Final-Practice

Final-practice

Started: / April 14, 2007 7:37 PM
Submitted: / April 14, 2007 7:44 PM

1.

Estimates of current rates of extinction
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / indicate that we have reached a state of unstable equilibrium in which speciation and extinction rates are approximately equal. / 0%
B. / suggest that one-half of all animal and plant species may be gone by the year 2100. / 0%
C. / indicate that rates may be 1,000 times higher than at any other time in the last 100,000 years. / 100% /
D. / suggest that one-half of all animal and plant species may be gone by the year 2100 and indicate that rates may be 1,000 times higher than at any other time in the last 100,000 years. / 0%
E. / indicate that we have reached a state of unstable equilibrium in which speciation and extinction rates are approximately equal, suggest that one-half of all animal and plant species may be gone by the year 2100, and indicate that rates may be 1,000 times higher than at any other time in the last 100,000 years. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

2.

Suppose you attend a town meeting at which some experts tell the audience that they have performed a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed transit system that would probably reduce overall air pollution and fossil fuel consumption. The analysis, however, reveals that ticket prices will not cover the cost of operating the system when fuel, wages, and equipment are taken into account. As a biologist, you know that if ecosystem services had been included in the analysis the experts might have arrived at a different answer. Why are ecosystem services rarely included in economic analyses?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Their cost is difficult to quantify. / 0%
B. / They are not worth much. / 0%
C. / People take them for granted. / 0%
D. / Their cost is difficult to quantify. People take them for granted. / 100% /
E. / Their cost is difficult to quantify. They are not worth much. People take them for granted. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

3.

According to most conservation biologists, the single greatest threat to global biodiversity is
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / chemical pollution of water and air. / 0%
B. / stratospheric ozone depletion. / 0%
C. / insufficient recycling programs for nonrenewable resources. / 0%
D. / alteration or destruction of the physical habitat. / 100% /
E. / global climate change resulting from a variety of human activities. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

4.

One chief area of concern among biologists who use the small-population approach is
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / intraspecific competition. / 0%
B. / sexual selection. / 0%
C. / genetic diversity. / 100% /
D. / runaway selection. / 0%
E. / intraspecific competition and runaway selection. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

5.

The declining-population approach to conservation strategies
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / emphasizes the development of theories to understand the extinction process. / 0%
B. / emphasizes smallness of a population as the ultimate cause of extinction. / 0%
C. / emphasizes the environmental factors that cause a population decline. / 0%
D. / is proactive. / 0%
E. / emphasizes the environmental factors that cause a population decline and is proactive. / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

6.

Which of the following nations has become a world leader in the establishment of zoned reserves?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Costa Rica / 100% /
B. / Canada / 0%
C. / China / 0%
D. / United States / 0%
E. / Mexico / 0%
Score: / 1/1

7.

Which of the following is (are) related to the agenda of the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / defining what ecological studies are needed for conserving Earth's resources / 0%
B. / maintaining productivity of human-made as well as natural ecosystems / 0%
C. / understanding interactions between climate and ecological dynamics / 0%
D. / resource management and development / 0%
E. / all of these / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

8.

The human population of Madagascar doubles every ______years.
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / 10 / 0%
B. / 25 / 100% /
C. / 40 / 0%
D. / 60 / 0%
E. / 80 / 0%
Score: / 1/1

9.

Which of the following directly addresses the growing concern over the loss of ecosystem diversity?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / the small-population approach / 0%
B. / restoration ecology / 100% /
C. / the declining-population approach / 0%
D. / increasing effective population sizes of endangered species / 0%
E. / managing populations to increase genetic diversity / 0%
Score: / 1/1

10.

The discipline that applies ecological principles to return degraded ecosystems to their natural states is known as
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / population viability analysis. / 0%
B. / landscape ecology. / 0%
C. / conservation ecology. / 0%
D. / restoration ecology. / 100% /
E. / resource conservation. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

11.

