Chapter 34 Homework
What are the two major factors determining the distribution of terrestrial biomes?
temperature and rainfall
Which of the following biomes, dominated by cone-bearing evergreen trees, is the largest terrestrial biome?
coniferous forest
Which of these is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth?
coniferous forest
Which of the following statements about bird evolution are accurate based on the evidence presented? Select all that apply.
-Feathers may have originally evolved for interspecies communication and display. -Feathers may have originally evolved for insulation.
What did scientists learn from other fossils found in the same sediment layer as Ardi?
Ardi lived in a woodland habitat
How did Dr. Jack Horner's discovery of dinosaur nesting grounds support the hypothesis that birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs?
it provided evidence that dinosaurs raised and cared for their young in colonies like many birds
_____ are elements required for growth and can affect the ability of an ecosystem to sustain life.
nutrients
_____ can be important in shaping terrestrial ecosystems by allowing animals to cool and even influencing the way plants grow.
wind
Louis and Mary Leakey found two different fossil hominid skulls at Olduvai. Which of the following statements about the skulls is true?
The second skull represented a species more closely related to modern humans than the first skull's species.
What is a unique feature of many plants that inhabit tropical forests, such as orchids?
They are epiphytes.
Can you complete this concept map identifying the types of aquatic biomes? Drag the labels from the left to the correct locations on the right to complete this concept map about aquatic biomes. Category of aquatic biome - determined by - salinity 3% (a)_____ also called oceans - in warm, shallow, tropical waters may include (c)_____ - meet land in (e)_____ - (f) _____; salinity 1% (b) _____ - in bodies of standing water including (g) _____; saturates land in (d)_____, including (h)_____.
(a) marine (b) freshwater (c) coral reefs (d) wetlands (e) intertidal zones (f) estuaries (g) lakes and ponds (h) marshes
Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding human evolution? Select all that apply.
-The fossil record contains creatures with features that are intermediate between those of modern humans and quadrupedal apes. -The first humans evolved in Africa. -In the latest phase of human evolution, there has been a greater reliance on culture.
Which of the following shared characteristics of living birds and theropod dinosaurs provided support to the hypothesis that birds evolved from dinosaurs? Select all that apply.
-birds and theropods have hollow bones that are strong, but light -birds and many theropods have feathers -birds and theropods have S-shaped necks -birds and many theropods have a wishbone (or furcula)
Which of the following traits can be used to differentiate humans from our closest living primate relatives? Select all that apply.
-extensive tool use -large brain size -bipedality (the ability to walk exclusively on two legs)
The 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx fossil has birdlike features such as feathered wings, but it also has characteristics that we associate with living reptiles. Which of the following are considered reptilian characteristics of Archaeopteryx? Select all that apply.
-teeth in the jaws -claws on the ends of each digit in the "hands" -long, bony tail
While Rachel Carson was writing Silent Spring, a picture of how DDT influences bird populations was emerging. Scientists hypothesized that DDT was causing the observed decline in fish-eating bird populations. The assumptions and connections underlying this hypothesis were complex. In this activity, you will reconstruct those connections. Drag each description to the appropriate step in the figure below.
1. Farmers use DDT on their crops to kill pests. 2. DDT enters nearby waterways via runoff. 3. Small aquatic invertebrates absorb the DDT. 4. Fish eat the DDT-contaminated invertebrates. 5. Birds eat the DDT-contaminated fish. 6. Birds with DDT in their bodies lay eggs with DDT and weak shells. 7. Few baby birds hatch and the population declines.
How does water move after precipitation reaches the ground?
All of the above are ways water moves after it reaches the ground.
Which of the following statements supports the conclusion that the common ancestor of modern chimps and modern humans lived around 7 million years ago?
Analysis of modern human and modern chimpanzee protein and DNA sequences suggests that their lineages diverged about 7 million years ago.
Using what you learned about the equation for photosynthesis and McCarthy's hypothesis, make predictions for the tree growth at each site. One has already been filled in for you.
