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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
PracticeQuestions
1. Thereisevidencefromsomeecologicalstudiesthatsomegrassesactuallybenefitfrom
beinggrazedbyanimals.Whichofthefollowingtermswouldbestdescribesuchaplantherbivoreinteraction?
a. Predation
b. Commensalism
c. Mutualism
d. Competition
e. Parasitism
2. Primarysuccessionissuccessionthat:
a. leadstoestablishmentofaclimaxcommunitydominatedbyprimaryproducers.
b. occursonnewlyexposedgeologicsubstrates,notorganicsoil.
c. occurswhereorganicsoilshavebeenexposedbutnotdestroyedbydisturbance.
d. occursafterfireoragriculturalabandonment.
3. Givenwhatyouknowaboutenergytransferefficiencies,approximatelyhowmany
kilograms(kg)ofcarnivore(secondaryconsumer)biomasscanbesupportedbyagrassland
containing20,000kgofplantmaterial?
a. 20,000
b. 2000
c. 200
d. 20
e. 2
4. Successionis:
a. Changeinspeciescompositionacrossspace
b. Changeinspeciescompositionovertime
c. Changeinspeciescompositionataspecificplace
d. AandBcombined
e. BandCcombined
5. WhichofthefollowingfactorsbestexplainswhyNPPishighestinthewettropics?
a. Thetropicshavesmallerlandmassthantemperate/polarregions
b. Thetropicshavehigherratesofspeciationthantemperate/polarregions
c. Theclimateiswarmerandwetterinthetropics
d. Thetropicshavemorecomplexfoodwebsthantemperate/polarregions
e. Noneoftheabove
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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
6. Betadiversitywillbehighestwhen:
a. Abioticconditionsareuniformfrompatchtopatch
b. Dispersalratesofspeciesarehigh
c. Therearesimilarspeciesinteractionsfrompatchtopatch
d. Abioticconditionsarehighlyvariablebetweenpatches
e. Mutualismsareequallyimportantbetweenpatches
7. InIslandBiogeographytheorydistancefromthemainlandcontrolsthe:
a. Islandsize
b. Extinctionrate
c. Immigrationrate
d. Islandsclosertothemainlandwillhavemorespecies
e. Smallerislandswillhavefewerspecies
8. Whichofthefollowingmeasuresofproductivityaccountsforrespirationbyheterotrophs?
a. Decomposition
b. Netprimaryproduction
c. Grossprimaryproduction
d. Respiration
e. Netecosystemproduction
9. Terrestrialecosystemscontainthelargestpoolofnitrogen.False
10. Beabletodefinetheterms:characterdisplacement,competitiveexclusion,inter-andintraspecificcompetition,community,captureefficiency,keystonespecies,interferenceand
exploitativecompetition,zeropopulationgrowthisocline,conversionefficiency,Gleasonian
versusClementsiancommunitydevelopment,grossprimaryproduction,netprimary
production,primarysuccession,secondarysuccession,climaxcommunity,ecosystem.
11. Akeystonepredatoronlyaffectsthetrophiclevelbelowit.False
12. Heterotrophsareresponsibleforhighmarineproductivityalongcoastlines.False
13. NetPrimaryProductivityisconstrainedbyspeciescompositionandnutrients.True
14. Temperatebiomeshavethehighestspeciesdiversity.False
15. IntheLotka-Volterrapredator-preymodel,preyexhibitwhattypeofgrowthintheabsence
ofpredators?Exponential
16. IntheLotka-Volterrapredator-preymodel,thezeropopulationgrowthsolutionfor
predatorsisintermsof?Thenumberofpreyrequiredtomaintainzeropopulationgrowth
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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
17. Whatarethethreelargestpoolsofcarbonrankedfromlargesttosmallest?
a. Ocean
b. Fossil&sediments,fossilisfine
c. Soil
18. Whatarethethreelargestnaturalfluxesofcarbonrankedfromlargesttosmallest?
a. Photosynthesisoratmospheretoterrestrialplants
b. Plant&Microbialrespirationorfromterrestrialsystemstotheatmosphere
c. Oceanphotosynthesisoratmospheretoocean
19. Whyistheatmosphericcarbondioxideconcentrationincreasingmoreslowlythantherate
atwhichanthropogeniccarbonemissionsareincreasing?Thelandandoceansinkstakeup
roughlyhalfofannualanthropogenicemissions.
20. InhisexperimentswithdifferentpairsofParameciumspecies,Gausefoundthatsometimes
bothspeciespersistedandsometimesonlyonespeciesdidandtheotherwentextinct.
