Exams - Biology 423: Fall 05
Multiple choice (1.5 pts each)
1. What technological innovations were responsible for the demise of the passenger pigeon?
a) high quality firearmsb) the railroadc) a+bd) neither a nor b
2. Which of the following are true?
a) coarse soil has greater matric forces than silty soil
b) coarse soil has a lower value of than silty soilc) a+bd) neither a nor b
3. Which is true of the surface winds at 45 degrees south latitude?
a) they tend to blow from east to west because the Earth spins more slowly the further north they go
b) they tend to blow from west to east because the Earth spins more quickly the further south they go
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
3. Which of the following describe heat flow between a solid body and a moving fluid?
a) Hcb) Hsc) Hmd) Hcde) Hcvf) Hrg) He
4. Which of the following is surprisingly important in the natural history of skunk cabbage?
a) Hcb) Hsc) Hmd) Hcde) Hcvf) Hrg) He
5. Which of the following could be an example of type II statistical error?
a) your analysis of human effects on global warming fails to show any statistical proof for humans contributing to global warming, therefore you conclude that humans are not contributing to global warming
b) when comparing the mean values for two categories, you get a p-value of 0.04. Therefore you conclude that the mean values for the two categories are statistically significantly different
c) a+b d) neither a nor b
6. In Bormann and Likens’s study of the Hubbard Brook ecosystem, which of the following is true about the deforested watershed?
a) there was a tremendous increase in ammonia output
b) there was a tremendous increase in Ca++ outputc) a+bd) neither a nor b
7. In Bormann and Likens’s study of the Hubbard Brook ecosystem, the forested watershed showed negative values for net output of two nutrients. What factors probably caused this?
a) these nutrients were being sucked up by plantsb) rocks were being weathered and released these nutrients c) a+b d) neither a nor b
8. Which of the following is not true about the cushion form of growth shown by some plants in cold environments?
a) it reduces Hcvb) increases Hr from the Earthc) increases Hcdd) all are true
9. Batesian mimicry is costly to the model when
a) the model is commonb) when the mimic is rarec) a+bd) neither a nor b
10. What is the value of r between two sisters in a haplodiploid ant nest, in which the queen mated with only one male?
a) 0b) .25c) .5d) .75e) 1.0
11.What is the value of r between a sister and her brother in a haplodiploid ant nest, in which the queen mated with only one male?
a) 0b) .25c) .5d) .75e) 1.0
12. Which two of the following tend to decrease genetic variation in a population?
a) mutationb) driftc) gene flowd) directional selection
13. Homeotherms that live in a cold marine environment have problems maintaining their body temperatures – particularly in their extremities. What are some solutions?
a) a thick fat layer on flippersb) a high degree of separation of venous blood from arterial blood c) a+b d) neither a nor b
14. What biome is associated with the following
climate diagram?a) desertb) tropical rain forest
c) tropical dry forestd) tropical savanna
e) temperate shrublandf) temperate grassland
g) temperate foresth) boreal foresti) tundra
15. What biome is associated with the following
climate diagram?a) desertb) tropical rain forest
c) tropical dry forestd) tropical savanna
e) temperate shrublandf) temperate grassland
g) temperate foresth) boreal foresti) tundra
16. Which are true about desert-adapted plants?
a) they have low values of Hcv to windb) they have high values of Hcd from the ground
c) they reduce Hr by orienting their leaves perpendicular to sunlightd) none of the above
17. In regards to the massive fish kill in the Klamath River,
a) Secretary of State Gail Norton probably committed Type I statistical error
b) the short-term cause of death was pathogens normally found in the environmentc) a+b
d) neither a nor b
18. Werner and Mittlebach’s study of bluegill sunfish foraging in Lawrence Lake, Mi
a) supported the predictions of their foraging modelb) showed that bluegills generally ate larger than average prey
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
19. Eusocial insects do not have which of the following traits
a) sterile castesb) cooperative care of youngc) only one generation is alive at any one point in timed) all of the above are traits of eusocial insects.
