Deck 5: Biodiversity, Species Interactions, and Population Control

Question 1

A logistic growth curve depicting a population that is limited by a definite carrying capacity is shaped like the letter ____.

A) J
B) L
C) M
D) S
E) U

Answer 1

S

Question 2

Carrying capacity refers to

A) reproductive rate
B) interaction of natality and mortality
C) the maximum size of population the environment will support
D) the proportion of males to females
E) the intrinsic rate of increase

Answer 2

the maximum size of population the environment will support

Question 3

All of the following are external parasites except

A) fleas and ticks
B) Mosquitoes
C) Mistletoe
D) Tapeworms
E) athlete's foot fungus

Answer 3

Tapeworms

Question 4

You are an evolutionary entomologist. You have observed beetles that can raise their abdomens and give off a defensive chemical that generally repels predators. You discover a new species of beetle that raises its abdomen in a threatening way similar to the first species, but no defensive chemical is given off. You are most likely to characterize this defensive strategy as a form of

A) Camouflage
B) chemical warfare
C) Mimicry
D) flight mechanism
E) warning coloration

Question 5

A relationship in which one species benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed to any significant degree is best labeled

A) Competition
B) Predation
C) Commensalism
D) Parasitism
E) Mutualism

Question 6

The relationship between clownfish and sea anemones is

A) Competition
B) Predation
C) Parasitism
D) Mutualism
E) Commensalism

Question 7

The southern sea otter population, although hunted to near extinction, recovered during the years

A) 1850 to 1900
B) 1900 to 1938
C) 1938 to 2010
D) 1938 to 1968
E) 1948 to 1988

Question 8

The obvious relationship demonstrated by a food chain is

A) Competition
B) Predation
C) Parasitism
D) Mutualism
E) Commensalism

Question 9

____________________are a source of algin, a product that humans use in cosmetics and ice cream.

A) Whales
B) Sharks
C) Sea urchins
D) Kelp forests
E) Honeycombs

Question 10

A relationship in which both species benefit is best labeled

A) Competition
B) Predation
C) Mutualism
D) Parasitism
E) Commensalism

Question 11

Prey are least likely to defend themselves against predators by

A) Camouflage
B) acute senses of sight and smell
C) protective shells
D) warning coloration
E) pursuit and ambush

Question 12

Which of the following best categorizes the most common form of interspecific species interactions?

A) Competition
B) Mutualism
C) Parasitism
D) Commensalism
E) Predation

Question 13

Hawks typically forage for their rodent prey species during the daytime. While owls may eat similar prey species, and live in the same area, they forage during the night. This is best described as an example of

A) interspecific competition
B) Mutualism
C) parasitism
D) Predation
E) resource partitioning

Question 14

Insect-eating warblers reduce interspecific competition by which of the following?

A) They migrate into the forests at different times of the year, so that they are not present at the same time.
B) They build their nests in different portions of the same trees.
C) They do not utilize the same tree type or habitat type.
D) They spend a significant portion of their time foraging for insects in different parts of the same trees.
E) They hybridize and produce broods of mixed genetic ancestry.

Question 15

A human population crash occurred

A) in Ireland in the 1800's following the destruction of the potato crop
B) in Idaho in the 1800's following the destruction of the potato crop
C) in Japan in 2011 following the tsunami
D) in the United States in the 1800's following the Civil War
E) in both Japan and Idaho

Question 16

A relationship in which a member of one species obtains its nourishment by living on, in, or near a member of another species over an extended time is best labeled

A) Competition
B) Predation
C) Mutualism
D) Parasitism
E) Commensalism

Question 17

The key reason we should care about recovery of the southern sea otter population is

A) the fact that they are a keystone species
B) their charismatic personality, which makes them pleasant to observe
C) because they are a food source for humans
D) because they are a food source for tuna, which is a food source for humans
E) the fact that they are a keystone species and because they are a food source for tuna

Question 18

All of the following illustrate the relationship of mutualism except

A) oxpeckers and black rhinoceros
B) Epiphytes
C) clownfish and sea anemone
D) bacteria in the digestive system of animals
E) flowering plants and insects

Question 19

Sea otters play a role in maintaining the biodiversity of which ecosystem?

