Download Practice Exam 6 Below are sample questions from your book (of

Practice Exam 6
Below are sample questions from your book (of which all of the answers are in the back). These
are not necessarily indicative of the specific material or types of questions that Drs. Hofmockel
& Serb will ask on the exam. Remember, they want you to be able to apply your knowledge of
the material learned in class and from the book and part of that comes from understanding the
significance, application, and importance of that information. The majority of questions will
come from the learning objectives so focus on those more than anything else! Good luck!
Text Chapters Covered:
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Ch. 54- An Introduction to Ecology and Biomes
Ch. 56- Population Ecology
Ch. 57- Species Interactions
Ch. 58- Community Ecology
Learning Objectives:
 Give examples of ecological questions scientists ask at each scale
 Understand the role of biotic and abiotic factors in the distribution of
organisms
 Explain the greenhouse effect and understand the magnitude of research that
is the basis of climate change science
 Identify greenhouse gases and understand how they work
 Know the major components of micro and macroclimate
 Be familiar with the 10 terrestrial biomes and the main features of aquatic
biomes
 Describe the field of population ecology, what it involves, and why it is
important
 Understand the tools used to measure population demography
 Explain the concept of carrying capacity and why it’s important
 Compare and contrast species interactions
 Describe multiple antipredator strategies
 Compare and contrast the community ecology models developed by
Clements and Gleason
 Explain Whitaker’s 4 hypotheses for community composition
 Understand the concepts of succession and island biogeography
1. The greenhouse effect is
a. a new phenomenon resulting from industrialization
b. due to the absorption of solar radiation by atmospheric gases
c. responsible for the natural warming of the Earth
d. all of the above
e. b and c only
2. An examination of the temperature tolerances of locusts would best be described by which
ecological subdiscipline?
a. organismal ecology
b. population ecology
c. community ecology
d. ecosystem ecology
e. both a and b
3. The most common biome type, by area occupied, is the
a. open ocean
b. tropical rainforest
c. tundra
d. hot desert
e. lentic habitats
4. In this biome, rainfall is between 25 cm and 100 cm and temperatures vary between -10o C in
winter and 30o C in summer. Where are you?
a. tropical rainforest
b. tropical deciduous forest
c. savanna
d. prairie
e. temperate deciduous forest
5. Which gas contributes most to human-caused global warming?
a. carbon dioxide
b. nitrous oxide
c. sulfur dioxide
d. methane
e. chlorofluorocarbons
6. A student decides to conduct a mark-recapture experiment to estimate the population size of
mosquitofish in a small pond near his home. In the first catch, he marked 45 individuals. Two
weeks later, he captured 62 individuals, of which 8 were marked. What is the estimated size of
the population based on these data?
a. 134
b. 349
c. 558
d. 1,016
e. 22,320
7. __________ survivorship curves are usually associated with organisms that have high
mortality rates in the early stages of life.
a. Type I
b. Type II
c. Type III
d. Types I and II
e. Types II and III
8. The maximum number of individuals a certain area can sustain is known as
a. the intrinsic rate of growth
b. the resource limit
c. the carrying capacity
d. the logistic equation
e. the equilibrium size
9. A species interaction in which one species benefits but the other species is unharmed is called
a. mutualism
b. amensalism
c. parasitism
d. commensalism
e. mimicry
10. Two species of birds feed on similar types of insects and nest in the same tree species. This is
an example of
a. intraspecific competition
b. interference competition
c. exploitation competition
d. mutualism
e. none of the above
11. According to the competitive exclusion hypothesis
a. two species that use the exact same resource show very little competition
b. two species with the same niche cannot coexist
c. one species that competes with several different species for resources will be excluded
from the community
d. all competition between species results in the extinction of at least one of the species
e. none of the above is correct
12. Batesian mimicry differs from Mullerian mimicry in that
a. in Batesian mimicry, both species possess the chemical defense
b. in Batesian mimcry, one species possesses the chemical defense
c. in Mullerian mimicry, one species has several different mimics
d. in Mullerian mimicry, one species has several different chemical defenses
e. in in Batesian mimicry, cryptic coloration is always found
13. A community with many individuals but few different species would exhibit
a. low abundance and high species complexity
b. high stability
c. low species richness and high abundance
d. high species diversity
e. high abundance and high species richness
14. Which of the following statements best represents the productivity hypothesis regarding
species richness?
a. the larger the area, the greater the number of species that will be found there
b. temperate regions have a lower species richness due to the lack of time available for
migration after the last ice age
c. the number of species in a particular community is directly related to the amount of
available energy
d. as invertebrate productivity increases, species richness will increase
e. species richness is not related to primary productivity
15. On which types of island would you expect species richness to be greatest?
a. small, near mainland
b. small, distant from mainland
c. large, near mainland
d. large, distant from mainland
e. species richness is equal on all these types of islands