Chapter 53: Population Ecology

Chimpanzees have a relatively low birth rate. They care for their young and most chimps live a long life. The chimp survivorship curve would look like: a. a line that slopes gradually upward b. a relatively flat line that drops steeply at the end c. a line the drops steeply at first, then flattens out d. a line that slopes gradually downward e. a horizontal line

The concept that summarizes the aggregate land and water area required by each person to produce all resources he or she needs and absorb all waste he or she produces is called the: a. carrying capacity b. demographic transition c. ecological footprint d. metapopulation e. exponential growth graph

An antagonistic social interaction used to defend a bounded physical space is called: a. territoriality b. geographic change c. demography d. a cohort e. altruism

Assuming that r has a positive value, in the formula dN/dt = rmaxN (K - N)/K, the factor rN tends to cause the population to: a. grow increasing rapidly b. remain stable at the carrying capacity c. decrease in size d. grow at a slower rate than the (K-N/K) factor e. none of the listed responses is correct

No population can grow indefinitely. The ultimate size of any population is limited by: a. the carrying capacity of its environment b. its r factor c. its birth rate d. its death rate e. reproductive isolation

A population that is growing logistically: a. has a high r b. grows fastest when density is lowest c. grows fastest at an intermediate population density d. is always slowed by density-independent factors e. grows fastest as it approaches carrying capacity

A survivorship curve that represents high death rates for the young is a ________ curve. a. Type V b. Type IV c. Type III d. Type II e. Type I

Which of the following would most likely be an example of a density-independent factor limiting population growth? a. accumulation of toxic wastes b. daily temperature extremes c. food availability d. diseases e. parasites

Life history traits that are favored in uncrowded environments are known as: a. iteroparity b. K-selection c. semelparity d. r-selection e. v-selection

Herring gulls fiercely defend the areas around their nests in cliff-top breeding colonies. Within the colony they would show a __________ dispersion pattern. a. random b. dense c. density-independent d. clumped e. uniform

What absolutely essential resource is likely to limit the carrying capacity of Earth for humans? a. water b. oil c. raw materials such as metals d. space e. oxygen

_________ describes an organism that reproduces once in its lifetime. a. v-selection b. K-selection c. r-selection d. semelparity e. iteroparity

A dog gives birth to three puppies one year. Three years later, she gives birth to six puppies. Which type of life history pattern is characteristic of this organism? a. semelparity b. iteroparity c. big-bang reproduction d. exponential population growth e. r-selection

A newly mated queen ant founds a nest in an unoccupied patch of suitable habitat. Assuming that no disasters strike the nest, which of the following types of equations is likely to best describe the population growth of the new colony? a. linear b. circular c. logistic d. exponential e. none of the listed responses is correct

The selective pressures of having a large brood of offspring to care for, as in the kestrel experiment: a. lower the mother's survival rate but increase the father's survival rate b. increase the survival rates of the parents c. lower the survival rates of the parents d. have no effect on the survival rates of the parents e. lower the father's survival rate but increase the mother's survival rate

A group of individuals of a single species living in the same general area is called a: a. family b. clade c. taxon d. community e. population

The difference between density and dispersion is that: a. density and dispersion both describe the pattern of spacing of individuals of a population b. density and dispersion both describe the number of individuals of a population in a unit area c. density is the number of individuals in a unit area whereas dispersion is the pattern of spacing of all of the different populations d. density is the number of different populations in a unit area whereas dispersion is the pattern of spacing of individuals e. density is the number of individuals of a population in a unit area whereas dispersion is the pattern of spacing of individuals of the population

Organisms that live in a homogenous abiotic environment and cooperate to avoid being eaten would likely show a(n) __________ pattern of dispersion. a. random b. even c. uniform d. clumped e. continuous

Mechanisms of density-dependent selection includes all of the following except: a. territoriality b. competition for resources c. predation d. disease e. the size of the brood

The maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain is called the: a. geographic range b. carrying capacity c. demography d. cohort e. territory

Although there are organisms whose life histories fall somewhere between iteroparity and semelparity, life history always represents a trade-off. Why is this? a. The energy cost of reproduction is high, so there are not enough resources to reproduce often, produce many offspring, and take care of them. b. Parents always try to leave adequate resources for their offspring, so the parents may suffer. c. In unpredictable environments iteroparity is favored because it may require many attempts to successfully reproduce. d. Where resource competition is intense, semelparity is favored because, of the many offspring produced, only a few will survive. e. All of the listed responses are correct.

The difference between immigration and emigration is that: a. immigration is the movement of individuals out of a population whereas emigration is the influx of new individuals from other areas b. immigration is the influx of new individuals from other areas whereas emigration is the movement of individuals out of a population c. immigration is the influx of new populations from other areas whereas emigration is the movement of populations out of an area d. immigration is the movement of populations out of an area whereas emigration is the influx of new populations from other areas e. None of the listed responses is correct.

