis produce hybrid flies that appear to be healthy and have normal life spans. The eggs laid by these hybrid flies,however, hatch less often than those of flies from either of the two populations. What isolating mechanism seems to be important in this hybrid population?

Reduced hybrid fertility

The condition where barriers to successful breeding between individuals of the same species in the same community is referred to

Reproductive isolation

Eye pigment in a particular strain of fly is determined by two genes. An autosomal gene that controls the color of the pigments in the eye has two alleles: a dominant allele (R) that results in red eyes and a recessive allele (r) that results in sepia eyes. A sex-linked gene that controls the expression of the colored pigments also has two alleles: a dominant allele (T) that allows for expression of the colored pigments and a recessive allele (t) that does not allow for expression of the colored pigments. Individuals without a T allele have white eyes regardless of the alleles of other eye-color genes. Which of the following represents a cross between a white-eyed female and a red-eyed male?

RrXtXt x RrXTY

Large horns and antlers are examples of

Sexual Selection

Based on morphological characteristics, the phylogenetic tree above has been developed for species I, II, III, and IV. DNA sequencing has recently been completed for a particular gene found in all four species. The sequencing will provide additional information for answering which of the following questions?

Species I is the common ancestors of II and III. The tree shows that all are equally in common but the Roman numerals are recent branches.

Initially, which of the following isolating mechanisms is likely to have been the most important in preventing gene flow between the two populations of Rhagoletis?

Temporal isolation

When a stimulus is applied to a receptor in the skin, an action potential is propagated along a neuron to the brain, where another signal is sent back to the muscle for a response. Which of the following best describes what occurs when the action potential reaches a chemical synapse at the end of an axon?

The action potential causes a release of neurotransmitter that travel across the synapse.

The following is a food web for a meadow habitat that occupies 25.6 km2. The primary producers' biomass is uniformly distributed throughout the habitat and totals 1,500 kg/km2. Developers have approved a project that will permanently reduce the primary producers' biomass by 50 percent and remove all rabbits and deer. Which of the following is the most likely result at the completion of the project?

The biomass of coyotes will be dramatically reduced.

In most freshwater fish, nitrogenous waste is primarily excreted as ammonia, which is highly soluble in water and is toxic at low concentrations. In terrestrial mammals, ammonia is converted to urea before it is excreted. Urea is also highly soluble in water but is less toxic than ammonia at low concentrations. Which of the following best explains why freshwater fish do not convert ammonia to urea for excretion?

The dilution of ammonia by direct excretion into freshwater conserves energy

Which of the following pieces of additional data would help further investigate the relationship between bears, salmon, and influx of nitrogen into the local environment?

The experimenters should remove the remains of salmon carcasses immediately after the salmon are eaten by the bears and determine the nitrogen content of the carcasses

A group of mice was released into a large field to which no other mice had access. Immediately after the release,a representative sample of the mice was captured, and the fur color of each individual in the sample was observed and recorded. The mice were then returned to the field. After twenty years, another representative sample of the mice was captured, and the fur color of each individual in the sample was again recorded. Which of the following best explains the change in the frequency distribution of fur color phenotypes in the mouse population, as shown in the figures above?

The field was composed primarily of light-colored soil and little vegetation, affording gray mice

Which of the following observations provides the best evidence that photosynthesis occurred in treatment group I?

The mean pH of the samples increased after one hour

The diagram above represents a typical rod-shaped bacterium. Which of the following best describes a feature shown in the diagram that is unique to archaea and bacteria?

The organism does not have a nuclear membrane surrounding its genetic material

The diagram above depicts the response to a pinprick (stimulus) on the tip of a human finger. The arrows show the direction of impulse transmission along the labeled axons. If axon II was damaged before the pinprick, which of the following is most likely?

The person's finger will not withdraw reflexively.

Undersea landslides can disrupt marine habitats by burying organisms that live on the ocean floor. The graph above shows the size of a population of a certain organism that lives on the ocean floor. The population was affected by a recent landslide at the time indicated on the graph. Which of the following best predicts how the population will be affected by the landslide?

The reduced population will likely have allelic frequencies that are different from the initial population.

The transmission of information from sensory neurons to interneurons typically involves the

The release of chemical messenger into space which in between the axon of the plasma membrane and sensory neuron of interneuron.

Two populations of a species of squirrel are geographically isolated from each other. Although they have the same population density, one population is significantly larger in number than the other. A new bacterial disease, which is easily spread and extremely virulent, affects both populations at the same time. Which of the following is the best prediction of how the new disease will affect the two populations?

The smaller population will be more affected than the larger population, because the smaller population has less genetic variation than the larger population has.

Two populations of a species of squirrel are geographically isolated from each other. Although they have the same population density, one population is significantly larger in number than the other. A new bacterial disease, which is easily spread and extremely virulent, affects both populations at the same time.Which of the following is the best prediction of how the new disease will affect the two populations?

The smaller population will be more affected than the larger population, because the smaller population has less genetic variation than the larger population has.

Beaked whales feed at various depths, but they defecate at the ocean's surface. Nitrogen-rich whale feces deposited in surface waters supply nutrients for algae that are eaten by surface-dwelling fish. Which of the following best predicts what would happen if the whale population decreased?

The surface fish populations would decline due to reduced populations of algae.

The graph above represents the number of individuals in a population of wolves and in a population of moose observed in the same isolated geographic area over a 40-year period, from 1955 through 1995. Which of the following statements about the two populations is best supported by the information presented in the graph?

