Chapter 16

Question 1

A(n) __________ is a group of species that occupy an area and may interact directly or indirectly.

Answer 1

community

Question 2

the species ranking based on relative abundance, ranked from the most to the least abundant

Answer 2

rank abundance

Question 3

dividing the total number of individuals of the species of interest by the total number of individuals of all species present in the community

Answer 3

Relative abundance is calculated by __________.

Question 4

Simpson’s index of diversity ranges between __________ and __________, with __________ values indicating greater diversity.

Answer 4

0, 1, higher

Question 5

The Shannon index is a widely used index of biological diversity. The lowest possible value for this index is __________, and the highest possible value is __________.

Answer 5

0, the natural log of the species richness

Question 6

You find a forest with a few different tree species: maple, oak, hickory, and tulip polar. You determine that the maples are abundant in the understory, and the hickories have the largest biomass. Which of the following statements can you make about this forest?

Answer 6

The maples and the hickories are possible dominant species, depending on how you are analyzing the structure of the forest

Question 7

The removal of a keystone species from a community will initiate changes in that community’s structure and typically results in __________.

Answer 7

a significant loss of diversity

Question 8

In a food web, an example of an intermediate species is __________.

Answer 8

an herbivore

Question 9

In a food web, organisms can be grouped based on how they obtain their energy. These groupings are called __________.

Answer 9

trophic levels

Question 10

In community structure, coastal marine communities are defined based on their plant life. T/F

Answer 10

False

Question 11

In physical structure of communities, most photosynthesis in a temperate lake occurs in the hypolimnion of the lake. T/F

Answer 11

False

Question 12

In sandy beach, Almost no species moves between the zones of sandy beaches.
t/F

Answer 12

False

Question 13

The spatial scale at which sampling occurs can influence what is considered a unique community.
T/F

Answer 13

True

Question 14

The __________ concept of communities suggests that communities are simply assemblages of species that have similar environmental requirements.

Answer 14

Continuum

Question 15

In restoration ecology, an important aspect of restoration ecology is to eliminate all disturbances and keep the natural communities as stable as possible.
T/F

Answer 15

false

Question 16

In order to reconstruct natural communities as part of restoration, many critical ecological questions must be answered. All of the following are important questions involved in restoration of ecological communities with one exception. Choose the exception.

Answer 16

How can invasive species be integrated into the natural community?

Question 17

In a rank-abundance curve comparing two communities, the community with the greater species richness is characterized by a

Answer 17

greater length of the curve and a more gradual slope.

Question 18

Communities with low evenness will have rank-abundance curves

Answer 18

they are very steep

Question 19

The relative abundance of a tree with 100 individuals in a community of 1000 would be

Answer 19

0.1

Question 20

When an ecologist compares the diversity of different communities by counting the number of species within each community, the measure of diversity being used is called

Answer 20

species richness

Question 21

Which of the following has the highest species richness? A community with

Answer 21

36 species with very low evenness.

Question 22

Most communities have many common species and a few rare species.

Answer 22

False

Question 23

Which is the most dominant species?
most relative biomass
largest in number
highest in relative abundance
All of the above can indicate dominance

Answer 23

All of the above

Question 24

The removal of a keystone species from a community typically results in an increase of diversity.

Answer 24

false

Question 25

a rare or uncommon species that has a strong effect on its community

Answer 25

keystone species

Question 26

A species that has massive effects on an ecosystem but in proportion to its abundance is a

Answer 26

dominant species

Question 27

What might be a result of hunting sea otters to extinction for their fur?

Answer 27

loss of kelp beds

Question 28

In the following community, which serves as the keystone species?

Answer 28

sea otters

Question 29

A food web is more complicated than a food chain

Answer 29

true

Question 30

The species within a guild are unlikely to interact with one another.

Answer 30

False

Question 31

Which of the following groups of species represents a guild?

Answer 31

species of birds that feed on nectar

Question 32

Which of the following is considered a guild?

Answer 32

insect feeding birds

Question 33

The form and structure of terrestrial communities are defined more by the plants than the animals present.

Answer 33

true

Question 34

In a well-stratified lake, the thermocline refers to a steep and rapid decline in temperature relative to the waters above and below

Answer 34

True

Question 35

he aphotic zone of a lake is inhabited primarily by phytoplankton

Answer 35

False

Question 36

In a forest community, the layer in which most photosynthesis occurs is the

Answer 36

canopy

Question 37

The layer of a forest in which decomposition takes place and mineral nutrients are released for reuse by plants is called the

Answer 37

forest floor

Question 38

Zonation within a community is typically the result of differences in the

Answer 38

physical characteristics of the environment across a spatial gradient.

Question 39

In a sandy beach community, ghost crabs and beach flies occur within

Answer 39

supra tidal zone

Question 40

n which of the following zones would you most likely expect to find flounders (a type of fish)?

Answer 40

subtidal

Question 41

T/F The boundaries between communities are usually sharply defined and easily discerned.

Answer 41

false

Question 42

T/F The organismic concept views communities as clusters of species associating together as an interacting, integrated component.

Answer 42

true

Question 43

An ecologist samples the abundance of various species along an environmental gradient and fails to find clusters of species. Instead, peaks of abundance of dominant species are merely randomly spaced segments along a continuum. This distribution of species supports the

Answer 43

individualistic or continuum concept of a community.

Question 44

An organismic concept of communities was developed by

Answer 44

Clements

Question 45

The goal of restoration ecology is to

Answer 45

return the community to its pre-disturbance condition

Question 46

Who was Aldo Leopold?

Answer 46

conservationist