Which of the following statements is consistent with the competitive exclusion principle?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Bird species generally do not compete for nesting sites. / 0%
B. / The density of one competing species will have a positive impact on the population growth of the other competing species. / 0%
C. / Two species with the same fundamental niche will exclude other competing species. / 0%
D. / Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the elimination of inferior species. / 100% /
E. / Evolution tends to increase competition between related species. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

12.

Which of the following is an example of cryptic coloration?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / bands on a coral snake / 0%
B. / brown color of tree bark / 0%
C. / markings of a viceroy butterfly / 0%
D. / colors of an insect-pollinated flower / 0%
E. / a "walking stick" insect that resembles a twig / 100% /
Score: / 1/1

13.

All of the following are terms that ecologists use to describe communities except for
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / species richness. / 0%
B. / species diversity. / 0%
C. / Batesian diversity. / 100% /
D. / trophic structure. / 0%
E. / stability. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

14.

When lichens grow on bare rock, they may eventually accumulate enough organic material around them to supply the foothold for later rooted vegetation. These early pioneering lichens can be said to do what to the later arrivals?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / tolerate / 0%
B. / inhibit / 0%
C. / facilitate / 100% /
D. / exclude / 0%
E. / concentrate / 0%
Score: / 1/1

15.

Which of the following statements about the YellowstoneNational Park fires of 1988 is false?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Secondary succession followed the fires. / 0%
B. / The dominant lodgepole pines required fire to complete their normal life history. / 0%
C. / Human environmental policy increased the severity of the fires. / 0%
D. / It took years before new vegetation returned to the area. / 100% /
E. / Severe drought helped to trigger the fires. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

16.

In conservation biology, species-area curves for key taxa make it possible to predict
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / the size of an area that needs to be sampled. / 0%
B. / the area that a keystone species will occupy. / 0%
C. / whether or not a redundancy model will apply to a given area. / 0%
D. / how the loss of a certain habitat area is likely to affect biodiversity. / 100% /
E. / whether or not an area will reach equilibrium. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

17.

A biologist measures predation rates by crab spiders on flower-visiting insects in a particular field community. Then the biologist experimentally removes as many of the spiders as she can. She discovers that predation rates remain the same but that the major predators shift from spiders to ambush bugs. Which of the following community structure models is most consistent with her findings?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / individualistic / 0%
B. / integrated / 0%
C. / rivet / 0%
D. / redundancy / 100% /
E. / manipulative / 0%
Score: / 1/1

18.

Which of the following statements is most consistent with F.E. Clements' integrated hypothesis?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Species are distributed independently of other species. / 0%
B. / Communities lack discrete geographic boundaries. / 0%
C. / The community functions as an interactive unit. / 100% /
D. / The composition of plant species seems to change on a continuum. / 0%
E. / The community is a chance assemblage of species. / 0%
Score: / 1/1

19.

Which of these terms applies to the relationship between a dog and a blood-sucking tick?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / predation / 0%
B. / competition / 0%
C. / parasitism / 100% /
D. / commensalism / 0%
E. / mutualism / 0%
Score: / 1/1

20.

The competitive exclusion principle states that
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / two species cannot coexist in the same habitat. / 0%
B. / competition between two species always causes extinction or emigration of one species. / 0%
C. / competition in a population promotes survival of the best-adapted individuals. / 0%
D. / two species in a community cannot coexist in the same niche. / 100% /
E. / species that compete usually coevolve. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

21.

Which of the following could qualify as a top-down control on a grassland community?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / limitation of plant biomass by rainfall amount / 0%
B. / influence of temperature on competition among plants / 0%
C. / influence of soil nutrients on the abundance of grasses versus wildflowers / 0%
D. / effect of grazing intensity by bison on plant species diversity / 100% /
E. / effect of humidity on plant growth rates / 0%
Score: / 0/1

22.

A biologist reported that a sample of ocean water had 5 million diatoms of the species Coscinodiscuscentralis per cubic meter. What was the biologist measuring?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / density / 100% /
B. / dispersion / 0%
C. / carrying capacity / 0%
D. / quadrats / 0%
E. / range / 0%
Score: / 0/1

23.

