Exam 2 Flashcards
The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment
Ecology
Synthesis done by green plants using solar energy
Photosynthesis (primary producers)
A population of morphologically similar organisms that can reproduce sexually among themselves but cannot produce fertile offspring when mated with other organisms
Species
A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area
Population
The populations of plants, animals, and microorganisms living and interacting in a certain area at a given time
Biological community
A complex, interlocking series of individual food chains in an ecosystem
Food web
the sequence of organisms through which energy and materials are transferred, in the form of food, from one trophic level to another
Food chain
Organisms that consume organic litter, debris, and dung
Detritivores
Fungi and bacteria that break down complex organic material into smaller molecules
Decomposers
The number or amount of something
Abundance
The number of species present in a community, as well as the relative abundance of each species
Diversity
A theory that explains how random changes in genetic material and competition for scarce resources causes species to change rapidly
Evolution
The mechanism for evolutionary change in which environmental pressures cause certain genetic combinations in a population to become more abundant
Natural selection
A species whose impact on its community or ecosystem are much larger and more influential than would be expected from mere abundance
Keystone species
Species whose critical tolerance limits can be used to judge environmental conditions
Indicator species
Ecosystem resilience and resistance
A change from one stable ecological state to another
Regime shift
The average age that individuals born in a particular time and place can be expected to attain
Life expectancy
How long you live
Life span
Survivorship
Species which are specialists
have narrowly specific habitat requirements.
As ecological development proceeds, a biological community
becomes more diverse.
Oysters attach their shells to hard surfaces under the water. More and more oyster shells will attach in the same area to form a reef. This reef serves as a habitat for other organisms like small fish. Which term best describes the oyster’s role in the ecosystem?
ecosystem engineer
Some communities are prevented from reaching a true climax stage by periodic disruption by events such as fire.
True
On the island of Hawai’i, lava flows covered land then hardened into rock or created new land as it flowed into the ocean. Ecosystems develop on this new land via what process?
primary succession
In the partnership of a lichen, the fungus provides ________ and the relationship is best described as ________
structure and moisture-holding ability; mutualism
Taxonomy is a branch of science which
describes relationships among species.
Some communities, such as grasslands, may never really reach F.E. Clements’s concept of a climax stage because
they are adapted to periodic disturbance.
Resource partitioning tends to lead to a high degree of ________ in species.
specialization
Evolution occurs as a result of
better survival or reproduction rates by individuals with a particular characteristic.
Two birds, a titmouse and a chickadee are living in the same territory and are using some of the same resources. This interaction can be best classified as
interspecific competition.
Primary succession occurs when a community develops ________, while secondary succession occurs when one ________.
on bare rock; biological community replaces another
A keystone species is a species whose presence
influences the population size of many other species in its community.
Natural selection will ultimately make a species
better adapted to its environment
Indicator species, such as lichens, generally have a(n) ________ tolerance range for a ________.
narrow; critical factor
A climax community is one that
is relatively stable and long lasting.
Certain night-active moths and day-active birds are specialized nectar feeders. How do these species coexist if they are using the same resource for food?
They do not compete for the nectar because they feed at different times of the day.
In a biological community where diversity is great, such as a tropical rainforest, the abundance of any one species is likely to be
small
Primary productivity is the direct result of
photosynthesis
Morpheus has been led into a wilderness environment and left to fend for himself for the summer. Luckily, he has a good coat because it looks like there may be a frost during the night and the mosquitoes are everywhere. As he looks around, he is relieved because he recognizes some of the plants. There are some mosses, lichens, small shrubs, sedges, and grasses. Which biome is he in?
tundra
The word “conifer” distinguishes plants that are
cone-bearing
Tree growth in the taiga is limited by
extreme cold and short summers.
Tropical seasonal forests are specially adapted to tolerate
annual cycles of severe drought and heavy rain.
Trinity and Neo are in an area that has many lakes and bogs. The majority of the trees are coniferous. As they look around, they also see deciduous trees, including birches, aspens, and maples. What type of forest are they in?
boreal forest
In what continent would you find a polar desert?
Antarctica
Tundra biomes occur
at high latitudes and altitudes, where the growing season is short.
Vertical zonation shows that not only do different biomes occur at different latitudes, but also at different ________.
altitudes
In the graph of precipitation and temperature, the area marked A has a
wide temperature range and narrow precipitation range
Deciduous forests
have trees that shed their leaves seasonally.
You are in an area that is relatively hot. You bend down and notice that there are tracks in the soil that are very old. Since you know that this area is easily destroyed by human activity and the harsh climate slows recovery from human damage, you conclude that this biome is
a desert
A biome is described by
broadly similar environmental conditions.
