Regents Biology Unit 7: Natural Selection and Populations: June 2014 and June 2015

Which statement describes an effect of natural selection on a species?

• It favors the survival of certain members of the species and results in a change in the proportion of individuals with highly adaptive traits
• It provides feedback mechanisms for members of a species and results in a change in the proportion of individuals with homeostatic controls
• It leads to reproduction with other species, increasing the number of different adaptations
• It increases competition between populations that occupy different niches, increasing the chance of extinction of the less-adapted species.

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Maple leaf beetles and willow leaf beetles are named for the type of tree where they live and reproduce. They look identical to each other when observed, but experiments have shown that willow beetles would starve before eating maple leaves. This is an example of specialization that would directly reduce...

• Variation
• Competition
• Adaptation
• Replication

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Which statement best describes the role of decomposers?

• They convert carbon dioxide and water to glucose.
• They break down organic compounds into products used by other organisms.
• They release oxygen to the atmosphere.
• They provide energy for the synthesis of proteins.

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Modern dogs are direct descendants of the gray wolf. They first appeared about 130,000 years ago. Today, there are about 150 different breeds of domestic dog, a few of which are shown in the picture. The great variety of modern dogs can best be explained by...

• selective breeding of dogs over many years

• the cloning of domestic dogs

• genetic alterations in gray wolves alive today

• natural selection favoring wolves over dogs

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What do the arrows in the diagram represent?

• an increase in population

• the evolution of organisms

• the flow of energy

• ecological succession

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Which statement correctly describes interactions between organisms in this ecosystem?

• Hawks are predators of insect-eating birds, but not of seed-eating birds.

• Hawks and snakes prey on both rabbits and grasshoppers.

• Rabbits and mice compete for both grasses and flower seeds.

• Grasshoppers and mice compete for grasses, but not flower seeds.

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Humans have altered ecosystems by activities that are sometimes deliberate and sometimes accidental. In the United States, humans have altered ecosystems by introducing invasive species that outcompete native species. Which activity resulted in the accidental introduction of an invasive species?

• importing Japanese knotweed because it has an attractive flower
• transporting zebra mussels to the Great Lakes by discharging water taken on in European ports to stabilize large ships
• releasing Chinese mitten crabs in the Hudson River to establish them as a food source
• planting purple loosestrife that was brought here from Europe as a source of medicine

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Which environmental factor could have caused the change indicated at A?

• increased predation by herbivores

• increased availability of food

• increased number of decomposers

• increased competition among carnivores

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Over a period of time, the location of the dashed line would move from location B to location C on this graph if...

• the birthrate of the rabbit population was equal to the death rate of the rabbit population

• there was a decrease in the number of rabbit predators and an increase in the availability of plants

• there was a decrease in the availability of minerals, water, and shelter

• the entire rabbit population migrated to a new ecosystem containing more autotrophs

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The extremes of dry and wet weather of the Galapagos Islands cause the food supply to constantly change. During dry years, the food is mainly large, hard seeds, and finches with large beaks are found in greater numbers.
Which statement best explains this observation?

• Dry environments cause mutations in finches.
• Finches grow larger when they have more water.
• Small finches become smaller during dry seasons.
• Large beak size is an adaptation to dry conditions.

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