Deck 44: Population Ecology

Question 1

Bangladesh has 2596 persons per square mile,while the United States has 780 persons per square mile and Canada has 9 persons per square mile.These statistics compare the _____ of these countries.

A)population densities
B)population distributions
C)carrying capacities
D)rate of natural increase
E)limiting factors

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The particular place where an organism lives is its

A)life zone.
B)niche.
C)ecosystem.
D)community.
E)habitat.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which of the following circumstances would cause exponential growth to move into a logistic growth phase?

A)A reduction in the number of females within the population.
B)A large increase in the population over three generations.
C)The introduction of a non-native predator into the environment.
D)Habitat alteration resulting in the conversion of 1200 acres of forests into agricultural fields and housing developments.
E)All of these would cause exponential growth to move into logistic growth.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

An ecologist may study

A)the human impact on the Earth's environment.
B)the different types of organisms living near a hydrothermal vent and how they interact.
C)the affect of a particular pesticide on a food chain.
D)how populations are restricted by environmental resistance.
E)All of the choices are correct.

Question 5

Consider that a species of salmon lays 20,000 eggs per pair when it spawns and dies.At the end of five years,an average of one pair of mature salmon from this group of hatched eggs returns again to spawn in the parent stream (19,998 have not survived).What is the growth rate of this population?

A)10,000,because there were that many eggs produced per parent fish (r)
B)2,000,because this must be divided by five years
C)zero,because there is exact replacement of the previous generation
D)2,000,because there was this much average die-off per year
E)19,998,because there was this much total loss

Question 6

Which of the following studies would lie outside of an ecologists skill set?

A)Studying the progression of an outbreak of HIV in sub Sahara Africa.
B)Developing a management plan for the preservation of an endangered species.
C)Proposal to develop a solar power field on the edge of a major urban area.
D)Management plan to clean up a section of the Mississippi River that has become polluted due to sewage discharge.
E)All of these are part of an ecologists skill set.

Question 7

In the logistic growth curve formula,when N is very large,(K-N)/N is almost equal to 0,which results in

A)the population growing as fast as it can,or r(N).
B)the population growth slowing to zero.
C)the population exceeding carrying capacity; more are dying due to starvation than are born.
D)the population going extinct.
E)You can't tell without knowing the value of r (rate of reproduction).

Question 8

A pond represents a(n)_______ while the minnows represent a(n)______.

A)population; community
B)population; ecosystem
C)ecosystem; population
D)community; population
E)ecosystem; community

Question 9

Opportunistic species

A)are composed of large individual organisms.
B)are good dispersers and colonizers of new habitats.
C)are slow to mature.
D)have long life spans.
E)are adapted to stable environments.

Question 10

The maximum rate of natural increase of a population that occurs under ideal conditions is the

A)population growth.
B)biotic potential.
C)environmental resistance.
D)carrying capacity.
E)density-independent population.

Question 11

The carrying capacity of the environment for a species is determined by

A)the reproductive rate of the organism.
B)the number of organisms of that species.
C)the state and national wildlife laws pertaining to that species.
D)the age distribution of that species.
E)the limited availability of renewable resources in the environment and the environmental resistance to the biotic potential of the organism.

Question 12

Population size levels off at the _______ of an environment.

A)population growth
B)biotic potential
C)environmental resistance
D)carrying capacity

Question 13

When discussing population features a cohort is described as

A)all the individuals in a population born at the same time.
B)all individuals living in the same habitat.
C)all the different species in a community.
D)all the organisms interacting in the ecosystem.
E)All of the choices are correct.

Question 14

All of the following factors will keep a population from growing at its biotic potential EXCEPT

A)limited supply of food and water.
B)lack of availability of space.
C)abundance of predators.
D)prevalence of disease or parasites.
E)successful reproduction of its members.

Question 15

Which of the following factor(s)limit(s)exponential growth of a population?

A)limited resource availability
B)increases in predator populations
C)competition between members
D)competition with other species
E)All of these choices limit exponential growth.

Question 16

The population growth rate is negative when

A)birthrate is greater than death rate.
B)death rate is greater than birth rate.
C)all couples are married but average fewer than two children apiece.
D)a country becomes poorer,because it is related to economic growth.
E)better health care reduces the death rate and increases survivorship of newborns.

Question 17

All of the following statements about population distribution are true EXCEPT

A)population distribution is the pattern of dispersal of individuals across an area of interest.
B)environmental conditions,such as climate and altitude,are often limiting factors of distribution.
C)a population's distribution is calculated as the number of individuals per unit area.
D)behavioral traits,such as territoriality,can affect the distribution pattern of a population.

Question 18

If the members of a population are small in size,mature early,and have high parity and fecundity,they are ______.

A)K-strategists
B)r-strategists
C)neither K-strategists nor r-strategists,but have characteristics of both.

Question 19

Consider the life of the praying mantis.The large predatory female lays several hundred eggs in a foam mass in the fall.The young are most vulnerable when they emerge in the spring,but the few that survive spread out over the countryside and,if they find a mate,lay eggs the following fall.Which type of survivorship curve does this represent?

A)type I
B)type II
C)type III
D)exponential growth followed by a decline from resource depletion
E)maximal exponential growth and minimal use of carrying capacity

Question 20

A type II survivorship curve,drawn by plotting the number of individuals in a given population alive at the beginning of each age interval,is characterized by

A)most individuals dying of old age.
B)many individuals dying early in life.
C)individuals dying at a constant rate throughout time.
D)most individuals dying during their reproductive years.

