Exam 47: Species Interactions, Communities, and Ecosystems

Biodiversity is more than the number of species found in a specific area. Also included in biodiversity are the number of:

In the late 1960s, Robert Paine conducted landmark studies on diversity in the rocky intertidal zone comparing the species diversity in control plots with diversity in experimental plots from which he removed the top predator, sea stars. After 5 years, 15 species of intertidal invertebrates lived in the control plots, while the experimental plots were dominated by only two species, one mussel and one barnacle. Why did species diversity MOST likely remain high in the presence of a predator?

While food chains show linear energy transfer between organisms, food webs depict more realistically what occurs in an ecosystem.

Which factors contribute MOST to intraspecific competition?

In Glacier Bay, one of the first species to colonize a newly exposed area of sediment left behind by a glacier is fireweed. You would predict that fireweed is a(n) _____-strategist.

Liebig's law of the minimum states that:

The progression of your garden from sunflowers to birch trees is an example of:

If 5000 kilograms of biomass are available at the primary consumer level, how many kilograms of biomass would be available to the tertiary consumers?

You notice that two small birch trees sprout and begin to grow among the sunflowers that sprouted naturally in your garden. The birch trees are slower growers than the sunflowers that had sprouted, but by the fifth summer they start to shade the sunflowers. The birch trees and the sunflowers are in competition for:

An interaction in which one partner benefits with no effect on the other is called a:

A heterotrophic organism that consumes primary consumers is called a:

In the late 1960s, Robert Paine conducted landmark studies on diversity in the rocky intertidal zone, comparing the species diversity in control plots with diversity in experimental plots from which he removed the top predator, sea stars. After 5 years, 15 species of intertidal invertebrates lived in the control plots, while the experimental plots were dominated by only two species, one mussel and one barnacle. The process MOST likely responsible for the loss of species diversity in the experimental plots was:

Which of the following would MOST likely not influence the pattern of succession in a recently disturbed habitat?

A(n) _____ is a community of organisms and the physical environment it occupies.

_____ is an interaction in which individuals require the same resource, and therefore the availability of that resource is lowered.

In the Sierra Nevada mountains of California there are many populations of the checkerspot butterfly Euphydryas editha. Females of each population lay their eggs on different regions of their host plants. The young hatch out as caterpillars; they live on the host plant and eat its leaves. The host plant used by population A grows over a single season, with new leaves (the most nutritious) appearing at the tip of the stem. The host plant of population B lives for many seasons, with new leaves appearing at the base of the stem. Where do you expect females from population B to lay their eggs?

Which of the following is MOST likely to lead to resource partitioning?

The fact that diverse types of Anolis lizards inhabit (or hunt in) different levels of the tree canopy is the result of the effects of resource partitioning.

In a trophic pyramid the broader the base of primary producers, the more biomass that can be supported in upper levels.

Which of the following is a type of interaction in which BOTH parties are harmed?