Ecosystems Flashcards

The distribution of biomes is dependent upon all of the following except
A. available moisture.
B. temperature.
C. mountains and the irregular outlines of continents.
D. distance from the oceans and elevation.
E. a thermocline.

Gause said that if 2 species attempt to occupy the same niche with limited resources, one of them will become.
A) parasitic
B) a predator
C) symbiotic
D) extinct
E) a commensal

In a tide pool, 15 species of invertebrates were reduced to eight after one species was removed. The species removed was likely a(n)
A) pathogen.
B) keystone species.
C) herbivore.
D) resource partitioner.
E) mutualistic organism.

Population pyramids are primarily used to show
A. death rates.
B. birth rates.
C. competition.
D. sex and age composition of a population.
E. the carrying capacity.

Dwarf mistletoes are flowering plants that grow on certain forest trees. They obtain nutrients and water from the vascular tissues of the trees. The trees derive no known benefits from the dwarf mistletoes. Which of the following best describes the interactions between dwarf mistletoes and trees?
A) mutualism
B) parasitism
C) commensalism
D) facilitation
E) competition

Which of the following characterizes relatively K-selected populations?
A) offspring with good chances of survival
B) many offspring per reproductive episode
C) small offspring
D) a high intrinsic rate of increase
E) early parental reproduction

In the logistic growth model, as the number of individuals in the population (N) approaches the carrying capacity (K), the growth (dN/dt)…
-Increases rapidly until the N far surpass K
-Increase rapidly until N reaches K and then stops
-Increases at the same rate it has been, continuing on until N is beyond K for some distance before regulating
-approaches zero as N approaches K.

Which of the following is a correct statement about the McArthur/Wilson Island Equilibrium Model?
A) The more species that inhabit an island, the lower the extinction rate.
B) As the number of species on an island increases, the emigration rate decreases.
C) Competitive exclusion is less likely on an island that has large numbers of species.
D) Small islands receive few new immigrant species.
E) Islands closer to the mainland have higher extinction rates.

The various cichlid species of Lake Victoria have suffered losses in their population numbers and species diversity due to the introduction of the...
Nile crocodile
Nile Perch
new algae species
new ectoparasite that lives on the gills
a fish hawk

Which of the following choices best describes the relationship that exists between photosynthesis and cellular respiration?
A. Photosynthesis captures and stores carbon from the atmosphere. Cellular respiration releases carbon back into the atmosphere.
B. Photosynthesis captures and stores carbon from the atmosphere as does cellular respiration.
C. Photosynthesis releases carbon into the atmosphere. Cellular respiration captures and stores carbon from the atmosphere.
D. Photosynthesis releases carbon into the atmosphere as does cellular respiration.

All of the following apply to density-dependent factors except that they

affect the size of the population
act to regulate population growth
ultimately cause adaptation as competition for limiting factors increases
are especially important in K-selected populations
Never involve biological interactions

Which of the following levels of organization is arranged in the correct sequence from most to least inclusive?
A) ecosystem, community, population, individual
B) community, ecosystem, individual, population
C) individual, population, community, ecosystem

A small group of mice are released on an island without mice but with abundant food for mice and no predators. Initially, the growth of the mouse population will be limited mainly by
A. the carrying capacity.
B. its birth rate.
C. its biotic potential.
D. only density-dependent factors.
E. only independent-dependent factors

The difference in the fundamental niche and the realized niche is
A. the fundamental niche is the actual niche that a species occupies while the realized niche is not
B. the fundamental niche is the entire niche that a species is capable of using while the realized niche is just what is being occupied
C. the fundamental niche is smaller than the realized niche
D. the realized niche is theoretical while the fundamental niche is the entire niche that an organism can use

Succession happens because species in the habitat alter that habitat in ways that assist other species. There are three dynamic concepts that are of critical importance for succession to take place. They are
symbiotic relationships, facilitation, and aposematic coloration
mimicry, coevolution, and completive exclusion
facilitation, inhibition, and tolerance
Competition, inhibition, and colevolution

The statistical study of populations including sex ratio, age structure, and predicting growth rates is called __________.
A. ethology
B. demography
C. population genetics
D. biometrics

Secondary succession takes place in all of the following except:
an abandoned agricultural field.
b. an area burnt off by a fire.
c. an area exposed by a melting glacier.
d. an abandoned landfill.
e. a pile of cow manure ("cow flop.")

