Question 1

There are more species in tropical areas than in places farther from the equator. This is probably a result of

Accepted Answer

A) fewer predators. 
B) more intense annual isolation. 
C) more frequent ecological disturbances. 
D) fewer agents of disease. 
E) all of the above 
A) fewer predators. 
B) more intense annual isolation. 
C) more frequent ecological disturbances. 
D) fewer agents of disease. 
E) all of the above B

Question 2

Resource partitioning would be most likely to occur between

Accepted Answer

A) sympatric populations of a predator and its prey. 
B) sympatric populations of species with similar ecological niches. 
C) sympatric populations of a flowering plant and its specialized insect pollinator. 
D) allopatric populations of the same animal species. 
E) allopatric populations of species with similar ecological niches. 
A) sympatric populations of a predator and its prey. 
B) sympatric populations of species with similar ecological niches. 
C) sympatric populations of a flowering plant and its specialized insect pollinator. 
D) allopatric populations of the same animal species. 
E) allopatric populations of species with similar ecological niches. B

Question 3

The oak tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum has migrated 650 km in ten years. West Nile virus spread from New York State to 46 others states in five years. The difference in the rate of spread is probably related to

Accepted Answer

A) how lethal each pathogen is. 
B) the mobility of their hosts. 
C) the fact that viruses are very small. 
D) innate resistance. 
E) dormancy viability. 
A) how lethal each pathogen is. 
B) the mobility of their hosts. 
C) the fact that viruses are very small. 
D) innate resistance. 
E) dormancy viability. B

Question 4

Which of the following members of a marine food chain occupies a similar tropic level to a grasshopper in a terrestrial food chain?

Accepted Answer

A) phytoplankton 
B) zooplankton 
C) lobster 
D) sea lion 
E) shark 
A) phytoplankton 
B) zooplankton 
C) lobster 
D) sea lion 
E) shark

Question 5

Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed. Which of the following terms would best describe this plant-herbivore interaction?

Accepted Answer

A) mutualism 
B) commensalism 
C) parasitism 
D) competition 
E) predation 
A) mutualism 
B) commensalism 
C) parasitism 
D) competition 
E) predation

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of aposematic coloration?

Accepted Answer

A) stripes of a skunk 
B) eye color in humans 
C) green color of a plant 
D) colors of an insect-pollinated flower 
E) a katydid whose wings look like a dead leaf 
A) stripes of a skunk 
B) eye color in humans 
C) green color of a plant 
D) colors of an insect-pollinated flower 
E) a katydid whose wings look like a dead leaf

Question 7

Which of the following types of species interaction is correctly paired with its effects on the density of the two interacting populations?

Accepted Answer

A) predation: as one increases, the other increases 
B) parasitism: both decrease 
C) commensalism: as one increases the other stays the same 
D) mutualism: both decrease 
E) competition: both increase 
A) predation: as one increases, the other increases 
B) parasitism: both decrease 
C) commensalism: as one increases the other stays the same 
D) mutualism: both decrease 
E) competition: both increase

Question 8

A community's actual evapotranspiration is a reflection of

Accepted Answer

A) solar radiation, temperature, and water availability. 
B) the number of plants and how much moisture they lose. 
C) the depth of the water table. 
D) energy availability. 
E) plant biomass and plant water content. 
A) solar radiation, temperature, and water availability. 
B) the number of plants and how much moisture they lose. 
C) the depth of the water table. 
D) energy availability. 
E) plant biomass and plant water content.

Question 9

Community 1 contains 100 individuals distributed among four species (A, B, C, and D). Community 2 contains 100 individuals distributed among three species (A, B, and C).
Community 1: 5A, 5B, 85C, 5D
Community 2: 30A, 40B, 30C
Calculate the Shannon diversity (H)for each community. Which community is more diverse?

Accepted Answer

Community 1: H = -[(0.05)(ln 0.05) + (0.

Question 10

In a particular case of secondary succession, three species of wild grass all invaded a field. By the second season, a single species dominated the field. A possible factor in this secondary succession was

Accepted Answer

A) equilibrium. 
B) facilitation. 
C) immigration. 
D) inhibition. 
E) mutualism. 
A) equilibrium. 
B) facilitation. 
C) immigration. 
D) inhibition. 
E) mutualism.

