Course Introduction
Population Ecology
Textbook Exam Questions
Population Ecology explores the patterns and processes that affect the size, structure, and distribution of populations within ecological systems. The course examines fundamental ecological concepts such as population growth models, density dependence, life history strategies, interspecific interactions, and factors influencing species abundance and persistence. Through theoretical frameworks, field studies, and data analysis, students gain a comprehensive understanding of how populations respond to environmental changes, resource availability, predation, disease, and human impacts, equipping them to analyze real-world ecological challenges and contribute to conservation and management strategies.
Recommended Textbook
Ecology Concepts and Applications 5th Edition by Manuel Molles
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Ecology Historical Foundations and Developing Frontiers
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ecologists study
A) communities.
B) ecosystems.
C) individual organisms.
D) populations.
E) All of the choices are correct.
Answer: E
Q2) Stable isotope analysis uses variation in element masses to better understand ecological phenomena.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Temperate and tropical rain forest trees extract nutrients from epiphytic mats.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Ecology is a modern science of which ancient man had no knowledge.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Life on Land
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Sample Questions
Q1) Proximity to large bodies of water moderates terrestrial temperatures.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) All of the following components influence soil structure except:
A) age.
B) parent material.
C) climate.
D) organisms.
E) None of the choices are correct.
Answer: E
Q3) All of the following statements are true except:
A) Tropical rain forests are continuously warm and wet.
B) Tropical dry forests have rainy and dry seasons.
C) In a desert, evaporation exceeds precipitation.
D) Taigas have moderate temperatures with occasional droughts.
E) Tundras are cold and dry.
Answer: D
Q4) Irrigation of desert soils could lead to the formation of _________________.
Answer: caliches
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Chapter 3: Life in Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Great Lakes are troubled with invasive species.Which of the following aquatic organisms is considered invasive?
A) zebra mussels
B) trout
C) darters
D) All of the choices are considered invasive.
E) None of the choices are considered invasive.
Answer: A
Q2) All of the following statements concerning oligotrophic lakes are true except:
A) warm temperatures.
B) low nutrients.
C) high oxygen content.
D) deep and clear waters.
E) low biological productivity.
Answer: A
Q3) Gyres move to the left in the Northern Hemisphere and to the right in the Southern Hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Population Genetics and Natural Selection
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following conditions are included in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium principle except:
A) no mutation.
B) large population size.
C) non-random mating.
D) no immigration.
E) genotypes of equal fitness.
Q2) ______________________ can change population gene frequencies through random processes.
Q3) Over time,average phenotypes become less common and the population becomes phenotypically more diverse as a result of _____________ selection.
A) bimodal
B) directional
C) disruptive
D) stabilizing
E) disjointed
Q4) Phenotypic changes are always reflections of genotypic changes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Temperature Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Macroclimates and microclimates vary only slightly from one another in terms of temperature and moisture.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In general,reptiles are considered to be a/an?
A) poikilotherm
B) homeotherm
C) endotherm
D) heterotherm
E) two of the choices are correct
Q3) The arctic flower,Dryas integrifolia,regulates the temperature of its reproductive structures by
A) sun-tracking behavior.
B) increasing its metabolic rate.
C) dark petal coloration.
D) both sun-tracking behavior and increasing its metabolic rate.
E) both increasing its metabolic rate and dark petal coloration.
Q4) An animal will use different ____________________ to maintain an optimum operative temperature range.
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Chapter 6: Water Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) The camel and saguaro cactus both
A) acquire massive amounts of water when water is available.
B) allow their internal temperature to rise.
C) reduce surface area exposed to direct sunlight.
D) reflect sunlight with dense hairs.
E) All of the choices are correct.
Q2) Water flows from the soil into the plant roots because the water potential of the soil is higher than the water potential of the roots.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Windy days will decrease a plant's evaporative water loss.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Freshwater fish and freshwater mosquitoes must actively excrete ions such as Na<sup>+</sup> and Cl<sup>-</sup>.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The diffusion of water across a differentially permeable membrane is called
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Chapter 7: Energy and Nutrient Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a ______ functional response,initial feeding rates rise linearly at low food densities,rise more slowly at intermediate food densities,and then level off at high densities.
A) Type I
B) Type II
C) Type III
D) Type IV
E) Type V
Q2) In order for terrestrial plants to undergo photosynthesis and produce a six carbon sugar,which of the following metabolic pathways must occur?