Natural selection involves energetic trade-offs between or among life history traits such as
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / number of offspring per reproductive episode. / 0%
B. / number of reproductive episodes per lifetime. / 0%
C. / age at first reproduction. / 0%
D. / number of offspring per reproductive episode and age at first reproduction. / 0%
E. / number of offspring per reproductive episode, number of reproductive episodes per lifetime, and age at first reproduction. / 100% / / number of offspring per reproductive episode, number of reproductive episodes per lifetime, and age at first reproduction
Age at first reproduction, number of offsprings per reproductive episode, and the number of reproductive episodes per life time.
When reproduction begins, how often the organism breeds, and how many offspring’s are produced during each reproductive episode.
Life histories depends on natural selection and environmental pressures.
Score: / 0/1

24.

A population of ground squirrels has an annual per capita birth rate of 0.06 and an annual per capita death rate of 0.02. Estimate the number of individuals added to (or lost from) a population of 1,000 individuals in one year.
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / 120 individuals added / 0%
B. / 40 individuals added / 100% /
C. / 20 individuals added / 0%
D. / 400 individuals added / 0%
E. / 20 individuals lost / 0%
Score: / 0/1

25.

A small population of white-footed mice has the same intrinsic rate of increase (r) as a large population. If everything else is equal,
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / the large population will add more individuals per unit time. / 100% /
B. / the small population will add more individuals per unit time. / 0%
C. / the two populations will add equal numbers of individuals per unit time. / 0%
D. / the J-shaped growth curves will look identical. / 0%
E. / the growth trajectories of the two populations will proceed in opposite directions. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

26.

As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by the logistic equation?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / The growth rate will not change. / 0%
B. / The growth rate will approach zero. / 100% /
C. / The population will show an Allee effect. / 0%
D. / The population will increase exponentially. / 0%
E. / The carrying capacity of the environment will increase. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

27.

Which of the following would not be considered part of a metapopulation?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / a prairie-dog town / 0%
B. / a swarm of locusts / 100% /
C. / birds on a neighboring island / 0%
D. / mosquitos in tree holes / 0%
E. / people in a village / 0%
Score: / 0/1

28.

Consider several human populations of equal size and net reproductive rate, but different in age structure. The population that is likely to grow the most during the next 30 years is the one with the greatest fraction of people in which age range?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / 50 to 60 years / 0%
B. / 40 to 50 years / 0%
C. / 30 to 40 years / 0%
D. / 20 to 30 years / 0%
E. / 10 to 20 years / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

29.

The infant mortality rate is ______in developing countries than in developed countries (see Figure 52.26 in your textbook).
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / no different / 0%
B. / about two times higher / 0%
C. / slightly lower / 0%
D. / about three times higher / 0%
E. / more than six times higher / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

30.

Which of the following statements about human populations in developed countries is incorrect?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Average family size is relatively small. / 0%
B. / The population has undergone the demographic transition. / 0%
C. / Life history is r-selected. / 100% /
D. / The survivorship curve is Type I. / 0%
E. / Age distribution is relatively uniform. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

31.

During a field trip, an instructor touched the body of a moth resting on a tree trunk. The moth raised its forewings to reveal large eye-spots on its hind wings. The instructor asked the class why the moth lifted its wings. One student answered that certain sensory receptors had fired and triggered a neuronal reflex culminating in the contraction of certain muscles. A second student responded that the behavior might frighten predators. Which statement best describes the students' explanations?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / The first response is correct, but the second is incorrect. / 0%
B. / The first response answers a proximate question, whereas the second answers an ultimate question. / 100% /
C. / The first response is biological, whereas the second is philosophical. / 0%
D. / The first explanation is testable as a scientific hypothesis, whereas the second is not. / 0%
E. / Both explanations are reasonable and simply represent a difference of opinion. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

32.

The proximate causes of behavior are interactions with the environment, but behavior is ultimately shaped by
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / hormones. / 0%
B. / evolution. / 100% /
C. / sexuality. / 0%
D. / pheromones. / 0%
E. / the nervous system. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

33.