Cloud forests are found in the ________ areas in tropical regions.
cool mountainous
Soils in tropical rainforests are
thin and nutrient poor
Location of specific biomes can be predicted based on
precipitation and temperature
Which of the following is an example of a specialization that plants in the desert may have?
storing water in stems or roots, reducing water loss with thick epidermal layers, and salt tolerance
Many people in the United States take trips in the spring to see annual flowers that grow and flower before they are shaded by canopy. Where are these people going?
temperate deciduous forests
In the graph of precipitation and temperature, desert biomes would fall in the area marked by the letter:
A
In the graph of precipitation and temperature, temperate forest biomes would fall in the area marked by the letter:
B
Neo and Trinity are in a biome that has relatively stable temperatures and abundant rainfall. They have a graph of precipitation and temperature similar to the one shown. Which letter marks the biome they are located in?
C
The longest period of life that a given type of organism can reach is known as
life span
Logistic strategies are better adapted to
fairly stable environments
An island has formed off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has determined that there is enough land area for a herd of 100 elk, yet they say the carrying capacity is only 60 elk. This inequality can best be explained by the fact that the
Physical factor of space is only one of the determiners for population size in a community.
Explosive growth better characterizes logistic growth than exponential growth.
False
You are studying an organism that is fairly large, matures slowly, lives fairly long, and cares for its offspring. This organism probably has a(n) ________ population growth strategy.
K-adapted
In general, abiotic regulatory factors tend to be ________ while biotic factors tend to be ________.
density-independent; density-dependent
Natality is usually
variable, depending on environmental conditions
Many species exhibit both exponential (________) and logistic (________) population growth characteristics.
r selected; K selected
Which of the following is an abiotic population control mechanism?
water shortages
Which of the following organisms would have the highest biotic potential?
mosquitoes
In the real world, many factors determine the numbers of organisms in any one population. Yet, a “superfly” with unlimited food and no mortality would show what type of growth?
exponential growth
The highest number of game or commercial species that can be harvested in a single season without limiting growth for future seasons is the maximal sustainable yield.
True
Which of the following is not a density-dependent population control factor?
drought
Widespread starvation is an example of ________ population control.
density-dependent
Island biogeography explains the phenomenon of ________ terrestrial species on islands small and far from the mainland when compared to larger islands that are closer to the mainland and have ________ terrestrial species.
fewer; more
Genetic diversity is lost in a small population when
only a few individuals survive a catastrophe.
A dieback or population crash, often occurs after a species ________ its environmental carrying capacity.
overshoots
Which of the following is a biotic population control mechanism?
pathogens
Population growth patterns over time typically
exhibit complex patterns produced by complex causes.
Exponential growth refers to any pattern of increase of the size of a plant or animal population.
False
An example of primary productivity would be
a wild raspberry plant growing 30 grams of new leaf mass during a day of photosynthesis.
Where is the largest portion of a human’s microbiome?
the gut
A generalist is a species that
occupies a wide range of ecological niches.
Intraspecific competition is competition among ________ for resources.
members of a single species
Which of the following is NOT a strategy for successfully avoiding interspecific competition?
All of these are strategies for successfully avoiding interspecific competition
Territoriality is an important form of ________ for many animal species.
intraspecific competition
A biological community’s productivity is a measure of
the amount of biomass produced in the community
Complexity in an ecological community has to do with the number of
species and each trophic level
A community that changes very little over time is said to have great
constancy
There are usually many tolerance limits responsible for limiting the number and location of a species. However, some organisms have ________ that limit/limits their distribution.
a specific critical factor
Humans can best be described as
generalists
Attributes of a broad niche could include an organism having
a wide range of foods eaten
Indicator species are important because
their presence indicates something about the ecosystem as a whole
Development of an ecological community on a site previously devoid of life is called secondary succession.
False
Which of the following fish species would be the best indicator of clean, well-oxygenated water?
Rainbow trout
The temperate broad-leaved forest has become the most supportive of human occupation of any major biome.
True
Humid tropical forests have extraordinary biological diversity
despite the poor, weathered soils
Neo finds himself sweating in a moist forest but there aren’t many streams or wetlands. He is amazed by the tremendous amount of biodiversity including an abundance of biting mosquitoes. Has he inadvertently gotten closer to his goal of finding a boreal forest?
no, the description is that of a tropical rainforest
In the graph of precipitation and temperature, the area marked D has a
narrow precipitation and temperature range
The most important factor in determining the type of biome to develop in a given area of those listed is
precipitation
Vertical zonation refers to
vegetation zones defined by elevation.
