chapter 18 and 19
Which of the following is an example of an evolutionary adaptation?
A portion of a forest burns in a forest fire. As a species of beetles starts to recolonize the area, the lighter-colored individuals in the population are much more visible against the burned bark compared to darker individuals. These lighter individuals are eaten by bird predators at a high rate. After two generations, most of the beetles are darker in color.
The most inclusive level of organization in nature is the _____.
biosphere
In most developing countries ______.
birth rates are much higher than death rates, so the population is growing rapidly
Which of the following is not a result of global warming?
decreasing sea levels
Water-storing plants and deeply-rooted shrubs are plants that characterize ______.
deserts
Which of the following actions would increase your carbon footprint?
eating more beef and less chicken
_______ is the science that studies the interactions between organisms and their environments.
ecology
What level of ecology is concerned with both the biotic and abiotic aspects of an environment?
ecosystem
The effect of deforestation has been to ______.
increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
According to the logistic growth model, the fastest growth rate of a population occurs when __________.
the population size is at roughly half the carrying capacity of the habitat
Which of the following would be a positive benefit of global warming for a particular species?
Bark beetles are able to reproduce twice a year rather than once because of global warming.
In what ways have red lionfish affected ecosystems along the U.S. Atlantic coast?
Red lionfish have spread so rapidly and so widely along the Atlantic coast and into the Caribbean that eradication seems virtually impossible.
Ecologists investigated the effect of climate change on European butterflies. They had noticed that butterflies are sensitive to temperature, and they speculated that the ranges of butterflies may have changed as a result of recent changes in the average temperatures in Europe, which have risen 0.8°C during the 1900s. When they analyzed records kept from 1976 to the present, they found that more than 60% of butterfly species moved their range north. Which of the following is a scientific observation?
The average temperature in Europe has risen, and butterflies are sensitive to temperature change.
The Endangered Species Act aims to help protect species that ______
are in danger of extension
In most developed countries, overall population growth rates ______.
are near zero, so the population size is fairly stable
The temperate zones ______.
are relatively wet
In an aquatic ecosystem, what name is given to the region where photosynthesis can occur?
photic zones
What level of ecology is concerned with groups of individuals of the same species?
population
Non-native species can have important effects on biological communities by ______.
preying upon native species reducing biodiversity competing with native species for resources
______ is the maximum population size that a particular habitat can support.
carrying capacity
Which of these biomes is maintained by fire?
chaparral and savanna
Examples of invasive species include ______.
cheatgrass and Burmese pythons
Temperature increases due to global warming have been greatest _____.
close to the poles
The dominant greenhouse gas is _____.
co2
Evolutionary changes in which an adaptation of one species leads to a counteradaptation in a second species are known as _____.
coevolution
If you study how two species of finches compete for food, you are trying to answer a question about _______.
community ecology
Long, snowy winters as well as evergreen trees such as pine and fir are found in ______.
coniferous forest
Human activity, especially __________, significantly alters the amount of atmospheric water vapor available for the water cycle.
destruction of tropical rain forests
Which of these biomes is one of the most biologically productive of all biomes?
estuaries
Most of the temperate grassland in North America has been converted to ______.
farmland
Type I survivorship curves are typical of species that exhibit ______.
few offspring and good parental care
The red-cockaded woodpecker, an endangered species, is dependent upon ______ for maintenance of its source habitat.
fire
Which of these factors operates in a density-dependent manner?
food supply
According to the logistic growth model, what happens to a population when the size of the population reaches carrying capacity?
growth rate is zero
The single greatest current cause of population decline of threatened or endangered species is __________.
habitat destruction
Most crop pests ______.
have an opportunistic life history
______ are the dominant herbivores of savanna ecosystems.
insects
Competition among individuals of the same species is ______ competition.
intraspecific
Human population growth __________.
is currently exponential
A set of traits that affects an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival is called its _____.