Question 11

Use the following diagram of five islands formed at around the same time near a particular mainland and MacArthur and Wilson's island biogeography principles to answer the following questions.
   
Figure 54.4
-Which island would likely exhibit the most impoverished species diversity?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Use the following diagram of five islands...

Question 12

Use the following diagram of a hypothetical food web to answer the following questions. The arrows represent the transfer of food energy between the various trophic levels.
   
Figure 54.2
-Which letter represents an organism that could be a producer?

Accepted Answer

A) A 
B) B 
C) C 
D) D 
E) E 
A) A 
B) B 
C) C 
D) D 
E) E

Question 13

Which of the following studies would shed light on the mechanism of spread of H5N1 from Asia?

Accepted Answer

A) Perform cloacal or saliva smears of migrating waterfowl to monitor whether any infected birds show up in Alaska. 
B) Test fecal samples for H5N1 in Asian waterfowl that live near domestic poultry farms. 
C) Test domestic chickens and ducks worldwide after they have been slaughtered for human consumption for the presence of H5N1. 
D) Locate and destroy birds infected with H5N1 in Asian open-air poultry markets. 
E) Keep domestic and wild fowl from interacting with each other to minimize the probability that wild fowl could get infected and migrate out of Asia. 
A) Perform cloacal or saliva smears of migrating waterfowl to monitor whether any infected birds show up in Alaska. 
B) Test fecal samples for H5N1 in Asian waterfowl that live near domestic poultry farms. 
C) Test domestic chickens and ducks worldwide after they have been slaughtered for human consumption for the presence of H5N1. 
D) Locate and destroy birds infected with H5N1 in Asian open-air poultry markets. 
E) Keep domestic and wild fowl from interacting with each other to minimize the probability that wild fowl could get infected and migrate out of Asia.

Question 14

Which of the following best describes resource partitioning?

Accepted Answer

A) Competitive exclusion results in the success of the superior species. 
B) Slight variations in niche allow similar species to coexist. 
C) Two species can coevolve to share the same niche. 
D) Differential resource utilization results in the decrease in species diversity 
E) A climax community is reached when no new niches are available. 
A) Competitive exclusion results in the success of the superior species. 
B) Slight variations in niche allow similar species to coexist. 
C) Two species can coevolve to share the same niche. 
D) Differential resource utilization results in the decrease in species diversity 
E) A climax community is reached when no new niches are available.

Question 15

With a few exceptions, most of the food chains studied by ecologists have a maximum of how many links?

Accepted Answer

A) 2 
B) 3 
C) 5 
D) 10 
E) 15 
A) 2 
B) 3 
C) 5 
D) 10 
E) 15

Question 16

Which of the following studies would a community ecologist undertake to learn about competitive interactions?

Accepted Answer

A) selectivity of nest sites among cavity nesting songbirds 
B) the grass species preferred by grazing pronghorn antelope and bison 
C) nitrate and phosphate uptake by various species of hardwood forest tree species 
D) stomach analysis of brown trout and brook trout in streams where they coexist 
E) All of the above would be appropriate studies of competitive interaction. 
A) selectivity of nest sites among cavity nesting songbirds 
B) the grass species preferred by grazing pronghorn antelope and bison 
C) nitrate and phosphate uptake by various species of hardwood forest tree species 
D) stomach analysis of brown trout and brook trout in streams where they coexist 
E) All of the above would be appropriate studies of competitive interaction.

Question 17

During the course of the formation of a parasite/host relationship, a critical first step in this evolution would be

Accepted Answer

A) changing the behavior of the host or intermediate host. 
B) developing asexual reproduction. 
C) deriving nourishment without killing the host. 
D) starting as an ectoparasite and then later becoming an endoparasite. 
E) utilizing both heterotropic and autotrophic nutrition during dormancy. 
A) changing the behavior of the host or intermediate host. 
B) developing asexual reproduction. 
C) deriving nourishment without killing the host. 
D) starting as an ectoparasite and then later becoming an endoparasite. 
E) utilizing both heterotropic and autotrophic nutrition during dormancy.