WhichofthefollowinghypothesesdidGauseproposetoexplainthecasesinwhichboth
speciespersisted?
a. Onespecieswasamuchbettercompetitorthantheother.
b. Periodicdisturbanceallowedforcoexistence.
c. Thetwospeciestendedtousedifferentresources.
d. Thetwospeciesexhibitedonlyinterferencecompetition,notexploitative
competition.
e. Noneoftheabove
21. Asyoustudytwocloselyrelatedpredatoryinsectspecies,thetwo-spotandthethree-spot
avengerbeetles,younoticethateachspeciesseekspreyatdawninareaswithouttheother
species.However,wheretheirrangesoverlap,thetwo-spotavengerbeetlehuntsatnight
andthethree-spothuntsinthemorning.Whenyoubringindividualsfromthepopulations
thatoverlapintothelaboratoryandkeepthetwodifferentspeciesseparatefromeach
other,youdiscoverthattheoffspringofthetwo-spotavengerbeetlespeciesarenocturnal,
buttheoffspringofthethree-spotareactiveinthemorning.Youhavediscoveredan
exampleof_____.
a. mutualism
b. characterdisplacement
c. Batesianmimicry
d. facultativecommensalism
e. interferencecompetition
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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
22. WhichwouldbethebestwaytodirectlytestthehypothesisthatC.stellatus(aspeciesof
barnacle)iscompetitivelyexcludedfromthelowerintertidalzonebyB.balanoides(another
speciesofbarnacle)?
a. Placeindividualsofeachspeciesinajarandseewhichspeciessurvives.
b. RemoveallB.balanoidesfromthelowerintertidalzone.
c. TransplantB.balanoidestotheupperintertidalzone.
d. Clearrocksinanentireareaanddocumentrecolonizationevents.
e. RemoveallC.stellatusfromtheuppertidalzone.
23. Inanexperimentwithtwospeciesofbarnacles,C.stellatus(aspeciesofbarnacle)is
competitivelyexcludedfromthelowerintertidalzonebyB.balanoides(anotherbarnacle
species),butC.stellatushasnoeffectonthedistributionofB.balanoides.Whatcouldbe
concludedaboutthetwospecies’niches?
a. ThefundamentalandrealizednichesofB.balanoidesandC.stellatusareidentical.
b. ThefundamentalandrealizednichesofB.balanoidesandC.stellatusaredifferent.
c. ThefundamentalnicheofB.balanoidesisdifferentfromtherealizednicheofB.
balanoides,butthefundamentalnichesofC.stellatusisidenticaltotherealized
nicheofC.stella.
d. ThefundamentalnicheofB.balanoidesisidenticaltotherealizednicheofB.
balanoides,butthefundamentalnicheofC.stellatusisdifferentfromtherealized
nicheofC.stellatus.
24. Youareinvestigatingpatternsofspeciesrichnessontwodifferentcontinentstodetermine
howlocalandregionalspeciesrichnessvariesbetweenthem.Yourtwostudyareasare
studyarea1andstudyarea2.Foreachstudysite,yousamplethelocalspeciesrichnessina
smallareathatisasubsetoftheentiresite,andthenfindtheregionalspeciesrichnessfor
thewholesite.Thedataonspeciesrichnessisshowninthetable.
Table1
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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
UsingthedatainTable1,plotagraphoftherelationshipbetweenlocalandregionalspecies
richnessinthetwostudyareas(thiswillbereferredtoasFigure1).Sketchastraightlinethat
indicatesthegeneralpatternoftherelationship.Addalinewithaslopeof1tothegraphto
indicatehowtherelationshipbetweenregionalandlocalspeciesdiversitywouldlookifregional
andlocalspeciesdiversitywerethesame.
Figure1
Whichprocess,regionalorlocal,isthedominantdriverofthepatternineachstudyarea?
Explainyouranswers.Instudyarea1,regionalprocessesdominateoverlocalprocesses,
becauselocalrichnessvaluesarelowerthanregionalrichnessvalues.However,thevalues
increaseproportionally(slope<1).Instudyarea2,localprocesseslimitlocalrichnessinthe
studyareabecauselocalrichnessstaysthesameasregionalrichnessincreases.
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Biology203–Exam2Name_____________________________________
25. Thisfigureisfromaninvasiveplantexperiment.Thefigurebelowisleaflittercollected
weeklyinOctoberandNovember(month-day)andthefigureontherightiscumulativeleaf
litterfallovertheentiresamplingperiod.Usethefiguretoanswerthefollowingquestions:
a. Whichtypeofshrubproducedmoreleaflitter?Invasive
b. Whatdoesthefiguretellyouaboutthetimingoflitterfallfornativeandinvasive
species?Invasiveshrubsdroptheirleaveslaterinthefallthannativeshrubs
c. Assumingthatbothtypesleafoutinspringatthesametime,howdoyouexpect
grossprimaryproductivitytovarybetweenthetypes?Why?
GPPwillbehigherfortheinvasiveshrubsbecausetheymaintaintheirleaveslonger
andcanphotosynthesizeforalongertimeperiod.
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