An oak tree produces thousands of acorns, but very few grow into mature oak trees. The oak tree exhibits a __________ survivorship curve. a. Type I b. Type II c. Type III d. Type I or Type II e. Type or Type III

A graph that plots the numbers of individuals who are alive at particular ages is called: a. demography b. a cohort c. a life table d. a density curve e. a survivorship curve

Fluctuations in the numbers of individuals in a population from year to year are called: a. population dynamics b. density dependent c. density independent d. equilibrium density e. iteroparity

Life tables typically follow the fate of a cohort, a: a. group of individuals who reproduced at the same age b. group of individuals who died from the same disease c. group of individuals who are the same age d. group of individuals who migrated to the same area at the same time e. group of individuals who live in the same community

Life history traits that are favored at high population densities are known as: a. iteroparity b. K-selection c. semelparity d. r-selection e. v-selection

A particular environmental change causes the deaths of 25 individuals in a herd of 100 wild horses, and it kills 50 individuals in a herd of 200 horses. In this case, the growth of a wild horse population is most likely limited by __________. (Assume that the two herds are found in territories of equal size.) a. the presence of another species that uses the same food resource b. food supply c. a predator d. a density-independent factor e. a density-dependent factor

A population that grows rapidly at first and then levels off at carrying capacity can be modeled: a. by a logistic equation b. as dN/dt = b - d c. as an opportunistic species d. as dN/dt = rN e. as being relatively unaffected by limiting factors

The concept that summarizes the aggregate land and water area required by each person to produce all resources he or she needs and absorb all waste he or she produces is called the: a. carrying capacity b. metapopulation c. demographic transition d. exponential growth graph e. ecological footprint

__________ is reproduction where adults produce offspring over many years. a. iteroparity b. K-selection c. semelparity d. r-selection e. v-selection

Of the following, which is the most inclusive level of organization in nature? a. biosphere b. population c. cell d. community e. ecosystem

Which of the following causes Earth's seasons? a. changes in the Earth's distance from the sun b. Earth's tilt on its axis c. global wind patterns d. ocean currents e. vertical air circulation

Which of the following investigations is an example of the study of an abiotic factor? a. investigating how the amount of annual precipitation affects the distribution of a tree species b. the relationship between finch beak size and food availability on two different Galapagos Islands c. observing interactions among various organisms in a rainforest canopy d. investigating how an elk population competes for food e. identifying food sources for an egret population

Which level of ecological study focuses the most on abiotic factors? a. speciation ecology b. community ecology c. population ecology d. ecosystem ecology

Which of the following might be an investigation of microclimate? a. the seasonal population fluctuation of nurse sharks in coral reef communities b. competitive interactions between various species of songbirds during spring migration c. the effect of sunlight intensity on species composition in a decaying rat carcass d. the effect of ambient temperature on the onset of caribou migration

Which of the following choices includes all of the others in creating global terrestrial climates? a. global wind patterns b. Earth's rotation on its axis c. ocean currents d. differential heating of Earth's surface

The main reason polar regions are cooler than the equator is that _____. a. the poles are permanently tilted away from the sun b. sunlight strikes the poles at a lower angle c. the poles are farther from the sun d. the polar atmosphere is thinner and contains fewer greenhouse gases

The success of plants extending their range northward following glacial retreat is best determined by _____. a. whether there is simultaneous migration of herbivores b. their seed dispersal rate c. their tolerance to shade d. their size

As climate changes because of global warming, plant species' ranges in the northern hemisphere may move northward. The trees that are most likely to avoid extinction in such an environment are those that _____. a. produce well-provisioned seeds b. disperse many seeds in close proximity to the parent tree c. have seeds that become viable only after a forest fire d. have seeds that are easily dispersed by wind or animals

Generalized global air circulation and precipitation patterns are caused by _____. a. rising, warm, moist air masses that cool and release precipitation as they rise and then, at high altitude, cool and sink back to the surface as dry air masses after moving north or south of the tropics b. the revolution of Earth around the sun c. air masses that are dried and heated over continental areas that rise, cool aloft, and descend over oceanic areas followed by a return flow of moist air from ocean to land, delivering high amounts of precipitation to coastal areas d. polar, cool, moist high-pressure air masses from the poles that move along the surface, releasing precipitation along the way to the equator, where they are heated and dried

Which of the following investigations would shed the most light on the future distribution of organisms in temperate regions that are faced with climate change? a. Remove, to the mineral soil, all of the organisms from an experimental plot and monitor the colonization of the area over time in terms of both species diversity and abundance. b. Compare and contrast the flora and fauna of warm/cold/dry/wet climates to shed light on how they evolved to be suited to their present-day environment. c. Quantify the impact of man's activities on present-day populations of threatened and endangered species to assess the rate of extirpation and extinction. d. Look at the climatic changes that occurred since the last Ice Age and how species redistributed as glaciers melted, then make predictions on future distribution in species based on past trends.

When climbing a mountain, we can observe transitions in biological communities that are analogous to the changes _____. a. in an ecosystem as it evolves over time b. across the United States from east to west c. in biomes at different latitudes d. in a community through different seasons

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. Calculate an estimate of the total number of individuals added to (or lost from) a population of 1000 individuals in one year. a. 120 individuals added b. 20 individuals added c. 40 individuals added d. 400 individuals added

During exponential growth, a population always _____. a. cycles through time b. loses some individuals to emigration c. grows at its maximum per capita rate d. quickly reaches its carrying capacity

Imagine that you are managing a large game ranch. You know from historical accounts that a species of deer used to live there, but they have been extirpated. After doing some research to determine what might be an appropriately sized founding population, you reintroduce them. You then watch the population increase for several generations, and graph the number of individuals (vertical axis) against the number of generations (horizontal axis). With no natural predators impacting the population, the graph will likely appear as _____. a. a "J," increasing with each generation b. an "S" that ends with a vertical line c. an upside-down "U" d. a diagonal line, getting higher with each generation

Which of the following causes populations to shift most quickly from an exponential to a logistic population growth? a. decreased death rate b. favorable climatic conditions c. competition for resources d. removal of predators

Which of the following statements about human population in industrialized countries are correct? I) Life history is r-selected. II) The population has undergone the demographic transition. III) The survivorship curve is Type III. IV) Age distribution is relatively uniform. a. only II, III, and IV b. only I and III c. only I, II, and IV d. only II and IV

Which pair of terms most accurately describes life history traits for a stable population of wolves? a. semelparous; K-selected b. iteroparous; r-selected c. semelparous; r-selected d. iteroparous; N-selected e. iteroparous; K-selected