Chapter 2 Test MCQ
Which of the following best shows the process of evolution?
A population of mosquitoes develops resistance to a pesticide.
The graph below shows data about three tree species after a glacial retreat. (CHART) Based on the data shown in the graph, which of the following events occurred after the glacial retreat?
A) Primary Succession
Which of the following correctly describes the disruption of an ecosystem service by an anthropogenic activity?
A) Provisioning services are disrupted by increased combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to an increase in air pollution.
Which of the following would be categorized as a cultural ecosystem service of forests?
A) Recreation and scenic areas for tourism
A 163 square-kilometer (km2) small island is found 2,000km from the mainland. A second, larger, 230,000km2 island is found 1,000km from the mainland. Based on the theory of island biogeography, which of the following statements is most likely true about the small island when compared with the large island?
A) The rate of immigration is lower for the small island than for the large island.
Based on the theory of island biogeography, which of the following is the most likely reason that an island in the ocean that is 5 kilometers from a continent would have a higher number of species than one that is 15kilometers from a continent?
A) There are more species that have the ability to travel 5 kilometers than can travel 15 kilometers.
Which of the following statements about levels of biodiversity is correct?
A) population with high genetic biodiversity is better able to respond to environmental stressors.
The data table below shows the plant biodiversity of different ecosystems in Glacier National Park. In parts of the park, the glacier is receding leading to succession.
Ecosystem B
At which time after clear-cutting does the ecosystem exhibit the greatest species richness?
B) 100 Years
Which of the following was the number of finches in the population with a beak size of 10.2 mm in 1978?
B) 12
Five islands, A, B, C, D, and E, differ only in distance from the mainland, area, and species diversity. Which island would be predicted to have the highest species diversity?
B) 50 km from the mainland and 1x10^6 hectares (largest and closest to mainland= more biodiversity)
(CHART) The graphs above show the population size and distribution of beak sizes in a finch population on the island of Daphne Major in the Galapagos in 1976 and 1978. Smaller-beaked finches are better suited for eating grasses and small seeds. Larger-beaked finches are better suited for cracking larger seeds and nuts. In 1977 a drought took place and the vegetation of the island was affected by the lack of rain.
B) 9.5 mm
Highly specialized species tend to evolve on islands because of the environmental conditions and resource availability. Based on the theory of island biogeography, which of the following would most likely experience the greatest decline of specialist species if an invasive species emigrated from the mainland?
B) A small island in close proximity to the mainland.
Study Finds Aardvarks Suffering as African Climate Heats Up Little is known about Africa's elusive aardvarks, but new research says they are vulnerable to climate change like many other species. Hotter temperatures are taking their toll on the aardvark, whose diet of ants and termites is becoming scarcer in some areas because of reduced rainfall. Drought in the Kalahari Desert killed five out of six aardvarks that were being monitored for a year, as well as 11 others in the area. The aardvarks' body temperatures plummeted during the night because they were not getting enough energy from diminished food sources. They tried to conserve energy by looking for insects during the warmer daytime, but their efforts to adapt could not save them. Researchers said some birds, reptiles and other animals use aardvark burrows to escape extreme temperatures, reproduce, and hide from predators. They could have fewer refuges available if aardvark populations shrink because of rising temperatures, they said. The aardvark, which lives in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, is identified as an animal of "least concern" on an international "red list" of threatened species. There are no indications that the population is changing significantly in southern Africa, though it is speculated that numbers may be declining elsewhere because of habitat destruction, the bushmeat trade and other factors. "Study Finds aardvarks suffering as African climate heats up," Christopher Torchia, Phys.org, July 31, 2017.Which of the following best identifies the author's claim?
B) Aardvarks are a keystone species and their decline could have a trophic cascade effect on the ecosystem.
Based on the data shown in the graph, when would the species richness of the ecosystem have been the lowest?
B) One to four years after the volcanic eruption
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are forecasting this summer's Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone or "dead zone"—an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life—to be approximately 7,829 square miles, or roughly the size of Massachusetts. The annual prediction is based on United States Geological Survey river flow and nutrient data. The 2019 forecast is close to the record size of 8,776 square miles set in 2017 and larger than the five-year average measured size of 5,770 square miles. The annually recurring Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone is primarily caused by excess nutrient pollution from human activities, such as urbanization and agriculture, occurring throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Once the excess nutrients reach the gulf, they stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die, then sink and decompose in the water. The resulting low oxygen levels near the bottom are insufficient to support most marine life and have long-term impacts on living marine resources that are unable to leave the area. A major factor contributing to the large dead zone this year is the high amount of spring rainfall in many parts of he Mississippi River watershed, which led to record high river flows and much larger nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico. This past May, discharge in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers was about 67 percent above the long-term average between 1980 and 2018. The latest National Climate Assessment predicts an increase in the frequency of very heavy precipitation events in the Midwest, Great Plains, and Southeast regions, which would impact nutrient input to the northern Gulf of Mexico and the size of the hypoxic zone. "News release adapted from the United States Geological Survey Which of the following best identifies the author's claim?
B) The increased rainfall events in the United States are decreasing the tolerance of fish and other marine species in the Gulf of Mexico because of a decreased concentration of oxygen.
The graph below shows the change in sea level from the Cambrian period to today compared to today's sea level. (CHART) Which of the following statements correctly describes the trends seen in the data?
