Ecology

Question 1

List the 5 levels of ecological study and give examples of the focus of inquiry at each level

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Question 2

Give an example of a purposefully introduced species and an accidentally introduced species that have become pests in North America

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Question 3

Describe mountains’ influence on solar radiation

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Question 4

Describe mountains’ influence on temperature

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Question 5

Describe mountains’ influence on rainfall

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Question 6

Oligotrophic lake

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O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:

Question 7

Eutrophic lake

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O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:

Question 8

Headwater of stream

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O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:

Question 9

Turbid river

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O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:

Question 10

Estuary

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O2 level:
Nutrient Content:
Productivity:

Question 11

ecology

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Question 12

What methods are used to answer ecological questions?

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Question 13

biomes

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Question 14

What accounts for the similarities in life forms found in the same type of biome in geographically separated areas?

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Question 15

Many animals breed in the spring and early summer. What is a probable proximate cause of this behavior? Probable ultimate cause?

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Question 16

What is the sign stimulus for attack behavior in male stickleback fish?

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Question 17

Give an example of a FAP in a human infant and the sign stimulus that elicits it

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Question 18

Explain how Zack’s study of whelk-eating crow supports the optimal foraging theory

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Question 19

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Question 20

Sow bugs are placed in experimental chambers that are either humid or dry and have both light and dark areas. In the humid chamber, the sow bugs move into the dark area and stop moving. In the dry chamber, they move into the dark area and continue to move about in that area. Explain these experimental results

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Question 21

Why are many interactions between members of the same species agonistic?

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Question 22

What mechanisms reduce violent encounters between members of the same social group?

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Question 23

Explain the basis for the distinction between male competition and female choice in courtship behavior.

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Question 24

Natural selection has resulted in exclusive male and parental care being much more frequent in species with external fertilization, where the male’s genetic contribution to the offspring is more certain. Explain how such behavior could evolve.

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Question 25

Why is most communication among mammals olfactory and auditory, whereas communication among birds is visual and auditory?

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Question 26

According to kin selection, would an individual be more likely to exhibit altruistic behavior toward a parent, a sibling, or a first cousin? Explain your answer in terms of r in Hamilton’s rule.

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Question 27

How does the nature vs. nurture controversy apply to behavior?

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Question 28

How does this concept of Darwinian fitness apply to behavior?

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Question 29

In a mark-recapture study, an ecologist traps, marks and releases 25 voles in a small wooded area. A week later she resets her traps and captures 30 voles, 10 of which were marked. What is her estimate of the population of voles in the area?

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Question 30

Identify the types of survivorship curves shown below and give examples of groups that exhibit each curve.

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Question 31

Mortality, number of offspring per reproduction, and prenatal investment are usually interrelated. On the following graphs, sketch the relationship you would predict between the variables.

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Question 32

Label the exponential and logistic growth curves, and show the equation associated with each curve. What is K for the population show with curve b?

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Question 33

List some density-dependent factors that may limit population growth.

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Question 34

List some abiotic factors that may cause population fluctuations.

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Question 35

Species composition and distribution in most plant communities appear to be individualistic. What may explain the occasional occurrence of sharp delineations in species composition between communities?

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Question 36

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Answer 36

Harmless species resembling a poisonous or distasteful species

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Answer 37

Mutual imitation by two or more distasteful species

Question 38

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Question 39

Experimental data from tree hole communities showed that food chains were longest when food supply at the producer level was greatest. Which hypothesis about what limits food chain length do
these results support?

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Question 40

Many freshwater lake communities appear to be organized along the top-down model. What
actions might ecologists take if they wanted to use biomanipulation to control excessive algae blooms in a lake with four trophic levels (algae, zooplankton, primary predator fish, and top predator fish)?

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Question 41

Describe the effects of the alder stage of succession on soil pH and fertility

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Question 42

List some ecosystems with high rates of production

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Question 43

List some ecosystems with low rates of production.

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Question 44

The open ocean has low net primary production yet contributes the greatest percentage of earth’s net primary production. Explain.

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Question 45

Antarctic seas are often more productive than most tropical seas, even though they are colder and receive lower light intensity. Explain

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Question 46

Why is production efficiency higher for fishes than for birds and mammals?

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Question 47

Assuming a 10% trophic efficiency (transfer of energy to the next tropic level), approximately what proportion of the chemical energy produced in photosynthesis makes it to a tertiary consumer?

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Question 48

In which natural ecosystem do nutrients cycle the fastest? Why?

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Question 49

In which natural ecosystem to nutrients cycle the slowest? Why?

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Question 50

What is the effect of loss of vegetation on nutrient cycling?

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Question 51

List some of the potential consequences of global warming:

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Question 52

Two processes that emerge at the ecosystem level of organization are energy flow and chemical cycling. Develop a concept map that explains, compares, and contrasts these 2 processes.

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Question 53

Describe four or five human intrusions in ecosystem dynamics that have detrimental effects.

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Question 54

Is the effective population size usually larger or smaller than the actual number of individuals in the population? Explain.

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Question 55

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Question 56

Explain the basic premise of the small population approach. What conservation strategy is recommended for preserving small populations?

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Question 57

Describe the declining-population approach to the conservation of endangered species

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Question 58

What are some potential benefits of corridors? How may they be harmful?

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Question 59

What factors would favor the creation of larger, extensive preserves? What factors favor smaller, unconnected preserves?

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Question 60

What are the major threats to biodiversity, listed in order of importance?

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Question 61

How does the loss of biodiversity threaten human welfare?

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Question 62

What do edges and movement corridors have to do with habitat fragmentation?

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Question 63

Describe the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis and how it relates to fragmentation of habitats.

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