The wolves were predators of the moose, which were otherwise reproductively successful

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be a serious threat to human health. There is evidence that S. aureus infections are common in hospitals and that MRSA have become resistant to other antibiotics besides methicillin. This suggests that the rapid evolution of resistance in the bacteria poses a serious public-health challenge. Which of the following best explains the ability of MRSA to evade existing drug therapies?

Transmission of the methicillin-resistance plasmid would gradually decrease but the plasmid would not entirely disappear from the Staphylococcus aureus population

A genetic counselor is consulted by a young man who is worried about developing Huntington's disease, an inherited disorder caused by a dominant allele of a single gene. The young man explains that his cousin was recently diagnosed with Huntington's disease, and the news has caused him to consider his own risk of developing the disorder. Which of the following questions will best help the genetic counselor to evaluate the risk of the young man developing Huntington's disease and transmitting it to his children?

Were your parents or grandparents ever diagnosed with Huntington's disease?

Which of the following most likely describes how the interaction between bears and salmon influences nitrogen dynamics in the environment?

When bears consume salmon, they leave parts of the carcasses on the ground, which decompose, releasing nitrogen into the environment

The divergence between the two populations of Rhagoletis must have occurred very rapidly because

a the apple tree was imported into North America with European settlement approximately 200 years ago

The Populations of peppered moths in England changed from black to white in fifty years is called

directional selection

During the infection cycle for a typical retrovirus, such as HIV, which uses RNA as genetic material, the genetic variation in the resulting population of new virus particles is very high because of

errors introduced in the DNA molecule through reverse transcription

The condition in which there are barriers to successful interbreeding between individuals of different species in the same community is referred to as

geographic isolation

Which of the following best supports the claim that organisms of different domains share a common ancestor?

glycolysis occurs in both prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells

Cystic Fibrosis is the most common inherited disease in caucasian populations. 1 in 2,500 of newborn children have this disorder. The disease is an autosomal recessive disorder and is nearly always lethal at a young age. The frequency of the CF gene has persisted at high levels in the gene pool. When you have a gene that codes for potential fatal disorders, normally the frequency of this allele decreases. However this has not happened with CF. In terms of evolution, why has the high frequency persisted?

how does the disrupted chloride movement affect the movements of sodium ions and water by cell?

In which modified structures are sugars stored in an onion bulb?

leaves

Which of the following data would be most helpful in predicting possible disruptions to the relationship between the predator and its prey?

numbers of addition predator species, because additional predator will increase competition for prey.

Precise regulation of specific hormone levels is required for optimal sperm production in mammals, as summarized in the figure above. Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are synthetic variants of testosterone that are sometimes abused by persons who desire to enhance their athletic performance or alter their physique. Assuming that AAS function in the same way as naturally occurring testosterone, it is most likely that long-term abuse of AAS would

reduce sperm production

Peacock males have evolved to have large and beautiful tales. Long tails are difficult to carry when trying to escape from a predator. However, females, peahens, have been shown to prefer males with longer, more resplendent tales, despite the risks from predation. This is an example of

sexual selection

An individual's humoral response to a particular antigen differs depending on whether or not the individual has been previously exposed to that antigen. Which of the following graphs properly represents the humoral immune response when an individual is exposed to the same antigen more than once?

small hill then bigger hill on graph

Malaria is caused by several different species of Plasmodium, a protozoan parasite. Plasmodium resistance to the common drugs used to treat malaria has increased in recent years. In a scientific study, Plasmodium samples were analyzed in blood drawn from a large number of infected patients before drug treatment and subsequently from the subset of infected patients with drug-resistant Plasmodium. DNA sequences of four different Plasmodium genes thought to be involved in resistance were compared between samples from patients with drug-sensitive Plasmodium and patients with drug-resistant Plasmodium. Which of the following best supports the hypothesis that preexisting mutations confer drug resistance?

some mutations that occur most frequently in samples from patients treated with antimalarial drugs are detectable in plasmodium samples collected prior to use antimalarial drugs

Human newborns usually have a mass of 2.7kg to 3.6kg (6-8 pounds)

stabilizing selection

A scientist is evaluating a proposal for raising large numbers of fish in ocean pens for human consumption. As part of the evaluation, the scientist is designing a plan for investigating how the fish in the ocean pens might affect nearby ecosystems. Which of the following is the most appropriate factor to use as the dependent variable in the experimental investigation?

the amount of metabolic wastes in the water where the fish are being raised

A recessive allele of a gene has a frequency of 0.3 in a population

the frequency of the homozygous dominants will go down, the frequency of the heterozygous genotype will go down, and the frequency of the homozygous recessives will go up (I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THIS ANSWER BELONGS WITH THIS QUESTION BUT ITS ALL I COULD FIND)

In the Arctic Ocean, the predominant primary producers are phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are consumed by zooplankton, which in turn are eaten by codfish. In years when there is more open water (less ice coverage), there are more zooplankton and fish than in years with less open water (more ice coverage). Based on the graph above, the difference is most likely because

the ice blocks the light, so in years with more ice coverage, there is less photosynthesis by the phytoplankton

Which of the following statements is best supported by the data?

the presence of black bears and salmon correlates with a significant increase in nitrogen influx

In the year 2000, specimens of Caulerpa taxifolia,a green alga used in tropical aquariums, were found off the coast of California. Native to the Indian Ocean, C. taxifolia is known for aggressive growth and an ability to compete with sea grasses. It is currently on an international list of invasive species. Which of the following best predicts the consequences of the introduction of C. taxifolia to the California coast?

without natural herbivores or competitors C. taxifolia will grow rapidly and crowd out native species of producers