LEFT TO RIGHT=FIRST ROW -Low growth -medium growth SECOND ROW -High Growth
Suppose you are helping McCarthy choose her sample sites. You have the resources to conduct the study at only 4 sites. Pick the 4 sites that allow all 4 possible treatment combinations, while controlling for sunlight. Drag a check mark to each site you would use, and drag Xs to the sites you would not use. You should end up placing 4 check marks and 8 Xs. Labels can be used more than once.
LEFT TO RIGHT=FIRST ROW 1-NO 2-YES 3-NO LEFT TO RIGHT=SECOND ROW 1-NO 2-YES 3-NO LEFT TO RIGHT= THIRD ROW=SECOND BUBBLE 1-NO 2-YES 3-YES LEFT TO RIGHT=FOURTH ROW= SECOND BUBBLE 1-NO 2-N0 3-NO
Which of the following correctly ranks the levels of ecological hierarchy from least inclusive to most inclusive?
Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome, Biosphere
Rank the biomes in terms of how much you expect plant growth to increase as a function of increased CO2 in the atmosphere.
SMALLEST TO LARGEST -desert -grassland -temperate -tropical
All parts of Earth's biosphere are linked by the water cycle and nutrient cycles. Select the three true statements about the global water cycle.
The global water cycle moves between terrestrial and aquatic biomes. Surface runoff water eventually moves back into the ocean, but can carry chemicals along with it. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides can combine with water vapor to form acid precipitation.
Which of the following anatomical features of the 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus fossil known as "Lucy" suggest she was a bipedal hominid?
a much shorter hip bone that is broader from front to back and wraps around the side
_____ factors are nonliving factors that make up an environment.
abiotic
Kangaroo is to Australia as __________ is to Africa.
antelope
_____ factors are living factors that make up an environment.
biotic
How do scientists know that the hominid called "Ardi" is about 4.4 million years old?
by using radiometric dating techniques on the volcanic deposits found above and below the layer containing Ardi
Mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers are typical of which type of biome?
chaparral
An ecologist is studying the diet of a group of desert-dwelling scorpions, which have many types of potential prey (insects, small mammals, etc.). She tracks the scorpions to see how much they eat of each prey species. What level of ecological organization is she studying?
community
Water vapor in the atmosphere forms clouds through _____ and falls to the ground as _____, which gets stored as _____. _____ occurs and moves water up and out of the plants. _____ also occurs from surface and groundwater.
condensation; precipitation; surface and ground water; transpiration; evaporation
Suppose you are able to manipulate a plant's access to components in the photosynthesis equation. Drag each label to the appropriate bin to predict how that action will affect plant growth. For each increase or decrease, assume that every other component of the photosynthesis equation is unlimited.
decrease plant growth: decrease sunlight, decrease H2O, and decrease CO2 no effect: decrease and increase C6H12O6, increase and decrease O2 increase plant growth: increase sunlight, increase H2O, and increase CO2
A town is considering clearing forested land to build a new housing development. What impact will this deforestation have on the local water cycle?
decreased water vapor in the nearby atmosphere
Which of these biomes is characterized by little rainfall?
desert
_____ is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
ecology
A(n) _____ consists of all the abiotic and biotic factors in an area.
ecosystem
In prairie grasslands, periodic _____ is an important disturbance, allowing for certain plants to be triggered to grow.
fire
In the case of DDT, some researchers and industry leaders were concerned that chemicals other than (or in addition to) DDT could be causing egg shell thinning. Blus and his colleagues also looked for a relationship between egg shell thinning and DDE (a breakdown product of DDT), PCBs, dieldrin, and mercury. This is an example of how scientists can simultaneously test multiple predictions and/or hypotheses. Blus and his team analyzed their data using regressions. A regression is used to compare two continuous variables, for example, a person's height vs. foot length. In a regression, the slope measures how much the y value changes as a function of the x value. In this study, if the slope is very steep, that means that a small amount of chemical is causing a great change in egg shell thickness. The graph shows an adaptation of Blus's results. Notice that next to each line in the graph is a p-value. A p-value is a statistical measure of how likely it is that a relationship is due to random chance. For example, a p-value of 0.05 means that there is a probability of 0.05 (5%) that the results could be due to random chance. If there is a greater than 5% chance the results are due to chance, you cannot trust that a relationship between the variables really exists. In other words, even if you see a dramatic slope, if the p-value is greater than 0.05, you must treat the result as non-significant and conclude that there is not a relationship between the variables. Rank the chemicals according to how much they influence egg shell thickness.
