Biology 365 - Ecology Exam 3 Winter, 1992 Please answer each multiple choice question on the sheet provided for you. Choose the best answer. Each multiple choice question is worth three (3) points. Please answer the essay question on the last page of the exam. 1. A species lives in a very predictable environment. What characteristic should be favored by selection? a. short life b. high fecundity with little parental care c. low fecundity but with high levels of parental care d. fast growth rate and early maturity 2. I have a wren territory in my backyard. I watch a male cardinal blunder into the male wren`s territory. What will happen? a. The wren will put up a vigorous territorial defense because the wren sees any trespassing bird as a competitor. b. The wren will not defend the territory against the cardinal because it does not see it as a competitor because it is a different species. c. The cardinal will drive off the wren because the cardinal is larger and red. 3. You take a tape recorder to an Illinois marsh in spring. You play the song of a redwing blackbird. What will happen? Why? The marsh has lots of redwings. a. The other redwings in the marsh will call back because they are defending territories. b. The other redwings will go silent because an invader has entered their territories. c. The other redwings will fly away because they are frightened. 4. My wife parked a car near a woodland once. When she returned to it, she found a male cardinal sitting on it, singing loudly, and occasionally "dive-bombing" the car mirror. Why should this happen? a. The cardinal was lonely and needed companionship b. The cardinal saw the image in the mirror as a potential mate. c. The cardinal saw the image in the mirror as a potential competitor for his territory. 5. In species with no parental care, why are there males? a. To encourage pair-bonding. c. To assure variability in offspring. b. To defend territories. d. To defend females. 6. What controls clutch size in altricial birds? a. The number of young the male and female can successfully feed. b. The physiological limits of the female. c. The size of the nest. d. The number of males available to feed the babies. 7. What controls clutch size in precocial birds? a. The number of young the male and female can successfully feed. b. The size of the nest. c. The number of males available to feed the babies. d. The physiological limits of the female. 8. Which of the following is likely to be the most r-selected? a. an elephant c. a human e. a grizzly bear b. a whale d. a field mouse 9. Male grouse defend a very small territory that is not associated with any nest. What is the likely purpose of this territory? a. Protection of females and young. b. Population control. c. Assurance of a food source for the growing young. d. Male advertisement only. 10. Wynne-Edwards argued that species would evolve internal population control mechanisms. Is that likely? a. Yes b. No 11. A few species of insects have evolved strong social groups. What predisposes them to evolve these societies? a. Kin selection on diploid organisms. b. Kin selection on haplodiploid organisms. c. Natural selection in a harsh environment. d. Their complex nervous systems. 12. In African bee eaters (birds), it is not unusual to see 3 or more adults raising a brood of young together. Why should this happen? a. The females are polyandrous. So the three adults are 2 males and 1 female. b. The males are polygynous and the females all use the same nest. So the three adults are 2 female and 1 male. c. There is reciprocal altruism. Two parents produced the eggs. The others help out with the expectation that they will be helped later. d. The extra adults are earlier offspring of the parents who produced the brood. 13. What does a non-reproducing member of a wolf pack gain from aiding the alpha male and female in their reproduction? a. It aids a relative in reproducing and thus aids in the transmission of its own genes. b. It is forced into this role by the dominance heierarchy of the pack, so it gains nothing. c. It can expect help in the future when it reproduces. 14. Redwing blackbirds are territorial and sing in marshes during the spring. I have a neighbor who dislikes the singing. He plans to shoot the birds. The effect will be: a. to stop the singing b. to exterminate the birds c. to remove territory holders and allow them to be replaced by territory-less birds d. to endear him to the SPCA 15. Many animals defend territories. What purpose does this defense serve and why did it evolve? a. To control population levels. b. To assure an adequate supply of resources. c. To please females. d. None of the above. 16. Sequim, Washington, is on the Northeast side of the Olympic mountains. Remember that the Olympics are large mountains and the prevailing winds are from the southwest. What is the climate of Sequim? a. Cold and rainy. c. Seasonal, just like St. Louis. b. Clear and sunny. d. Warm and humid. 17. The depth of thawing of permafrost during the summer controls tree distributions in the arctic. a. true b. false 18. Pine forests are usually prone to fire. a. true b. false 19. The Prairie Peninsula is a. a part of Manchuria b. the vegetation feature that covers most of Illinois c. a region of high snowfall and very cold temperatures d. a portion of the Northern Hardwoods forest 20. The Great Basin desert exists because a. of overgrazing by sheep b. of the rain-shadow of the Rockies c. of sage brush d. Clint Eastwood needed a place to make movies 21. California has very dry summers a. because that`s the best surfing weather b. because the 30'N zone of dry climate shifts north during the summer c. becuase the state is in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains d. because the ocean off shore is warm 22. Cold air holds more water than warm. a. true b. false 23. In pre-settlement times there was a large expanse of grasslands between Illinois and the Rocky Mountains. Why? a. The rainshadow of the mountains kept this region dry and prone to fire. b. There were more Indians in this region and they set more fires. c. There were more large herbivores here. d. There were frequent tornadoes. 24. What did the U.S. Government Land Office Surveys show about Madison County? a. It was heavily forested with maple woods. b. It was forested in the west with oak and hickory woodlands, but the east was prairie. c. The whole county was prairie except for the streams. d. There was lots of pine forest. 25. What role does fire have in terrestrial communities? a. It selects against plants which depend on the survival of above ground biomass. b. It favors trees. c. It selects against certain herbivores. d. It controls the availability of water 26. What killed the chestnut trees of eastern North America? a. Logging. b. A blight introduced from Europe. c. An insect pest. d. Forest fires. 27. In calculating net primary productivity from gross primary productivity one subtracts respiration. Why? a. Because animals around the plant are respiring. b. Because bacteria respire. c. Because the plant itself uses some of the energy that it fixes for maintenance. d. Because photosynthesis takes energy. 28. When primary productivity measurements are made in aquatic systems using changes in O2 concentrations, both light and dark bottles are incubated. Why is the dark bottle used? a. To account for photosynthesis. b. To calculate net primary production. c. To account for respiration. d. To account for grazing by herbivores. 29. What limits primary production in the open ocean? a. Light b. Temperature c. Nutrients d. Grazers 30. What ecosystem of the earth provides the highest primary production on a whole ecosystem basis? (in billion kcal/yr) a. Open ocean c. Tropical rainforest b. Estuaries d. Arctic tundra 31. (10 points) What are r and K "strategies"? Give an example of each.  d.