Deck 3: Evolution, Biodiversity, and Population Ecology

Question 1

Groups of organisms with low biotic potential, such as gray whales, .

A) are r -selected
B) show the initial stages of the extinction process
C) have escaped from the processes of natural selection and adaptation
D) are K -selected
E) are not subject to density -dependent limiting factors

Answer 1

D

Question 2

At Hakalau Forest in , ranchland is being restored to forest, invasive plants are being removed and native ones are being planted, and néné are being protected while new populations of them are being established.

A) Hawaii
B) Guam
C) Japan
D) Tuvalu
E) Marshall Islands

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Population distribution describes .

A) the placement of a species within a country's boundaries
B) the spatial arrangement of multiple species within a particular area
C) how near or far away individuals in a population are from a resource, such as water
D) the spatial arrangement of individuals of a single species within a particular area or ecosystem
E) the placement of a species around the globe

Answer 3

D

Question 4

High population density can .

A) decrease competition
B) increase the incidence of disease transmission
C) decrease biodiversity within a species
D) hinder organisms from finding mates
E) decrease the use of resources

Question 5

Heavy rains and mudslides cause a river to change course, isolating two groups of lizards from one another. If they remain isolated for a long period of time, .

A) both groups will probably become native species
B) one or both groups will probably emigrate
C) one or both groups will probably become invasive species
D) one group will probably become an endemic species
E) the groups will probably diverge genetically, and speciation may occur

Question 6

Organisms that are closely related have a recent common ancestor. Of the following, which choice lists organisms that are most closely related to each other?

A) lizards and crocodiles
B) lampreys and sharks
C) mammals and turtles
D) bony fish and birds
E) lungfish and amphibians

Question 7

Which of the following descriptions of a hummingbird best describes its niche?

A) has a slender bill
B) eats mosquitoes
C) can fly backwards
D) can migrate across the Gulf of Mexico
E) lays two eggs

Question 8

The carrying capacity is the .

A) maximum sustainable population that a given environment can support
B) limitation on numbers of species in a community
C) potential growth in the number of species in a given area
D) greatest number of different niches possible in a given area
E) average number of offspring carried to term by a species

Question 9

Populations in which the probability of dying is constant at every age exemplify .

A) type III survivorship
B) arithmetic growth
C) type I survivorship
D) type II survivorship
E) natural selection

Question 10

How do feral pigs relate to the malaria problem in Hawaii?

A) Pigs dig holes in the rainforest floor, creating water holes where mosquitoes can breed.
B) Feral pig farmers spend time outdoors and put themselves at risk of being bitten by mosquitoes that carry malaria.
C) The pig problem and the malaria problem in Hawaii are unrelated.
D) Pigs help destroy the eggs of mosquitoes by wallowing in mosquito -infested mudholes.
E) Malaria is spread from pigs to mosquitoes to humans in Hawaii because pigs are an alternate host for malaria.

Question 11

Mutation and _ are the key mechanisms that generate and maintain genetic variation among individuals in most populations.

A) adaptations
B) inbreeding
C) natural selection
D) sexual reproduction
E) asexual reproduction

Question 12

What characteristics do humans share with r -selected species?

A) rapid population growth that is largely unchecked
B) considerable energy and resources spent providing for offspring
C) ability to survive well past the age of reproduction
D) high reproductive output
E) prolonged parental care

Question 13

A niche specialist is .

A) more likely to go extinct than a niche generalist
B) more likely to thrive in human -modified environments than a niche generalist
C) more likely to use a wide variety of resources than a niche generalist
D) more likely to have a large geographic distribution than a niche generalist
E) more likely to adapt to climate change than a niche generalist

Question 14

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) Until recent history, extinctions have always happened gradually and on a small scale.
B) The number of species existing at one time has decreased throughout history.
C) Natural selection always favors complexity and a larger body size.
D) Species on Earth today are just a fraction of all species that ever lived.
E) Most organisms present early in Earth's prehistory were more complex than modern organisms.

Question 15

Endemic species _.

A) are generalist organisms
B) have high rates of mutations that lead to large numbers of offspring species
C) are found only in one place on the planet
D) cause disease
E) are invasive species that cause extinction

Question 16

Each branch in the figure results from .

A) a speciation event
B) migration to a new habitat
C) a mutation
D) extinction of a parent species
E) habitat selection

Question 17

Dog breeds are a classic example of artificial selection. Which of the following is another example of artificial selection?

A) breeding wild cabbage to create broccoli and cauliflower
B) inserting a gene for herbicide resistance into soybeans
C) chimney swifts adapting to human presence and selectively nesting in chimneys
D) choosing what kind of holiday greenery to purchase
E) crossing a lion and a tiger to get a sterile animal called a liger

Question 18

Unregulated populations tend to increase by .

A) linear growth
B) pyramidal growth
C) emigration
D) exponential growth
E) immigration

Question 19

A population is .

A) a group of individuals of a single species that live and interact in one area
B) a group of individuals of several interacting species that live in one area
C) a group of cells that have similar function
D) a group of individuals of several interacting species that interact in multiple ecosystems
E) the sum of all individuals of a species in all locations

Question 20

Which of the following scenarios best describes a density -dependent factor limiting population growth?

