Deck 3: Physical Conditions and the Availability of Resources

Question 1

A single algal species competes for a required resource,silicate.As the number of individuals increases,there is less silicate available for the original individuals.This is an example of:

A) Interference competition
B) Interspecific competition
C) Exploitation
D) None of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to Figure 3.24,a major distinction between the food sources of herbivores and carnivores is that:

A) Plants are primarily sources of carbohydrates, while animals are primarily sources of protein
B) Plants and animals are both primarily sources of fiber and fat
C) Almost all plant materials shown are high in protein, while all animal products shown are high in fat
D) There is no discernable difference between the two food sources

Answer 2

A

Question 3

If a plant is prevented from transpiring,what do you expect the outcome will be?

A) The plant will likely experience cooler temperatures.
B) The plant will likely become overheated.
C) Nothing will happen; plants are prevented from transpiring all the time.
D) The plant will grow much more quickly.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Figure 3.7a,the abundance of protoplasts:

A) Does not differ between any temperature treatment
B) Decreases through time when temperatures are between 15-35 degrees Celsius
C) Increases more rapidly the first five days when temperatures are between 25-30 degrees Celsius, but not as rapidly when at 15 degrees Celsius
D) Increases over time with each temperature regime.

Question 5

According to Figure 3.4,Lasiommata maera larvae in the fall

A) Develop at the same rate as larvae in the spring regardless of the hours of light per day
B) Develop more quickly when hours of daylight decrease
C) Develop more slowly when hours of darkness increase
D) Develop more quickly than larvae in the spring when there are fewer hours of light per day

Question 6

There is evidence that some plants respond to herbivore attacks by increasing the production of chemicals known to deter herbivory.What would this be an example of?

A) Interspecific competition
B) An obligate response
C) Exploitation
D) An inducible defense

Question 7

According to Figure 3.7b,when grasshoppers spend more time at 40 degree Celsius temperatures

A) The proportion of pathogen infections increases.
B) The proportion of pathogen infections decreases.
C) The proportion of pathogen infections grows exponentially.
D) The proportion of pathogen infections decreases but temperature has no effect.

Question 8

Figure 3.8 shows the competitive interaction of two salmonids,Salvelinus malma and S.leucomaenis.This figure shows:

A) That temperature has no effect on interspecific competition.
B) As the duration of time increases, the two species survival rates seem to converge.
C) At low temperatures, both species are driven to extinction.
D) At higher temperatures, the survival rate of S. leucomaenis is greater than that of S. malma.

Question 9

A species of bacteria is known to live in the skin and other organs of puffer fish.These bacteria produce a toxin that the puffer fish use to poison predators.The bacteria benefit from living on the puffer fish by receiving a host.This is an example of

A) Parasitism
B) Mutualism
C) Interspecific competition
D) Exploitation

Question 10

Competition between individuals of the same species is which type of competition?

A) Interspecific competition
B) Intraspecific competition
C) Heterotrophic competition
D) Disruptive competition

Question 11

You want to test how water temperature affects the size of adult frogs.You have two temperature treatments,one at 5 degrees Celsius (5 C)and the other at 15 degrees Celsius (15 C).You hatch and rear tadpoles at both of these temperatures.According to your knowledge of how temperature affects the final size of an organism,your prediction should be that:

A) Tadpoles in 15 C water will develop faster and therefore have a larger final size relative to tadpoles in the 5 C treatment.
B) Tadpoles in 15 C water will develop faster and therefore have a smaller final size relative to tadpoles in the 5 C treatment.
C) Tadpoles in 5 C water will develop faster and therefore have a larger final size relative to tadpoles in the 15 C treatment.
D) None of the above

Question 12

You are doing research throughout Death Valley,CA,USA.It is a very dry and hot environment,and you are interested in understanding how plants can grow in conditions where the temperature has reached above 50 degrees Celsius in the past.Currently,the temperature is 48 degrees Celsius and nothing is dying.Why might plants be able to survive here?

A) They are likely C3 plants.
B) Transpiration is likely cooling the leaves of the plants.
C) They are likely completing photosynthesis at an increased rate.
D) They are likely C3 plants and photosynthesizing at an increased rate.

