Exam Name MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) Which of the following levels of ecological organization is arranged in the correct sequence from most to least inclusive? A) ecosystem, community, population, individual B) individual, population, community, ecosystem C) community, ecosystem, individual, population D) individual, community, population, ecosystem E) population, ecosystem, individual, community 1) 2) Which of the following choices includes all of the others in creating global terrestrial climates? 2) A) evaporation of water from ocean surfaces B) Earth's rotation on its axis C) ocean currents D) differential heating of Earth's surface E) global wind patterns 3) The main reason polar regions are cooler than the equator is that 3) A) the polar atmosphere is thinner and contains fewer greenhouse gases. B) there is more ice at the poles. C) the poles are permanently tilted away from the sun. D) sunlight strikes the poles at a lower angle. E) the poles are farther from the sun. 4) Which of the following are important biotic factors that can affect the structure and organization of biological communities? A) nutrient availability, soil ph B) temperature, water C) precipitation, wind D) light intensity, seasonality E) predation, competition 4) 5) What is the limiting factor for the growth of trees in the tundra? 5) A) low precipitation B) permafrost C) insufficient minerals in bedrock D) ph of soils E) cold temperatures 6) Which of the following is responsible for the differences in summer and winter temperature stratification of deep temperate zone lakes? A) Oxygen is most abundant in deeper waters. B) Winter ice sinks in the summer. C) Stratification is caused by a thermocline. D) Water is densest at 4 C. E) Stratification always follows the fall and spring turnovers. 6) 1
7) If a meteor impact or volcanic eruption injected a lot of dust into the atmosphere and reduced the sunlight reaching Earth's surface by 70% for one year, which of the following marine communities most likely would be least affected? A) estuary B) intertidal C) coral reef D) pelagic E) deep-sea vent 7) 8) Species introduced by humans to new geographic locations 8) A) always spread because they encounter none of their natural predators. B) are usually successful in colonizing the area. C) increase the diversity and therefore the stability of the ecosystem. D) are always considered pests by ecologists. E) can outcompete and displace native species for biotic and abiotic resources. 9) Two plant species live in the same biome but on different continents. Although the two species are not at all closely related, they may appear quite similar as a result of A) allopatric speciation. B) gene flow. C) convergent evolution. D) parallel evolution. E) introgression. 9) 10) The growing season would generally be shortest in which of the following biomes? 10) A) tropical rain forest B) coniferous forest C) savanna D) temperate grassland E) temperate broadleaf forest 2
The eight climographs below show yearly temperature (line graph and left vertical axis) and precipitation (bar graph and right vertical axis) averages for each month for some locations on Earth. Choose the climograph that best answers the question or completes the statement. Climographs may be used once, more than once, or not at all. 11) Which climograph shows the climate for location 1? 11) A) A B) C C) E D) G E) H 3
The diagram shows a generalized cross section of the marine environment with various zones labeled with letters. Choose the letter that best answers the question. Letters may be used once, more than once, or not at all. 12) Which zone is comprised largely of detritus-feeding organisms? 12) A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E 13) Which of the following biomes is correctly paired with the description of its climate? 13) A) temperate broadleaf forest relatively short growing season, mild winters B) temperate grasslands relatively warm winters, most rainfall in summer C) tropical forests nearly constant day length and temperature D) tundra long summers, mild winters E) savanna low temperature, precipitation uniform during the year 14) Why is the climate drier on the leeward side of mountain ranges that are subjected to prevailing winds? A) Deserts usually are found on the leeward side of mountain ranges. B) More organisms live on the sheltered, leeward side of mountain ranges where their utilization of water lowers the amount available when compared to the windward side. C) Air masses pushed by the prevailing winds are stopped by mountain ranges and the moisture is used up in the stagnant air masses on the leeward side. D) The sun illuminates the leeward side of mountain ranges at a more direct angle, converting to heat energy, which evaporates most of the water present. E) Pushed by the prevailing winds on the windward side, air is forced to rise, cool, condense, and drop its precipitation, leaving only dry air to descend the leeward side. 14) 4