A) C<sub>3</sub>
B) C<sub>4</sub>
C) CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism)
D) both C<sub>3</sub> and C<sub>4</sub>
E) both C<sub>4</sub> and CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism)
Q3) The energy harvested in the light dependent reaction will eventually be used to run the C<sub>3</sub> cycle and ultimately lead to the production of
Q4) Generally,as predator size decreases prey size _______________.
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Chapter 8: Socail Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________ produce larger,more energetically costly gametes,while ____________ produce smaller,less costly gametes.
A) Females, males
B) Metamales, females
C) Males, females
D) Males, metafemales
E) Metamales, metafemales
Q2) An instance of ______________ occurs when the plumage of male birds becomes increasingly brighter over time.
A) contrasexual selection
B) intrasexual selection
C) intersexual selection
D) multisexual selection
E) dimorphic selection
Q3) The difference between a male and a female rests largely on
A) anatomical differences.
B) secondary sexual characteristics.
C) size and energetic cost of gametes.
D) presence or absence of a Y chromosome.
E) All of the choices are correct.
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Chapter 9: Population Distribution and Abundance
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following word pairs are mismatched?
A) random distribution; aggressive interaction
B) clumped distribution; attraction to a common source
C) regular distribution; antagonistic behaviors
D) large scale distribution; substantial environmental changes
E) small scale distribution; insignificant environmental changes
Q2) Caughly's research on the distribution of three different species of Australian kangaroos (Macropus giganteus,M.fuliginosus,and M.rufus)suggests the
A) physical environment limits the distribution of the kangaroos.
B) topography limits the distribution of the kangaroos.
C) amount of rainfall limits the distribution of the kangaroos.
D) temperature limits the distribution of the kangaroos.
E) None of the choices are correct.
Q3) An organism with a narrow habitat tolerance is called a
Q4) Often small scale distribution patterns gathered from mountain gradients can be used to draw conclusions about large scale distribution patterns.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Population Dynamics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Type I survivorship curve indicates
A) low juvenile mortality and high mortality in older adults.
B) high juvenile mortality and low mortality in older adults.
C) low juvenile mortality and low mortality in older adults.
D) high juvenile mortality and high mortality in older adults.
E) equal chance of dying at any age.
Q2) The age distribution of a population can reveal
A) growth potential.
B) survivorship.
C) reproduction.
D) both growth potential and survivorship.
E) growth potential, survivorship, and reproduction.
Q3) Although the dispersal rate of Africanized bees is impressive,it still pales in comparison to the dispersal rate of the collard dove.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Fecundity is another term for the net reproductive rate.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Population Growth
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a logistic model,when N = K the population stops growing and r = 0.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The exponential population growth equation can be used for
A) populations with overlapping generations.
B) populations experiencing continuous growth.
C) populations with nonpulsed reproduction.
D) both populations with overlapping generations and populations experiencing continuous growth.
E) both populations with overlapping generations, populations experiencing continuous growth, and populations with nonpulsed reproduction.
Q3) In the logistic model of population growth if r>0 then
A) the population declines.
B) population growth stops.
C) N>K.
D) N<K.
E) both the population declines and N<K.
Q4) A population is __________________________ if N>K and the per capita rate of increase is negative.
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Chapter 12: Life Histories
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ show more variation in life history traits than any other group.
A) All of the choices show equal amounts of variation in life history traits.
B) Mammals
C) Birds
D) Reptiles
E) Fish
Q2) Which of the following are characteristics favored by K selection?
A) iteroparity
B) small body size
C) rapid development
D) high r<sub>max</sub>
E) early reproduction
Q3) As a fraction of adult mass,the mass of offspring at independence tends to be largest in
A) mammals.
B) altricial birds.
C) lizards.
D) both mammals and lizards.
E) All three groups have similar values.
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Chapter 13: Competition
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the isocline for species 1 lies above that of species 2,
A) species 2 will eventually exclude species 1.
B) a stable coexistence of the two species has been established.
C) species 1 will eventually exclude species 2.
D) an unstable coexistence of the two species has been established.
E) all growth trajectories lead to the point where N<sub>2</sub>=K<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>1</sub>=0.
Q2) Which of the following does NOT contribute to determining the niche of the salt-marsh grass Spartina anglica?
