test 2 learning curves
alligators in the Everglades do:
- create refuges for fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants - help species survive the dry season - help control raccoon populations
For a long time prior to the Industrial Revolution, Earth's human population had plateaued at around _____.
100 million
Which of the following latitudes features an arid climate?
30 north
Biodiversity hotspots contain approximately _____ of all plant and vertebrate endemic animal species.
40-50%
In 2015, approximately what percentage of Nigeria's women were of reproductive age (15-44)
42%
How much of the indigenous flora in Hawaii faces immediate extinction?
50%
Earth is home to approximately ________ people
7.5 billion
Around 10,000 years ago, the global human population began to increase rapidly. This transition is referred to as the _____.
Agricultural Revolution
______________ consists of the plants and other organic material that make up an ecosystem.
Biomass
Your class surveys two forests and collects the following data. Which forest has higher species richness?
Both forests have the same species richness.
What is the name of the atoll off the coast of southern Guam that is an important haven for nesting sea birds, Micronesian starlings, and sea turtles?
Cocos Island
_____________ often study populations, communities, ecosystems, and the interactions between organisms and their surroundings.
Ecologists
True or False: Cocos Island is a snake-infested atoll at the south end of Guam.
False At this point, Cocos Island is snake-free, and the hope is to keep it that way.
True or False: The number of protected areas has increased dramatically in recent years and now exceeds the targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity for terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
False Numbers still fall below the targets that have been set.
True or False: Habitat segmentation is the term for the process by which a solid, uninterrupted habitat is broken up into habitat patches or islands.
False The term is fragmentation, not segmentation.
True or False: Evolution is the process by which organisms best adapted to the environment (the fittest) survive to reproduce, leaving more offspring than do less adapted individuals.
False This is the definition of natural selection.
True or False: Natural selection may be stabilizing, directional, or dismembering, depending on which genetic traits are favored or selected against.
False To dismember means "to remove the limbs of an animal."
True or False: There is an inverse relationship between the strength of selective pressure on a population and the potential rate of evolution for the population.
False When selective pressure is high, there is a greater potential for rapid evolution to occur.
True or False: Species diversity is the heritable variation among individuals of a single population or a species as a whole.
False, thats genetic diversity
Your class surveys two forests and collects the following data. Which forest is likely to be more resilient to disturbance?
Forest A
Your class surveys two forests and collects the following data. Which forest has higher species evenness?
Forest B
Why are there brown tree snakes on Guam?
Humans accidentally introduced them
random distribution
Individuals are spread out over the environment irregularly with no discernable pattern.
Which of the following is TRUE about the evolutionary process of genetic drift?
It does not require any selective environmental forces.
Exponential growth in a population is represented by which of the following when plotted over time?
J-shaped curve
Which of the countries below had the highest average life expectancy in 2015?
Japan
The population density of Kerala is about twice that of what U.S. state?
New Jersey
_________ has the highest crude birth rate in the world—four times that of the United States.
Niger
Which of the following statements about r- vs. K-selected species is TRUE?
Population crashes are experienced more often by r-selected species.
reproductive rate
R= (births-deaths)/N [N- population size at beginning of interval]
uniform distribution
Rare in nature, individuals who are spaced evenly. Presence of one hinders another. Distance between individuals maximized.
_____ ecology is the science that deals with the repair of damaged or disturbed ecosystems, usually with some attempt to return the ecosystem to an earlier, less impacted state.
Restoration
Besides oil palm, land conversion for what other kind of plantation is rapidly increasing in Southeast Asia?
Rubber Tree
Why would spider populations on Guam have rapidly increased after brown tree snakes were introduced to the island?
Snakes ate the birds that ate the spiders.
Which mass extinction event is considered responsible for facilitating the evolution of dinosaurs?
TRiassic
In Yellowstone, fires stimulate the growth of aspen saplings, while elk eat the saplings. Which of the following statements is correct?
The aspen population is regulated in a top-down matter by elk and a bottom-up manner by fire
A population of organisms has the best chance to survive a change in conditions when which of the following is TRUE?
The population is more likely genetically diverse
Why is the savanna elephant considered a keystone species in the African savanna?
The savanna elephant tramples and grazes young woody vegetation, preventing the area from becoming shrubland.
Consider the temperate forest section of the graph. Which of the following is the best explanation for a cool location (5C) that receives 100 cm of precipitation and is temperate forest or a warm (16C) location that receives the same amount of precipitation and is grassland?
The warmer temperature would dry out the soil more quickly, and plants would need more precipitation. So 100 cm of precipitation would not be enough for trees.
China's population continues to increase despite a decrease in the total fertility rate to 1.54, which is below replacement. Which of the following best explains this?
This is due to population momentum; as the population eventually ages, there will be fewer young women and growth will slow.
True or False: A limiting factor can be either abiotic or biotic.
True
All of the following could hinder the discovery of a new species EXCEPT: - some locations are remote or otherwise difficult to access. - many species are difficult to find due to their size. - many species, especially insects, look nearly identical to other species. - a new species of songbird sings from deep in a jungle.
a new species of songbird sings from deep in a jungle.
Which of the following is a keystone species?
a species that impacts its community more than its mere abundance would predict A top predator in an ecosystem is often a keystone species because its absence may result in a drastic increase in herbivores, resulting in major changes in vegetation in an area.
