Biology Exam 3 Review

Density-independent factors:

are typically abiotic.

Keystone species:

are typically not the most abundant species in the community.

At zero population growth:

b = d.

About ____ species of birds have been described.

9000

Which scenario best describes facilitation?

A species interaction that modifies and enhances the local environment for other species

What environment is characterized by high nutrient inputs and by relatively great fluctuations in salinity and temperature?

An estuary

A frog that lacks chemical defenses, yet resembles a poison arrow frog, would exhibit:

Batesian mimicry.

What is perhaps the most common of the dispersal patterns seen in nature?`

Clumped dispersion

During the cycling of phosphorus, which biological process is critical in cycling dissolved phosphorus?

Decomposition

What term refers to the average rate at which organisms produce offspring?

Natality

Which of the following would increase population size?

Natality

A(n) ____ is the transition zone where two ecosystems meet and intergrade.

ecotone

An example of both chemical protection and coevolution can be seen in:

milkweeds and monarch caterpillars.

Which term can be applied to both monotremes and sharks?

oviparous

Most reptiles are ____ and their fertilization is ____.

oviparous; internal

Fixation of carbon is accomplished by

photosynthetic organisms

Characteristics of headwaters include:

fast flow, high oxygen, and streamlined animal bodies.

A linear depiction of energy flow in an ecosystem is a(n):

food chain.

The ____ niche is the broadest role that an organism can potentially have in a community.

fundamental

Competition, predation, and ____ are the main types of interactions that occur among species in a community.

symbiosis

Currently, much commercial lumber and wood products come from which biome?

temperate rain forest

The main steps of the nitrogen cycle are:

nitrogen fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and dinitrification.

A food web is a more realistic depiction than a food chain because:

organisms rarely eat just one kind of food.

An example of a density-dependent factor that influences the size of a population is:

parasites.

Iteroparity is common in which of the following organisms?

perennial herbaceous plants

Fixation of carbon is accomplished by:

photosynthetic organisms.

Populations that experience significant contest competition:

show small changes in population size over time.

The marine euphotic zone is comparable to the ____ zone of lakes.

limnetic

When r = 0.00001, the population size:

will increase

Which statement about biomass is FALSE?

Biomass reduction from one trophic level to the next is approximately 50%.

Which country would be expected to have the greatest species richness per unit area?

Brazil

The primary reason that Earth experiences seasons is because of the:

Earth's tilt on its axis.

El Niño-Southern Oscillation has resulted in:

global weather changes.

In a population characterized by type III survivorship, the probability of survival ____ with age.

increases

Competitive exclusion is a result of:

interspecific competition.

The monotremes are an unusual group of mammals because they:

lay eggs.

One reason that the realized niche and fundamental niche are not typically the same is:

limiting resources.

The most productive region of a lake is the ____ zone.

littoral

Nitrogen is a critical requirement for living organisms because it is a component of:

nucleic acids and proteins.

The ____ contains the greatest volume of ocean water.

oceanic province

The best definition of population density is the number of individuals:

of one species in a given area at a given time.

About __________ of the total energy the sun releases strikes the atmosphere.

one-billionth

Within a community, a dominant species may appropriate a disproportionate share of available resources, thus ____ other species.

outcompeting

In a parasitic relationship where the host contracts a disease and sometimes dies, the parasite is called a(n):

pathogen.

Which nutrient cycle does not have a gaseous phase?

phosphorus cycle

The atmosphere performs several essential ecological functions. One of these is to

protect Earth from most ultraviolet radiation.

In which group did the amniotic egg first evolve?

reptiles

Surplus individuals in the ____ disperse and find another habitat in which to settle and reproduce.

source habitats

What would be the growth rate (r) of an island population of 1000 that has 30 births per 100 population, 20 death per 100 population, 5 immigrants per 100 population, and 10 emigrants per 100 population?

+5%

An herbivore occupies the third trophic level.

False

Competition between species 1 and species 2 is beneficial for species 1 and harmful for species 2.

False

The most abundant gas in the atmosphere is oxygen.

False

The event in human history that changed the natural balance of the carbon cycle was the:

Industrial Revolution

The Southern Hemisphere has no equivalent of the boreal forest of the north. Why?

It has no land in the corresponding latitudes.