A) Tidepools
B) coastal kelp forests
C) coastal sandy beaches
D) open ocean areas
E) Estuaries

Question 20

An old elk dies during a snowstorm in Yellowstone National Park. When the storm clears, coyotes forage on the fresh flesh of the elk. Following this, birds such as vultures forage on the rotting meat. Lastly, insects and worms consume the last of the fragments of tissue of this once large and magnificent animal. This is an example of

A) Predation
B) Extinction
C) niche modification
D) resource partitioning
E) all of these answers

Question 21

Which of the following is accurate with regards to the balance of nature hypothesis?

A) It is currently viewed as the most accurate description of how ecological succession can arise at a climax community.
B) It is the historically held equilibrium model of succession in which, once achieved, a climax community will be dominated by a few long-lived plant species.
C) It suggests that there are always an appropriate number and diversity of producers to allow an ever-increasing number of primary consumers to inhabit a changing community.
D) It suggests that the pathway of ecological succession is not predictable.
E) It is an example of something that scientists were able to disprove conclusively.

Question 22

Which of the following best describes the two important aspects needed to stabilize living systems?

A) resilience and flexibility
B) inertia and resilience
C) environmental resistance and persistence
D) persistence and inertia
E) persistence and flexibility

Question 23

Which of the following would exhibit primary succession?

A) rock exposed by a retreating glacier
B) an abandoned farm
C) a forest that has been clear-cut
D) newly flooded land to create a reservoir
E) a forest that has been burned

Question 24

A population crash occurs when

A) A population approaches its carrying capacity.
B) Environmental resistance comes into play gradually.
C) Resources are essentially unlimited.
D) A population greatly overshoots carrying capacity, and resulting environmental pressures cause effects.
E) The population growth rate slows.

Question 25

Inertia could also be called

A) Resilience
B) Persistence
C) a lack of ecological succession
D) persistance and resilience
E) a faster rate of ecological succession

Question 26

Which of the following is characteristic of the reproductive pattern of most animals such as whales and elephants?

A) tend to produce high numbers of offspring
B) give very little parental care
C) low survival rate of offspring
D) long gestation periods
E) high offspring mortality

Question 27

One of the reasons sharks are especially vulnerable to over fishing is because they grow slowly, mature late, and have only a few young each generation.

Question 28

Which of the following would undergo secondary succession?

A) cooled volcanic lava
B) an abandoned parking lot
C) a heavily polluted stream that has been cleaned up
D) a bare rock outcrop
E) a newly created shallow pond

Question 29

Predation and parasitism are examples of ecological interactions in which one species takes advantage of another species.

Question 30

Which of the following terms best describe the ability of a living system to repair damage after an external disturbance?

A) Inertia
B) Persistence
C) Constancy
D) Resilience
E) Diversity

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT one of the chapter's three big ideas?

A) There are always limits to population growth in nature.
B) Certain interactions among species affects their use of resources and their population sizes.
C) The balance of nature theory only.
D) The balance of nature theory and the concept of restoration of ecosystems by humans.
E) Changes in environmental conditions cause communities and ecosystems to gradually alter their species composition and population sizes.

Question 32

An area in primary ecological succession would be a suitable habitat for a population of hardwoods because of the availability of resources.

Question 33

A population's growth rate will increase as the population reaches its carrying capacity.

Question 34

A climax community is a(n)

A) community in primary succession
B) community in secondary succession
C) mature community
D) immature community
E) balanced community

Question 35

The southern sea otter is a keystone species because it is a top predator.

Question 36

A large mountain just south of Reno, Nevada, is called Slide Mountain. This name refers to the fact that in the early 1980s, after weeks of heavy precipitation, a large section of this mountain became a destructive mudslide that slid down the east slopes and destroyed the vegetation and homes in its path. In the decades since the mudslide, the vegetation has completely regrown, and the slide area is no longer visible. This is an example of

A) Primary succession.
B) Secondary succession.
C) During the first 10 years following the mudslide it was primary succession, and after that it was secondary succession.
D) Tertiary succession.
E) Inertia.

Question 37

Factors that act to limit the growth of populations are collectively called

A) carrying capacity
B) Death
C) Emigration
D) environmental resistance
E) environmental capacity

Question 38

Limiting factors are physical or chemical factors that can determine the numbers of organisms in a population.

Question 39

An exponential growth curve depicting an ever-growing population is shaped like the letter ____.

