Ecology Quiz

An organism that is a producer (first trophic level) goes extinct. Which of the following might occur?

• Only primary consumers (second trophic level) would be impacted by the loss of the producer

• Primary consumers (second trophic level) will transition to becoming producers (first trophic level)

• Organisms at the second, third, and fourth trophic level would all be impacted by the loss of the producer

• Producers are abiotic and therefore cannot go extinct

Which of the following might occur if a species reaches its carrying capacity?

• The growth of species may level off

• The size of the species population may oscillate near carrying capacity

• The growth/size of the species may crash (decrease rapidly)

• All of the above might occur

Clownfish are an r-selected species that reproduce rapidly and produce many offspring at once. In the movie Finding Nemo, a father clownfish becomes very protective of his last surviving son after a barracuda attack. Why is this unusual?

• R-selected species do not generally care for their young

• R-selected species generally produce many more female than male offspring

• R-selected species are at the top of the food chain and do not have natural predators

What principle explains why two different species of songbird that eat the same food source and live in the same kind of tree could not inhabit the same location?

• Logistical growth

• Competitive exclusion

• Carrying capacity

• Ecological footprint

An ecological footprint larger than a value of one suggests which of the following?

• On average one person will produce more than one offspring

• The population is using more resources than the environment can produce or sustain

• There is more physical space on earth available than there are people

• That humans are at the highest trophic level

Groups of lions are clumped together on the savannah to form families known as prides. What factor influencing population survival would this grouping be classified as?

• Size

• Density

• Distribution

• Growth rate