A) the height of tidal fluctuations
B) the fetch of the estuary
C) latitude
D) temperature
E) rainfall frequency
Q3) Two species occurring together in the same place are said to be
A) competitors.
B) precocial.
C) mutualists.
D) allopatric.
E) sympatric.
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Chapter 14: Exploitative Interactions Predation, herbivory, parasitism, and Disease
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Sample Questions
Q1) In most laboratory experiments,predators and prey held together in simple habitats exhibit repeated cycles in population sizes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Birds are more effective predators than bats on foliage-living arthropods in tropical lowland forests.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The defensive tactic in which prey reduce their individual probability of being eaten by occurring at very high densities is called
A) prey satiation.
B) prey dilution.
C) predator dilution.
D) predator satiation.
E) predator masting.
Q4) _______________________ is the idea that predators can have non-lethal effects on prey's behavior in which they avoid high-risk locations.
Q5) An organism inducing disease in its host is called a ______________.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Mutualism
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mycorrhizal fungi acquire _________ from their plant partners.
A) sugars
B) soil nutrients
C) proteins and lipids
D) growth hormones
E) protection from consumers
Q2) Raine,Willmer,and Stone demonstrated that protection and pollination mutualism do not come into conflict on the swollen thorn acacia,Acacia hindsii,because
A) there is spatial separation of inflorescences and resources used by guarding ants.
B)A. hindsii inflorescences lack nectar.
C)A. hindsii inflorescences contain a chemical ant repellent.
D)All of the choices are correct.
E) Both A and B are correct.
Q3) The photosynthetic zooxanthellae associated with reef-building corals are members of the Phylum ___________.
Q4) The two most common types of mycorrhizal fungi are ___________ and ____________.
Q5) A mutualistic relationship in which either species can survive without its partner is called a ______________ mutualism.
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Chapter 16: Species Abundance and Diversity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Odegaard's study estimating the number of tropical forest beetles illustrates that sampling from multiple sites
A) is not affected by the sampling effort devoted to estimation.
B) usually requires only limited effort by ecologists.
C) can usually be made more easily by sampling only a single indicator taxon.
D) is intensively all that is necessary to calculate species diversity.
E) must, to be useful, be based on standardized sampling techniques.
Q2) In most ecological communities,we find
A) more rare species than moderately common or very common ones.
B) more very common species than moderately common or rare ones.
C) no rare species-apparently "rare" species are artifacts of incomplete sampling.
D) roughly equal proportions of rare, moderately common, and very common species.
E) more moderately common species than rare or very common ones.
Q3) In terrestrial soils,local patches with high water availability and local patches with high nitrate availability often show rather little overlap.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Species Interactions and Community Structure
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Q1) Which is the correct order of prey consumption in the Antarctic pelagic food web?
A) Krill\(\rarr\)Diatoms\(\rarr\)Ross seal\(\rarr\)Crabeater seal\(\rarr\)Killer Whale
B) Diatoms\(\rarr\)Krill\(\rarr\)Ross seal\(\rarr\)Crabeater seal\(\rarr\)Killer Whale
C) Diatoms\(\rarr\)Squid\(\rarr\)Emperor penguin\(\rarr\)Leopard seal\(\rarr\)Killer whale
D) Krill\(\rarr\)Squid\(\rarr\)Weddell seal\(\rarr\)Leopard Seal\(\rarr\)Killer whale
E) Diatoms\(\rarr\)Squid\(\rarr\)Krill\(\rarr\)Emperor penguin\(\rarr\)Leopard seal
Q2) Teja Tscharntke simplified the food web associated with the wetland reed Phragmites australis by dividing the species into which of the following major trophic levels?
A) plant, herbivore, piscivore, granivore
B) herbivore, carnivore, detritivore, consumer
C) herbivore, parasite, carnivore, detritivore
D) plant, herbivore, parasite, carnivore
E) plant, detritivore, parasite, herbivore
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Chapter 18: Primary Production and Energy Flow
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Q1) Which of the following is the correct relationship between gross primary production (GPP),net primary production (NPP),and respiration (RESP)?
A) GPP = NPP - RESP
B) RESP = GPP + NPP
C) NPP = GPP - RESP
D) NPP = GPP + RESP
E) None of the choices are correct.
Q2) An increase about 1,000 years ago in <sup>13</sup>C content of human collagen from archeological sites in eastern North America probably records
A) replacement of vegetables and grains in the diet by meat.
