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Chapter 54: Community Ecology – Summer Quiz #3
Concept 54.1
1. Under which of the following circumstances would interspecific competition be most
obvious?
A. when resources are most abundant
B. in the presence of a keystone species
C. when organisms have quite different ecological niches
D. among species whose trophic levels are different
E. when a non-native organism is introduced to a community
2. The niche of an animal is _____.
A. the number of individuals of the species the environment will support
B. the same as its habitat
C. the way the animal fits into its environment
D. its den or nest
E. its position in the food chain
3. When goats were introduced to an island off the California coast, the goats inhabited
the same areas and ate the same plants as the native deer. The deer population dwindled
and finally disappeared. This is an example of _____.)
A. commensalism
B. succession
C. a food chain
D. coevolution
E. competitive exclusion
4. Flounder is a type of fish that looks like the seafloor. This is an example of _____.
A. Müllerian mimicry
B. warning coloration
C. character displacement
D. cryptic coloration
E. Batesian mimicry
5. The flower fly resembles a honeybee, but the flower fly has no stinger. This is an
example of _____.
A. Batesian mimicry
B. Müllerian mimicry
C. cryptic coloration
D. interspecific competition
E. none of the above
6. The poison-arrow frogs Dendrobates of tropical America are all brightly colored and
have very similar patterns. Although each species is distasteful to predators and all
possess toxic skin secretions, some of the species live quite separate from the others. The
adaptive relationship among these species is best termed _____.
A. cryptic coloration
B. parasitism
C. commensalism
D. Batesian mimicry
E. Müllerian mimicry
7. A leech that attaches itself to a swimmer is an example of _____.
A. prey
B. a parasitoid
C. an endoparasite
D. an ectoparasite
E. a pathogen
8. Certain species of acacia trees in Central and South America have hollow thorns that
house stinging ants, which attack anything that touches the tree. The ants feed on
nutrients produced by the acacias. This is an example of _____.
A. mutualism
B. parasitism
C. predation
D. competitive exclusion
E. intraspecific competition
Concept 54.2
9. Which example below correctly lists members of a desert ecosystem from the producer
level to the top consumer level?
A. detritivores, brittlebush, collared lizard, red-tailed hawk
B. red-tailed hawk, collared lizard, pallid-winged grasshopper, brittlebush
C. pallid-winged grasshopper, collared lizard, red-tailed hawk, detritivores
D. brittlebush, pallid-winged grasshopper, collared lizard, red-tailed hawk
E. none of the above
10. A field contains 950 kg of plant material. How many kilograms of tertiary consumers
could be supported?
A. 9,500
B. 950
C. 95
D. 9.5
E. 0.95
11. What is the key difference between a dominant species and a keystone species?
A. There is no difference. The two terms are synonymous.
B. Dominant species alter the structure or dynamics of the environment; keystone species are the most abun
C. Dominant species are the most abundant; keystone species exert control through important roles or niche
D. The removal of a dominant species from a community has more impact than removing a keystone specie
E. Keystone species are more successful at evading their predators and the impacts of disease.
12. In the North Pacific, sea otters are keystone predators. A reduction in their numbers
has resulted in what changes in the marine community?
A. competitive exclusion inevitably reduced species richness
B. mutualism among prey species maintained species diversity
C. the orcas have begun to prey on sea urchins
D. the absence of a keystone species decreased community diversity
E. resource partitioning allowed otherwise competing species to coexist
13. A species of malaria-carrying mosquito lives in a forest in which two species of
monkeys, A and B, coexist. Species A is immune to malaria, but species B is not. The
malaria-carrying mosquito is the chief food for a particular kind of bird in the forest. If all
these birds were suddenly eliminated by hunters, which of the following would be an
immediately observable consequence?
A. increased mortality (death rate) in monkey species A
B. increased mortality in monkey species B
C. increased mortality in the malaria-carrying mosquitoes
D. emergence of malaria-resistant strains in monkey species B
E. emergence of malaria-sensitive strains in monkey species A
14. A lake community with four trophic levels suddenly suffers from algal blooms. Using
the strategy of biomanipulation, an ecologist may propose _____.
A. removing zooplankton
B. adding mineral nutrients to the water
C. adding fish that eat zooplankton
D. removing fish that eat zooplankton
E. removing the fourth trophic level in the lake
Concept 54.3
15. The current view of biological communities is _____.
A. that they eventually reach a state of equilibrium
B. that disturbance and nonequilibrium are the norm
C. that they maintain a relatively constant composition of species
D. that the effect of disturbances is usually negative
E. none of the above
16. Succession of communities occurs because _____.
A. each existing community changes the environment
B. climatic changes lead to reduced water availability
C. most populations have a limited life span and die making room for others
D. resources in an area are limited
E. none of the above
17. Which statement below correctly describes conditions on a glacier moraine during the
reign of pioneer species?
A. Vegetation consists of sphagnum bogs on poorly drained flat areas.
B. Decomposition of acidic spruce needles reduces the pH of the soil.
C. Low nitrogen content causes many plants to have yellow leaves.
D. Alder forms dense thickets up to 9-meters-tall.
E. Bare soil is acidic due to the carbonate compounds in the parent rocks.
18. _____ views a community as the chance assemblage of organisms with similar abiotic
needs.
A. The niche concept
B. H. A. Gleason
C. Species richness
D. Commensalism
E. F. E. Clements's hypothesis
Concept 54.4
19. What are two key factors in species richness equatorial-polar gradients?
A. length of seasons and water availability
B. evolutionary history and climate
C. altitude and evolutionary history
D. evapotranspiration and temperature
E. solar radiation and water availability
20. When equilibrium is reached on an island, _____.
A. the number of organisms does not change
B. ecological disturbance is minimized
C. the rate of species immigration will equal the rate of species extinction
D. the food web will be highly stable
E. extinction will cease
21. What happens to the number of species in a community as the area of that community
increases?
A. the number of species does not change
B. the number of species drops
C. the number of species increases
D. the area of the community is not involved in determining the number of species present
E. none of the above
22. The potential evapotranspiration is determined by ______.
A. wind
B. soil type
C. slope
D. Solar radiation
E. season
Concept 54.5
23. Which of the following is the definition of a pathogen?
A. a group of populations living in close enough proximity to interact regularly
B. a disease-causing microorganism
C. a species that kills and eats another species
D. a species that is killed and eaten by another
E. a type of interspecific interaction that benefits both species
24. What is a zoonotic pathogen?
A. a pathogen that infects many species
B. a pathogen that can be controlled with antibiotics
C. a pathogen that is transferred from another species into humans
D. a pathogen that only infects one species
E. an easily treatable pathogen