Which of the following groups of scientists is closely associated with ethology?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Watson, Crick, and Franklin / 0%
B. / McClintock, Goodall, and Lyon / 0%
C. / Fossey, Hershey, and Chase / 0%
D. / von Frisch, Lorenz, and Tinbergen / 100% /
E. / Hardy, Weinberg, and Castle / 0%
Score: / 0/1

34.

One way to understand how early environment influences differing behaviors in similar species is through an experimental technique known as "cross fostering." Suppose that the curly-whiskered mud rat differs from the bald mud rat in several ways, for example curly-whiskered rats are much more aggressive. How would you set up a cross-fostering experiment to determine if environment plays a role in this mud rat's aggression?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / You would cross curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats and hand-rear the offspring. / 0%
B. / You would place newborn curly-whiskered mud rats with bald mud rat parents, newborn bald mud rats with curly-whiskered mud rat parents, and let some mud rats of both species be raised by their own species. Then compare the outcomes. / 100% /
C. / You would remove the offspring of curly-whiskered mud rats and bald mud rats from their parents and raise them in the same environment. / 0%
D. / You would see if curly-whiskered mud rats bred true for aggression. / 0%
E. / None of these schemes describes cross fostering. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

35.

Some dogs love attention, and Frodo the beagle learns that if he barks, he gets attention. Which of the following might you use to describe this behavior?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / The dog is displaying an instinctive fixed action pattern. / 0%
B. / The dog is performing a social behavior. / 0%
C. / The dog is trying to protect its territory. / 0%
D. / The dog has been classically conditioned. / 0%
E. / The dog's behavior is a result of operant conditioning. / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

36.

Animals tend to maximize their energy intake-to-expenditure ratio. What is this behavior called?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / agonistic behavior / 0%
B. / optimal foraging / 100% /
C. / dominance hierarchies / 0%
D. / animal cognition / 0%
E. / territoriality / 0%
Score: / 0/1

37.

Which of the following does not have a coefficient of relatedness of 0.5?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / a father to his daughter / 0%
B. / a mother to her son / 0%
C. / an uncle to his nephew / 100% /
D. / a brother to his brother / 0%
E. / a sister to her brother / 0%
Score: / 1/1

38.

Reconciliation behavior is likely to follow
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / conflict behavior between members of a permanent social group. / 100% /
B. / agonistic behavior between territorial males. / 0%
C. / mating behavior between a male and a female. / 0%
D. / ritualized behavior. / 0%
E. / imprinting by young animals on a member of the wrong species. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

39.

Which of the following statements provides an ultimate explanation for the observation that adult salmon return from the ocean to spawn in the stream in which they hatched?
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / Young salmon imprint on the chemical scent of their home stream. / 0%
B. / Adult salmon use stellar navigation to relocate their home stream. / 0%
C. / Salmon navigate to their home stream using their ability to detect Earth's magnetic field. / 0%
D. / Spawning in the home stream results in higher survival of young salmon. / 100% /
E. / Oceanic currents aid salmon in their search for their home stream. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

40.

According to the inequality known as Hamilton's rule (rB > C),
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / natural selection does not favor altruistic behavior that causes the death of the altruist. / 0%
B. / natural selection favors altruistic acts when the resulting benefit to the beneficiary, multiplied by the coefficient of relatedness, exceeds the cost to the altruist. / 100% /
C. / natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than altruistic behavior that benefits a sibling. / 0%
D. / the effects of kin selection are larger than the effects of direct natural selection on individuals. / 0%
E. / altruism is always reciprocal. / 0%
Score: / 0/1

41.

"How does the foraging of animals on tree seeds affect the distribution and abundance of the trees?" This question
Student Response / Value / Correct Answer / Feedback
A. / is a valid ecological question. / 0%
B. / is difficult to answer because a large experimental area would be required. / 0%
C. / is difficult to answer because a long-term experiment would be required. / 0%
D. / is a valid ecological question and is difficult to answer because a large experimental area would be required. / 0%
E. / is a valid ecological question, is difficult to answer because a large experimental area would be required, and is difficult to answer because a long-term experiment would be required. / 100% /
Score: / 0/1

42.