Ch 15 Study Guide

It is the year 2080, and almost every square mile of Earth is cultivated or paved over. Hunger and disease no longer exist, but most people work 60 hours per week just to ensure sufficient food and water. They have no time to walk in the woods, listen to music, or create the latest art. Which of the following is endangered in this scenario?

Earth's cultural carrying capacity

True or false: The blood of lobsters is blue.

true

You have been hired to work for a moving company for the month of October. Your boss asks you to choose between two salary plans: A, where you are paid $1,000 each day for the month; or B, where you are paid $0.01 for the first day,$0.02 for the second day, $0.04 for the third day, and so on with your pay doubling every day. Which plan should you choose?

Plan B, because exponential growth leads to higher numbers over time

7. In contrast to nonhuman populations, human population growth rates have begun to decline due to ____.

voluntarily decreasing birth rates

In general, which of the following statements about human population growth is true over the longer term?

When death rates fall, birth rates also fall.

15.3 When natural populations exceed their environment's carrying capacity, they may experience a steep population ______.

crash

3. When individuals in a population are evenly spaced throughout their habitat, their dispersion is termed as _____.

uniform

demo-

is from the word meaning people

Which of the following is an approximate estimate of the carrying capacity of Earth based on net primary production (NPP) land-use data and ignoring the needs of other species?

21 billion people

People who live in the United States make up about 5% of the population of Earth but how much global energy do they consume?

24%

Ranger Renee used the mark-recapture method to study a population of beetles in the forest. After marking and releasing 200 beetles on one day, she returns a week later to the same area. She catches a total of 300 beetles this time and observes that 150 of them are marked. Use the data and formula provided to determine her best estimate of the beetle population density.

400

Which of the following occurs when a population approaches its carrying capacity?

Birth rates and death rate are nearly equal

You have always loved spiders and plan to study them as a biology project. You want to determine how many spiders live in your apartment building in Brooklyn, New York. You tell your assistant to begin by doing which of the following?

Catch spiders, mark them with a white dot, then release them.

One year, a population of white-tailed deer faced a severe shortage of food as a result of a drought. Which of the following would you expect to observe in this population during breeding season the following year?

Decrease in birth rates, increase in death rates

According to archeologists, the population of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) declined dramatically from about 7,000 inhabitants to fewer than 700 people several centuries ago. Which of the following is thought to have produced this result?

Deforestation

Jose is conducting research in the Pacific Islands. He observes that the inhabitants of Island X enthusiastically adopted modern birth control about 15 years ago and still use these methods today. Despite this, the population of X continues to increase. Using only the information provided, decide which of the following is the most likely reason for this increase.

Demographic momentum

The figure shows the birth and death rates over time for a population. The upper green line is the birth rate, the lower blue line is the death rate, and time is represented on the x-axis. What term describes the time period between the two vertical blue dotted lines?

Demographic transition

About how many years would be required for a population with a growth rate of 3% to double in size?

Fewer than 28 years

Which of the following two factors are usually present in populations that are successful at reducing their birth rates?

Higher per capita income and higher female literacy

2. Explain why a decrease in population growth is expected as a nonhuman population approaches carrying capacity.

In most populations, growth rates declines because death rate increases (or birth rate decreases) as resources are "used up" by the population.

Dr. I. M. Smart has determined that the world population will have enough clean water for many years to come. He proved this by dividing the number of gallons of clean water now available by 10.9 billion, the highest-growth population estimate. Ms. I. M. Smarter, a student, says that Dr. Smart is incorrect. What is the basis for her objection?

Increased population means more water pollution.

What is significant about Petit Jean State Park, as discussed in lecture?

It is a great example of a CCC project.

What is the shape of the curve that describes exponential population growth?

J-shaped

Some experts believe that Earth is approaching its carrying capacity for humans. Which of the following facts can be cited as supporting this viewpoint?

Members of some countries consume many more calories than they require.

Young plants whose seeds are dispersed during a windy storm grow on the forest floor in what type of distribution?

Random

Which of the following is the best definition of the carrying capacity of trout that can live in a lake?

The maximum number of trout that can live in the lake

Which of the following is a statement about population density?

There are many wolves in Yellowstone National Park.

Country A and Country B are about the same size in geographical area, and 40 years ago had about the same number of citizens. Since then, Country A passed through its demographic transition relatively quickly, whereas Country B has been in the midst of its transition for several decades. What can you infer about the sizes of the populations in these two countries in the present day?

There are significantly more people in Country B than in Country A.

The organization of a typical suburb, where each house has its own driveway, front yard, and back yard, is an example of what type of distribution?

Uniform

When looking at a population pyramid of India and the United States, what would be expected to be true?

Younger people outnumber older people in India.

4. A population growing exponentially ______.

adds a larger number of individuals in each successive generation

During the demographic transition of a human population, growth rates climb as ____ rates greatly exceed _____ rates. 15.1

birth, death

15.1 The birth rate in a population is determined by counting the number of ____ that occur in a population in a year, divided by the total _____.

births, population

What is the name given to periods of rapid population growth followed by steep declines in population numbers?

boom and bust

Populations with _____ birth rates may experience population cycles of repeated "booms" and "busts. 15.3

high

The graph of human population over time shows an S-shaped curve, indicating that the population may be nearing _____ _______. 15.2

carrying capacity

15.1 More than half of the human population is found in densely populated urban areas, demonstrating a ______ distribution pattern.

clumped

A decrease in the amount of food available per individual as a population gets larger is an example of a density-_____ factor that affects population growth. 15.2

dependent.

Demographic momentum is the tendency for a population to grow in size even after birth rates and death rates become ____. 15.3

equal

15.2 Humans are an unusual species in that when resources levels are high, individuals often choose to have ____ offspring.

fewer

expo-

is from the word meaning to put forth

15.2 A population's carrying capacity is the ____ population size that can be supported indefinitely.

maximum

popula-

means multitude

log-

means proportion or ratio

What is the picture shown at the beginning of this lecture?

mosquito foot

What is the deadliest animal on earth, according to lecture (and supporting materials given in lecture)?

mosquitos

15.2 Earth's entire production of calories that could be consumed by humans is known as ___ ____ production.

net primary

9. The current carrying capacity of Earth for the human population may have been inflated by _______.

our use of fossil fuels

15.1 In a mark-recapture study, the size of a population of interest is estimated by the ______ of marked individuals that are recaptured after one round of trapping has occurred.

percentage (or proportion)

8. Populations that rely on stored resources are likely to overshoot the carrying capacity of the environment and consequently experience a(n) ______.

population crash

10. Demographic momentum refers to the tendency for ______.

populations to continue to grow in number even when women are reducing the number of children they bear

A population pyramid allows one to calculate the future growth of a population because it contains information about the proportion of the population that is of ______ _______. 15.3

reproductive age

Exponential growth is growth in proportion to the ______ population 15.1

total

True or false: A flea can leap up to 38 times its body weight and at an acceleration of around 100 Gs.

true

true: There more kinds of insects on Earth than any other kind of animal.

true

6. All of the following are density-dependent factors that can influence population size except: weather food supply waste concentration in the environment infectious disease supply of suitable habitat for survival

weather

An effective way to reduce human population growth rates in a society is to improve the status of _____ in that society. 15.3

women