Chapter 54 Lecture Flashcards
(38 cards)
If two species of beetle (species 1 hunts during the day & species 2 hunts at night) are brought into the laboratory and found to both be nocturnal, in controlled environment, what is this an example of?
CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT
this can lead to resource partioning
RESOURCE PARTITIONING would be most likely to occur between…
sympatric populations of species with similar ecological niches
Which of the following is an example of CRYPTIC COLORATION?
a “walking stick” insect that resembles a twig
Which of the following in an example of MULLERIAN MIMICRY?
2 species of unpalatable butterfly that have the same color pattern
Which of the following is an example of BATESIAN MIMICRY?
a nonvenomous snake that looks like a venomous snake
Which of the following is an example of APOSEMATIC COLORATION?
stripes of a skunk
Dwarf mistletoes are flowering plants that grow on certain forest trees. They obtain nutrients and water from the vascular tissues of the trees. The trees derive no known benefits from the dwarf mistletoes. Which of the following best describes the interactions between dwarf mistletoes and trees?
PARASITISM
Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed. Which of the following terms would best describe this PLANT-HERBIVORE INTERACTION?
MUTUALISM
Which of the following would be most significant in understanding the structure of an ecological community?
- determining how many species are present overall
- which particular species are present
- the kinds of interactions that occur among different species
- the relative abundance of species
Which of the following studies would a community ecologist undertake to learn about COMPETITIVE INTERACTIONS?
- selectivity of nest sites among birds
- grass species preferred by grazing animals
- stomach contents of coexisting fish in a river
- phosphate and nitrogen uptake by different tree species
White-breasted nuthatches and Downy woodpeckers coexist, while hunting the same insects. One hunts from the top of the tree to the bottom and one hunts from the bottom up. What is this an example of?
RESOURCE PARTITIONING
Monarch butterflies are protected from birds and other predators because of cardiac glycosides incorporated into their muscles from their diets in their caterpillar stage. The Viceroys have wings that look almost identical to the Monarch’s.This is an example of what?
BATESIAN MIMICRY
Prairie dogs once grazed the grass of the Great Plains and made it more nutritious for grazers like bison. Snakes, raptors, and mammals preyed on them. Now the black-footed ferret is endangered (specialized in prairie dog predation). Increases in housing and agricultural developments have eradicated many p. dog towns. What is true about p. dogs?
Their FUNDAMENTAL NICHE has expanded.
Which statement best describes the evolutionary significance of MUTUALISM?
Interaction increases the survival & reproductive rates of mutualistic species
How might an ecologist test whether a species is occupying its realized or fundamental niche?
Remove a competitor species to see if the species expands its range.
What percent of all species on Earth are PARASITES?
33.3%
Which of the following terms is used by ecologists to describe the community interaction where one organism makes the environment more suitable for another organism?
FACILITATION
How did Eugene Odum describe an ecological niche?
an organism’s “PROFESSION” in the community
Approximately how many kilograms of carnivore biomass can be supported by a field plot containing 1,000 kg of plant material?
10 kg
loss of ~10% of energy per level
The energetic hypothesis and dynamic stability hypothesis are ideas that attempt to explain:
the LENGTH of FOOD CHAINS
In a tide pool, 15 species of invertebrates were reduced to eight after one species was removed. The species was most likely a(n)…
KEYSTONE SPECIES
Which of the following is the most accepted hypothesis as to why invasive species take over communities into which they have been introduced?
Invasive species are not held in check by the predators and agents of disease that have always been in place for the native species.
BIOMANIPULATION can best be described as…
…removing many of the next higher trophic level organisms so that the struggling trophic level below can recover.
Imagine five forest communities, each with 100 individuals distributed among four different tree species (W,X,Y,Z). Which forest community would be the MOST diverse?
25 of each tree!