A(n) _____ is a trait that has been favored by _____ in response to _____.
adaptation; natural selection; a selective pressure
The greatest mean annual precipitation is found in which area?
along the equator - With the Sun overhead, a good deal of evaporation is occurring at the Equator, resulting in humid air condensing in the atmosphere as it rises, resulting in frequent rainstorms.
A decrease in which of the following is most likely to have a POSITIVE impact on the wood stork population in the Everglades?
american alligators
Density-independent factors _____ when the size of a population is low.
can seriously impact a population
Which of the following variables are positively correlated?
childhood mortality rate and total fertility rate
Currently, _____ accounts for more habitat destruction than do other agricultural endeavors.
clearing land to raise cattle or their feed
In temperate North America, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants, generally found in weedy areas and prairies. The larvae eventually emerge and feed on the milkweed leaves. Monarch butterfly larvae would be expected to have a _____ distribution within its breeding range.
clumped
Unchecked human population growth could lead to all of the following EXCEPT:
continued exponential population growth for at least the next 360 years.
Genetic variation is essential for evolution because it:
creates a variety of traits in a population for natural selection to act on.
Of the following, which one is LEAST likely to be effective as a first step for a developing country that wants to control its population growth?
distributing free birth control
True or False: Both increased life-expectancy and decreased birth rate result in slower population growth.
false
True or False: If black deer mice colonize an area of red rocks, the individual deer mice will gradually turn red.
false
True or False: If the fertility rate of Nigeria were to drop immediately to replacement rate, the population would be at zero population growth.
false
True or False: The Black Death occurred in North America around 1350.
false
True or False: The population growth in Kerala sped up as its citizens became more literate.
false
True or False: The water in Biosphere 2 was polluted by excess nitrogen and carbon.
false
True or false? A population experiencing exponential population growth grows by the same number of individuals every year.
false
True or false? A population in Yellowstone National Park could include wolves and their prey, such as elk and deer.
false
True or false? Because of global warming, the wood stork's range appears to be moving south, and they no longer nest in North Carolina and Georgia.
false
True or false? Primary consumers form the bottom of a trophic pyramid.
false
Palm oil can be extracted from the _____ of the oil palm.
fruit
Which level of biodiversity supplies the material that natural selection acts on for adapting to changing conditions? - species - genetic - ecosystem - community
genetic
In a small tropical orchid population, female plants have one of five flower-color varieties: purple, pink, red, white, or blue. However, during your most recent survey of the population (in which you sample individuals over this entire population's range), you find no individuals with blue flowers. Over the next several years, you continue to discover this same pattern. Trying to discover the cause, you discover that the flower's pollinator community has not changed, nor have the herbivores that eat this orchid species. Further, you discover that no dramatic changes to the environment have occurred and that the population's size has not changed in the past. What is the most likely reason the blue flower-color individuals have disappeared from this population?
genetic drift
Most primary consumers would also be called _____.
herbivores
Smaller populations are at a _____ risk of _____ because they likely contain less genetic _____.
higher, extinction, diversity
The Tamiami Trail is a _____.
highway
People ____________ to the United States from all over the world.
immigrate
All of the following are likely to result in a population that is less genetically diverse EXCEPT:
immigration. Immigration is likely to result in an increase in genetic diversity as new versions of genes enter a population.
One threat to today's biodiversity is overharvesting, which would include all of the following EXCEPT:
increasing corn crop yield by overfertilizing a field.
Ecologists often monitor a(n) ________ species, a species that is particularly vulnerable to ecosystem perturbations.
indicator
_____ are selected for, but ______ evolve.
individuals, populations
Alligators do all of the following in the Everglades ecosystem EXCEPT:
inhibit population growth in amphibians such as frogs
All of the following could help determine the carrying capacity for a population EXCEPT:
intermittent wildfires
A conservation biologist using the ecosystem approach would be interested in restoring all of the following EXCEPT:
invasive species
What are non-native species that cause excessive ecological, economic, or human health problems called?
invasive species
From his research on elephants, Steven Blake learned that elephants have a significant role in enhancing the biodiversity of their habitats. For one, they help in seed dispersal throughout the forest as they deposit the seeds of fruit they eat, with a generous helping of fertilizer. Elephants also order the physical structure of the forest by trampling woody vegetation and opening up the habitat in ways that facilitate diverse plant growth and keep the ecosystem healthy. Such an outsize role by one species that impacts its community in such a dramatic fashion suggests that elephants are a(n) _____.
keystone species
density-dependent factors
limiting factor that depends on population size
Which type of population growth starts out fast but then slows down as the population becomes larger?
logistic
growth in which as population size increases, growth rate decreases
logistic growth
The two main sources of variation that can increase genetic diversity in a population are ________ and ________. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
mutation; genetic recombination
Though they are both designations for protected areas, a _____ is set aside primarily for human recreation and thus offers accommodations, restaurants, and other amenities for visitors while a _____, though open to visitors, is not commercially developed.
