Question 1

Figure 53.7 
-What does the graph in the figure above tell you about the definition of a keystone species?

Accepted Answer

A) A keystone species has little interaction with other species in an environment. 
B) A keystone species removed from a community could have drastic effects. 
C) A keystone species can be any species. 
D) A keystone species added to a community can make it more robust.

Question 2

What is the main difference between a disturbance and a disturbance regime?

Accepted Answer

A) A disturbance regime includes defining the predictable frequency and severity of the disturbance. 
B) A disturbance regime includes defining the length of the disturbance. 
C) A disturbance regime is a more specific type of disturbance. 
D) They are essentially the same thing.

Question 3

Bouchard and Brooks (2004)studied the effect of insect flight on dispersal and speciation in rain-forest insects.They sampled all of the insects in the study area and found that 60 insect species are flightless and 19 are macropterous (able to fly).After analyzing the results of the Bouchard and Brooks study,you conclude that macropterous and flightless insects in the rain forests of northeastern Australia have dispersed and speciated in similar manners.What does this say about flight in these insects?

Accepted Answer

A) Flight,although used for locomotion,is not increasing the species dispersal efficiency in this community. 
B) Flight is not important in these insects for success. 
C) Flight is important only for mating. 
D) Flight is the only factor involved in speciation in those insects with flight,and thus it is not important for dispersal of these species. 
E) Nothing further can be said about flight.

Question 4

During a one year study,researchers found no difference in treehopper populations in any of their control and experimental groups.What could they measure during the second year to gain information about why this might have occurred?

Accepted Answer

A) Measure the number of ant females. 
B) Measure the relative sizes of the treehoppers. 
C) Measure the relative abundance of jumping spiders. 
D) Measure the success of treehoppers with a different ant species.

Question 5

The competitive exclusion principle states that

Accepted Answer

A) it is not possible for two species with the same niche to coexist. 
B) it is possible for two species with the same niche to coexist. 
C) it is not possible for two species with different niches to coexist. 
D) it is possible for two species with different niches to coexist.

Question 6

Which one of the following animals would most likely be defined as a keystone species?

Accepted Answer

A) sea otter 
B) housefly 
C) fathead minnow 
D) nauplii (a species of zooplankton)

Question 7

People with at least one copy of the HLA-B53 gene are better able to beat back malarial infections before the infection progresses.If this is a coevolutionary arms race between Plasmodium and humans,what would the next step in this race be?

Accepted Answer

A) to see humans with more than one copy of the HLA-B53 gene 
B) to see humans without the HLA-B53 gene 
C) to see Plasmodium populations that counter the HLA-B53 gene 
D) to see Plasmodium populations that have the HLA-B53 gene

Question 8

Figure 53.6 
-Treehoppers (a type of insect)produce honeydew,which ants use for food.Treehoppers have a major predator,the jumping spider.Researchers hypothesized that the ants would protect the treehoppers from the spiders.In an experiment,researchers followed study plots with ants removed from the system and compared them to a control plot.In the figure above,what can you conclude?

Accepted Answer

A) Ants do somehow protect the treehoppers from spiders. 
B) Ants do not protect the treehoppers from spiders. 
C) Ants reduce the numbers of treehoppers. 
D) No specific conclusions can be drawn from this figure.

Question 9

Clements's view of biological communities is that of a highly predictable and interrelated structure,while Gleason's view of biological communities is that individual species operate independently.If we set up many identical sterilized ponds in the same area and allowed them to be colonized,what should we predict if Gleason's hypothesis is the one we believe is correct?

Accepted Answer

A) Identical plankton communities will develop in all ponds. 
B) Similar plankton communities will develop in all ponds. 
C) Different plankton communities will develop in all ponds. 
D) Limited plankton communities will develop in all ponds.

Question 10

A measure of how much a community is affected by a disturbance is termed

Accepted Answer

A) resilience. 
B) resistance. 
C) stability. 
D) primary productivity.

