Test Review Changes Over Time

Three subspecies of Spotted Owl are recognized in the United States. The Northern Spotted Owl is the darkest brown with the smallest white spots while the Mexican Spotted Owl is the smallest and lightest with the largest white spots. Speciation of these spotted owls is most likely due to which isolation mechanism?

• Ecological

• Temporal

• Mechanical

• Geographical

Which of these statements best describes why competition, a driving force behind natural selection, is a constant pressure?

• Organisms produce more offspring than can survive

• Organisms are taught to fight others of the same species

• Organisms are taught to fight others of the same species

• Multiple species fill the same niche and competition will always arise against other

  species

Which of the following statements best explains why evolution by natural selection is considered a theory and not a hypothesis?

• Evolution is a shared belief by many scientific experts

• Evolution is an educated guess as to how species have changed over time

• Evolution is often refuted by other scientists, which is why it is only a theory

• Evolution is supported by a wide range of evidence from different fields of science

Many things can happen that separate populations of the same species, causing them to evolve separately in a process called

speciation. How does speciation impact the biodiversity of an ecosystem?

• It increases biodiversity by increasing the number of species in an area

• It decreases the biodiversity by decreasing the amount of usable space

• Biodiversity remains unchanged since the original species has gone extinct

• Biodiversity remains unchanged because the number of individuals remains the same

Based on the figure, what happens to biological diversity as the rate of habitat fragmentation increases and how would you describe this rate over time?

• As fragmentation increases the number of species increases

• As fragmentation increases the number of species decreases

• As fragmentation decreases the number of species stays the same

• As fragmentation decreases the number of species decreases and then increases

An extinction (a naturally occurring process where organisms that can no longer compete die off), can have different impacts depending on the organism and the health of that ecosystem. How are extinction and biodiversity related?

• If there is low biodiversity extinction would have a high impact on an ecosystem

• If there is high biodiversity extinction could have the least impact on an ecosystem

• If there is low biodiversity extinction could have a smaller impact on an ecosystem

• If there is high biodiversity extinction would have the greatest impact on an ecosystem

Lamarck first proposed the theory of evolution and suggested species could change in response to their environment. How did Darwin’s theory of evolution become more widely accepted in the scientific community?

• Darwin published his ideas while Lamark did not

• Darwin’s proposed a testable hypothesis while Lamark did not

• Darwin challenged previous scientific thought of his day to support his theory while

  Lamark did not

• Darwin made many diverse observations and had evidence to support his theory while

  Lamark did not

According to the theory of natural selection, why is producing a large number of offspring essential?

• It guarantees that enough individuals will survive to become adults and reproduce

• It minimizes genetic variation by increasing the number of individuals that are genetically

  identical

• It provides the offspring protection from predators because predators never attack a large

  group of offspring

• It helps to strengthen the population by ensuring that only the best competitors survive

  long enough to reproduce

A sea turtle will lay hundreds of eggs in a nest. Only a small number of them will live to adulthood. What characteristic of natural selection is shown in this example?

• struggle to survive

• inherited variation

• overproduction of offspring

• differential reproductive success

A female sea turtle will lay hundreds of eggs in a nesting season. Only about 1 of each thousand eggs will hatch and live to adulthood. Which characteristic of natural selection is shown in this example?

• Struggle to survive

• inherited variation

• Overproduction of offspring

• Differential reproductive success