national park; wilderness area
A tsunami wipes out all of the mangrove forests on one side of an island in the Indian Ocean. A small number of mangrove forests on the other side of the island remain relatively intact. In this scenario, all of the following appear to have occurred EXCEPT: - a reduction in population size - genetic drift - the bottleneck effect - natural selection
natural selection
_____ is defined as the process by which organisms best adapted to the environment survive to pass on their traits.
natural selection
Denitrification involves the conversion of nitrate into _________ by bacteria, which returns nitrogen to the ___________.
nitrogen gas; atmosphere
A certain plant species exudes toxins from its roots to poison other species of plants growing nearby, thus preventing competition for resources. You would expect this plant to have what kind of population distribution pattern?
not enough information is given
The distribution of humans is not random. It tends to be clumped around cities and resources such as water. When more people live in an area than its natural and human resources can support, it is said to be _____.
overpopulated
All of the following could be a natural example of coevolving species EXCEPT
panda bears and koala bears
Effective biodiversity protection programs for palm oil production must address the needs of _____ as well as the _____ in danger. - ecosystems; oil palms - people; ecosystems and species - people; farmers - ecosystems and species; people and farmers
people; ecosystems and species
A(n) _____ is all of the individuals of a species that live in the same geographic area and are able to interact and interbreed.
population
Demographers are considering adding a fifth stage, Declining, for those populations experiencing a declining _____.
population
What is the greatest number of organisms in any of the individual food chains depicted within this food web of the Everglades ecosystem?
six
In a terrestrial ecosystem, all of the following decreases at higher trophic levels EXCEPT:
size of organisms
All of the following pairs of species in this food web can be found within the same food chain EXCEPT:
snail kite and Florida redbelly turtle
The process of new species arising due to populations being unable to interbreed because of isolation, food availability, or other environmental factors is called _____.
speciation
Which of the following best illustrates a uniform population distribution pattern?
spruce trees growing at a Christmas tree farm
The three main categories of biomes are marine, freshwater, and _____________
terrestrial
In the infographic, which of the areas highlighted has the highest number of threatened species?
the tropical Andes
All of the following are true regarding vertebrates EXCEPT: - there are more vertebrate species than mollusks and arachnids combined. - in general, their larger size makes them easier to discover and more vulnerable to hunting. - vertebrates make up about 1% of species on Earth. - they account for a relatively small percentage of total species on Earth.
there are more vertebrate species than mollusks and arachnids combined.
All of the following characterize biodiversity hotspots EXCEPT: - they contain endemic generalist species that can adapt readily to environmental disturbances. - they are rich in endemic species. - many are in tropical regions where biodiversity is plentiful. - many are located in isolated mountain or island ecosystems.
they contain endemic generalist species that can adapt readily to environmental disturbances.
Which of the following technically would NOT be an ecosystem service? - nutrient cycling - water purification - timber - flood control
timber
All of the following are warm biomes. Which of them is characterized by the least amount of moisture?
tropical scrub
Los Angeles, California, has an average annual temperature of 19°C and an average annual precipitation of 38 cm. According to the figure, what biome would you expect to find in Los Angeles?
tropical scrub or desert
True or False: Tropical seasonal forests are warm year-round.
true
True or false? Consumers must eat other organisms to gain energy and nutrients.
true
The accounting method that concludes that sustainable palm oil is significantly less expensive than traditional palm oil is called "_____ accounting."
true cost
If a plant's cells had no access to oxygen gas, the cells would directly be unable to ___________________.
undergo aerobic cellular respiration
Which of the following population distribution patterns is correctly matched with the way individuals interact with others in the population?
uniform; territoriality
In Thailand, the value that a mangrove swamp provides in terms of local harvestable goods and value to offshore fisheries is about six times more than the economic value of shrimp farms that displace the mangroves. If the cost of replacing the mangroves is factored in, shrimp farming would cost money, not produce it. This is an example of _____, which is a way of assessing the monetary value of an intact ecosystem to inform how best to use an area.
valuing ecosystem services The value of ecosystem services is often ignored in development decisions.
Until ~2007, the town 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 Cooper's hawk's diet includes small mammals such as squirrels and rabbits. After the hawks successfully raised offspring that then also nested in the area, the town's rabbit population declined to tolerable levels. Which of the following are the producers in this scenario?
vegetables
Which of the following is a K-selected species in the food web of the Florida Everglades?
wood stork
What country is the biggest user of palm oil?
China
_____ is the study of all the populations (plants, animals, and other species) living and interacting in an area. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
Community ecology
True or False: We are in the midst of the fifth mass extinction event in Earth's history.
False We may be in the midst of the sixth event. The fifth event killed off the dinosaurs.
What limiting factor did termites need enough of at the beginning of the Biosphere 2 experiment to last them until some of the larger plants began dying off?
Dead wood
When individuals in a population have a wide variety of alleles, they generally have high _____. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
genetic diverstiy
Evolution is driven by selection that favors certain _________.
individuals
clumped distribution
individuals are found in groups or patches within the habitat
All of the following statements about infant mortality are true EXCEPT:
it contributes to lower fertility.