15) Which of the following abiotic factors has the greatest influence on the metabolic rates of plants and animals? A) wind B) disturbances C) rocks and soil D) temperature E) water 15) 16) Population ecologists are primarily interested in 16) A) studying interactions among populations of organisms that inhabit the same area. B) the overall vitality of a population of organisms. C) how populations evolve as natural selection acts on heritable variations among individuals and changes in gene frequency. D) understanding how biotic and abiotic factors influence the density, distribution, size, and age structure of populations. E) how humans affect the size of wild populations of organisms. 17) To measure the population of lake trout in a 250-hectare lake, 400 individual trout were netted and marked with a fin clip, then returned to the lake. The next week, the lake was netted again, and out of the 200 lake trout that were caught, 50 had fin clips. Using the capture-recapture estimate, the lake trout population size could be closest to which of the following? A) 400 B) 200 C) 160 D) 80,000 E) 1,600 17) 18) A population's carrying capacity 18) A) increases as the per capita growth rate (r) decreases. B) may change as environmental conditions change. C) can be accurately calculated using the logistic growth model. D) generally remains constant over time. E) can never be exceeded. 19) Uniform spacing patterns in plants such as the creosote bush are most often associated with 19) A) chance. B) patterns of high humidity. C) competitive interaction between individuals of the same population. D) the concentration of nutrients within the population's range. E) the random distribution of seeds. 20) Which of the following assumptions have to be made regarding the capture-recapture estimate of population size? I. Marked and unmarked individuals have the same probability of being trapped. II. The marked individuals have thoroughly mixed with the population after being marked. III. No individuals have entered or left the population by immigration or emigration, and no individuals have been added by birth or eliminated by death during the course of the estimate. A) I only B) II only C) II and III only D) I, II, and III E) I and II only 20) 5
21) Why do some invertebrates, such as lobsters, show a "stair-step" survivorship curve? 21) A) The number of fertilized eggs that mature to become females in many species of invertebrates is based on ambient temperature. B) Within a species of invertebrates, younger individuals have a higher survivorship than older individuals. C) Many invertebrate species have population cycles that go up and down according to the frequency of sunspots. D) Many invertebrates mate and produce offspring on multiyear cycles. E) Many invertebrates molt in order to grow, and they are vulnerable to predation during their "soft shell" stage. 22) A population of ground squirrels has an annual per capita birth rate of 0.06 and an annual per capita death rate of 0.02. Calculate an estimate of the number of individuals added to (or lost from) a population of 1,000 individuals in one year. A) 400 individuals added B) 120 individuals added C) 20 individuals lost D) 40 individuals added E) 20 individuals added 22) 23) Exponential growth of a population is represented by dn/dt = 23) A) rn (K + N) B) rn K C) rn D) rn E) rn (N - K) K (K - N) K 24) Logistic growth of a population is represented by dn/dt = 24) (K - N) A) rn K B) rn K C) rn (N - K) K D) rn E) rn (K + N) 25) As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by the logistic equation? A) The population will increase exponentially. B) The growth rate will approach zero. C) The carrying capacity of the environment will increase. D) The growth rate will not change. E) The population will show an Allee effect. 25) 6
26) In models of logistic population growth, 26) A) new individuals are added to the population as N approaches K. B) carrying capacity is never reached. C) new individuals are added to the population most rapidly at the beginning of the population's growth. D) the population growth rate slows dramatically as N approaches K. E) only density-dependent factors affect the rate of population growth. 27) Carrying capacity is 27) A) the maximum population size that a particular environment can support. B) determined by density and dispersion data. C) the term used to describe the stress a population undergoes due to limited resources. D) seldom reached by marine producers and consumers because of the vast resources of the ocean. E) fixed for most species over most of their range most of the time. 28) Which of the following causes populations to shift most quickly from an exponential to a logistic population growth? A) increased birth rate B) removal of predators C) competition for resources D) favorable climatic conditions E) decreased death rate 28) 29) Natural selection involves energetic trade-offs between 29) A) the emigration of individuals when they are no longer reproductively capable or committing suicide. B) high survival rates of offspring and the cost of parental care. C) producing large numbers of gametes when employing internal fertilization versus fewer numbers of gametes