Which of the following is an example of aposematic coloration?
Stripes of a skunk
eye color in humans
green color of plants
color of an insect-pollenated flower
a katydid insect whose wings look like a dead leaf

Energy enter ecosystems mainly by the process of
biosynthesis
nutrition
biogeochemical weathering
photosynthesis
metabolism

Which one of the following is not a physical environmental factor that determines where an organism can live?
temperature
water
insolation (sunlight)
soil type
intraspecific competition

If in a relationship the organism growing on the host benefits, and the host is unharmed, the relationship is called
parasitism
mutualism
commensalism
tolerance
predation

Biological magnification is when:
-energy is greater in higher trophic levels
-organisms get bigger
-populations get bigger
-pollutants concentrate in higher trophic levels
-predators eat more prey

The difference in the fundamental niche and the realized niche is
A. the fundamental niche is the actual niche that a species occupies while the realized niche is not
B. the fundamental niche is the entire niche that a species is capable of using while the realized niche is just what is being occupied
C. the fundamental niche is smaller than the realized niche
D. the realized niche is theoretical while the fundamental niche is the entire niche that an organism can use

Air masses formed over the Pacific Ocean are moved by prevailing westerlies where they encounter extensive north-south mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades. Which statement best describes the outcome of this encounter between a landform and an air mass?
A) The cool, moist Pacific air heats up as it rises, releasing its precipitation as it passes the tops of the mountains, and this warm, now dry air cools as it descends on the leeward side of the range.
B) The warm, moist Pacific air rises and cools, releasing precipitation as it moves up the windward side of the range, and this cool, now dry air mass heats up as it descends on the leeward side of the range.
C) The cool, dry Pacific air heats up and picks up moisture from evaporation of the snowcapped peaks of the mountain range, releasing this moisture as precipitation when the air cools while descending on the leeward side of the range.
D) These air masses are blocked by the mountain ranges, producing high annual amounts of precipitation on the windward sides of these mountain ranges.
E) These air masses remain essentially unchanged in moisture content and temperature as they pass over these mountain ranges.

Which of the following does not match Gleason's model of community interactions?
community as adaptional mosaic
functional equivalence of species
assemblage on coevoleved dependence
communities open to species replacement

How does phosphorus normally enter the ecosystems?
cellular respiration
photosynthesis
rock weathering
volcanism
atmospheric phosphorous gas

which of the following statements about the intermediate disturbance hypothesis is false?
-the intermediate disturbance hypothesis predicts that most communities eventually reach an end-state or climax community.
-Intermediate disturbance should lead to increases in species richness
-Disturbances tend to lead to the dominance of r-selected species
-An example of intermediate disturbance would be a tree fall in a mature rain forest
-Intermediate disturbance should lead to all successional stages being present in the community at the same time

For most terrestrial ecosystems, pyramids of numbers, biomass, and energy are essentially the same they have a broad base and a narrow top. The primary reason for this pattern is that
A) secondary consumers and top carnivores require less energy than producers.
B) at each step, energy is lost from the system as a result of keeping the organisms alive.
C) as matter passes through ecosystems, some of it is lost to the environment.
D) biomagnification of toxic materials limits the secondary consumers and top carnivores.
E) top carnivores and secondary consumers have a more general diet than primary producers.

The abrupt change in water temperature of large lakes as one moves deeper in the water column is called a
thermocline
eplimnion
hypolimnion
eutrophication
oligotrophication

A _______ cycle is a cyclic path of an element that involves both biological and chemical processes of an ecosystem
ecological
complete
hydrological
biogeochemical
complementary

Even though nitrogen constitutes 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere, the amount available for living things nearly all comes from
A. a few groups of nitrogen-fixing bacteria
B. the breakdown of minerals
C. a few genera of detritivores
D. the breakdown of dead plants
E. nitrogen-containing fertilizers

In a typical grassland community, which of the following is the primary consumer?
a.hawk
b.snake
c.shrew
d.grasshopper
e.grass

Use the survivorship curves in the figure to answer the following question.

