Ecology 213 Final

Which statement about mycorrhizae is true?

. Mycorrhizae are symbiotic associations between plant roots and fungi.

0 out of 1 points For which organism would it be advantageous to allocate more resources to reproduction than to growth?

. One with low adult survival rates

Compared with land at the same latitude, ocean waters tend to be _______ in the winter and _______ in the summer because water has a _______ heat capacity than land has.

. warmer; colder; higher

A population has a current size of 150. If λ is 1.2, what will the expected population size be after two generations?

216

Which organisms would most likely be able to tolerate the 90°C environments that occur in hot springs?

Bacteria

Which sequence represents the correct order of levels of biological organization, from largest to smallest?

Biosphere; ecosystem; community; population

Which environment typically experiences the most extreme seasonal variation?

Boreal Forests

The _______ pathways, which provide high concentrations of CO2 to the Calvin cycle, substantially reduce photorespiration.

CAM and C4 photosynthetic

Which statement about atmospheric circulation patterns is false?

Cool air can hold more water vapor than warm air can.

Which process differs the most from metamorphosis?

Direct development

At which stage of succession is facilitation usually the most significant factor?

Early

Which of the following is an advantage that endoparasites have over ectoparasites?

Ease of feeding

Which statement about ecology is false?

Ecology is an interdisciplinary field that incorporates concepts from the natural sciences, politics, and ethics.

Which type of heat transfer is much more common in plants than in animals?

Evaporative heat loss

The total amount of photosynthesis is referred to as

GPP

An ecologist studying ecosystems would be most interested in which question?

How much nitrogen is being taken up by organisms in a given place?

Which statement about parasite natural history is false?

It is rare for a host species to have a parasite that feeds upon only that species

Flowing streams and rivers are called _______ systems.

Lotic

Which statement about food webs is true?

Most food webs do not include information about symbiotic relationships.

Which organisms are found only in the photic zone?

Phytoplankton

Assuming that the concept of a river continuum is correct, how would a second-, third-, and fourth-order river be ranked, in terms of the importance of terrestrial vegetation as a food source for the organisms within it?

Second order > third order > fourth order

Which statement about zero population growth isoclines of two competing species is true?

Species coexistence requires that the two isoclines cross.

Which criterion is most important in determining whether an ecological relationship is a symbiosis?

The degree of proximity between the two parties

Which quality is a biotic feature of the environment?

The density of consumers

Which statement about early primary succession is false?

The first colonists typically cannot withstand much physiological stress.

Which statement about logistic growth is false?

The standard logistic equation assumes that the carrying capacity is not constant.

What is one reason that amphibians are especially good biological indicators of environmental conditions?

They live in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

Which areas of Earth receive the most precipitation on average?

Tropics

Loss of _______ pressure results in wilting of nonwoody plants due to dehydration.

Turgor

Which type of survivorship curve is seen most frequently in the wild?

Type III (most individuals die young)

In the CAM pathway, CO2 uptake occurs _______ and the Calvin cycle occurs _______.

at night; during the day

Organisms that can convert energy from sunlight or from inorganic compounds in their environment, without having to consume other organisms for their energy needs, are called

autotrophs

The final theoretical stage of succession is called the _______ stage.

climax

The Coriolis effect causes moving air at Earth's surface to appear to be deflected _______ in the Northern Hemisphere and _______ in the Southern Hemisphere.

clockwise; counterclockwise

Trees that routinely drop their leaves during cold or dry periods are referred to as

deciduous.

The total area of productive ecosystems required to support a particular individual or population is known as its

ecological footprint.

The term "r-selection" refers to selection

for high population growth rates.

The opening and closing of stomates is controlled by _______. Stomate openings primarily affect the process of _______.

guard cells; transpiration

Compared with large endotherms, small endotherms require _______ feeding rates, partly because they have a _______ surface area-to-volume ratio.

higher; higher

According to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis,

low or absent disturbance levels reduce species diversity due to competitive exclusion.

Species that feed on more than one trophic level are called

omnivores

The energy associated with dissolved solutes is called

osmotic potential.

A group of individuals of a single species of swamp sparrows lives in the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts, and these individuals interact with one another. This is an example of a(n)

population.

Suppose populations of a beetle species follow the logistic equation for growth. If a population is at 3/4 of its carrying capacity, and its (per capita) growth rate in the absence of density-dependent regulation is r, what is its growth rate now?

r/4

Ecologists try to reduce the likelihood that variables not under the control of the experimenter will unduly influence the results of an experiment by

replicating each treatment, including the control.

If soil salinity affects the growth rate of plants but is not depleted by the plants, salinity is not a(n)

resource.

If the tilt of Earth's axis were to decrease,

seasonality at the poles would be reduced.

Lions prey on animals such as zebras and wildebeest, which feed primarily on grasses. Lions thus should be considered

secondary consumers

A species of turtle grows for several years before becoming sexually mature. It mates, reproduces, and dies soon afterward. This species of turtle would best be described as

semelparous.

A population at the zero population growth isocline is

stable in size.

The biochemical pathway most commonly used by plants and chemosynthetic bacteria to fix CO2 in order to synthesize carbohydrates is

the calvin cycles

Though it contains only 11% of Earth's terrestrial vegetation cover, the _______ biome is home to about half of Earth's species

tropical rainforest

The climate of a certain region is warm to hot, with little seasonal variation in temperature, but with a pronounced dry season. The vegetation is mostly grasses, but there are some shrubs and trees. This region is most likely a

tropical savanna.