Ecology Chapter 1

Which of the following statements about the environment is FALSE? - The environment includes a physical location in space and time - Organisms interact with the environment. -There are many complex interactions among organisms within environments. -Organisms modify the environment. - Each population of organisms tends to remain isolated from the rest of the populations in the environment.

Each population of organisms tends to remain isolated from the rest of the populations in the environment.

__________ are abstract, simplified representations of real systems that scientists use to predict some behavior or response from a set of explicit assumptions.

Models

A student was conducting an experiment on hamster food preference and obesity. She hypothesized that the hamsters would choose the lipid-rich food after fasting. When analyzing her results, the student found that 70 percent of the time, the hamsters chose the carbohydrate-rich food after fasting. How should she proceed?

She should refine her hypothesis and reconsider some of her assumptions

An ecologist measures the influence of annual rainfall on the growth rate of Douglas-fir trees. How should these data be presented?

The growth rate of the Douglas-fir tree should be on the y-axis, and the annual rainfall should be on the x-axis.

The writings of this economist strongly influenced Darwin and later the field of population biology.

Thomas Malthus

Which of the following is a biotic factor?

a predator

A(n) __________ is a regional pattern of similar ecosystems.

biome

A(n) __________ is a collection of populations that potentially interact.

community

A(n) __________ is an educated guess about an observed phenomenon.

hypothesis

An ecologist designs an experiment to determine how water temperature affects the metabolic rate of pied cormorants (a bird that feeds in marine environments). This is an example of __________.

physiological ecology

A(n) __________ is a collection of organisms of the same species that occupy a given area.

population

The term "ecology" is defined as the study of the

relationships between organisms and their environment.

The basic unit of ecology is __________.

the individual