B) The lowest sea level occurred during the Paleogene period.
Which of the following can be used to assess the biological diversity of an area?
E) Genetic variation within each species and number of species present
Which of the following claims is best supported by the data in the graph?
C) After the volcanic eruption, pioneer species colonized the area and the ecosystem began to undergo succession.
Which of the following best explains how environmental stressors, such as wildfires, can affect biodiversity in an ecosystem?
C) Ecosystems with more species diversity are more likely to recover after a disturbance than ecosystems with low species diversity.
Which of the following would most likely result from the deforestation of large areas of tropical rain forests caused by slash-and-burn agriculture?
C) Increased global temperature because of the release of CO2
Based on the data shown in the graph, which of the following best describes how ecologists could determine when this ecosystem is approaching a climax community?
C) Record the number and type of producers present every year after the eruption
The diagrams above show the range of tolerance for soil moisture content for two different species of terrestrial invertebrate: Species 1 and Species 2. The ranges represented are for each species where it occurs alone. Soil moisture content is a limiting factor for both species. If populations of both species are placed together in a new location, which of the following diagrams represents the most likely actual (realized)ranges of the species' distribution of individuals with respect to soil moisture content after five generations?
D) (CHART ANSWER) graph with two curves slightly overlapping
(CHART) Which of the following explanations is best supported by the data shown in the map above?
D) Animals migrate seasonally to mate and to find food in different habitats.
All of the following are negative externalities EXCEPT
D) Bees pollinating vegetables in addition to creating honey
Bull trout use a bewildering array of strategies to aid in their survival, from remaining in streams their whole lives, like rainbow trout, to spending part of their lives in the ocean before returning to streams to spawn, just as salmon do. Bull trout are present in only one of two neighboring rivers in the Olympic peninsula, Washington state, and in this one (the Elwha River), where two large dams were removed. Dam removal resulted in massive outflow of sediments, reducing the clarity of the water and also building up a large delta and expanding the size of the estuary at the mouth of the Elwha River. Sampling for bull trout before, during, and after dam removal was used to detect whether bull trout changed their use of the Elwha River estuary or moved into the adjacent Salt Creek stream where they were formerly absent. Sampling revealed no movement into Salt Creek, but numbers of bull trout in the Elwha River estuary increased greatly during and immediately after dam removal, coinciding with large sediment outflow, before returning to their original low levels. Thus, bull trout appear to have used the enlarged estuary as a refuge from the effects of dam removal, then returning to the river when the river water cleared up from the sediment. Of additional interest is the long-term response of bull trout to the additional habitat opened up above the former dams. Lincoln, A. E., J. A. Shaffer, and T. P. Quinn. 2018. Opportunistic use of estuarine habitat by juvenile Bull Trout, Salvelinus confluentus, from the Elwha River before, during, and after dam removal. Environmental Biology of Fishes 101:1559-1569Which of the following best identifies the author's claim?
D) Bull trout are unable to live in high sediment loaded waters and migrated to avoid the conditions introduced during dam deconstruction.
Which of the following examples illustrates the community with the highest biodiversity? Chart A: 2,8,10,10,20 Chart B: 1,4,4,6,30 Chart C: 5,5,5,15,20 Chart D: 10,10,10,10,10
D) Chart D : 10,10,10,10,10
Which tree species grows best with full sunlight?
D) Sweet gum
Which of the following statements best explains the changes in the size and composition of the population of finches after the drought?
D) The total number of finches in the population decreased, and the larger-beaked finches were more successful in the drier environment.
Based on the diagram above, in which stage are most species present considered pioneer species?
II (moss growing on rocks)
A North Carolina timber company proposes to clear-cut 45 hectares of oak-hickory deciduous forest in the Appalachian Mountains. The company has said that the forest will regrow naturally, and 50 years after the clear-cutting the company plans to harvest again, cutting all the oaks and hickories that have at least a 40-centimeterdiameter. A local citizens' group claims that this is not a realistic plan. Which of the following, if true, best supportsthe claim of the citizens' group?
Oak and hickory are late-successional species; pioneer species will dominate for many decades before the oaks and hickories are reestablished.
The tropical rain forests are known to have a large variety of animals. One example is the orchid mantis that is highly camouflaged when standing on a certain species of orchid found in tropical environments. Another species, the tropical cockroach, can live anywhere in the rain forest where it can find water and a food source. Which of the following statements best describes why it is predicted that the orchid mantis will be more affected by global climate change than the tropical cockroach will be?
Orchid mantises tend to be advantaged in habitats that remain constant; the rain forest habitat is likely to shift because of global climate change.
Raccoons eat a variety of foods and can live in a variety of habitats, including locations near humans. Tiger salamanders eat an abundance of worms and insects and require wetland habitats so they do not dry out. Which of the following best identifies the two different species?
Raccoons are generalists, and salamanders are specialists.
Based on the information provided above, which of the following species would best be classified as a specialist?
Salamanders
Which of the following best describes why secondary succession generally occurs more quickly than primary succession?
Secondary succession takes place in areas that already have soil and nutrients in place, whereas primary succession occurs in areas that lack soil.
For which of the following reasons do small isolated islands have a greater rate of species extinction than larger, less isolated islands?
Small isolated islands have a lower availability of resources.
