Exam 26: Population Growth and Regulation

In a maple forest in the spring, the ground is often covered with young maple seedlings, which compete for light and nutrients. By fall, most of the seedlings have died, leaving only a few survivors. This is an example of ________ competition.

When predators and prey both have population cycles, the predator cycle tends to ________ the prey cycle.

All the areas of Earth that support life make up the ________.

The human population currently shows a J-curve growth pattern. True or False?

Prey, such as lemmings, may have a density-dependent effect on predator populations, such as those of the snowy owl, by enabling the predator to increase the number of its offspring at high prey densities. True or False?

A biologist who investigates how organisms interact with one another and with their nonliving environment is studying:

To determine the number of individuals added to a population during a given time, we multiply the growth rate (r)by the:

An insect population grows exponentially until an early winter freeze kills almost all the insects. The next spring the population grows exponentially again. This type of population growth is called:

During the past 50 years, the amount of cropland per person has:

How do interspecific and intraspecific competition differ?

Zebra mussels were introduced into Lake St. Clair around 1988. The table lists the population densities (in grams dry weight per square meter of lake bottom)of native unionid mussels and exotic zebra mussels in the lake before and after this introduction. Both groups feed by filtering small particles from the water. Based on the information given, which of the following BEST describes the likely relationship between zebra mussels and unionids?

Competition among individual members of the same species is referred to as ________ competition.

If all the people in the world were to live at the American level in terms of technology, wealth, education, and other factors, the population of the world would have to ________ in order to support them.

What factors determine the growth rate of a population?

Why does a bacteria population have a higher biotic potential than a population of humans?

A laboratory experiment followed the growth of a flour beetle (Tribolium sp.)population over time. At first the population increased dramatically, but later the growth slowed and the population size leveled off. Although food (the wheat flour in which they live)was still abundant, the flour beetles resorted to eating their own eggs when population densities got high. What can we conclude about cannibalism in this species?

A J-curve is typical of a stable population. True or False?

The amount of land needed to meet a person's resource and waste demands is called an ecological footprint. True or False?

Malthus's prediction that our human population would eventually reach a point where we cannot sustain ourselves did not occur. Why?

What is the term for regular population cycles of rapid growth followed by massive die-off?