Chapter 6 and 7 Pre-Test

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. An ecosystem’s carrying capacity for a population is determined by all of the following factors EXCEPT
a. water.
b. energy.
c. space.
d. climatic events, such as tornadoes.
e. food.

____ 2. A laboratory experiment followed the growth of a flour beetle (Tribolium sp.) population over time. At first
the population increased dramatically but later growth slowed and the population size leveled off. While food
(the wheat flour in which they live) was abundant, it was noticed that flour beetles resorted to eating their own
eggs when densities got high. What can we conclude about cannibalism in this species?
a. We cannot reach any conclusion based on the information provided.
b. It serves as a density-independent means of population control.
c. It serves as a density-dependent means of population control.
d. It is clearly maladaptive as populations always do best when their densities rise as high as
possible.
e. It has no effect on the growth of the population, as food scarcity is clearly the limiting
factor here.

____ 3. Populations of predators increase when populations of prey are high because
a. reproductive output may increase.
b. the prey population may be weakened by competition for resources.
c. it is easier to find prey.
d. predators’ nutrition is better.
e. all of the above.

____ 4. An important density-independent factor limiting population size is _____.

a. environmental resistance
b. weather
c. food quantity
d. predation
e. competition

____ 5. Rabbits were introduced to Australia about 100 years ago for the purpose of hunting. They have been
multiplying, eating up the native vegetation, and destroying the native habitat of other small animals, ever
since. In the 1950’s, in order to control the rabbit population, government scientists released the myxomatosis
virus. The virus, which dramatically reduced the rabbit population, is an example of
a. the effect of migration on growth.
b. a predator.
c. a parasite.
d. a cyclical pattern of growth.
e. mixed use wildlife management.
____ 6. The classic study of the number of lynx and snowshoe hares purchased from trappers by the Hudson Bay
Company in northern Canada between 1845 and 1935 showed dramatic, closely linked population cycles of
these predators and their prey. But this was not a carefully controlled scientific study. The results of this
study could have been skewed because
a. there may have been other predators for hares in the ecosystem other than lynx.
b. lynx might eat other small prey.
c. there was no control study to show whether the number of hares fluctuated even in the
absence of lynx.
d. weather and other environmental conditions might have affected pelt collection.
e. all of the above

____ 7. Which of the following is NOT a type of interspecific interaction?

a. predation
b. competition
c. symbiosis
d. speciation
e. mutualism

____ 8. If you were studying the niche of a species of bird, you might study
a. the food it eats.
b. its predators.
c. the places where it builds its nests.
d. the temperatures it needs to survive.
e. all of the above

____ 9. Which of these outcomes is likely in a natural situation when two closely related species compete for
resources in the same habitat?
a. Both species will become extinct.
b. Interbreeding between the two species will occur.
c. Distribution and size of both populations will increase.
d. Population size and distribution of each species may be reduced.
e. One of the species will always become extinct.

____ 10. Scientists visiting a remote island find two species of birds that appear nearly identical except for bill size.
The species with the larger bill eats large seeds, and the species with the smaller bill eats small seeds.
According to genetic evidence, the two species are extremely closely related to each other. Which of the
following is the most likely explanation of the different bill sizes in these species?
a. competition between the two species resulted in resource partitioning
b. mutations resulted in an inferior species with small, defective bills
c. natural and random variability between species
d. the two species recently arrived on the island from distant continents, where their bill sizes
had previously evolved in response to the types of foods they ate in their native lands.
e. Convergent Evolution has led to similar genetic fingerprints

____ 11. Which of these describes an effective means that prey species may use to evade predators?
a. warning coloration
b. chemical secretions
c. mimicry
d. camouflage
 e. all of the above

____ 12. Several species of harmless kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp) mimic the color patterns of venomous coral
snakes (Micrurusfulvius), which serve as models. If avoidance were based solely on prior predator
experience with the model, what do you predict would happen in areas where coral snakes were never
present?
a. Predators would attack and eat kingsnakes.
b. No predictions can be made based on the information given.
c. Kingsnakes would evolve venom similar to the coral snakes.
d. Predators would initially attack and eat kingsnakes but soon learn to avoid them.
e. Predators would avoid kingsnakes.

