When a bee gathers nectar from a certain type of flower to make honey and in the process pollinates the flower, what kind of relationship exists between the bee and the flower?
Serendipitous
Parasitic
Mutualistic
Amensalistic
If a mosquito feeds on a bird that is infected with the West Nile Virus and then feeds on a human being who then contracts the virus, what role is the mosquito playing in the infection of the person?
The symbiont
The vector
The parasite
The host
What usually happens in a natural population as it approaches its carrying capacity?
The population drops dramatically.
Niche differentiation.
The growth rate of the population slows down.
The population will migrate to an area with more resources.
Intraspecific competition usually gives rise to which of the following dispersion patterns?
Uniform
Clumped
Either uniform or clumped
Random
The chaparral biome is characterized by what?
Sparse evergreen shrubs; cold, dry winters; and mild, wet
Dense evergreen shrubs mild, wet winters; and hot dry summer
Large perennial plants that can only grow in the dry summer
Dense, rich soil and a very long growing season
Which of the following events is likely to precede primary succession?
A volcanic eruption that creates a new island
Deforestation
A wildfire
A tsunami
The prickly pear cactus is a producer. Which of the following organisms is a primary consumer of a prickly pear cactus?
Red-tailed Hawk
Rattlesnake
Vulture
Harris's Antelope Squirrel
In a typical ecosystem, what percentage of the energy produced by the autotrophs then consumed by the primary consumers will be passed along to the secondary consumers?
1%
7%
10%
0.7%
The lowest, most basic level at which ecology is studied is:
the organismal level
the cellular level
the biosphere
the population level
What is a population?
All of the individual organisms of all the different species
All of the ecosystems on the planet combined.
All of the communities within a geographical area.
The individual organisms belonging to the same species.
Which type of factors has the biggest impact on an organism's life history?
Factors unique to the organism's survival and fitness
Physiological factors
Factors related to the predators of that species
Environmental factors
Which of the following is an indirect indicator that biologists can use to estimate a population's density?
Counting the number of nests in an area
The number of previously tagged animals they trap
Counting the number of organisms in an area
All of the answers are correct.
Which of the following is not a component of the phosphorus cycle?
Phosphate is incorporated into sedimentary rocks
Phosphate is absorbed from the soil by plants
Phosphate bound to soil
Atmospheric phosphate
Within the biogeochemical cycle, where do consumers get most of their elements from, not including oxygen and hydrogen?
The air in the atmosphere
The pool of unavailable organic compounds
The soil
Other organisms
Which term is used to describe how plants spread their seeds?
Dispersal
Migration
Colonization
Biogeography
Which specific field of science gave rise to the theoretical idea of island biogeography and its counterpart, island biodiversity?
Zoology
Biology
Paleontology
Ecology
