1. Microscopic floating algae in the ocean are important because
A. They provide large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere
B. They provide large quantities of O2 to the atmosphere
C. They are the only primary producers in the biosphere
D. They are the only food for secondary and tertiary consumers such
as fish
and mammals
E. All of the above
2. You walk in on the middle of a nature program on TV and see aerial
shots of snow falling on huge flat expanses of mostly spruce trees. The
narrator is describing how areas such as these are especially sensitive
to acidification by the deposition of acid rain and snow. A wolverine waddles
through the forest scan. This show is about which type of biome?
A. Alpine tundra
B. Boreal forest
C. Desert
D. Prairie
E. Tropical rain forest
3. The red-spotted newt Notophthalmus viridescens secretes toxins from
its skin that make predators avoid it. The red salamander Pseudotriton
ruber has no such secretions but resembles the red-spotted newt in size
and coloration. Predators avoid the red salamander in the same way that
they avoid the red-spotted newt. The similarity in appearance of the newt
and salamander is an example of:
A. Mutualism
B. Parasitism
C. Batesian mimicry
D. Mullerian mimicry
E. Predation
4. Plants of the mustard family are avoided by almost all insects because
of their toxic chemicals but the caterpillars of cabbage butterflies eat
these plants avidly. This particular species of butterfly has enzymes in
its digestive system that break down the mustard oils, rendering them harmless.
The development of the caterpillar’s enzymes is an example of
A. Coevolution
B. Symbiosis
C. Batesian mimicry
D. Mullerian mimicry
E. Competetive exclusion
5. Consider a simple food chain in an eastern Oregon grassland: mice
are consumed by several species of snakes, which themselves are consumed
by hawks. The hawk is what level of consumer, and will get what percentage
of the energy that was fixed by the photoautotrophs of the system (think
energy pyramid)?
A. Primary, 100%
B. Secondary, 10%
C. Tertiary, 20%
D. Secondary, 1%
E. Tertiary, 0.1%
6. Which of the following is an example of a density-independent control
on population growth in rabbits?
A. An outbreak of a parasitic infection
B. A flood
C. Reduced availability of food
D. An increase in the population of owls and foxes (which eat rabbits)
E. All of the above
7. Consider the following scenario:
A metro park in Ohio has a variety of animals--deer, rabbits, porcupines,
squirrels, possums, chipmunks, many birds, and the occasional fox. It also
has a variety of plants. All these organisms were originally spread widely
throughout the park.
A new Commissioner of Parks decided that this park was too messy and
difficult to patrol. He decided that all the plants and animals would be
much easier to cope with if they were all gathered into a small fenced
in area; that way, everyone could see them more easily and appreciate the
biodiversity of Ohio's natural places. All the animals, and all the plants
were moved to the fenced in area. (The rest of the park was covered in
concrete.)
At this point in time, the commissioner of Parks has done what to the
park ecosystem?
A. Reduced its species diversity
B. Reduced its geographic diversity
C. Reduced its genetic diversity
D. Removed the keystone species
E. Changed the community's age structure
8. A squirrel lives in holes in oak trees. It eats acorns and sunflower
seeds during the day and hides at night. It spends a lot of time running
up and down and from tree to tree. The above describes the squirrel's
A. Opportunistic life history
B. Equilibrial life history
C. Niche
D. Habitat
E. Ecosystem
9. The difference between parasitism and predation is that:
A. Parasitism involves both plants and animals, and predation only
involves
animal species
B. Predation leads to diverse adaptations in both predator and prey,
while
parasitism never influences adaptations of the host
to the parasite
C. Parasitism is an interaction between two or more species in which
one
species lives in or on another, while predation
occurs between two free-
living species
D. The parasite is usually larger than the host species; the predator
is usually
smaller than its prey
E. Predation always leads to death of the whole organism, while parasitism
never leads to death of the host
10. Which of the following statements is/are true concerning why the
major nutrient and water cycles are so important?
A. All biochemical reactions must occur in water
B. The processes of photosynthesis depends upon the availability of
carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere
C. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in freshwater systems can lead to
eutrophication
D. A and C
E. A, B and C
11. Which of the following does NOT describe the lifestyle of a typical
opportunistic species?
A. Live fast, die young, and leave a whole lot of little offspring
B. Eat, reproduce, and be merry, for tomorrow we die
C. I came, I saw, I reproduced in a new area
D. My numerous offspring (1000 all told), will quickly disperse
but few will grow old
E. Good things come to those who wait to reproduce
12. Which of the following is NOT true regarding the logistic growth
model of populations?
A. When population size is small, growth will be similar to exponential
growth.
B. When population size is large, or near the carrying capacity, growth
will be
low or zero.
C. Populations following this model are rare in nature
D. The equation describing it is G = rN [(K – N)/K]
E. It can be represented by an S-shaped curve
13. Imagine a disease that is a horrific hybrid of AIDS and the flu;
it can be transmitted easily (by coughing and sneezing) to nearby
individuals, and has a 100% death rate. However, it only affects those
over the age of 70. This disease would
A. Be an example of a density-independent factor
B. Alter the age structure of the current population
C. Lower the carrying capacity
D. Decrease the potential for explosive growth in a population with
a high
fertility rate
E. All of the above
14. The human population can be described as having/showing
A. A type I survivorship curve
B. An opportunistic (r-selected) life history
C. A random dispersion pattern
D. Little to no effect on other populations or communities
E. All of the above
15. Which of the following does NOT represent a current danger to the
ability of the world to grow and distribute food to its human population?