____ 13. Which of the following is NOT an example of two organisms in a parasitic relationship?
a. a flea and the cat it feeds on
b. a tapeworm and the goat whose digestive tract it lives in
c. a lamprey eel and the fish whose blood it feeds on
d. a carnivorous plant and the insect it captures and digests
e. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (the AIDS virus) and an infected human

____ 14. Many plants have their roots infected with a specialized fungus. The plant supplies carbon to the fungus, and
the fungus supplies nutrients to the plant. This is an example of a _____ association.
a. parasitic
b. commensalistic
c. predator/prey
d. mutualistic
e. successional

____ 15. A certain species of animal represents just 3% of the biomass in its ecosystem. We might classify this as a
keystone species if its elimination
a. caused the diversity of the plant community to sharply decrease.
b. allowed an even rarer species to increase in numbers and take its place.
c. caused plant biomass to increase 3%.
d. had no effect on the community whatsoever.
e. caused 2% of the other species in the community to disappear.

____ 16. _____ succession begins on bare rock after glaciers have passed, or on newly formed volcanic islands.
a. Climax
b. Secondary
c. Pioneer
d. Primary
e. Not enough information to tell

____ 17. The most critical factor in controlling human population growth is
a. increasing overall wellness for the human race.
b. decreasing the average number of births per woman.
c. decreasing infant death.
d. decreasing the age of first birth.
e. controlling reproductive lifespan.

____ 18. The total fertility rate (TFR) is an estimate of

 a. the number of children that will survive to adulthood.
b. the number of years a typical infant will live.
c. the number of births per 1000 people per year.
d. the percentage of women in a population that are able to have children.
e. the number of children each woman in a population will have.

____ 19. Populations with a relatively rectangular-shaped age structure diagram have ____.
a. a similar number of individuals in each age group
b. high death rates
c. a declining population
d. a high growth rate
e. all of the above

____ 20. Populations whose age structure diagrams are narrower at the bottom than at the top have
a. high death rates
b. the same proportion of individuals in each age group
c. a declining population
d. a high growth rate
e. all of the above

____ 21. If a country with a high population growth rate quickly reduced its growth rate to 0%, its population would
a. decline rapidly.
b. Immediately decline.
c. Immediately become stable.
d. continue to grow for many years, then level off.
e. grow for a short time and then decline rapidly.

____ 22. Using the rule of 70, a population growing at 10% would double in
a. 17 years
b. 7 years
c. Not enough information to tell
d. 10 years
e. 15 years

____ 23. Country A has a higher crude death rate than country B, but country A has a higher standard of living. What is
one likely explanation for this deviation from the norm?
a. Country A has a higher rate of HIV/AIDS
b. Country A has a younger overall population (lower mean age) and thus a higher infant
mortality rate
c. Country A has an older overall population
d. There is no good explanation for such an anomaly
e. Country B has an overall better healthcare system

____ 24. A particular country has a Total Fertility Rate equal to replacement level fertility and emigration equal to
immigration. Which of the following must be true?
a. The population must be stable.
b. Infant mortality must also be less than Crude Death Rate.
c. The population will begin growing as soon as TFR = 2.1.
d. The population will begin shrinking within ten years, based on the Rule of 70.
e. There is not enough information to tell.
____ 25. At one point China had the highest fertility rates in the world. Now, with a rate of 1.6 births/woman, the
population is expected to
a. double by 2040.
b. become less fertile, possibly decreasing to zero population growth.
c. become more fertile, possibly increasing to as high as 2.5 births per woman.
d. begin falling by 2040.
e. level off by 2040.

____ 26. A particular country has an average income of less than 3 USD per person per day and low levels of
industrialization. Replacement fertility in that country is most likely
a. considered morally objectionable.
b. less than 2.1 births/woman.
c. more than 2.1 births/woman.
d. never going to be achieved.
e. 2.1 births/woman.

____ 27. Two populations are approximately the same size. In population ‘A’ females begin having children at about
age 16. In population ‘B’ they begin at about age 20. Which of the following should hold true?
a. There is not enough information to tell.
b. Populations ‘A’ and ‘B’ should grow at about the same rate.
c. Population ‘B’ should grow more quickly because older mothers usually have lower infant
mortality rates.
d. Population ‘A’ should grow more quickly due to four more years of possible child bearing.
e. Population ‘A’ should grow more quickly because younger mothers usually have lower
infant mortality rates.

____ 28. According to the theory of demographic transition, birth rates decline during phase
a. 5.
b. 1.
c. 4.
d. 3.
e. 2.

Figure 7-1
____ 29. Use Figure 7-1. Population A would most likely be in which stage of demographic transition?
a. 3
b. 4
c. 1
d. 5
e. 2

____ 30. Use Figure 7-1. Population A

I. Is likely to have a higher level of education than population B
II. Is likely to have had a recent decline in infant mortality
III. Is likely to be poorer than population B
a. III
b. I and II
c. I, II, and III
d. II and III
e. I