Question 11

Figure 53.11 
-According to Figure 53.11,a species has the highest chance of extinction when

Accepted Answer

A) the island is large and close to the mainland. 
B) the island is small and close to the mainland. 
C) the island is large and remote. 
D) the island is small and remote.

Question 12

Figure 53.5 
-In the figure above,which of the following statements is true?

Accepted Answer

A) All of the species of insects shown are in the order Hymenoptera. 
B) There are no true mimics in the insects shown. 
C) All of the insects are displaying Batesian mimicry. 
D) Half of the insects shown are harmless.

Question 13

Figure 53.1 
-In looking at the figure above,what conclusions can be drawn?

Accepted Answer

A) Both species eat all sizes of seeds. 
B) Both species compete for seeds of intermediate size. 
C) Both species compete for all sizes of seeds. 
D) Both species compete for all sizes of seeds other than those of intermediate size.

Question 14

Figure 53.10 
-In figure above,what can be stated about species diversity and latitude?

Accepted Answer

A) As latitude increases,diversity decreases. 
B) As latitude decreases,diversity decreases. 
C) Species diversity is independent of latitude. 
D) Species diversity and latitude cannot be compared using this figure.

Question 15

Some birds follow moving swarms of army ants in the tropics.As the ants march along the forest floor hunting insects and small vertebrates,birds follow and pick off any insects or small vertebrates that fly or jump out of the way of the ants.What is the specific benefit relationship?

Accepted Answer

A) Birds benefit from the association,but have no impact on the ants. 
B) Birds benefit from the association and harm the ants. 
C) Birds and ants benefit from the association. 
D) Birds do not benefit from the association,but the ants do. 
E) Neither birds nor ants benefit from the association.

Question 16

Which of the following is not a type of consumption?

Accepted Answer

A) predation 
B) mutualism 
C) herbivory 
D) parasitism

Question 17

Figure 53.3 
-In the figure above,which species is the stronger competitor?

Accepted Answer

A) species 1 
B) species 2 
C) Both species compete equally. 
D) It is not possible to tell from this figure.

Question 18

Figure 53.9 
-In the figure above,which community has the highest species richness?

Accepted Answer

A) community 1 
B) community 2 
C) community 3 
D) community 4

Question 19

Figure 53.8 
-Clements's view of biological communities is that of a highly predictable and interrelated structure,while Gleason's view of biological communities is that individual species operate independently.Looking at the results in the figure above,which hypothesis (by Clements or Gleason)is supported by the data?

Accepted Answer

A) Clements 
B) Gleason 
C) both 
D) neither

Exam 53: Community Ecology

Figure 53.7 -What does the graph in the figure above tell you about the definition of a keystone species?

What is the main difference between a disturbance and a disturbance regime?

During a one year study,researchers found no difference in treehopper populations in any of their control and experimental groups.What could they measure during the second year to gain information about why this might have occurred?

The competitive exclusion principle states that

Which one of the following animals would most likely be defined as a keystone species?

People with at least one copy of the HLA-B53 gene are better able to beat back malarial infections before the infection progresses.If this is a coevolutionary arms race between Plasmodium and humans,what would the next step in this race be?

A measure of how much a community is affected by a disturbance is termed

Figure 53.11 -According to Figure 53.11,a species has the highest chance of extinction when

Figure 53.5 -In the figure above,which of the following statements is true?

Figure 53.1 -In looking at the figure above,what conclusions can be drawn?

Figure 53.10 -In figure above,what can be stated about species diversity and latitude?

Some birds follow moving swarms of army ants in the tropics.As the ants march along the forest floor hunting insects and small vertebrates,birds follow and pick off any insects or small vertebrates that fly or jump out of the way of the ants.What is the specific benefit relationship?

Which of the following is not a type of consumption?

Figure 53.3 -In the figure above,which species is the stronger competitor?

Figure 53.9 -In the figure above,which community has the highest species richness?