Question 21

Many species are held below the environmental carrying capacity by predation.

Question 22

A(n)_______ consists of all the populations of multiple species interacting in a designated region.

A)ecosystem
B)community
C)biosphere
D)None of the choices are correct.

Question 23

Since the population of the LDCs is still growing at a significant rate,one would correctly assume that the LDCs consume a much larger proportion of the Earth's resources.

Question 24

Farmers sprayed leechi trees to suppress populations of scale insects.This also killed the populations of a predatory lacewing that controlled the numbers of scales.Soon the spraying did no good,and the damage to the leechi from the scales was greater than before spraying had occurred.Few predatory lacewings exist in the trees now because

A)they,too,are insects so they are r-selected.
B)the scale insect was K-selected and the high number of young included a resistant strain,while the predator was r-selected and will take longer to produce a resistant variety.
C)the predator was r-selected and was therefore more susceptible to the spray.
D)the scale insect was r-selected and the high number of young included a resistant strain; the predator was K-selected and will take longer to produce a resistant variety.

Question 25

A population in which death rates are higher than birth rates,and the prereproductive group is smaller than the reproductive group,is best represented by an age structure diagram with a(n)______ -shape.

A)bell
B)urn
C)pyramid
D)S
E)J

Question 26

Which of these diagrams represents an age structure diagram of more-developed countries?

A)Diagram A
B)Diagram B

Question 27

The sequence of decreased death rate followed by a decrease in birthrate is called

A)environmental resistance.
B)a limiting factor.
C)doubling time coefficient.
D)demographic transition.
E)replacement reproduction.

Question 28

Parasitism,competition,and predation are density independent factors that help control population size.

Question 29

Only the LDC's will be experiencing overpopulation growth in the near future.

Question 30

Density-independent factors which play a role in regulating population size in nature include

A)weather.
B)natural disasters.
C)geographical barriers.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Question 31

When the number of births plus immigration exceeds the number of deaths plus emigration,a population size will increase.

Question 32

Which variable is not a density-dependent factor?

A)Competition between two male deer for territory.
B)A red tailed hawk preying upon a population of field mice.
C)Small pox outbreaks during the 1800's.
D)An early cold spell that causes the plants in a given area to die off earlier than normal.

Question 33

Which of the following lifestyle changes would have the greatest impact on reducing an individuals environmental impact?

A)Reducing your meat consumption to once or twice a week.
B)Buying a more fuel efficient vehicle and only using it when you are taking long trips instead of traveling locally.
C)Downsizing and moving into a smaller house.
D)Reducing the number of children in your household to reach a zero population growth rate.
E)Waiting until later in life to have children and only have one per couple.

Question 34

Intrinsic factors,such as behavior and physiology,may affect growth rates of a population.

Question 35

In a population with low death rates,this age structure diagram indicates that

A)the population is decreasing.
B)the population is stable.
C)the biotic potential must be larger than usual.
D)the population will continue to grow for some time.

Question 36

Zero population growth will be achieved as soon as couples have only replacement reproduction,with two children per couple.

Question 37

In the near future,the human population is predicted to involve

A)a worldwide decrease in population growth due to limited resources.
B)an increase in population growth in all countries in the world.
C)a decrease in growth in most,but not all,more-developed countries and continued growth in most less-developed countries.
D)a continuation of human population growth at the same pace as in the previous century.

Question 38

Most species are intermediate between r-strategists and K-strategists,and tend to have a type II survivorship curve.

Question 39

In trying to limit the growth of a pest,you will have more success if you can reduce the carrying capacity of the environment rather than reduce the population size of the pest.

Question 40

As the carrying capacity of an environment is approached by a population,

A)births begin to exceed deaths.
B)deaths begin to exceed births.
C)the rate of reproduction increases.
D)population growth begins to be exponential.
E)density-dependent environmental resistance increases.

Question 41

Early this spring researchers have recently discovered that there is one small remnant population of endangered bluegrass left in a small prairie plot outside of Kansas City.If there are approximately 850 individuals in the cohort,how many individuals can the researchers expect to find alive at the end of the summer,6 months later?

A)Approximately 1000
B)Approximately 330
C)Approximately 700
D)Approximately 45
E)None of the individuals will be alive 6 months later.

Question 42

What is the expected pattern of growth for a population that has a birthrate that is higher than the death rate?

A)This population can expect to see a pyramid-shaped diagram that will cause the population to grow in the near future.
B)This population can expect to see an urn-shaped diagram that will cause the population to grow in the future.
C)This population can expect to see a bell-shaped diagram that will cause the population to grow in the future.
D)This population can expect to see an pyramid-shaped diagram that will cause the population to decrease in the future.
E)This population can expect to move into a logistic growth curve in the near future.

Question 43

Survivorship may be defined as the probability of newborn individuals of a cohort surviving to a particular age interval or as the proportion of the population surviving from the previous age interval.

Question 44

How is environmental impact measured in a population?

A)Population size and resource consumption.
B)Population size and resource production.
C)Number of individuals dying each generation plus birth rates.
D)All of these are used to measure environmental impact.
E)None of these are used to measure environmental impact.

Question 45

The basic level of an ecological study always begins by looking at how populations interact with each other.

Question 46

The deceleration phase of growth always precedes the stable equilibrium phase in exponential growth.

Question 47

Dandelions and tent caterpillars,which are r-strategists,are examples of opportunistic species that tend to move in high numbers and rapidly occupy new environments.