A) An April blizzard kills off many migrating barn swallows, which could not tolerate the cold and snow.
B) A particularly dry summer shrinks and dries up many ponds in central Canada, causing increased aggression and competition for limited nest sites among female common goldeneyes (ducks).
C) A tropical storm strikes one of the Hawaiian Islands and wipes out a population of nénés that had been recovering from near -extinction.
D) A particularly snowy winter makes it difficult for female deer to find food, thus affecting their ability to reproduce.
E) A homeowner sprays her lawn with broadleaf herbicide to kill the dandelions that have started growing there that spring.

Question 21

Which of the following best illustrates a type I survivorship curve, with higher death rates at older ages?

A) redwood trees
B) dandelions
C) large mammals such as gorillas
D) large open -water ocean fish, such as tuna
E) small mammals such as mice

Question 22

When a population approaches its carrying capacity, its resources .

A) become more scarce as population growth rate decreases
B) increase in supply as the population size decreases
C) increase in supply because the population size is decreasing
D) generally become infinite in supply
E) decrease in supply but are more accessible to competitors

Question 23

What kind of distribution do we typically see within a population of a species that maintains nesting territories, such as red -winged blackbirds?

A) clumped
B) logarithmic
C) uniform
D) random
E) clustered

Question 24

Which of the following are the major factors that determine a population's growth rate?

A) immigration, climate, emigration, biotic potential
B) birth rate, death rate, emigration, immigration
C) limiting factors, carrying capacity, mutation rate, inbreeding
D) survivorship, natural selection, mutation, extinction
E) adaptation, competition, birth rate, emigration

Question 25

Which of the following pairs lists an r -selected organism followed by a K -selected organism?

A) elephant; whale
B) grasshopper; whale
C) pine tree; dandelion
D) dandelion; pine tree
E) elephant; pine tree

Question 26

The invasive European buckthorn invades a local forest preserve. Initially, the population of buckthorn rapidly increases, and then it begins to level off. This pattern of population growth most closely resembles _ _.

A) exponential growth
B) slow and constantly changing growth
C) logistic growth
D) rapid and steady rate growth
E) unlimited growth

Question 27

The initial population of Kaibab deer in 1906 was about 4000. In an area of about 800,000 acres, this works out to an average density of one deer per 200 acres. What is the density in 1923?

A) one deer per 20 acres
B) one deer per 500 acres
C) one deer per 8 acres
D) one deer per 0.8 acre
E) one deer per 80 acres

Question 28

Scientists often depict their understanding of an organism's evolutionary ancestry in diagrams called .

A) phylogenetic trees
B) branchograms
C) taxonomic trees
D) ancestral trees
E) classification trees

Question 29

Which of the following would best represent a clumped population distribution pattern?

A) a pod of 40 migrating gray whales in the Bering Sea
B) pine trees within a pine plantation
C) earthworms within the soil of a garden
D) eagles nesting in the tallest trees in the Grand Canyon
E) oaks planted on city streets

Question 30

Which of the following is likely to be a direct or indirect effect of removing top predators from an ecosystem?

A) conversion of grassland into forest
B) a decrease in the populations of their prey
C) a decrease in ground -level vegetation such as tree saplings
D) greater competition among the remaining top predators in the ecosystem
E) a decrease in the carrying capacity of their prey

Question 31

A coyote can alter its diet to match seasonal abundance of plants, fruits, or small animals, and would therefore be considered .

A) a specialist, able to specialize on whatever is available at the time
B) a generalist
C) an organism with a type II survivorship curve
D) an endemic
E) density independent and resource -neutral

Question 32

Which of the following has been an effect of ecotourism in Hawaii?

A) The trash from millions of visitors has choked out mangrove forests on the island of Oahu.
B) Conservation efforts have become more financially feasible because of increased tourist dollars.
C) Ecotourism has always been banned in Hawaii, but other Pacific islands have experienced myriad negative effects of ecotourism.
D) A large marine reserve in Hawaii was forced to close because of the increased need to feed tourists.
E) Tourists have irreparably damaged sensitive coral reef ecosystems.

Question 33

A species has evolved an asexual mode of reproduction by having offspring develop from unfertilized eggs. Which of the following will be TRUE of this species' response to natural selection?

A) The species will increase in numbers because genetic variation is increased.
B) The species will compensate for loss of genetic variation by hybridizing with other species.
C) There will be fewer deaths from natural selection because sexual recombination always leads to extinction.
D) There will be less genetic variation from recombination and a risk of not adapting quickly to environmental change.
E) There will be more deaths from natural selection because there is no mutation.

Question 34

Which of the following is likely to have occurred after 1923?

A) The government has continued the ban on deer hunting and has continued killing cougars and coyotes that immigrate into the preserve.
B) The deer overgrazed their environment, decreasing the carrying capacity of the habitat.
C) The deer population crashed, and no deer have been seen in the preserve since 1947.
D) The preserve was invaded by Eurasian collared doves in 1988.
E) The deer population has continued to increase exponentially until the present day.