from least to greatest: DDT, dieldrin, mercury, PCBs, DDE
Based on the hypothesis that DDT was causing a decline in fish-eating bird populations in the United States, a group of scientists predicted that the amount of DDT in bird eggs was correlated with the thickness of the egg shells. For their experiment, they planned to visit a number of fish-eating bird populations and take 1 egg from 70 nests. In the laboratory, they would open the eggs to measure the concentration of chemicals such as DDT. They would also measure the thickness of the egg shells. The researchers had to decide which species of birds they would use in their study. Choosing the proper study organisms is very important because the species must be appropriate for the experiment, and practical to work with. Imagine that it is 1960, and the scientists have asked you to help them select the species of bird for use in their research. They have narrowed their options down to 6 species. Drag a check mark to species that would be good to use in the study; there may be more than one. Drag an X to species that would not be good for the study.
good candidates: osprey and pelican bad candidates: eagle, American gold finch, secretary bird, and Emperor penguin
Drag the biome labels from the left to their appropriate positions in the table.
grasses; no trees: temperate grasslands grasses; scattered trees: savanna cone-bearing evergreen trees: coniferous forest deciduous trees: temperate broadleaf forest closed forest canopy; many plants grow atop other plants; woody vines: tropical forest dwarf shrubs; herbaceous plants; mosses and lichens: tundra spiny, evergreen shrubs; adapted to frequent fires: chaparral deep-rooted shrubs; water-storing succulents: desert
In the state of Washington, the prevailing winds blow eastward off the ocean and up and over two mountain ranges. Biologists are searching for a rare fern plant that is known to prefer cool and wet environments, but hasn't been seen in this state for many decades. Where would the biologists most likely find the plant?
on the west sides of the mountain ranges at higher elevations
A(n) _____ is an individual living thing, such as a plant, animal, or bacterium.
organism
What natural phenomenon maintains the presence of grasslands?
periodic fires
In the ocean, communities of plants, algae, and animals are distributed according to the depth of the water and distance from shore. Light reaches organisms in the _____, where microscopic _____ and multicellular algae provide food for the animal community. Light levels in the _____ are too low to support photosynthesis. The seafloor is called the _____. Fishes and marine mammals swim in open water known as the _____. A distinctive biome called a(n) _____ is found where a freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean.
photic zone; phytoplankton; aphotic zone; benthic realm; pelagic realm; estuary
A(n) _____ is a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area.
population
A group of snails (of the same species) lives in a garden that also includes beetles and tomato plants. What level(s) of ecological organization does the group of snails belong to? Select all that apply.
population, community, and ecosystem
Which of the following is NOT a common animal adaptation to desert conditions?
reliance on algal blooms as a main food source
Most ecosystems are earth are powered by _____ energy, which drives photosynthesis in plants and algae.
solar
A key characteristic of modern birds is flight powered by feathered wings. Which of the following pieces of evidence support the hypothesis that the first feathers served a purpose other than flight?
some feathered theropods were not capable of flight
_____ limits the distribution of organisms that can survive in a given habitat based on how hot or cold it gets.
temperature
The kind of terrestrial biome that exists in a particular region depends largely on __________ and __________.
temperature ... precipitation
Why was the discovery of organisms, such as Archaeopteryx, that have a mix of traits usually associated with two different groups considered validation of Darwin's theory of evolution?
the discovery provided evidence that species descend with modification from other species
Which discovery ultimately overturned the prevailing perception that all dinosaurs were large, slow, and lumbering?
the small theropod dinosaur Deinonychus, which had a large sickle-shaped claw on each of its hind limbs
Which biome is characterized by an extensive canopy that allows little light to penetrate to the ground and by the presence of epiphytes?
tropical rain forest
Which biome is characterized by the presence of permafrost?
tundra
_____ is essential to life as it makes up the majority of all cells.
water