Question 18

When lichens grow on bare rock, they may eventually accumulate enough organic material around them to supply the foothold for later rooted vegetation. These early pioneering lichens can be said to do what to the later arrivals?

Accepted Answer

A) tolerate 
B) inhibit 
C) facilitate 
D) exclude 
E) concentrate 
A) tolerate 
B) inhibit 
C) facilitate 
D) exclude 
E) concentrate

Question 19

Historically, most ecological research on the community has focused on which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A) mutualistic relationships and other positive interactions 
B) competition or predation between two different species 
C) parasite-host relationships 
D) commensalistic relationships 
E) herbivory interactions 
A) mutualistic relationships and other positive interactions 
B) competition or predation between two different species 
C) parasite-host relationships 
D) commensalistic relationships 
E) herbivory interactions

Question 20

The species richness of a community refers to the

Accepted Answer

A) complexity of the food web. 
B) number of different species. 
C) the bottom-heavy shape of the energy pyramid. 
D) relative numbers of individuals in each species. 
E) total number of all organisms. 
A) complexity of the food web. 
B) number of different species. 
C) the bottom-heavy shape of the energy pyramid. 
D) relative numbers of individuals in each species. 
E) total number of all organisms.

Exam 54: Community Ecology

There are more species in tropical areas than in places farther from the equator. This is probably a result of

Resource partitioning would be most likely to occur between

The oak tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum has migrated 650 km in ten years. West Nile virus spread from New York State to 46 others states in five years. The difference in the rate of spread is probably related to

Which of the following members of a marine food chain occupies a similar tropic level to a grasshopper in a terrestrial food chain?

Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed. Which of the following terms would best describe this plant-herbivore interaction?

Which of the following is an example of aposematic coloration?

Which of the following types of species interaction is correctly paired with its effects on the density of the two interacting populations?

A community's actual evapotranspiration is a reflection of

In a particular case of secondary succession, three species of wild grass all invaded a field. By the second season, a single species dominated the field. A possible factor in this secondary succession was

Use the following diagram of five islands formed at around the same time near a particular mainland and MacArthur and Wilson's island biogeography principles to answer the following questions. Figure 54.4 -Which island would likely exhibit the most impoverished species diversity?

Use the following diagram of a hypothetical food web to answer the following questions. The arrows represent the transfer of food energy between the various trophic levels. Figure 54.2 -Which letter represents an organism that could be a producer?

Which of the following studies would shed light on the mechanism of spread of H5N1 from Asia?

Which of the following best describes resource partitioning?

With a few exceptions, most of the food chains studied by ecologists have a maximum of how many links?

Which of the following studies would a community ecologist undertake to learn about competitive interactions?

During the course of the formation of a parasite/host relationship, a critical first step in this evolution would be

When lichens grow on bare rock, they may eventually accumulate enough organic material around them to supply the foothold for later rooted vegetation. These early pioneering lichens can be said to do what to the later arrivals?

Historically, most ecological research on the community has focused on which of the following?

The species richness of a community refers to the

Introduction: Themes in the Study of Life

The Chemical Context of Life

Water and the Fitness of the Environment

Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules

A Tour of the Cell

Membrane Structure and Function

An Introduction to Metabolism

Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy

Photosynthesis

Cell Communication

The Cell Cycle

Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles

Mendel and the Gene Idea

The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance

The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

From Gene to Protein

Control of Gene Expression

Viruses

Biotechnology

Genomes and Their Evolution

Descent With Modification: a Darwinian View of Life

The Evolution of Populations

The Origin of Species

The History of Life on Earth

Phylogeny and the Tree of Life

Bacteria and Archaea

Protists

Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land

Plant Diversity Ii: the Evolution of Seed Plants

Fungi

An Introduction to Animal Diversity

Invertebrates

Vertebrates

Plant Structure, Growth, and Development

Transport in Vascular Plants

Soil and Plant Nutrition

Angiosperm Reproduction and Biotechnology

Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals

Basic Principles of Animal Form and Function

Animal Nutrition

Circulation and Gas Exchange

The Immune System

Osmoregulation and Excretion

Hormones and the Endocrine System

Animal Reproduction

Animal Development

Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling

Nervous Systems

Sensory and Motor Mechanisms

Animal Behavior

An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere

Population Ecology

Ecosystems

Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology

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