Grasslands typically lack trees because seedlings have difficulty surviving the
frequent occurrence of fire
What is the leading cause of land conversion from natural ecosystems to human-driven land use?
agriculture
The biome type that has a short growing season and is summer feeding and breeding grounds for caribou and musk-ox is the
Arctic tundra
Red winged blackbirds chase away other red wings from the area around their nests. This behavior is called ________ and is an example of ________ competition.
territoriality, intraspecific
Which of the following parts of the adaptive cycle model is the phase that most closely resembles primary succession?
rapid growth phase
A viceroy butterfly that closely resembles the bad tasting monarch is an example of ________, and the example of beetles that look like stinging wasps is an example of ________.
Batesian mimicry; Batesian mimicry
The most common reason that introduced species negatively impact an environment is because they
disrupt preexisting niches
Longleaf pine savannas are maintained by regular fire disturbances. These fires burn excess fuel and control competitive species. After a fire, many native plants including wildflowers and other grasses will quickly start to grow back in the cleared forest floor. Of what phase of the adaptive cycle model would this be an example?
release phase
Most organisms’ niches are controlled by
genetic trait for adaptive characteristics.
Which of the following terms refers to the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and keep its fundamental structure or identity?
resilience
Which of the following would not be an act of predation?
a crow feeding on a road-kill rabbit
________ is the term used to describe two species that look alike and are both danergous or unpalatable.
Mullerian mimicry
Predation influences evolution when
prey species develop defensive characteristics over generations.
In a biological community where diversity is great, such as a tropical rainforest, the abundance of any one species is likely to be
small
Species which are specialists
have narrowly specific habitat requirements.
In some species, young individuals float freely as plankton while mature members are fixed on the seafloor. This is an effective strategy because
the different life phases of these species do not compete for food.
In some very large trees, there are spaces that are large enough to allow soil to form where a branch meets the trunk of the tree. There are small animals that live in this soil. The soil doesn’t impact the tree, but it’s a good home for the small animals. This is an example of
commensalism
Which of the following is a species interaction in which both species benefit?
mutualism
Primary succession occurs when a community develops ________, while secondary succession occurs when one ________.
on bare rock; biological community replaces another
An example of primary productivity would be
a wild raspberry plant growing 30 grams of new leaf mass during a day of photosynthesis.
An organism’s fertility is ________.
the actual number of offspring produced
Which of the following types of population curves would best represent a group of elephants that enter a new, open habitat and become a stable part of that ecosystem?
S-shaped curve
Population growth can be affected by the number of resources in the area. In the formula for population growth, this is represented by the variable ________.
K
In cases of exponential growth rates, a population _______ each year.
is multiplied by a constant number
A collection of separate populations that interact with each other is called a metapopulation.
True
Fishing down the food chain refers to
the practice of fishing top predators nearly to extinction then moving on to smaller, less desirable fish.
Survivorship is determined by
the percentage of a cohort that survives to a certain age.
The carrying capacity of a habitat refers to
the number of animals that the habitat can support.
Oysters spawn hundreds of thousands of eggs and sperm into the water column. Some of these eggs will be fertilized and grow to be larvae. In order for larvae to grow to adult oysters, they must land on a hard surface. There are many opportunities for an oyster larva to not reach adulthood. Oysters are represented by a
Type 3 survivorship curve.
When the similarities in population increases and decreases in prey and predators, it lead us to the conclusion that
the abundance of both the prey and predator can affect the other species.
Natality is usually
variable, depending on environmental conditions.
Oysters spawn hundreds of thousands of eggs and sperm into the water column. Some of these eggs will be fertilized and grow to be larvae. Oysters do not participate in rearing or protecting their offspring. Which life history strategy best describes the oyster?
r-selected species
In the 19th century, the American bison faced extinction because of overhunting. Very few individuals remained, but because small herds were protected within national parks, the remaining individuals have been able to reproduce to grow the number of individuals. Because the genetic diversity of the current bison population originated from a very small population of bison, this is an example of
a demographic bottleneck
A population founded when just a few members of a species survive a catastrophic event or colonize a new habitat that is geographically located from other members of the same species
Demographic bottleneck
The gradual changes in gene frequencies in a population due to random events
Genetic drift
Early pioneers expand and colonize territory
rapid growth phase
Disturbance, rapid change, disruption
release phase
Secondary succession, specialization, stability
conservation phase
Renewal, growth, invention, innovation
reorganization phase