20. Pirt’s study on bioremediation with bacteria did which of the following?
a) developed techniques for breaking down horse manure
b) used thermophilic bacteria and bacteria active at 37 degrees
c) converted almost all of the organic matter to water and oxygen
d) none of the above
21. Which of the following is true of Bernd Heinrich’s study of bumblebees?
a) the major method the bees use to heat up is by basking
b) foraging on fireweed flowers is very inefficient for the beesc) a+bd) neither a nor b
22. Morse’s study on yellow warblers revealed that
a) McArthur’s findings were incorrect
b) black-throated green warblers maintain the same feeding zone on islands as on the mainland
c) yellow-rumped warblers expand the feeding zone on islands where the black-throated green warbler is absent
d) a+be) a+cf) b+cg) all are true
23. Park’s study on water acquisition by plants indicated that
a) Eleusine grew on coastal dunes but Digitaria didn’t
b) Unwatered Eleusine’s mass increased more rapidly than Digitaria’s
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
24. What is true about most freshwater fish?
a) they are strongly hypoosmotic to the surrounding medium
b) they tend to lose water across their gillsc) salt naturally diffuses into their cells
d) they have a very high quantity of urine
25. What do studies of thermoregulation reveal about torpor in hummingbirds?
a) hummingbirds enter torpor more frequently when ready to leave their breeding sites
b) hummingbirds tend to enter torpor when nectar per flower decreases after storms
c) a + bd) neither a nor b
26. Which of the following was true of Pearcy’s study on A. lentiformis?
a) plants grown under hot conditions had higher photosynthetic rates at high temperatures
b) his findings are difficult to interpret due to genetic differences between the plants
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
27. Angilletta’s experiments on fence lizards revealed
a) metabolizable energy intake (MEI) was greatest at 33 deg
b) MEI was greater at 33 deg in the New Jersey population than in the South Carolina population
c) a + bd) neither a nor b
28. In general, which animals will have the widest thermal neutral zone?
a) tropical speciesb) temperate speciesc) arctic species
29. What did Carruthers’s study of clear-winged grasshoppers demonstrate?
a) grasshoppers reared at high temperatures develop dark pigmentation
b) grasshoppers with high body temperature had lower mortality from Entomophaga infections
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
30. Which is the top soil horizon?a) ab) bc) cd) o
31. Which of the following was not true of studies by Bernd Heinrich on sphinx moths?
a) live moths under heat lamps do not overheat
b) tying off the circulation between the thorax and abdomen of a moth causes the thorax to overheat when the moth is flying under a heat lamp
c) sphinx moths are endothermic
d) live moths with intact circulation keep a constant temperature of their abdomen when placed under heat lamps
32. How does the saguaro cactus deal with water conservation issues living in the desert?
a) it keeps its stomata closed at nightb) most of its branches are parallel to the ground
c) it has a relatively small root systemd) none of the above
33. Research by Carrol and Boyd on soapberry bugs indicates which of the following?
a) there is an inverse relationship between fruit radius and beak length
b) there is a genetic basis for differences in beak length
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
34. Which of the following graphs represents a type 1 functional response?
a) Ab) Bc) C
35. Which of the following is true?
a) there is a negative correlation between polymorphism and heterozygosity among animals
b) species with large population size tend to be more polymorphic than species wit small population sizec) a+b d) neither a nor b
36. Kodric-Brown’s research on guppies showed that
a) female mate preference was correlated with subsequent mating success
b) male dominance status does not contribute to male mating success
c) a+ bd) neither a nor b
37. Randy Thornhill’s studies on scorpionflies revealed that
a) small males had a higher mating success than large malesb) presentation of a salivary mass was more attractive to a female scorpionfly than presentation of a dead cricket
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
38. What type of ecological zone was modeled by Bruce Milne?
a) ecotoneb) lithosolc) caliched) taigae) tundra
39. The square root of the variance is the
a) rangeb) standatd deviationc) standard errord) ANOVA
40. Which is true of Tilman and Cowan's study on plants?
a) root/shoot ratios decreased as soil nitrogen levels increased
b) high nitrogen led to reduced investment in shoots
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
41. What did Marshall’s research on radishes reveal?
a) radishes mate randomly with each otherb) there may be interference competition between pollen grains
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
42. Which of the following treatments resulted in increased coloration in male guppies in Endler’s greenhouse experiment?