A) J
B) L
C) M
D) S
E) U

Question 40

In a certain population of rabbits one year, 25 new rabbits are born and 5 move into the population from surrounding areas. However, 10 rabbits die, and 5 leave the population. What is the population change?

A) 25
B) 10
C) 30
D) 15
E) There is no change because birth and immigration equaled the deaths and emigration.

Question 41

A common tick is an example of a(n) ____________________.

Question 42

Parasitism occurs when one species feeds on another organism.

Question 43

The most common interaction between species is intraspecific competition.

Question 44

Permanent equilibrium is a condition that most ecologists now recognize as existing in mature, late-successional ecosystems.

Question 45

The cattle egret is a large North American bird that commonly sits on the backs of grazing cattle and eats insects that pester the cattle. This is an example of ____________________.

Question 46

The terms inertia and stability, with respect to ecosystems, are mutually exclusive.

Question 47

Specialized traits or behaviors that allow a reduction of interspecific competition through species specialization in resource use, allow for ____________________.

Question 48

Carrying capacity is the population size (or density) at which the environment is saturated.

Question 49

The interaction between a lion and a hyena fighting over a dead zebra on the African Savannah is best described as ____________________.

Question 50

The process of secondary succession would typically follow a forest fire.

Question 51

Cowbirds are so named because they followed the large herds of cows that were driven throughout the American west before large tracts of land were fenced. Cowbirds consumed the insects that invariably followed the herds. There was no obvious benefit or other effect on the herds. This is an example of ____________________.

Question 52

The ecological process that would result in a localized change in species composition following a severe volcanic eruption would best be described as ____________________.

Question 53

The human population can maintain an exponential growth rate indefinitely because of technology.

Question 54

Inertia is not a feature of grassland ecosystems, but resilience is.

Question 55

There is a general tendency for succession to lead to more complex and stable ecosystems.

Question 56

____________________ is the combination of all factors that act to limit the growth of a population.

Question 57

The interaction of two species with each can actually affect the evolution of those species.

Question 58

Many large mammal species that have long generation times and low reproductive rates are prone to ____________________.

Question 59

Births and deaths are the only two factors that determine population sizes.

Question 60

The relationship between a lion and a zebra is said to be that of a(n) ____________________.

Question 61

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
A tiny fish called a wrasse lives in and around the mouth of sharks. It cleans up the debris left after the shark eats flesh, and it gains protection by living in the shark's mouth.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 62

Some predators hide in plain sight before ambushing their prey by virtue of their____________.

Question 63

Mistletoe is an example of a(n) _____________________.

Question 64

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
The Owl Butterfly is native to Costa Rica. Its hindwings have patterns in the shape and size of the eyes of a large owl.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 65

Sea otters are considered a ____________________ species.

Question 66

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
Fleas live in and on household pets.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 67

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
Sea lampreys attach themselves to fish such as trout.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 68

____________________ starts slowly but then accelerates as the population increases.

Question 69

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents a mature forest of hardwoods.

Question 70

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
Your housecat kills the mice in your yard and around your house.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 71

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents the step in which perennial weeds and grasses are plentiful.

Question 72

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents the step in which shrubs grow.

Question 73

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents the stage in which the land can support trees, shrubs, weeds, and grasses.

Question 74

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
Epiphytes are plants that live on the branches or trunks of trees in the tropics. The epiphyte gains access to water and sunlight, but does not hurt or help the tree.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 75

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
A kestrel (small hawk) and red-tailed hawk hunt for rodents in the same grassy meadow.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry

Question 76

When populations of two different species interact over time in a way that drives changes in their gene pools, it can be said that __________________ occurs.

Question 77

There are ____________________ limits to population growth in nature.

Question 78

The non-poisonous viceroy butterfly gains protection by looking and acting like the poisonous monarch. This adaptation is called______________.

Question 79

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice

On the ecological succession figure, choose the letter that represents the initiation of secondary ecological succession.

Question 80

Match the items listed below with the appropriate choice
Clownfish live amongst the stinging tentacles of sea anemone. They keep the sea anemone tentacles clean by eating the debris, and they gain protection from other animals by living in the tentacles.

A)interspecific competition
B)Predation
C)Parasitism
D)mutualism
E)commensalism
F)mimicry