Kerala is different from other parts of India in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
it has its own president
A(n) _____ species is one that provides a unique service by stabilizing and positively impacting its community more than its mere abundance would predict.
keystone
poaching means:
killing illegally
All of the following are commonly considered to be demographic factors EXCEPT:
land area of a country
Which of the following is the best example of a pioneer species?
lichen
Kerala is the first fully _____ state in India.
literate
All of the following are associated with lower birth rates EXCEPT:
lower standard of living
If a plant had no access to atmospheric carbon dioxide, it would not be able to ___________________.
manufacture sugars
Humans created modern-day dog breeds via artificial selection by selectively:
mating different dog breeds to obtain desired qualities in offspring.
Populations of K-selected species tend to be stable in _____.
mature areas that are undisturbed and unchanging
All of the following are benefits of biodiversity EXCEPT: - recreation - source of medicines - food production - mineral extraction
mineral extraction
Which of the following is defined as the smallest number of individuals that would still allow a population to be able to persist or grow, ensuring long-term survival?
minimum viable population
Which of the following is an invasive species that eats the eggs and hatchlings of turtles and ground-nesting birds in Hawaii?
mongoose
What source of genetic variation arises from a change in the DNA sequence of sex cells?
mutation
A population that has individuals with low trait diversity is likely to have a __________, which __________ the population's potential to adapt to changes. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
narrow tolerance, decreases
Of the following, carbon has the longest residence time in ___________.
ocean sediments
A species of rabbit exists in three body colors: dark, tan, or white. Body color is determined by one gene (the A gene) with two alleles (A or a); dark individuals are AA, tan individuals are Aa, and white individuals are aa. If the body color trait is highly influenced by natural selection by sight-based predators, in which type of environment would you expect to find individuals with the aa gene combination?
on a snowy mountainside
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, ________ of all the plants and animals on Earth are now at risk of going extinct.
one-third
In the environmental gradient shown, what is the term for the zone within the larger range of tolerance where the butterflies can grow and reproduce the best?
optimum range
species whose members mature early, have high fecundity, and have relatively short life spans are known as ____ named because of their high rate of population increase (r).
r-selected species
Plants such as dandelions that rely on wind to disperse their seeds tend to have a _____ distribution.
random
Which of the following is described as the range of a limiting factor within which a species can survive and reproduce?
range of tolerance
Genetic _____ shuffles alleles during meiosis (the production of sperm and eggs) and sometimes produces individuals with new traits during reproduction.
recinbination
Of the following terms, which one includes two of the others?
species diversity
In the process of photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide to produce which of the following?
sugar molecules
population density
the number of individuals per unit area
All of the following determine a population's carrying capacity EXCEPT:
the number of people in a population
Between 1845 and 1851, 1 million people died in Ireland when the potato crop was destroyed due to a fungus. This happened because _____.
the potato crop lacked genetic diversity There were many different varieties in the Andes but only two varieties in Ireland, mostly lumpers. What killed one lumper, killed all lumpers.
In Biosphere 2, all of the following were limiting factors EXCEPT:
water
Which of the following describes a population?
wolves living in Yellowstone National Park
In the absence of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, the elk population eventually exceeded its _____.
carrying capacity
The population size that an area can support for the long term is called _____.
carrying capacity
In population ecology, what value is abbreviated as 'K'?
carrying capacity of a population
When outside air was pumped into the Biosphere 2, it violated the _________-system design.
closed
Which African elephant part is sold to Chinese medicine shops?
eyeballs
In the single-species approach of biodiversity protection, conservation biologists are likely to focus on _____, while in the ecosystem approach of biodiversity protection, conservation biologists are likely to focus on _____.
flagship species; indicator species Flagship species are high-profile species that typically receive individual interest and treatment; indicator species are the first signals that something is wrong in an ecosystem.
You are studying natural selection in a population of small marine invertebrates called isopods that live on pink corals. In this population, isopod body color is controlled by one gene with alternate alleles A and a. Isopods can be red (AA), pink (Aa), or white (aa); body size is controlled by another gene with alternate alleles B and b, and they can be large (BB or Bb) or small (bb). A new predator arrives on the reef that is extremely good at preying on isopods that are large and stand out against the corals on which they live (i.e., red or white individuals). Over time, which genetic individuals would you predict would become more abundant in the population with each subsequent generation?
Aabb
Which of the following is a problematic invasive species in the Everglades?
Burmese python
As of the time of publication of your textbook, which of the following had not yet committed to using only sustainably produced palm oil?
Girl Scouts of the USA
______________ is the complete global loss of a species.
Extinction
True or False: About 85% of coral reefs have disappeared since the late 1800s due predominantly to overharvesting.
False
True or False: In the demographic transition model, the birth rate declines first, followed by a decline in the death rate.
False
True or false? If introduced to a new habitat, the population of a K-selected species is more likely to grow quickly than the population of an r-selected species.
False
Which of the following illustrates population density?
Orange City, Iowa has approximately 1500 people per square mile.