a) pike cichlidb) Rivulusc) guppies onlyd) a+be) a+cf) b+c
g) all treatments resulted in increased male coloration
43. Toolson used dead controls for his studies of transcuticular water flux in cicadas. Which of the following were true?
a) the controls had higher evaporative water loss than the live cicadas at temperatures below 39 deg
b) the controls had higher evaporative water loss than the live cicadas at temperatures above 39 deg
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
Short Answers
1. (5 points) Here are the population sizes over five generations: 100, 10, 10, 50, 100.
a) What is the algebraic mean population size?
b) What is the effective population size?
2. (10 points) You are doing research in the tropics and discover a new species of beetle which is found in two morphs. Morph 1 has enlarged mandibles that you discover is used in fighting. Morph 2 has normal sized mandibles. After months of research, you are able to show that these differences result from the action of 1 gene with normal mandibles being dominant over enlarged mandibles. Thus M is the allele for normal mandibles and m is the allele for large mandibles. Using advanced molecular technique you discover that in your population of 100 beetles, 61 are MM, 38 are Mm and 1 is mm.
a) What are the genotype frequencies?
b) What are the allele frequencies?
c) Given the allele frequencies from (b) what would be the genotype frequencies under Hardy Weinberg equilibrium?
d) Given that the population is not in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium, what would you investigate next about the beetles?
3. (5 pts) You decide to test Terry Erwin’s estimate of insect species richness by replicating his experiments using flies instead of beetles. You know the following: flies have approximately 1/3 the species richness as beetles. Assume all other conditions are the same as for Erwin. You fumigate a tree Flyus omyis and come up with the following data:
50 species of flies with 6 species of flies unique to the Flyus tree
a) What would be your estimate of species richness based on this sample? Show your work
b) How does your estimate compare to Erwin’s? If it is different, why might your estimate differ?
4. For each of the following, put an A if it refers to C3 photosynthesis, B if it refers to C4 photosynthesis, C if it refers to CAM photosynthesis, and a 0 if it refers to none of them. Some statements may have more than one correct answer. You get 1 point for each correct answer, and –1 point for each wrong answer.
______carbon fixation occurs at night
______Calvin cycle occurs in mesophll cells
______uses PEP carboxylase
______uses Rubisco (RuBP carboxylase)
5. (5 pts) Imagine you are a hungry coyote. You find a mouse - do you eat it? To help you with your decision, you consider the following: Mice have 10 kcal of energy and take two minutes to capture and eat. Your other prey option, bunny rabbits, have 1000 kcal of energy, and take 20 minutes to capture and eat. You can find a mouse every 10 minutes, while it takes about eight hours to find a rabbit.
6. (6 pts) In some species of birds, female egg production is almost unlimited, because they spend their mating season in an area that has tremendous amounts of food available to them. How might you expect the social behavior and morphology of males and females in these species to differ from the more usual pattern in birds?
7. (4 points) In a population of 100 elephant seals, there are 50 females and 50 males. This population of elephant seals has a dominance hierarchy, in which only 10% of the males actually get to breed. What is the effective population size?
8. (6 points) Assume there is a recessive allele in a population with a frequency of 1 in 500.
a) What is the probability that a heterozygous female will produce a dead offspring under conditions of complete outbreeding?
b) What is the probability that a heterozygous female who mates with her brother will produce a dead offspring? For this case, assume that both of her parents were heterozygotes.
Exam 2
Name (1 point if printed)______Please answer all the multiple choice questions correctly. They are worth two points each. Do well!
