Exam 53: The Physical Environment and Biogeography of Life

According to the species diversification rate hypothesis, tropical regions have greater species diversity because they are more stable and geographically larger.Which observation, if correct, would best support this hypothesis?

Refer to the map below. DNA analysis showed that one species of rat diverged over several thousand years to become two species.Rat species A lived in the Ethiopian biogeographic region, whereas species B lived in the Oriental region.This suggests that the process leading to divergence of the two rat species is

Variations or discontinuities of the physical environment related to waves and tides can be considered a defining characteristic of an ocean's _______ zone.

Refer to the graph below, which represents island size, distance from New Guinea, and number of bird species present. Based on the diagram, which statement best summarizes the relationship of the three factors described?

Temperature in the tundra is too low to support the growth of trees.This is an example of a limitation in the distribution of a vegetation type based on _______.

A group of students is brainstorming ways to decrease the effect of urbanization on the surrounding climate.In particular, they want to decrease temperatures both in and around cities.Increasing the presence of _______ would most likely have the desired effect.

The rotational velocity of Earth, which determines the Coriolis effect, is

In the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia, waters from the rivers meet oceanic waters.Hence, the bay is also a(n) _______.

The latitude of Washington, D.C., is 39°N.The latitude of Boston, Massachusetts, is 42°N.If the difference in their average annual temperatures were determined only by their latitude difference, Washington D.C., would be how many degrees warmer than Boston? (Average air temperature over the course of a year decreases about 0.76C per degree of latitude at sea level.)

A large region is deforested, with a resulting increase in the region's temperature.This increase is due to a decrease in the process of _______.

Moist air from the south moves up the Himalayas in Asia, falling as rain on the mountain slopes.The north and northwest regions of China, on the leeward side of the mountains, are very dry.These regions include Mongolia's Gobi Desert.The dry conditions on the leeward side of the Himalayas result from a topographical feature known as a(n) _______.

An ecologist is studying a rocky intertidal zone.She maps the area and takes samples to calculate the species diversity.She determines the tidal variations and figures out how long each dominant organism is covered by tides and then analyzes the population density of each dominant species over a year.This ecologist is working at what level(s) of organization?

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs north and south along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.Which factor is likely to vary most on the two sides of this ridge?

Refer to the figure below, showing solar energy absorption by Earth's surface and atmosphere. According to the diagram, the greatest amount of incoming solar radiation is

What factor is most directly responsible for the desert-like climate at the polar latitudes?

Which ocean zone is characterized by relatively low salinity due to inputs of fresh water?

Evapotranspiration from a forest or other vegetated area includes evaporation of water from leaf surfaces and transpiration of water from inside the leaves.How does this process affect the climate of the region?

The centuries-long cod fishery extended along the entire continental shelf of the northeast coast of the United States until it collapsed in the 1990s.After the collapse, eggs and first-year juveniles existed only in certain coastal areas.When studying the fishery's recovery, ecologists made habitat surveys of coves or sections of coasts, but they could only measure cod density in relation to habitat in small areas (a few hundred square meters), in which habitat varied greatly.This meant they were unable to estimate numbers of cod or their likely survival.The ecologists' difficulty resulted from

Alpha diversity patterns are most likely to be driven by which type of interactions?

Compared to a rainforest, an underwater kelp forest or seagrass bed would be least likely to provide which function in its ecosystem?