ISB202 CH2
_____ competition occurs between members of the same species.
Intraspecific
What is true about the conclusion of the Biosphere 2 experiment?
The project was a failure, and the main lesson learned is how Biosphere 1 is irreplaceable.
Which one of the following statements is correct regarding the wolves in Yellowstone National Park? -There are about the same number of wolves as elk in the Park. -Their numbers have been fairly stable at 80 to 100 individuals. -They have been experiencing exponential population growth ever since they were first reintroduced. -Their population recently crashed because they killed off the elk population, their primary food source.
Their numbers have been fairly stable at 80 to 100 individuals.
Which statement is true of an ecosystem's area? -By definition, ecosystems and biomes are synonymous and cover the same expanses. -There is typically more area in an ecosystem than a biome. -There is no minimum size for an ecosystem. -By definition, all ecosystems cover large expanses of land or ocean.
There is no minimum size for an ecosystem.
Which one of the following is most likely to be a keystone species? -herbivore -top predator -producer -primary consumer
top predator
Of the following factors, which one is a density-independent factor for an elk population in Yellowstone National Park? -bison -chronic wasting disease -wildfire -tick infestation
wildfire
In a terrestrial environment, each trophic level contains approximately how much energy of the trophic level below it?
10 percent
Which one of the following populations is growing exponentially? Numbers in each sequence represent the number of individuals in the population in consecutive years.
10→15→23→34→51→77
If a population of bats grows from 100 to 110 individuals in a year, how long will it take for the population to reach 200 bats, or double, assuming a constant growth rate?
7 years
In a trophic pyramid, approximately how much energy is lost from one trophic level to the next level up?
90%
Which one of the following reasons would NOT cause wood storks to fly farther and farther from their nesting habitat in search of foraging grounds? -Foraging grounds dry up. -Foraging grounds are flooded. -Foraging grounds are converted into human developments. -Alligators invade their foraging grounds.
Alligators invade their foraging grounds.
Which one of the following is false regarding ecological diversity? -Ecological diversity results from connections among species and between species and their environment. - Ecological diversity is a measure of the number of species at each trophic level but not the total number of trophic levels. -Ecosystem complexity is related to a community's resilience. -Greater ecological diversity means more niches and more ways for matter and energy to be accessed and exchanged.
Ecological diversity is a measure of the number of species at each trophic level but not the total number of trophic levels.
In The Tragedy of the Commons, Garrett Hardin wrote that for millennia, "tribal wars, poaching, and disease [kept] the numbers of both man and beast well below the carrying capacity of the land." Of the following, which one best explains Hardin's statement? -Human and beast populations were being regulated in a bottom-up manner. -Human and beast populations were being regulated in both a bottom-up and top-down manner. -Human and beast populations were regulated by a trophic cascade. -Human and beast populations were being regulated in a top-down manner.
Human and beast populations were being regulated in a top-down manner.
Which one of the following statements is true of limiting factors? - limiting factors can be neither abiotic nor biotic - limiting factors are only abiotic - limiting factors are only biotic - limiting factors can be either abiotic or biotic
Limiting factors can be either abiotic or biotic.
_____ are species that can use a wide variety of resources.
Niche generalists
Which one of the following statements does NOT correctly describe its relationship? -Parasitism occurs when leeches and lampreys, which both feed on blood, take turns adhering to alligators swimming through their waters. -Resource partitioning occurs when limpkins and snail kites, both predators of apple snails, hunt in different regions of the Everglades. -Mutualism occurs in the Everglades when giant sphinx moths feed on orchid nectar, which pollinates the flowers. -Commensalism occurs when fungi decompose the uneaten remains from an alligator's meal.
Parasitism occurs when leeches and lampreys, which both feed on blood, take turns adhering to alligators swimming through their waters.
How do scientists track the 41 wolves that were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park?
Researchers fit them with radio signal collars.
Which statement is NOT one of the purposes of the Biosphere 2 experiment?
Scientists hoped to increase crop production in arid areas.
What statement does NOT reflect a community? -Termite mounds in the Kalahari Desert can reach several meters tall. -In the Amazon Rainforest, a variety of animals and plants such as Anacondas, three-toed sloths, and passion flowers depend on Brazil nut trees for shelter and food. -After being hunted nearly to extinction, the reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the late twentieth century keeps the elk population in balance. -A food source of orcas and leopard seals, Adelie penguins eat Antarctic krill, silverfish, and squid.