The higher crude death rate in developed countries is due to which of the following?
an aging population
All of the following are used to study wolves in Yellowstone National Park EXCEPT:
ankle traps
What are wood storks' nesting requirements in the Everglades?
any tree surrounded by alligator-infested waters
Your neighbors have an old wheelbarrow in the yard that is full of standing water. You notice that the mosquitoes are particularly bad in your backyard, so you ask your neighbors to empty the wheelbarrow. After they do so, you notice that the mosquitoes do not seem nearly as bad in your yard. The mosquitoes in your yard are limited by the availability of standing water and thus ___________________.
are experiencing bottom-up regulation
Consider the following three areas: Area 1 contains 1,500 endemic plant and animal species, with little habitat loss. Area 2 contains 1,500 endemic plant and animal species, and 500 are threatened or endangered; 70% of the habitat has been lost due to human impact. Area 3 has 1,500 species of plants and animals, each of which is found in other areas; 70% of the habitat has been lost due to human impact. Which of these three areas would qualify as a biodiversity hotspot?
area 2 only
Where on the logistic growth curve do resistance factors have no effect on population growth?
at the bottom of the S-shaped curve
Where on the logistic growth curve do resistance factors have their greatest effect?
at the top of the S-shaped curve
All of the following reasons could cause wood storks to fly farther and farther from their nesting habitat in search of foraging grounds EXCEPT:
alligators invading their foraging grounds
Storks nest
in the florida everglades
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?
inbreeding
What country is on track to surpass China in the near future as the most populous nation?
india
A _____ feeds at the third trophic level.
secondary consumer
A large flood briefly connects two rivers that have never been connected and carries a small number of crayfish from one stream where they are abundant to the other stream where no crayfish were present before the flood. The crayfish species quickly evolve new adaptations to their new environment. This is an example of _____.
the founder effect The founding population lacked some of the genetic diversity of the original population, and over a period of time in a different environment, they diverged from the original population.
All of the following are/were birds EXCEPT: the white-eye, the shrew, the flycatcher, the rail
the shrew
All of the following information is provided on an age structure diagram EXCEPT:
total fetility rate
At which trophic level(s) do detritivores and decomposers feed?
all trophic levels
Which of the following is true about artificial selection?
It can be intentionally or accidentally caused by humans.
If an intense fire burns through a population of a grass species, allowing only the most fire-resistant individuals' seeds to regerminate, then the population has experienced:
a bottleneck effect. Note that much of the genetic variation of the original population is being lost instantly.
Which of the following is a likely result of removing wolves from Yellowstone National Park?
a decline in populations of aspen, willow and cottonwood trees
The founder effect involves _____ population size and _____ available alleles.
a decrease in; a decrease in
Biodiversity hotspots are characterized by _____.
a large number of endemic species in a relatively small land area
All of the following were a result of the Industrial Revolution EXCEPT:
a shift from hunting and gathering to farming
Antibiotic resistance has been observed in _____.
bacteria
Which of the following lists contains the correct order from smallest to largest known number of species? - bacteria, vertebrates, plants, insects - vertebrates, fungi, insects, plants - fungi, insects, plants, vertebrates - mollusks, arachnids, vertebrates, roundworms
bacteria, vertebrates, plants, insects
In this figure, why is there an arrow going from the American alligator to the bass?
because bass eat alligators
Why is there a risk of bankruptcy of the Social Security system in the United States?
because too many people are moving into retirement age, with not enough younger people to provide income into the program
In the hierarchy of ecological organization, which of the following is above all of the others?
biome
When there are no environmental limits to survival or reproduction, a population will reach its maximum per capita rate of increase (r)
biotic potential
According to the figure, all of the following biomes can be found in the Southern Hemisphere EXCEPT
boreal forest
Which forest biome has cold winters, cool summers, and moderate precipitation?
boreal forest
Which of these is globally extinct because of the brown tree snake?
bridled white-eye
Dr. Julie Savidge was able to demonstrate that:
brown tree snakes liked eating birds
All of the following personal choices could help species at risk EXCEPT: - not buying wild-caught fish for aquariums. - not buying products made from animal parts. - buying wild-caught parrots to help protect them from poachers. - not buying livestock meat (e.g., beef) imported from South America.
buying wild-caught parrots to help protect them from poachers.
For most organisms, the vast majority of the energy acquired is used for ____
daily activities and/or body heat
All of the following populations would show a clumped distribution EXCEPT:
dandelions in a lawn
Which of the following BEST characterizes the worldwide population growth rate?
declining gradually
Which species in Yellowstone National Park is correctly paired with a density-dependent factor limiting its population growth?
deer mouse; predators
A biome is LEAST characterized by which of the following?
degree latitude
A new automated system for controlling tree snakes in Guam will do which of the following?
deliver toxic dead mice into snake-infested areas
Which of the following is referred to as a theoretical model that describes the expected drop in population growth rates as economic conditions improve the quality of life in a population?
demographic transition
All of the following illustrate the work of conservation genetics EXCEPT:
determining that elephants make good candidates for inclusion in a landscape species suite.
Understanding population dynamics can help with all of the following EXCEPT:
determining the most effective tranquilizer to use on wolves
A selective force that continually favors a particular extreme of a trait is an example of _____.
directional selection
Scientists are studying the mating habits of a population of butterfly fish on a Caribbean coral reef. They discover that two types of males get the most matings and pass on the largest number of genes to the population's offspring. The largest males get a large number of matings because they can guard females, preventing most of the smaller males from mating. However, the very smallest males also get a large number of matings because they can sneak past larger males and mate with females quickly before the larger males notice. Based on these observations, which selective force would you conclude is acting on male body size in this population?
disruptive selection The two extremes are being selected for, so over time, there will be fewer and fewer average-sized butterfly fish.