when employing external fertilization. D) increasing the number of individuals produced during each reproductive episode with a corresponding decrease in parental care. E) choosing how many offspring to produce over the course of a lifetime and how long to live. 30) The three basic variables that make up the life history of an organism are 30) A) number of reproductive females in the population, age structure of the population, and life expectancy. B) life expectancy, birth rate, and death rate. C) age when reproduction begins, how often reproduction occurs, and how many offspring are produced per reproductive episode. D) how often reproduction occurs, life expectancy of females in the population, and number of offspring per reproductive episode. E) the number of reproductive females in the population, how often reproduction occurs, and death rate. 31) Pacific salmon and annual plants are excellent examples of 31) A) dispersion. B) cohort disintegration. C) semelparous reproduction. D) iteroparous reproduction. E) Allee effect. 7
32) Which of the following is characteristic of K-selected populations? 32) A) offspring with good chances of survival B) small offspring C) many offspring per reproductive episode D) early parental reproduction E) a high intrinsic rate of increase 33) Which pattern of reproduction is correctly paired with a species? 33) A) iteroparity Pacific salmon B) semelparity rabbit C) iteroparity elephant D) semelparity polar bear E) semelparity oak tree 34) A population of white-footed mice becomes severely overpopulated in a habitat that has been disturbed by human activity. Sometimes intrinsic factors cause the population to increase in mortality and lower reproduction rates to occur in reaction to the stress of overpopulation. Which of the following is an example of intrinsic population control? A) Clumped dispersion of the population leads to increased spread of disease and parasites, resulting in a population crash. B) All of the resources (food and shelter) are used up by overpopulation and much of the population dies of exposure and/or starvation. C) Because the individuals are vulnerable they are more likely to die off if a drought or flood were to occur. D) Owl populations frequent the area more often because of increased hunting success. E) Females undergo hormonal changes that delay sexual maturation and many individuals suffer depressed immune systems and die due to the stress of overpopulation. 35) Why is territoriality an adaptive behavior for songbirds maintaining populations at or near their carrying capacity? A) Adult songbirds make improvements to the territories they inhabit so that they can produce successfully fledged chicks. B) Songbirds expend a tremendous amount of energy defending territories so that they spend less time feeding their young and fledgling mortality increases. C) Songbird males defend territories commensurate with the size from which they can derive adequate resources for themselves, their mate, and their chicks. D) Many individuals are killed in the agonistic behaviors that go along with territorial defense. E) Only the fittest males defend territories and they attract the fittest females so the best genes are conveyed to the next generation. 34) 35) 36) Which of the following could be a density-independent factor limiting human population growth? 36) A) earthquakes B) social pressure for birth control C) plagues D) famines E) pollution 8
37) Which of the following is most key to understanding the demographic transition in human population growth? A) reduction of casualties of war B) improved worldwide health care C) voluntary reduction of family size D) improved sanitary conditions in the world's hospitals E) education of global famine 37) Use the survivorship curves in Figure 53.1 to answer the following questions. Figure 53.1 38) Which curve best describes survivorship in elephants? 38) A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E The following questions refer to Figure 53.3, which depicts the age structure of three populations. Figure 53.3 39) Assuming these age-structure diagrams describe human populations, which population(s) is (are) likely to experience zero population growth (ZPG)? A) I B) II C) III D) I and II E) II and III 39) 9
Refer to Figure 53.4 and then answer the following questions. Figure 53.4: Infant mortality and life expectancy at birth in developed and developing countries (data as of 2005). 40) What is a logical conclusion that can be drawn from the graphs above? 40) A) Developed countries have a life expectancy that is about 42 years more than life expectancy in developing countries. B) Developed countries have lower infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy than developing countries. C) Developed countries have higher infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy than developing countries. D) Developed countries have lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy than developing countries. E) Developed countries have higher infant mortality rates and lower life expectancy than developing countries. 10