Term II
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1. Be able to define: ecology, demographics, population, habitat, population size,
population density, population distribution, age structure, and reproductive base.
[pp.685-686]
2. In a population, the pre-reproductive ages and the reproductive ages together are
counted as the __________ __________. [p.686]
3. List and describe the three patterns of dispersion illustrated by populations in a
habitat. [p.686]
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6. Define zero population growth and describe how achieving it would affect
population size. [p.688]
7. In the equation G = rN, as long as r holds constant, any population will show
__________ growth. [pp.688-689]
8. Calculate a population growth rate (G); use values for birth, death, and number of
individuals (N) that seem appropriate. [pp.688-689]
9. State how increasing the death rate of a population affects its doubling time.
[p.689]
10. __________ __________ is the maximum rate of increase per individual under
ideal conditions. [p.689]
11. The __________ rate of increase in population growth depends on the age at
which each individual reproduces, and how many offspring are produced. [p.689]
12. List several examples of limiting factors and explain how they influence
population curves. [p.690]
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13. Explain the phrase "overshot the carrying capacity," as applied to a population of
organisms in an environment. [pp.690-691]
14. Understand the meaning of the logistic growth equation and know how to
calculate values of G by using the logistic growth equation. Understand the
meaning of rmax and K. [pp.690-691]
15. Contrast the conditions that promote J-shaped growth curves with those that
promote S-shaped curves in populations. [pp.690-691]
17. Define density-independent factors and list two examples; indicate how such
factors affect populations. [p.691]
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18. Most species have a __________ __________ pattern in that its individuals
exhibit particular morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits that are
adaptive to different conditions at different times in the life cycle. [p.692]
19. Life insurance companies and ecologists track a __________, a group of
individuals from the time of birth until the last one dies. [p.692]
20. Understand the significance and use of life tables; be able to list and interpret the
three survivorship curves. [p.692]
21. Explain how the construction of life tables and survivorship curves can be useful
to humans in managing the distribution of scarce resources. [pp.692-693]
22. Guppy populations targeted by killifish tend to be larger, less streamlined, and
more brightly colored and guppy populations targeted by pike-cichlids tend to be
smaller, more streamlined, and duller in color patterning. Other life history pattern
differences exist between the two groups. After consideration of the research
results obtained by Reznick and Endler, provide an explanation for these
differences. [p.693]
23. Be able to list three possible reasons that growth of the human population is out of
control. [p.694]
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24. Most governments are trying to lower birth rates by __________ __________
programs. [p.696]
25. Define total fertility rate. [p.696]
26. What is the significance of the cohort of 78 million baby boomers? [p.696]
27. More than a third of the world population is now in the broad __________ base.
[p.696]
28. List and describe the four stages of the demographic transition model. [p.698]
6
1. The type of place where you normally find a maple is its __________. [p.720]
2. List five factors that shape the structure of a biological community. [p.720]
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13. Define a keystone species and cite one example. [pp.722-723]
15. A predator gets food from other living organisms, its __________. [p.724]
16. Explain the three-level interaction found between lynx, snowshoe hare, and plant
populations. [pp.724-725]
18. Many of the adaptations of predators (or parasites) and their victims arose through
__________. [p.724]
19. What are the general body locations of ectoparasites and endoparasites? [p.725]
20. List the types of organisms classified as microparasites and those classified as
macroparasites. [p.725]
21. Cowbirds are classified as __________ parasites. [p.725]
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22. Be able to discuss advantages and disadvantages of using parasites as biological
controls. [p.725]
23. Be able to completely define and give examples of the following prey defenses:
warning coloration, mimicry, moment-of-truth defenses, and camouflage.
[pp.726-727]
24. Describe two examples of how predators counter prey defenses with their own
marvelous adaptations. [p.727]
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29. Describe how fire disturbances positively affect a community of giant sequoias.
[p.729]
31. Community __________ is an outcome of forces that have come into uneasy
balance. [p.730]
32. Explain how the introduction of exotic species can be disastrous. List five specific
examples of species introductions into the United States that have had adverse
results. [pp.730-731]
33. List three factors that underlie the existing patterns of biodiversity. [p.732]
34. Describe the distance effect and the area effect. [p.733]
10
both islands lie at 10° N latitude and are equidistant from the same source area of
colonizers.
1. List the principal trophic levels in an ecosystem of your choice; state the source of
energy for each trophic level and give one or two examples of organisms
associated with each trophic level. [pp.738-739]
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7. Compare grazing food webs with detrital food webs. Present an example of each.