life history
The photic zone is the shallow water near shore and the upper layer of water away from shore where __________.
light is available for photosynthesis
If a population's growth rate decreases as the population size approaches carrying capacity, the population's growth follows a(n) ______ model.
logistic
If you have a population growth curve that shows a decrease in the growth rate as the population size approaches carrying capacity, you would say that population is exhibiting __________.
logistic population growth
In the oceans, global warming has ______.
made the water more acidic
Estuaries are considered examples of _____.
marine biomes
Aquatic organisms ______.
may experience problems with water balance
Which of the following is a behavioral response to environmental variability?
migrating to a different location
On land, plants depend on the availability of two important inorganic nutrients, which they obtain from the soil: _____ and _____.
nitrogen ...phosphorus
Which nutrients often limit the distribution and abundance of photosynthetic organisms?
nitrogen and phosphorus
The rising average global temperature is having the greatest effect on the __________.
northernmost regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the Antarctic Peninsula
Which of the following can moderate climate by absorbing heat when the air is warm and releasing heat when the air is cold?
oceans
Evolutionary adaptation may not save long-lived species, such as polar bears, from extinction because __________.
of rapid habitat loss
What level of ecology is concerned with the adaptations of individuals?
organismal
In what part of the ocean are phytoplankton found?
pelagic realm
What name is given to the open ocean?
pelagic realm
What is an ecological footprint?
the estimate of the amount of land required to provide the raw materials an individual or a population consumes
One piece of information that is available from a determination of population density is __________.
the number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume of the habitat
Water moves from land to the atmosphere through _____.
transpiration and evaporation
Permafrost, or permanently frozen subsoil, characterizes _____.
tundra
To get an accurate estimate of the density of a particular species, an ecologist might __________.
use indirect indicators, such as the number of bird nests or rodent burrows
Terrestrial ecosystems are grouped into biomes primarily on the basis of __________.
vegetative type
A study of the human ecological footprint shows that ______.
we have already overshot the planet's capacity to sustain us
The definition of your carbon footprint is __________.
the amount of greenhouse gas emitted as a result of your actions
The greenhouse effect causes an increase in global temperatures. This increase is primarily due to ______.
CO2 and other greenhouse gases slowing the escape of heat from Earth
In an ideal, unlimited environment, what shape does a population's growth curve most closely resemble?
J
What can be said about the Earth's carrying capacity for humans?
Technology has allowed us to keep increasing the Earth's carrying capacity.
An unexpected freeze that kills a population of chipmunks is an example of ______.
a density-independent factor
What is a population?
a group of organisms of the same species living in a particular geographic area
What will be the approximate shape of the age-structure diagram of a rapidly increasing population?
a pyramid
An organism's environment consists of __________.
abiotic and biotic factors
A student decides to take up jogging to improve her aerobic capacity. During the first few weeks of exercise, she is only able to jog for about one and a half miles before tiring. However, after three months, she is able to jog four miles with ease. This physiological change is an example of __________.
acclimation
What term applies to the physical and physiological changes experienced by astronauts who spend months in space?
acclimation
Integrated pest management ______.
advocates mixed-species plantings and rotating crops
Which of these is a community?
all of the organisms living in your home
Which of the following is a population?
all of the redwood trees that live in a particular forest
Kudzu is __________.
an invasive vine
Which of the following is abiotic?
rock
What is one important difference between savannas and temperate grasslands?
savannas have less trees
Which of the following organisms are not ultimately dependent on sunlight for energy?
species that live in hydrothermal vent habitats
Ecologists represent life table data graphically in a _____.
survivorship curve
Which of these best describes Type III survivorship?
survivorship is high for the few individuals that survive to a certain age
The goal of developing, managing, and conserving Earth's resources in ways that meet the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs is known as _____.
sustainability
Latitudes between the tropics and the Arctic Circle in the north and the Antarctic Circle in the south are called _____.
temperate zones