Tawny owls (Strix aluco) pair-bond for life, with both members of a pair living and hunting in adjacent, well-defined territories. Their reproduction is regulated in accordance with the resources, especially the food supply, present in their territories. Tawny owls can best described as:

K strategists.

Bacteria are most essential in the cycling of

Nitrogen

The enzyme nitrogenase is important in which part of the nitrogen cycle?

Nitrogen fixation

____ is the least frequent of the dispersal patterns seen in nature.

Random dispersion

Resource partitioning may include which of the following?

Relocating nesting sites

An example of mutualism is:

Rhizobium and legumes.

Order ____ includes the snakes.

Squamata

Which trophic level would contain the lowest quantity of energy (kcal per m2)?

Tertiary consumers

Order ____ includes the turtles and tortoises.

Testudines

Fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, are derived from which biogeochemical cycle?

The carbon cycle

Which statement about decomposers is FALSE?

They include bacteria but not fungi.

How are bacteria important to the genus Rhizobium?

They provide fixed nitrogen to legumes.

A decomposer is also called a saprotroph.

True

A killing frost is an example of a density-independent factor.

True

Convergent evolution resulted in placental and marsupial mammals with similar structural features.

True

In a food chain, producers occupy the first trophic level.

True

The organisms occupying the base of a pyramid of energy are autotrophs.

True

Clumped dispersion is often influenced by:

a patchy distribution of resources.

During ____ between predator and prey species, the predatory species becomes more efficient at catching prey, while the prey species becomes better at escaping predators.

coevolution

Traditionally, most ecologists have assumed that community stability is a consequence of:

community complexity.

The realized niche for the green anole was determined by:

competition

The Coriolis effect results in the

deflection of moving air due to the rotation of Earth.

Which factors are an example of a negative feedback system?

density dependent

Which of the following series correctly represents the hierarchical organization within ecology?

population → community → ecosystem → biosphere

Solar radiation

powers the hydrologic and other biogeochemical cycles.

In tropical and temperate regions, ____ becomes more significant than temperature.

precipitation

Which pair best represents photosynthetic organisms?

primary producer and autotroph

Species richness is ____ when any one species enjoys a position of dominance.

reduced

Habitat is best described as:

the local environment in which a species lives.

The tetrapods include:

amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals

The wide adaptive radiation of mammals occurred during the early ____ era.

Cenozoic

What would be the growth rate (r) of an island population of 6000 birds that has 60 births per 600 birds, 20 death per 600 birds, 10 immigrants per 600 birds, and 10 emigrants per 600 birds?

0.0667

Arrange the following from the ecosystem with the smallest average NPP to the ecosystems with the largest NPP. 1) lake 2) savannah 3) estuary 4) tropical rain forest 5) open ocean

5, 1, 2, 3, 4

Climates characteristic of the Mediterranean region are also common in:

California

____ begins in an area where there was a preexisting community and well-formed soil.

Secondary succession

____ are good habitats where local reproductive success is greater than local mortality.

Source habitats

____ generally have greater population densities than less suitable sites.

Source populations

What ecosystem has the highest rate of primary productivity?

algal beds and reefs

A community consists of ____ species in a given area.

all

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert gaseous nitrogen into

ammonia.

Which step of the nitrogen cycle is not performed by most bacteria?

assimilation

Plant roots absorb nitrate or ammonia and incorporate these compounds into plant proteins via the process of

assimilation.

The community found on a rotting log would include:

bacteria.

Which are living descendants of the dinosaurs?

birds

A primary source of carbon for photosynthetic organisms is

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and water.

The major components of Earth's atmosphere, from the lowest concentration to the greatest concentration, are

carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Community ____ is the description and analysis of patterns and processes within a community.

ecology

Within the chordate classes, the unique characteristic of the class Aves is:

feathers

The logistic equation:

takes into account the carrying capacity of the environment.

Near the poles, what is generally the overriding climate factor?

temperature

What two abiotic factors are considered to most affect organisms?

temperature and water

Net primary productivity represents:

the amount of biomass in excess of that needed to support plant cell respiration.

During the cycling of phosphorus, phosphorus does not enter ____ in appreciable amounts.

the atmosphere

The idea that older, more stable habitats have greater species richness than habitats subjected to frequent, widespread disturbances is known as:

the time hypothesis.

Mammals descended from a group of reptiles known as:

therapsids.

Much precipitation in the tropical rain forest is derived from:

transpiration