A. Fish supplies are fully exploited or even over-fished
B. Water supplies are limited and in danger of pollution
C. Land suited to crop production is disappearing
D. Women are having fewer children so there are no longer enough people
to work the fields
E. It is often impossible to get food to its destination due to political,
social, or
economic difficulties
16. Which of the following is NOT true about the greenhouse effect?
A. Water vapor, CO2, methane, and ozone are all greenhouse gases
B. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly
carbon
dioxide) has increased~30% in the past 150 yrs.
C. Causes of the increase in greenhouse gases include burning fossil
fuels and
increasing deforestation
D. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's temperature would be
much
higher than it currently is
E. The greenhouse effect is essential for life on Earth
17. The human population
A. Is just exactly at carrying capacity
B. Numbers less than 10 million
C. Has recently reached 6 billion
D. Has reached a stage of zero population growth
E. Represents the largest population of primary producers in the biosphere
18. How is coral bleaching believed to be related to activities by humans?
A. Coral is undergoing competetive exclusion because of an introduced
exotic
photosynthetic species
B. Coral is undergoing predation due to introduction of a large aggressive
fish by sports fishermen
C. Coral bleaching occurs when humans dump waste bleach from the
laundries of cruise ships near the delicate
ecosystems
D. The overall increase in average temperature of the oceans causes
the
expulsion of the microscopic plants in coral, leading
to their loss of color
E. All of the above
19. The extinction of thousands of species per year from the earth will
affect humans
A. By decreasing the availability of possibly useful genes
B. Only in terms of the types of food available
C. By altering nutrient cycles
D. Not at all
E. A and C
20. The maximum number of individuals of a species an environment can
sustain indefinitely is called its
A. Ecological efficiency number
B. Food chain number
C. Net primary productivity
D. Competetive exclusion number
E. Carrying capacity
21. Which of the following statements is NOT true concerning the development
of antibiotic resistance?
A. The emergence of antibiotic resistance represents the survival and
reproduction of previously existing mutations, not a change caused by exposure
to medication.
B. Human behaviors have encouraged the directional selection
C. The selection pressure is the presence of antibiotics in the environment
D. When confronted by an antibiotic, bacteria learn to mutate and thus
develop antibiotic resistance
E. Naturally occurring antibiotic resistance exists because some bacteria
have developed counter-weapons to the effects of their neighbors’ weapons
(antibiotics)
22. The development of antibiotic resistance in some bacteria
A. Is an example of these bacteria achieving absolute fitness
B. Is an example of evolution through the inheritance of acquired characteristics
C. Can be reversed through the removal of the selection pressure (i.e.,
lowering the large quantities of antibiotics in the environment)
D. A and C
E. A, B and C
23. Which of the following is/are molecular evidence that all organisms
are derived from the same universal ancestor?
A. All organisms use the same amino acids to make proteins
B. All organisms use the same nucleotides to make nucleic acids
C. All organisms use ATP as their energy currency
D. All organisms use the same genetic code to specify which amino acids
go in proteins in what order
E. All of the above
Essay Choice #1
Consider the following flow chart that describes a food web in the tall
grass prairie biome of the US: (arrows are drawn from: food source to the
thing that eats or decomposes the food source)
Blue stem grass ===> Buffalo
===>Homo sapiens
|
V
Field mouse
|
V
Garter snake Great-horned owl
Red fox
|
V
Red-tailed hawk
a. Which species (one or more) is responsible for the GPP of the ecosytem? (2 pts)
b. Which species (one or more) is a primary consumer? (2 pts)
c. Which species (one or more) is NOT a predator? (2 pts)
d. The owl and fox feed on the same food source. They both hunt at night. These two species can interact according to the rules of competitive exclusion, or of resource partitioning. Chose ONE of these concepts (competitive exclusion or resource partitioning) and explain how it would work, using the fox and owl as examples in your explanation. (8 pts)
e. In terms of trophic structure and energy transfer, which is more
efficient--eating meat, or eating plants? Explain. (6 pts)
Essay Choice #2
"No matter what your cause, it is a lost cause, unless human population
growth is brought under control…"
a. Give one reason why humans have been so successful in increasing
their population numbers through history. (2 pts)
b. Draw a rough graph (I am looking for the SHAPE) showing the growth of human population since ~ 1000 AD. Make sure to label the axes. Write the equation that describes this type of population growth. (4 pts)
c. Choose ONE of the following and describe how it can explain/ predict changes in human population growth: choose EITHER the demographic transition model OR the effect of the education and empowerment of women. For either, be sure and describe the expected changes in population growth, and the reasons for these alterations. (10 pts)
d. The diagram below represents an age structure diagram for the human
population of Hungary. What do you expect to be the trend in population
growth over the next twenty years? What other information would be helpful
to you in making your prediction?
(4 pts)
Essay Choice #3
The current ecological problems centering around Lake Victoria are examples
of the multiple interacting impacts that a single human intervention can
have.
a. Draw a simple food web showing the interactions between cichlids,
algae, humans and decomposers BEFORE the introduction of the Nile perch.
(arrows should be drawn from: food sourceàthing that eats or decomposes
the food source) (4 pts)
b. The Nile perch is now about the only fish ever caught in Lake Victoria. It is the top predator in the aquatic ecosystem. If removed, it would alter the whole community's interactions. The Nile perch can be considered the _______________species (1 pt)
c. What has happened to the biodiversity of Lake Victoria since the introduction of the Nile perch? Choose two changes in the biodiversity of the lake and clearly state the specific reasons for these changes. (I am looking for something more than "such and such went extinct"; tell me WHY) (8 pts)
d. Nile perch cannot be dried to preserve the flesh; it is very oily and must be smoked over a fire. How has this fact affected the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem and the aquatic ecosystem of the lake? (6 pts)
e. Why has the oxygen concentration of the lake decreased recently?
(1 pt)