Question 13

Seeds of the lodgepole pine do not germinate unless:

A) Stimulated by fire, which indicates ground has been cleared and seedlings have a chance to become established.
B) Stimulated by fire, which is a stimulus indicating no predators will eat the seeds.
C) Stimulated by predators, which feed on the seeds and disperse them.
D) Stimulated by winter rainfall, which provides a stimulus for seeds to germinate.

Question 14

You are on a desert hike and notice that many of the surrounding plants have very small hairs on them and some even have a waxy appearance.These features likely serve:

A) As a way for the plant to attract pollinators
B) As a means to prevent overheating and reflect radiation
C) As a means to increase the amount of radiation they receive
D) None of the above

Question 15

You learn that an organism is using abiotic environmental resources to assemble carbohydrates and proteins,and then forming them into tissues and organs.This organism is likely a:

A) Heterotroph
B) Autotroph
C) Mammal
D) All of the above

Question 16

Which type of organism feeds on already dead material?

A) Autotroph
B) Homotroph
C) Decomposer
D) Grazer

Question 17

You learn that a plant species has evolved to deal with year-round drought conditions by reducing their rate of photosynthesis.One trait that may be associated with such a response is:

A) Long-lived leaves that transpire quickly
B) Having many stomata
C) Long-lived leaves that transpire slowly
D) None of the above

Question 18

Growth and developmental rates are known to affect what trait in organisms?

A) Eye color
B) Chemical defenses
C) Final size
D) Body temperature

Question 19

A niche for a species of salamander is determined by the density of individuals in the area,soil temperature,amounts of precipitation,and food availability.Thus,the niche would be modeled as a:

A) Fundamental niche dimension
B) A four-dimensional niche volume
C) A two-dimensional niche volume
D) You could not model this niche

Question 20

Snowy plovers,a coastal bird species,are found to live only on sandy beaches.Where snowy plovers live is referred to as their:

A) Niche
B) Ecological niche
C) Habitat
D) Acclimate

Question 21

Competition between individuals of the same species can have effects on their ________.

A) Survival
B) Growth
C) Reproduction
D) Access to mates

Question 22

Conditions are physiochemical features of the environment,such as:

A) Temperature
B) Humidity
C) Prey density
D) Salinity

Question 23

On a whale watching trip you observe dolphins feeding on fish.What type of heterotroph is the dolphin in this example?

A) Grazer
B) Decomposer
C) Predator
D) Parasite

Question 24

Which two answers describe how grazers interact with prey?

A) Grazers consume parts of many prey organisms
B) Grazers always kill their prey
C) Grazers usually do not kill their prey
D) Grazers feed only on plants

Question 25

Which of the following are examples of defense mechanisms?

A) The shell of a nut
B) The shell of a crab
C) Clover that release hydrogen cyanide when herbivores feed on them
D) Epidermal hairs on plants that keep thrips away from leaves

Question 26

If you wanted to eat something with a high C:N ratio,which of the following would you select?

A) A vegetarian salad
B) A piece of steak
C) A piece of fish
D) A stick of butter

Question 27

Oak tree species are quite abundant in the southern California landscape.These species are long-lived,even though they experience drought.What would you predict their root structure to be like?

A) They likely have shallow roots that spread out across wide areas
B) They likely have one single, shallow root
C) They likely have a very deep root structure that reaches through many layers of soil
D) They likely have a root structure that branches out but can move deeper into layers of soil when drought conditions occur.

Question 28

According to Figure 3.27,glucosinolates in the petals and leaves of wild radish:

A) Increased in the leaves of damaged plants
B) Did not change in damaged leaves relative to undamaged leaves
C) Increased in undamaged petals relative to damaged petals
D) Do not appear to differ significantly between damaged and undamaged petals

Question 29

Which of the following are examples of heterotrophs:

A) Grazers
B) Parasites
C) Decomposers
D) Predators

Question 30

Conditions can affect disease dynamics.A grasshopper species will escape serious infection by a fungal pathogen by modifying what condition?

A) The amount of carbohydrates in its diet
B) Its body temperature, and it does so by basking
C) The percentage of water that it is comprised of, which it does by eating vegetation with a higher water content
D) It is not capable of preventing infection by this fungal pathogen

Question 31

Which is NOT a type of heterotroph?

A) Fungi
B) An oak tree
C) Human that feeds on plant material
D) Bacteria that feed on hydrogen sulfide

Question 32

Which waste products from an organism would be most rich in carbon?