Which of the following refers to all of the organisms in a given area in addition to the physical environment in which they interact?
ecosystem
A focus on restoring and protecting biodiversity hotspots suggests a(n) _____ to biodiversity protection.
ecosystem approach
Biodegradable coconut fiber logs are made of coconut fibers surrounded by netting. Placed along the shoreline of a lake, they help trap sediment and prevent erosion from wave action. Seedlings placed into the coconut logs will develop into permanent shoreline vegetation that provides long-term erosion control. These logs are an example of _____.
ecosystem regulation and support Erosion control is a process that supports ecosystem function.
Conservation biologist Daniel Janzen has worked for 40 years in the area around Guanacaste National Park on forestland that had been converted to pastures and agricultural land. His plan involved protecting the area from invasive, non-native grasses and fire; replanting trees; and allowing pioneer species from neighboring forests to return and reestablish. Through this process of secondary succession, the area is now home to an estimated 235,000 species. This approach that benefits the entire ecosystem and not just an endangered species is referred to as:
ecosystem restoration. The landscape is being converted back to forest, so this is an example of ecosystem restoration.
The repair of natural habitats back to (or close to) their original state is referred to as __________, while a specific type of ecosystem repair that focuses on the cleanup of pollution in a natural area is called __________.
ecosystem restoration; remediation --Plants are sometimes used for remediation (e.g., for the cleanup of mercury). Such remediation using plants is called phytoremediation.
Without the _____ provided by biodiversity, life on Earth would not be possible.
ecosystem services
Forest fragmentation has led to declines in songbird populations whose nests are attacked by predators that exist along forest perimeters. This is an example of a(n) _____ effect.
edge
The historic range of the gray wolf _____.
encompassed most of North America
Of the following, a(n) _________ species is most at risk for extinction.
endangered
The proportion of _____ in an ecosystem tends to be higher in isolated ecosystems compared to others.
endemic species
Most food chains have only four or five trophic levels due to the progressive loss of _____.
energy
Predators, competitors, and disease are _____ that control population size and growth.
resistance factors
The chemical formula for nitrates is _______.
NO3-
The current global ecological footprint is the equivalent of approximately ________ Earth(s).
1.7
Ten rabbits are inadvertently introduced onto an island in the South Pacific. The following year (year 1), there are 20 rabbits in the population. Assuming the population continues to grow at a constant rate, approximately how many rabbits would you expect to be in the population in year 10 after the introduction? Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
10,000
Which 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 Notice that this population growth rate is ~50% per year.
Northern flickers (a kind of woodpecker) live on Santa Catalina Island in California. Let's say a population of 1000 flickers lives on the island. If the birth rate for the population is 500 flickers per 1000 individuals per year and the death rate is 300 flickers per 1000 individuals per year, what would be the size of the population at the end of the following year, assuming no migration to or from the island?
1200 flickers
One recent evaluation found that terrestrial ecosystems have lost around __% of their native biodiversity globally.
15
Compared to a typical boreal forest, the Amazon rainforest contains _________ tree species.
15 times more
Reindeer were introduced onto St. Matthew Island (Alaska) in 1944. The population grew by an annual rate of 33% until it surpassed its estimated carrying capacity in 1958. If the initial population was 29 reindeer, what was the approximate estimated carrying capacity of the population?
1600 reindeer
Northern flickers (a kind of woodpecker) live on Santa Catalina Island in California. Let's say a population of 1000 flickers lives on the island. If over a 3-year period, the birth rate remains stable at 500 flickers per 1000 individuals per year and the death rate remains stable at 300 flickers per 1000 individuals per year, what would be the size of the population at the end of 3 years, assuming no migration to or from the island?
1728 flickers There would be 1200 flickers after year 1, 1440 (= 1200 + 1200*200/1000) after year 2, and (= 1440 + 1440*200/1000) at the end of year 3.
Human population approximately doubled in size since _____ to reach our current size of 7.5 billion.
1970
Given the number of African elephants in 2016 and the current poaching rate of 35,000 elephants per year, in approximately what year will African elephants go extinct in the wild, assuming that no babies are added to the population?
2026 With 325,000 elephants alive in 2016 and 35,000 killed per year, it will take ~10 years for extinction to occur.
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, assuming a constant growth rate?
7 years The doubling time would be 70/10 = 7 years.
In a trophic pyramid, approximately _____ of the energy is lost from one trophic level to the next level up.
90%
What percent of the native species on Hawaii are endemic?
90%
There are many species that play key roles in the Everglades ecosystem. Which of the following is considered to be the main keystone species for this ecosystem.
American alligator
Area A contains 5 foxes, 5 raccoons, 5 snakes, and 5 squirrels. Area B contains 14 squirrels, 7 raccoons, and 2 snakes. Area C contains 10 raccoons and 10 squirrels. Which of the following is true regarding these three areas?
Area C has greater evenness than Area B.
Which of the following characterizes human population size throughout history? Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices
Beginning 10,000 years ago, human population size grew gradually until the Black Death, and after the Industrial Revolution, population growth became more rapid.
_____________ are organisms that break down dead or decaying material, returning basic nutrients to the soil for plants to take up.
Decomposers
Which of the following most accurately explains density-independent factors affecting population growth?
Density-independent factors are those factors that affect population growth but do not regulate population growth.