[p.741]
10. Distinguish between primary productivity, gross primary productivity, and the net
amount. [p.743]
11. Understand how materials and energy enter, pass through, and exit an ecosystem.
[p.743]
12. Ecological pyramids that are based on __________ are determined by the weight
of all the members of each trophic level; __________ pyramids reflect the energy
losses at each transfer to a different trophic level. [p.743]
13. Explain what studies at Silver Springs, Florida, watershed have taught us about
energy flow. [p.744]
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15. Be able to discuss water movements through the hydrologic cycle. [p.746]
16. Describe the geochemical and ecosystem phase of the phosphorus cycle. [p.747]
17. __________ is the name for nutrient enrichment of an ecosystem that is naturally
low in nutrients. [p.747]
18. The carbon cycle traces carbon movement from reservoirs in the __________ and
oceans, through organisms, then back to reservoirs. [pp.748-749]
19. Certain gases cause heat to build up in the lower atmosphere, a warming action
known as the __________ effect. [p.750]
20. As to causes and effects, list the outcomes that might occur if the lower
atmosphere’s temperature spikes higher by 2.5 to 10.4 degrees in this century.
[pp.750-751]
21. A major element found in all proteins and nucleic acids moves in an atmospheric
cycle called the __________ cycle. [pp.752-753]
22. Define the chemical events that occur during nitrogen fixation, decomposition and
ammonification, and nitrification. [pp.752-753]
23. Be able to discuss various aspects of the human impact on the nitrogen cycle.
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Review Questions – “The Biosphere” (48)
1. __________ is the study of the distribution of organisms, past and present, and of
diverse processes that underlie the distribution patterns. [p.757]
2. The __________ is the sum total of all places in which organisms live. [p.757]
3. __________ starts with incoming rays from the sun. [p.758]
4. State the reason that most forms of life depend on the ozone layer. [p.758]
5. __________ energy drives Earth’s great weather systems. [p.758]
6. Be able to describe the causes of global air circulation patterns. [pp.758-759]
7. Describe how the tilt of the Earth’s axis affects annual variation in the amount of
incoming solar radiation. [p.759]
10. Air __________ patterns, ocean __________, and landforms interact in ways that
influence regional temperatures and moisture levels; they also influence
distribution and dominant features of ecosystems. [p.761]
11. Broadly, there are six distinct land realms, the __________ realms that were
named by W. Sclater and Alfred Wallace. [p.763]
12. Realms are divided into __________. [p.763]
13. __________ are mixtures of mineral particles and variable amounts of
decomposing organic material. [p.764]
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14. Be able to list the major biomes and briefly characterize them in terms of climate,
topography, and organisms. [pp.765-771]
15. The wholesale conversion of grasslands and other productive biomes to desertlike
wastelands is known as __________. [p.765]
16. A __________ is a standing body of freshwater with littoral, limnetic, and
profundal zones. [p.772]
17. Define phytoplankton, and zooplankton. [p.772]
18. Describe the spring and fall overturn in a lake in terms of causal conditions and
physical outcomes. [pp.772-773]
19. __________ refers to nutrient enrichment of a lake or some other body of water.
[p.773]
20. __________ lakes are often deep, poor in nutrients, and low in primary
productivity; __________ lakes are often shallow, rich in nutrients, and high in
primary productivity. [p.773]
21. Describe a stream ecosystem. [p.773]
22. Be able to fully describe the benthic and pelagic provinces of the ocean. [p.774]
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23. Within the pelagic province, all the water above the continental shelves is the
__________ zone; the __________ zone is the water of the ocean basin. [p.774]
24. As much as 70 percent of the ocean’s primary productivity may be the
contribution of __________. [p.774]
25. Describe the unusual hydrothermal vent ecosystems. [pp.774-775]
26. Be able to descriptively distinguish between estuaries and the intertidal zones.
[pp.776-777]
28. Describe conditions of ENSO occurrence and how this phenomenon interrelates
ocean surface temperatures, the atmosphere, and the land.
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Review Questions - Chapter 49 “Behavioral Ecology”
1. What explains the fact that coastal and inland garter snakes of the same species
have different food preferences? [p.704]
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8. Define each of the following categories of learned behavior and give one example
of each: imprinting, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, habituation,
spatial or latent learning, and insight learning. [p.706]
13. A(n) __________ is an area that one or more individuals defend against
competitors. [p.707]
14. Examples of __________ signals are chemical, visual, acoustical, and tactile.
[p.708]
15. Define the roles of signalers and signal receivers. [p.708]
16. Distinguish between signaling and priming pheromones, and cite an example of
each. [p.708]
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17. A(n) __________ signal is illustrated by a zebra with laid-back ears and a gaping
mouth. [p.708]
18. Describe one example of a threat display. [pp.708-709]
26. List the costs and benefits of parenting in the example of adult Caspian terns.
[p.711]
27. Explain the "cost-benefit approach" that evolutionary biologists utilize to find
answers to the questions about social life. [p.712]
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29. Define selfish herd; cite an example. [p.712]
35. Explain how DNA fingerprinting was used to establish that self-sacrificing mole-
rats help to perpetuate a very high proportion of genes (alleles) that they carry—
even though they are not the reproducing mole-rats. [p.714]
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