NEW
Font size
WorksheetsPopulation Density Review
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 5mins
Researchers have found that a local squirrel population fluctuates from year to year, increasing one year and decreasing the next. Which of the following factors would cause the squirrel population to grow?
A. the birth rate is equal to the death rate
B. emigration is greater than immigration
C. the death rate is higher than the birth rate
D. the birth rate is greater than the death rate
All populations fluctuate in size. Which of the following is a nonenvironmental factor that might cause a population to be reduced in size?
A. decreased predation
B. increased competition
C. emergence of disease resistance
D. increased availability of a food source
The population size that an environment can sustain is called the carrying capacity. Which of the following factors would not decrease the carrying capacity of a pond environment?
A. drought
B. flooding
C. food shortages
D. unusually low temperatures
Imagine that a city located in a desert environment has grown significantly over the last few decades. Which statement best describes how the growth of the metropolitan city would impact the desert environment in the area?
A. Biodiversity would decrease in the area but increase in the desert beyond the city.
B. By destroying habitat to build homes and highways, the growth of the city would decrease the biodiversity in the desert.
C. The growth of the city would have little impact on the environment, because few animals likely lived there before growth happened.
D. By bringing in water, the growth of the city would improve the entire desert environment
Imagine that a nonnative bird species appears in an ecosystem. Which of the following will not be a likely change in the ecosystem?
A. Native bird species will immediately migrate to another area.
B. Bird predator species will temporarily have more available prey.
C. Each food chain in the ecosystem will adjust over time to include the new species of bird.
D. Birds that share the same niche of the new species will have more competition for food resources.
Populations do not continue to grow to an unlimited size. Their environment, including food and other natural resources, limits their size eventually. This limit is called the
A. differential population.
B. carrying capacity.
C. prey maximum.
D. predator limit.
Zebra mussels are tiny clam-like organisms that strain plankton out of lake water. They attach to piers, boat hulls, pipes, and any other available surface. They prefer attaching to surfaces in water that is 2 to 7 feet deep but have been found at depths of 180 feet in water temperatures ranging from 7˚C to 32˚C. They live mainly in freshwater with salinities (salt concentrations) of 0.21 to 1.47 parts per thousand (ppt), but they can live in estuaries with salinities up to 13.40 ppt. Given what is known about the diet of zebra mussels, which variables influence their fundamental niche
A. nearby boats, fish larvae, water salinity, availability of plankton
B. water depth, water clarity, availability of plankton, water temperature, water salinity
C. water clarity, availability of native mussel species, water temperature, water salinity
D. availability of surfaces for attachment, water depth, water salinity, availability of plankton
After fires destroyed 793,000 acres of aspen and pine forest in Yellowstone National Park in the unusually dry summer of 1988, biologists were able to study the long-term effects of fire on an ecosystem. The biologists found that the soil after the fire was more fertile and soon gave rise to small plants and new pine trees. What ecological process were the biologists observing?
A. biodiversity
B. equilibrium
C. food web energy flow
D. succession
Forest fires can burn down all of the trees and plants living in an area. However, new growth can spring from the decaying organic matter left behind. What is the gradual, sequential regrowth of a community of species after a forest fire?
A. adaptation
B. pioneer succession
C. primary succession
D. secondary succession
A biologist compares how different ecosystems undergo succession. She divides the series of events that happen during primary succession and secondary succession into three different stages. Which feature might be used to distinguish secondary succession from primary succession?
A. the lack of pioneer species in the second stage
B. the presence of pioneer species in the final stage
C. the presence of trees and large plants in the final stage
D. the presence of soil and organic matter in the first stage
