Question 1

The colour pattern and texture of the body of a horned lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) allows it to blend into the ground of the desert in which it lives. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  a structural defence. 
B)  a behavioural defence. 
C)  spatial avoidance. 
D)  crypsis.

Question 2

In rocky shore communities in which sea urchins lived among populations of brown algae and other species of algae, sea urchins were experimentally removed. What happed in response to sea urchin removal?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In rocky shore communities in which sea...

Question 3

What does it mean when scientists set the alpha at .05 for a statistical test?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What does it mean when scientists set...

Question 4

In a functional response

Accepted Answer

A)  the prey can regulate the fitness of the predator population. 
B)  the predator can regulate the fitness of the prey population. 
C)  the prey can regulate the growth of the predator population. 
D)  the predator can regulate the growth of the prey population.

Question 5

Experiments with fences that exclude deer and other plant herbivores from grazing showed greater plant biomass in fenced areas than in unfenced control areas. The few plant species that remain in unfenced areas are those that

Accepted Answer

A)  are tolerant to herbivory. 
B)  herbivores prefer not to eat. 
C)  herbivores cannot locate. 
D)  have high growth rates to compensate for herbivory.

Question 6

Wolves hunt in packs that chase down their prey. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  sit-and-wait hunting. 
B)  ambush hunting. 
C)  active hunting. 
D)  trap hunting.

Question 7

Predators that live in the Canadian tundra and feed on larger herbivores tend to have _____ population cycles, and predators that feed on smaller herbivores tend to have _____ population cycles.

Accepted Answer

A)  short; long 
B)  long; short 
C)  short; short 
D)  long; long

Question 8

The biocontrol species cactus moth (Cactoblastis cactorum) has not been able to eradicate the invasive prickly pear cactus from Australia because

Accepted Answer

A)  cactus moths prefer to consume other cactus species rather than prickly pear. 
B)  prickly pear cactus is able to disperse to moth-free areas. 
C)  cactus moth populations are declining because of parasitic infection. 
D)  prickly pear cactus has evolved defences against the cactus moth.

Question 9

Plant alkaloids act as chemical defence against herbivory because

Accepted Answer

A)  they are toxic to herbivores. 
B)  they are difficult for herbivores to digest. 
C)  they make the plant unpalatable. 
D)  they are difficult to consume.

Question 10

The scarlet king snake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) found in the eastern United States has similar colouration to that of the poisonous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius). This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  aposematism. 
B)  crypsis. 
C)  Müllerian mimicry. 
D)  Batesian mimicry.

Question 11

Simultaneous examination of predator and prey population trends is called a

Accepted Answer

A)  dual population trajectory. 
B)  joint population trajectory. 
C)  dual population isocline. 
D)  joint population isocline.

Question 12

For some predators, as prey density increases, the rate of consumption slows and eventually levels off with satiation. This is a type _____ functional response.

Accepted Answer

A)  I 
B)  II 
C)  III 
D)  IV

Question 13

A species has been transplanted to a region of the world where historically it did not exist. It spreads rapidly and harms native species. This is known as

Accepted Answer

A)  an introduced species. 
B)  an exotic species. 
C)  an invasive species. 
D)  a nonnative species.

Question 14

Top predators are predators that eat

Accepted Answer

A)  plants and herbivores. 
B)  herbivores and top predators. 
C)  mesopredators and plants. 
D)  herbivores and mesopredators.

Question 15

At the equilibrium isocline the population of predators

Accepted Answer

A)  causes the prey population to be stable. 
B)  causes the prey population to increase. 
C)  causes the prey population to decrease. 
D)  and prey both stabilize.

Question 16

In Lotka-Volterra models of predator-prey interactions, c represents

Accepted Answer

A)  the probability of an encounter leading to prey's capture. 
B)  the efficiency of converting consumed prey into predator offspring. 
C)  the per capita mortality rate of predators. 
D)  the intrinsic growth rate.

Exam 14: Predation and Herbivory