Which of these graphs correctly depicts the relationship between generation time and potential rate of evolution?
Graph C A long generation time means that evolution will have to occur slowly.
You are studying the evolution of antibiotic resistance in a laboratory population of bacteria on a series of petri dishes. You seeded each dish with genetically identical individuals that you know are easily killed by the antibiotic penicillin. On each dish, you allow the bacteria to reproduce via binary fission (i.e., a single cell splits in two to produce two identical new cells) on the growth medium for 2 weeks, at which point you apply an antibiotic to all of the dishes. You observe that in 1 out of every 100 plates, the antibiotic does not kill all of the bacteria. Which of the following best explains what is happening on these rare dishes that are not affected by the antibiotic?
Mutations occur during reproduction, causing some populations to evolve antibiotic resistance
Which of the following is most likely to happen if a population exceeds its carrying capacity?
The population will decline
True or False: Decomposers play a role in the carbon cycle.
True
True or False: Energy flows in a one-way trip through an ecosystem
True
True or False: Evolution can be defined as the change in the gene frequencies within a population over time.
True
True or False: If a trait is not heritable, it cannot be passed on to the next generation.
True
True or False: In contrast to fossil fuel combustion, burning wood from recent photosynthesis results in little net change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
True
True or False: People are more likely to donate money to "Save the panda" than to "Save the white warty-back pearly mussel."
True
True or False: The distribution of biomes is influenced by abiotic factors, especially mean annual temperature and precipitation.
True
True or False: Two populations are more likely to coexist in a community if their niches are dissimilar.
True
True or False: In rock pocket mice, fur color is an inherited trait.
True Coat color is adaptive as camouflage, and there is evidence that it is controlled by a single gene with alternate alleles (D and d).
True or False: The mass extinction event between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods is often referred to as the C-T boundary mass extinction.
True It's K-T, not C-T.
Using the tools that conservation genetics provides, which of the following decisions regarding ivory trading was made at a 2010 CITES meeting?
Zambia and Tanzania petitioned CITES for permission to sell their stockpiled ivory (from elephants that died naturally) as the ivory was just sitting there and the countries themselves could use the money. Furthermore, they insisted that as poaching had been all but eliminated within their borders, there was no risk of losing elephants to poachers. But when the DNA analysis showed that more than 60% of the ivory seized in Chinese, U.S., and Thai ports that year did in fact come from Tanzania and Zambia, CITES quashed the petition because, clearly, poaching was rampant in those countries.
Which of the following would park managers likely investigate for first if the elk population in Yellowstone National Park were to suddenly increase dramatically?
a decline in wolf population
Which of the following is the biggest cause of habitat destruction?
agriculture and aquaculture
When birders participate in the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count or butterfly enthusiasts assist in catching, identifying, and tagging monarch butterflies, these volunteers are considered _____.
citizen scientists The data collected by citizen scientists have been invaluable in helping ecologists understand our changing planet. Ecologists cannot be everywhere, so data collected by citizens is often the only detailed data sets ecologists can work with.
Earth is a(n) _____.
closed system for matter but not for energy
Aspen trees typically reproduce asexually by root-sprouting from the parent tree. What population distribution pattern would be displayed by aspen growing in the mountains of Colorado? A single tree can use this mechanism to produce hundreds of offspring.
clumped
True or False: Kerala has saved millions of dollars in its annual budget by its commitment to health and education.
false
True or False: The background rate of extinction is the extinction rate during a mass extinction event.
false
True or false? Ecologists are concerned that the elk population in Yellowstone National Park will soon drop below its minimum viable population because of the reintroduction of gray wolves.
false
True or false? In the Everglades, storks are dependent on alligators mainly because baby alligators provide a reliable food source for the storks.
false
True or false? Niche generalists are often highly adapted to acquire certain resources and can outcompete others who might be trying to utilize the same resources.
false
True or false? The wood stork serves as an apex predator in the Florida Everglades.
false
True or False: Of the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles, the nitrogen cycle is the only one involving bacteria.
false, all three involve bacteria
Which of the following describes trophic levels?
feeding levels in a food chain
The heritable variation among individuals of a single population or within the species as a whole is known as _____.
genetic diversity
In the infographic, some individual butterflies survive in the zone of physiological stress. Which of the following can account for this?
genetic variability
Which of the following accurately describes population growth rates during the demographic transition?
growth rates peak during stages 2 and 3 then decline
The number one reason that species become endangered today is ______________.
habitat destruction
British researchers Ian Owens and Peter Bennett analyzed the extinction risk for 1,012 threatened bird species and found that __________ was/were cited as a risk factor in 70% of the cases.
habitat loss
Density-dependent factors _____ when the size of a population is low.
have little to no effect on a population
Researchers were able to monitor all of the following in the Biosphere 2 experiment EXCEPT:
how all of the organisms in Biosphere 2 reproduced.
In the article 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." By writing this, Hardin was indicating that:
human and beast populations were being regulated in a top-down manner.
All of the following violated the closed-system design in Biosphere 2 EXCEPT:
human wastes were composted and used as fertilizer.