Termite mounds in the Kalahari Desert can reach several meters tall.
Which one of the following statements comparing r- and K-selected species is correct? -The biotic potential of K-species is greater than that of r-species. -Parental care is greater in r species than in K species. -Life expectancy in r-species is greater than it is in K-species. -The rate of growth is greater in r species than in K species.
The rate of growth is greater in r species than in K species.
Why do ecologists monitoring elk populations in Yellowstone National Park also monitor aspen, willow, and cottonwood trees?
These trees are the most important winter food for elk.
How are elk and deer like r-selected species?
They are able to increase their population size quickly.
Of the following, which one is NOT characteristic of individuals within a population? -They can breed with each other. -They can live in separate geographic areas. -They can interact with each other. -They belong to the same species.
They can live in separate geographic areas.
Species
What is a group of plants or animals that have a high degree of similarity and can generally only interbreed among themselves?
In the absence of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, the elk population eventually exceeded its _____.
carrying capacity
In ecology, what value is signified as K in population mathematical models?
carrying capacity of a population
What is NOT an effect of humans on the Everglades ecosystem? - changes in nutrient systems - water cycle alteration - changes in latitude - changes in species interaction
changes in latitude
Scientists have found that the red fox has become more common in Yellowstone National Park after the reintroduction of wolves. Which one of the following would be the best explanation for the fox population increase? -Wolves share prey with foxes. -Wolves hunt small mammals such as foxes. -Wolves hunt coyotes, which compete with and eat foxes. -Foxes have a mutualistic relationship with wolves.
Wolves hunt coyotes, which compete with and eat foxes.
What is the current state of the wood stork's range compared to its historical range?
Wood storks have traditionally centered their range in southern Florida, but they now have shifted their range to be centered in central and northern Florida.
Someone is hiking in Yellowstone National Park and comes across a large grove of untouched aspen saplings. Which one of the following is the person likely to find in the area of the grove?
a burned forest
Which one of the following would park managers likely investigate first if the elk population in Yellowstone National Park were to suddenly increase dramatically?
a decline in the wolf population
What does NOT happen after an introduction of an invasive species?
a long-term increase in species diversity.
Which one of the following would have the most core habitat? -a square 10-acre forest -two square 5-acre forests -three square 3⅓-acre forests -four square 2.5-acre forests
a square 10-acre forest
Which one of the following is most likely to be the limiting factor for wolves in Yellowstone National Park?
the number of elk
What is the term ecologists use for the biological characteristics of a species that influence how quickly a population can potentially increase?
life-history strategies
Energy enters ecosystems in the form of _____.
light
Which one of the following organisms is correctly paired with its trophic level? -bluegill, producer -sawgrass, primary consumer -mushroom, decomposer -American alligator, primary consumer
mushroom, decomposer
Which one of the following is a decomposer?
mushrooms
Which one of the following is defined as a symbiotic relationship between individuals of two species in which both parties benefit?
mutualism
What gas built up in Biosphere 2 that caused reduced vitamin synthesis, which could cause damage to the brain?
nitrous oxide
Which one of the following parameters is/are NOT automatically controlled in Biosphere 2? - oxygen levels - wind -temperature - humidity
oxygen levels
Which one of the following disciplines is NOT useful for input in restoration ecology? -engineering -chemistry -philosophy -biology
philosophy
Using inorganic fertilizers and mining for its components would most severely impact which of the following cycles?
phosphorus
"Consumers" are so named because they consume _____.
plants and organisms that eat plants
Of the following, which one is fundamental to long-term population success? - genetic diversity -minimum viability -social behavior -population density
population density
Which one of the following does NOT increase atmospheric carbon dioxide levels? -decomposers -consumers -producers -distributors
producers
Which one of the following is a major predator of stork nests in the Everglades?
raccoons
Plants such as dandelions that rely on wind to disperse their seeds tend to have a _____ distribution.