1.Which approaches were used by Hubbel and Johnson in their studies of stingless bees in Costa Rica?
a) mark-recaptureb) following bees after they were attracted by sugar bait
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
y
2. Which type of distribution pattern is typically observed in populations of plants and animals on a large scale? a) random b) regular (uniform) c) clumped d) all of the above
e) none of the above
3. Which of the following species is least vulnerable to extinction?
a) extensive geographic range, narrow habitat tolerance, and small local population
b) restricted geographic range, narrow habitat tolerance, and small local population
c) restricted geographic range, narrow habitat tolerance, and large local population
d) extensive geographic range, narrow habitat tolerance, and large local population
e) extensive geographic range, broad habitat tolerance, and large local population
4. If r =2.5, what is the fate of the population?a) increase steadily and level off at k
b) remain stablec) decreased) oscillations above and below k, with each oscillation having the same peak e) oscillations above and below k, with every other oscillation having the same peak
f) chaotic growth
5. Research on darters by Turner and Trexler indicate that
a) large female darters produce fewer eggsb) darters that produce larger eggs lay more eggs
c) darters producing larger eggs have less gene flow
d) darters producing more eggs have less gene flow
6. Which is the best example of an organism that doesn’t fit Macarthur’s dichotomy of r vs. k selection? a) mouse b) fruit fly c) dandelion d) maple tree
7. What is true about Mohoney and Rood’s recruitment box model?
a) water releases from the dam must steadily but slowly increase over time
b) an appropriate change in river level was 2.5 cm per day
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
8. According to J. P. Grime, ruderals are dominant under conditions of
a) low disturbance and low stressb) low disturbance and high stress
c) high disturbance and low stressd) high disturbance and high stress
9. Animal extinction rates are highest on
a) islandsb) continentsc) they were equivalent on islands and continents
10. In a competitive system, when is it most likely that both species will coexist?
a) 12 is very high and 21 is very highb) 12 is very high and 21 is very low
c) 12 is very low and 21 is very higha) 12 is very low and 21 is very low
11. Which of the following is a reasonable graph of (k-N)/k vs. N?
a) ab) bc) cd) d
12. In Grant's study of character displacement in the Galapagos
a) The beaks of Geospiza fortis are smaller on Santa Cruz, where it is sympatric with G. fuliginosa than on Daphne Major
b) The beaks of G. fuliginosa are smaller on Santa Cruz, where it is sympatric with G. fortis, than on Los Hermanos c) a+b d) neither a nor b
13. An index of dispersion of 0.6 would imply what type of distribution
a) randomb) regular (uniform)c) clumpedd) chaotic
14. Four primary causes of extinction have been identified for mammals. Which does not belong in the group of major causes of extinction for mammals?
a) hunted for meat or fatb) hunted for trophies or souvenirsc) combated as alleged pest d) denaturalized fauna through feral cats e) denaturalized fauna through mongooses
15. In Hubbel and Johnson’s study of stingless bees, four species showed some evidence of regular spacing and 1 species had random spacing. What was different about this one species?
a) it used a pheromone to communicate signals to its own species and to the other species
b) it had high levels of intraspecific aggressionc) a+bd) neither a nor b
16. Which of the following is true of Schultz et al’s study of tiger beetles?
a) beetles from Maine preferred a lower body temperature than beetles from Arizona
b) beetles from Wisconsin preferred a lower body temperature than beetles from Colorado
c) a+bd) neither a nor b
17. Phillips and MacMahon’s research showed a development switch in creosote bushes from
a) clumped to random to regularb) clumped to regular to random
c) random to clumped to regulard) random to regular to clumped
e) regular to clumped to randomf) regular to random to clumped
18. What is true about collared doves?
a) they spread from Europe into the Middle Eastb) the distribution of humans profoundly influenced their spread c) a+b d) neither a nor b
19. At carrying capacity, the birth rate of a species of bacteria = 2 per hour. What is the death rate?
a) 2 per hourb) less than 2 per hourc) greater than 2 per hour
d) need more information to answer this question
20. Gunderson’s study on fish shows
a) a positive correlation between mortality and gonadosomatic index (GSI)
b) a negative correlation between mortality and gonadosomatic index (GSI)
c) no significant correlation between mortality and gonadosomatic index (GSI)
21.Which of the following is true about birth and death rates of Geospiza fortis, the medium ground finch on the Galapagos Islands?
a) surprisingly, rainfall does not influence population growth
b) most of the mortality was due to high predation ratesc) a+bd) neither a nor b
22. Let’s pretend you are doing a comparative study of 6 species, in which you have 100 individuals per species. If you wanted to increase your statistic power, which would be better to do?