Exam 1: The Nature of Ecology

The number of seeds produced by a single flower affects the birthrate of that population of flowers.

Qualitative observations that fall into separate and distinct categories are considered to be ________ data.

Science is a process of testing and correcting concepts in order to explain the world around us.

The most common method for displaying a single data set is to construct a scatter plot.

A(n)________ is an abstract,simplified representation of a real system,allowing us to predict some behavior or response using a set of explicit assumptions.

A community includes both living and nonliving components.

The correct sequence of the scientific method is

An ecologist conducts a greenhouse experiment to study the effect of nitrogen concentration on the productivity of sunflower seedlings.What is the independent variable in this experiment?

The real goal of hypothesis testing is to

At the ________ level,an ecologist might focus on the factors that affect the relative abundance of various populations in the area.

Which of the following questions is most appropriate to an investigation at the population level?

Which of the following is the correct organization of ecological systems from the lowest to the highest level of organization?

A group of individuals of the same species that occupy a given area is referred to as a(n)________.

In a histogram,the x-axis represents the category intervals,whereas the y-axis represents the number of individuals with a particular characteristic.

Ecological models can be mathematical or they can be verbally descriptive.

All populations of different species living and interacting within an ecosystem are referred to collectively as a(n)________.

A hypothesis refers to a(n)

There is generally only one valid explanation for an observation.

Because ecology relies on many different branches of science (e.g.,geology),it is considered

The interaction of a biotic community and its abiotic environment is referred to as a(n)