Which curve best describes survivorship in marine mollusks?

The Hutchinsonian niche concept is one of:
-the physical place of growth
-tolerances described by an N-dimensional -hypervolume
-food choices
-energy transfers
-reproductive mode

Organisms that break down organic matter are called
detritivores
omnivores
herbivores
carnivores
organivores

In global terms, the production of CO2 by respiration and its fixation by photosynthesis are balanced, but the balance has been shifted towards accumulation of CO2 by the increase in consumption of
A. meat products
B. vegetable products
C. fossil fuels
D. all types of foods
E. nuclear energy

Addition of a primary carnivore to an ecosystem can sometimes influence the whole ecosystem. This process is called
facilitation
a bottom-up effect
species turnover
disruption
a trophic cascade

Photosynthetic organisms of the open oceans are confined to the upper
A. few hundred millimeters.
B. few hundred centimeters.
C. few hundred meters.
D. few hundred kilometers.
E. few thousand kilometers.

Which of the following events might you predict to occur if the tilt of Earthʹs axis relative to its plane of orbit
was increased 33.5 degrees?
A) Summers and winters in the United States would likely become warmer and colder, respectively.
B) Winters and summers in Australia would likely become less distinct seasons.
C) Seasonal variation at the equator might decrease.
D) Both northern and southern hemispheres would experience summer and winter at the same time.
E) Both poles would experience massive ice melts

During succession, each developmental stage is called
primary grouping
cohort
replacement
sere
successor

Animals defend themselves against predators by all of the following except?
A. warning coloration.
B. cryptic coloration.
C. chemical defenses such as poisons and stings.
D. parasitism.
E. aposematic coloration

Generally speaking, deserts are located in places where air masses are usually
tropical
humid
rising
descending
expanding

Which of the following best describes resource partitioning?
A) competitive exclusion that results in the success of the superior species
B) slight variations in niche that allow similar species to coexist
C) two species that can coevolve to share identical niches
D) differential resource utilization that results in a decrease in community species diversity
E) a climax community that is reached when no new niches are available

Which of the following biomes is correctly paired with the description of its climate?
A) savanna-low temperature, precipitation uniform during the year
B) tundra-long summers, mild winters
C) temperate broadleaf forest-relatively short growing season, mild winters
D) temperate grasslands-relatively warm winters, most rainfall in summer
E) tropical forests-nearly constant day length and temperature

An ecologist recorded 12 white-tailed deer, (Odocoileus virginianus), per square mile in one woodlot and 20 per square mile on another woodlot. What was the ecologist comparing?

A) density
B) dispersion
C) carrying capacity
D) cohorts
E) range

Carrying capacity is
A) seldom reached by marine producers and consumers because of the vast resources of the ocean.
B) the maximum population size that a particular environment can support.
C) fixed for most species over most of their range most of the time.
D) determined by density and dispersion data.
E) the term used to describe the stress a population undergoes due to limited resources

Which of the following statements is consistent with the principle of competitive exclusion?
A) Bird species generally do not compete for nesting sites.
B) The random distribution of one competing species will have a positive impact on the population growth of the other competing species.
C) Two species with the same fundamental niche will exclude other competing species.
D) Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the elimination of the less well adapted of two competing species.
E) Natural selection tends to increase competition between related species.

Secondary consumers that can eat only primary consumers receive what percent of the energy fixed by primary producers in a typical field ecosystem?
A) 0.01%
B) .1%
C) 1%
D) 10%
E) 100%

Use the following diagram of five islands formed at around the same time near a particular mainland, as well as MacArthur and Wilson's island biogeography principles, to answer the following question.

55) Which island would likely have the least species diversity?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Which of the following terms encompasses all of the others?
A) heterotrophs
B) herbivores
C) carnivores
D) primary consumers
E) secondary consumers