All of the following human activities are examples of habitat loss or habitat fragmentation EXCEPT: - hunting. - conversion to agriculture. - road building. - deforestation.
hunting
Human impacts that have increased global extinction rates above background rates include all of the following EXCEPT:
placement of animals in zoos
All of the following recycle nutrients back into the soil EXCEPT:
plants
Which of the following will you find at the bottom of a food web?
plants
Elk would lie more toward the r-selected end of the life-history strategy continuum than which of the following animals?
polar bears
The Mekong River dolphin is endangered due to what major threat to biodiversity?
pollution of a species' habitat Pesticides and mercury pollution have all but eliminated this species of dolphin.
Which of the following factors is inversely (negatively) correlated with the potential rate of evolution?
population size
Ultimately, the amount of energy in a terrestrial trophic pyramid is largely dictated by which of the following?
producers
Economic and cultural forces that encourage women to have additional children are called _____ pressures.
pronatalist
If the United States agrees on a debt-for-nature swap with another country, what does the United States gain?
protection of an ecosystem
All of the following strategies are a single-species approach to biodiversity conservation EXCEPT: - focusing on specific threats faced by flagship species. - captive breeding programs that seek to maximize genetic diversity by moving reproductive animals from zoo to zoo to introduce new genes into a breeding program or to minimize inbreeding. - reintroducing individuals from captive breeding programs or other wild populations into suitable habitats. - removing invasive Eurasian watermilfoil from a Wisconsin lake.
removing invasive Eurasian watermilfoil from a Wisconsin lake. This action would protect all of the species in the lake. Focusing on removing a single species is not a single-species approach.
Which of the following correctly matches an action with a particular route to conserving biodiversity?
removing invasive species as part of an effort to facilitate habitat restoration This volunteer work would advance conservation work in one's own area.
The ____________ time for a nutrient is the average amount of time the nutrient is in a sink before it fluxes to another sink.
residence
_____ is an outcome of interspecific competition when different species use different parts or aspects of a resource, rather than competing directly for exactly the same resource.
resourve partitioning
Until ~2007, the town 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 Cooper's hawk's diet includes small mammals such as squirrels and rabbits. After the hawks successfully raised offspring that then also nested in the area, the town's rabbit population declined to tolerable levels. In this scenario, the hawks are acting as _____.
secondary consumers
Ecological succession that occurs in an ecosystem that has been disturbed but where soil and plant roots and seeds are still present is known as which of the following?
secondary succession
How do oil palm plantations damage aquatic habitats?
sediement
Which stage of the demographic transition describes a country with rapidly declining death rates that is becoming increasingly urban but families are still having large families because that has been the norm culturally?
stage 2
In a predator-prey system common to fishless lakes and ponds, larval dragonflies are key predators on tadpoles. The dragonflies are best at killing tadpoles that swim around a lot because the larval dragonflies are visually based predators that wait for prey to swim by to attack. However, tadpoles that do not swim much are not able to eat enough food and thus die young. If the predators and prey are coevolving in this system, what sort of prey would you predict the predators would eventually become highly efficient at eating?
tadpoles that swim an intermediate amount Tadpoles that swim just enough to find food to survive but not be preyed upon would do best. So if coevolution were to occur, the dragonfly larvae would likewise become more attuned to tadpoles that are swimming less.
According to the figure, the entire island nation of Japan falls entirely within what biome?
temperate forest
From the infographic, to which trophic level(s) do wood storks belong?
tertiary consumer
Both the recovery of the Kanton Island reef in the South Pacific after a serious coral bleaching event and evidence that the savanna elephant is thriving in the eastern and southern regions of Africa where elephant poaching is lower are evidence of which of the following?
that the designation and management of protected areas are effective in protecting species and habitats and enabling their recovery The Kanton Island reef was declared a marine protected area, and game reserves and national parks have been established for the savanna elephant.
Many species in Africa, such as the cheetah and elephant, have had drastic reductions in population size due to being hunted by humans. This has resulted in a decrease in genetic diversity within the species. These scenarios involve _____.
the bottleneck effect The drastic reduction in population size and genetic diversity exemplify the bottleneck effect.
An intense fire burns through a grassy field containing a large population of cheatgrass, leaving only the most resistant (i.e., the largest) individual's seeds alive. This causes the population to evolve to favor individuals with larger seeds. This is an example of
the bottleneck effect. Note that natural selection has also occurred.
Which of the following is considered a reason for the increase in elephant poaching?
the building of roads in various parts of the elephant's range
All of the following occurred in the Biosphere 2 experiment EXCEPT: - the humans in the biosphere went extinct. - the biospherians' skin turned orange due to overconsumption of sweet potatoes. - insufficient wind prevented trees from developing stress wood. - morning glory vines became invasive.
the humans in the biosphere went extinct.
Modern corn was produced over 10,000 years by artificially selecting individuals with
the largest seed heads
population distribution
the location and spacing of individuals within their range
resistance factors
things that directly reduce population size (predators, disease) or indirectly (competitors)
Why did researchers put parachutes on the mice they dropped from aircraft into Guam's forests?
to ensure that the mice got stuck on tree branches
True or false? Core species are generally more sensitive to habitat fragmentation than edge species.
true
True or false? It may take a long time for a K-selected species to bounce back if sudden or major changes in their environment decrease their population size.
true
True or false? Most density-independent factors, such as hurricanes or a hard freeze, are abiotic.
true
