Semester Exam Q1 Review

Density, distribution, and growth rate are characteristics used to classify which one of the following?

• Biomes
• Populations
• Limiting Factors
• Age Structure

Which of the following involves a situation in which a density-dependent factor influences a  population?

• Several seasons passed during which rainfall was ample, winters were not severe and food for snow hares was in good supply.
• A hurricane severely disrupted a salt marsh and uprooted most of the marsh grass in an estuary.
• A forest fire on the north side of a mountain forced the white-tailed deer from the north side to move into the range of the white-tailed deer on the south side of the mountain, making food more scarce.
• After a heavy rain, pesticides that were applied to a cotton crop to control weevils ran off into a waterway that flows next to a field.

 American bison, which are large grazing mammals, are most often found clumped in small groups.    What might you infer about the spatial distribution of American bison?

• A clumped group provides better protection from predators.
• A clumped group attracts more prey.
• A clumped group can graze a larger area.
• A clumped group takes better advantage of water resources.

A flowering plant has seeds that are carried by the wind. Infer the most likely dispersion pattern of the plants that grow from these seeds.

• uniform
• clumped groups
• random
• spatial

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Population size of predators increases when their prey is scarce.
• Competition for resources is density-independent when food is plentiful.
• Disease is density-dependent because transmission occurs more easily when a population is large.
• A change in average temperature is a density-dependent factor because fewer organisms can acclimate to variations in temperature.

To assess a population’s growth rate, an ecologist must know how many individuals are born, how  many died, and how many move away in a given period of time. What else must an ecologist know?

• how many individuals find mates
• how many individuals move in from somewhere else
• how many individuals carry communicable diseases
• how many individuals are young or old

How does the logistic model of population growth differ from the exponential model?

• The exponential model shows a restricted growth rate.
• The logistic model considers the environment’s carrying capacity.
• The graph of the exponential model is S shaped.
• The graph of the logistic model has a longer lag phase.

A population’s ____________________ is the amount that a population’s size changes in a given period of time.

• Carrying Capacity
• Limiting Factor
• Growth Rate
• Biome

A previously rapidly growing population of green tree frogs in the city park has suddenly leveled off, and is presently neither increasing or decreasing in numbers. You can probably infer that the tree frog population has reached its ____________________ _________________________.

• Limiting Factor
• Carrying Capacity
• Population Total
• Nap Time

The size of a population will decrease if mortality ____________________.

• Increases
• Decreases
• Stays the same