B) replacement of corn by beans and squash in the diet.
C) increasing consumption of corn.
D) increasing levels of <sup>13</sup>C in soils.
E) increasing levels of <sup>13</sup>C in the atmosphere.
Q3) The influences of nutrients and temperatures on ecosystem properties are part of what ecologists call "bottom-up controls."
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 19: Nutrient Cycling and Retention
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Q1) Nitrate is converted to molecular nitrogen,N<sub>2</sub>,in a process called
A) nitrogen fixation.
B) ammonification.
C) denitrification.
D) nitrification.
E) nitrogen assimilation.
Q2) ________________ is the process of increased nutrient inputs into an ecosystem resulting in increased primary productivity and reduced biodiversity.
Q3) Clearcutting at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest sharply
A) increased export of nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) in stream water.
B) decreased export of nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) in stream water.
C) increased rates of denitrification in soils.
D) decreased deposition of ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) from the atmosphere.
E) increased deposition of ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) from the atmosphere.
Q4) Pocket gophers change the nitrogen cycle in prairies because they
A) excavate nitrogen-rich subsoil to the surface.
B) selectively remove nitrogen-fixing legumes from plant communities.
C) bury nitrogen-rich organic material in their burrows.
D) cultivate nitrogen-fixing bacteria in burrow chambers.
E) excavate nitrogen-poor subsoil to the surface.
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Chapter 20: Succession and Stability
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Q1) In secondary succession on abandoned fields in the Piedmont of North Carolina,important pioneer species include
A) horsetails.
B) Dryas.
C) broomsedge (Andropogon).
D) pine seedlings.
E) crabgrass and horseweed.
Q2) Three years of herbicide applications by Bormann and Likens to a clear cut forest in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest resulted in A) delayed succession.
B) increased export of calcium.
C) increased import of nitrogen.
D) All of the choices are correct.
E) both delayed succession and increased export of calcium.
Q3) On intertidal boulders in California,the climax community is dominated by perennial red algae.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A set of sites differing in successional age is called a ____________.
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Chapter 21: Landscape Ecology
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Q1) Expansion of forest in Veluwe,Netherlands at the expense of heathland has occurred primarily as a result of
A) reduction of grazing pressure as native herbivore populations were decimated by hunting.
B) changing climates due to the greenhouse effect.
C) new legal restrictions on land use.
D) reductions in sheep farming as Australian wool became less expensive.
E) reductions in sheep farming as young people left family farms for other careers.
Q2) For Glanville fritillary butterflies in Finland,larger habitat patches (compared to smaller ones)support
A) higher population sizes and higher population densities.
B) higher population sizes but equal population densities.
C) higher population sizes but lower population densities.
D) equal population sizes, due to higher population densities.
E) equal population sizes and equal population densities.
Q3) Connections of similar habitat maintained between habitat fragments are known as
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Chapter 22: Geographic Ecology
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Q1) In the American Southwest,forest habitats
A) currently extend unbroken between mountaintops over thousands of km.
B) have never extended unbroken between mountaintops.
C) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Cretaceous.
D) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Permian.
E) last extended unbroken between mountaintops in the Pleistocene.
Q2) Computer software programs for storing,analyzing,and displaying geographically-structured data are known as _______________.
Q3) The negative correlation between foliage height diversity and bird species diversity in South American beech forests is attributed to
A) small area.
B) isolation.
C) cold temperatures.
D) both small area and cold temperatures.
E) both small area and isolation.
Q4) Diversity tends to increase with productivity,both in surveys across habitats and in experimental manipulations within habitats.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 23: Global Ecology
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Q1) Ozone plays an important role in shaping the environment for life on Earth because it
A) absorbs visible radiation.
B) emits ultraviolet radiation.
C) absorbs ultraviolet radiation.
D) reflects visible radiation.
E) dissolves more readily than oxygen gas in seawater.
Q2) The 1987 Montreal Protocol was an agreement to limit human production of A) carbon dioxide.
B) nitrate.
C) PCBs.
D) lead paint.
E) chlorofluorocarbons.
Q3) Greenhouse gases help keep the surface of the earth warm by absorbing _____ emitted by the _____.
A) visible light, sun
B) ultraviolet radiation, earth
C) infrared radiation, sun
D) infrared radiation, earth
E) visible light, earth
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