A) A deer
B) A mountain lion
C) A killer whale
D) None of the above

Question 33

Organisms will consume _______ during the course of their growth and reproduction

A) Environmental resources
B) Conditions
C) Conditions and environmental resources
D) None of the above

Question 34

Which of the following are descriptions of the response of an organism to temperature,as seen in Figure 3.1a?

A) High temperature may be lethal
B) The colder the temperature the greater the decrease in growth
C) Reproduction correlates with decreased intensity
D) Reproduction occurs at the lowest and highest intensities

Question 35

Morphological examples of crypsis include

A) A species that is brightly colored
B) A species that resembles some part of the environment that is inedible
C) A species that matches the color of the environment
D) A species with a pattern that disrupts their outline

Question 36

You come across a plant that thrives in water-logged conditions.What structure of roots would you expect this plant to have?

A) This plant will likely have a deep root structure to reach as much water as possible
B) This plant will likely have a shallow root structure
C) This plant will likely have no roots
D) This plant will form a root system that stays shallow when there is a sufficient amount of water, but becomes a deep root structure when there is a reduction

Question 37

If a plant's fitness is largely influenced by how well leaves survive,then which of the following predictions regarding chemical defenses is correct?

A) Plants will likely invest the most costly constitutive chemicals in petals.
B) Plants will equally invest constitutive chemicals in the petals and leaves.
C) Plants will likely invest the most costly constitutive chemicals in leaves.
D) None of the above

Question 38

A mimic is a species that:

A) Is usually not toxic or noxious
B) Possess poisons
C) Adopt a color or pattern of a species that is poisonous or distateful
D) Eats species it resembles

Question 39

Which term refers to a strategy whereby organisms obtain energy by oxidizing methane,ammonium ions,hydrogen,or ferrous iron?

A) Chemotaxis
B) Chemosynthesis
C) Chemotherapy
D) None of the above

Question 40

Temperature,humidity,amount of precipitation,and water pH are examples of __________.

A) Physiochemical resources
B) Lethal environmental variables
C) Physiochemical features of the environment known as conditions
D) All of the above

Question 41

You have been studying microorganisms that appear to be capable of oxidizing reduced compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and hypothesize that these organisms are _______________.

A) Thermophilic
B) Chemo-autotrophic
C) Acido-autotrophic
D) Chemo-heterotrophic

Question 42

Species of bacteria and archaea that can live at temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius are known as ________?

A) Thermophiles
B) Ectophiles
C) Acidophiles
D) None of the above

Question 43

You observe a species of frog in central America that is diurnal.It is quite visible throughout the forest and colored a bright red and orange.You notice that no other species attempt to attack it,even though these frogs are abundant.You form a hypothesis that the bright colors are a form of _______ and plan to test if potential predators attack different colored models preferentially.

A) Acclimitization
B) Aposematism
C) Inducible defenses
D) None of the above

Question 44

A niche can be thought of as being:

A) The same thing as a habitat
B) A summary of what an organism can tolerate
C) A summary of what an organism requires
D) A modern concept, proposed by Hutchison in 1957
E) An n-dimensional hypervolume

Question 45

Organisms whose major resources are photosynthetic radiation,water,nutrients,and carbon dioxide are known as ________.

A) Heterotrophs
B) Homotrophs
C) Autotrophs
D) Endotrophs

Question 46

______ is used by plants to time dormancy and flowering.

A) Photoperiod
B) Phenology
C) Basal rate
D) Migration

Question 47

A _________ is an organism that relies on external sources of heat to determine the pace of their metabolism.

A) Ectoparasite
B) Ectotherm
C) Endotherm
D) Endoparasite

Question 48

You have been observing a species of mammal that appears to enter a dormant phase where their metabolic activity is greatly reduced relative to the rest of the year.This change seems to be associated with a decreased length of daylight.What you have observed is often referred to as ___________.

A) Diel migration
B) Diapause
C) Acclimatization
D) None of the above

Question 49

As its first product of photosynthesis,a __________ will produce a sugar containing three carbon atoms.

A) C4 plant
B) CAM plant
C) C3 plant
D) None of the above

Question 50

The term _______ refers to the success of individuals in the population to survive,reproduce,and leave descendants in an environment relative to others.

A) Fitness
B) Speciation
C) Evolution
D) Natural selection