random
What is NOT included in the biosphere? - land - air - water - space
space
Nutrient pollution in a stream causes rapid growth of one or two species of algae. As other algal species in the stream become rare and greatly outnumbered, which one of the following does NOT decrease?
species richness
Reindeer were introduced onto St. Matthew Island, Alaska, in 1944. The population grew by an annual rate of 33 percent until it surpassed the estimated carrying capacity of the population in 1958. In 1963, the population had reached approximately 6000 reindeer, but during the subsequent harsh winter, a massive die-off left only 42 reindeer alive. Which one of the following would best explain the massive die-off?
starvation
Ecological _____ refers to the progressive replacement of plant species in a community over time due to the changing conditions that the plants themselves create.
succession
In the process of photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide to produce which one of the following?
sugar molecules
Until 2007, the town of Orange City, Iowa, was overrun by cottontail rabbits. These rabbits were a nuisance, eating flower beds and vegetables from gardens. In 2007, a pair of Cooper's hawks began nesting in town. The diet of Cooper's hawks includes small mammals such as squirrels and rabbits, and it also includes small seed-eating birds such as house finches and house sparrows. If a Cooper's hawk were to eat a house finch, the hawk would be feeding at which trophic level?
third, The plant is at level 1, and the house finch is at level 2.
Of the following, which one is a reason ecologists monitor populations of organisms in ecosystems around the world? -to reduce populations when they get too large -to measure their threat to human populations - to protect threatened and endangered species - to divide organisms equally among countries
to protect threatened and endangered species
Which one is NOT an example of a population? -gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park -vertebrates of the Mojave Desert -Adelie penguins on the Ross Ice Shelf -cherry trees along the Potomac River
vertebrates of the Mojave Desert
earth is a(n)
closed system for matter but not for energy
Which one of the following population distribution patterns features groups or patches of individuals within the habitat? -random -dispersional -uniform -clumped
clumped
Of the following animals, which one falls closest to the r end of the life-history continuum? -salmon -cottontail rabbit -ants -elephant
ants
Joe has an old wheelbarrow in the yard that is full of standing water. His neighbor, Jane, notices that the mosquitoes are particularly bad in her backyard, so she asks Joe to empty the wheelbarrow. After he does so, Jane notices that the mosquitoes do not seem nearly as bad in her yard. The mosquitoes in Jane's yard are limited by the availability of standing water and thus _____.
are experiencing bottom-up regulation
Of the following characteristics, which one is NOT a characteristic of r-selected species? -are adapted to a changing environment -mature early -are long-lived -have high biotic potential
are long-lived
For decades, what did ecologists think was the major force working on populations throughout an ecosystem?
bottom-up regulation
A population of elk is hunted down to a small size. Consequently, elk with unusual physical features, such as malformed antlers, start appearing in the population. This is likely due to which one of the following? -the evolution of a new species of elk -natural selection for malformations -insufficient calcium in the diet -decline in genetic diversity
decline in genetic diversity
Which one of the following experiments would NOT be suited for research in the Biosphere 2?
determining extinction rates of cockroaches
Which one of the following refers to all of the organisms in a given area in addition to the physical environment in which they interact? - biome - ecosystem - community - population
ecosystem
What is the name of the place where two different ecosystems meet?
ecotone
Most food chains have only four or five trophic levels due to the progressive loss of _____.
energy
Given that energy enters ecosystems in the form of sunlight that is harnessed by plants, in which one of the following ecosystems would energy most likely be harnessed?
equatorial tropical rainforests
Reindeer were introduced onto St. Matthew Island, Alaska, in 1944. The population grew by an annual rate of 33 percent until it surpassed its estimated carrying capacity in 1958. In 1963, the population had reached approximately 6000 reindeer, but during the subsequent winter, a massive die-off resulted in the deaths of all but 42 reindeer. Of the following, which one is NOT a potential explanation for the die-off? -disease -exceeding the minimum viable population size -overgrazing -climatic factors
exceeding the minimum viable population size
Primary succession would occur after which one of the following?
glacier retreat
Density-dependent factors _____ when it is small.
have little to no effect on a population
Of the following, which one was found to be a consequence of increasing mule deer and elk populations in Yellowstone National Park? -decreasing reproductive age -decreasing death rates -increasing competition for food -increasing tick infestations
increasing competition for food