Bio7 ch52

1
Biology, 7e (Campbell)
Chapter 52: Population Ecology

Chapter Questions

1) A population is correctly defined as having which of the following characteristics?
I. inhabiting the same general area
II. individuals belonging to the same species
III. possessing a constant and uniform density and dispersion
A) I only
B) III only
C) I and II only
D) II and III only
E) I, II, and III
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

2) A biologist reported that a sample of ocean water had 5 million diatoms of the species Coscinodiscus centralis
per cubic meter. What was the biologist measuring?
A) density
B) dispersion
C) carrying capacity
D) quadrats
E) range
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

3) All of the following phrases could characterize a population except
A) interacting individuals.
B) dispersion.
C) density.
D) several species.
E) boundaries.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Comprehension

4) To measure the population density of monarch butterflies occupying a particular park, 100 butterflies are
captured, marked with a small dot on a wing, and then released. The next day, another 100 butterflies are captured,
including the recapture of 20 marked butterflies. One would estimate the population to be
A) 200.
B) 500.
C) 1,000.
D) 10,000.
E) 900,000.
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Application

2
5) You are studying the mice that live in a pasture near your home. There are lots of mice in this pasture, but you
realize that you rarely observe any reproductive females. This most likely indicates
A) that there is selective predation on female mice.
B) that female mice die before reproducing.
C) that this habitat is not a good place for mice to reproduce.
D) that you are observing immigrant mice.
E) both C and D
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.1

6) You are observing a population of lizards when you notice that the number of adults has increased and is higher
than previously observed. One explanation for such an observation would include
A) reduction in death rate.
B) increased immigration.
C) increased emigration.
D) decreased emigration.
E) both B and D
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

7) The most common kind of dispersion in nature is
A) clumped.
B) random.
C) uniform.
D) indeterminate.
E) dispersive.
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

8) How would the dispersion of humans in the United States best be described?
A) dense
B) clumped
C) random
D) intrinsic
E) uniform
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1

9) The pattern of dispersion for a certain species of kelp is clumped. The pattern of dispersion for a certain species
of snail that lives only on this kelp would likely be
A) absolute.
B) clumped.
C) demographic.
D) random.
E) uniform.
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1

3
10) Uniform spacing patterns in plants such as the creosote bush are most often associated with
A) chance.
B) patterns of high humidity.
C) the random distribution of seeds.
D) antagonistic interactions among individuals in the population.
E) the concentration of resources within the population's range.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.1

11) Which of the following would be most likely to exhibit uniform dispersion?
A) red squirrels, which hide food and actively defend territories
B) cattails, which grow primarily at edges of lakes and streams
C) dwarf mistletoes, which parasitize particular species of forest trees
D) tassel-eared squirrels, which are nonterritorial
E) lake trout, which seek out deep water
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1

12) If you were to keep records on a cohort of wild animals for the purpose of developing a life table, you would be
most successful if you chose to keep records on
A) migratory birds.
B) elephants in a national park.
C) mosquitoes.
D) earthworms in a backyard.
E) pelagic squid.
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Application

13) A table listing such items as age, observed number of organisms alive each year, and life expectancy is known
as a (an)
A) life table.
B) mortality table.
C) survivorship table.
D) rate table.
E) insurance table.
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

14) Life tables are useful in determining which of the following?
I. carrying capacity
II. mortality rates
III. the fate of a cohort of newborn organisms throughout their lives
A) I only
B) II only
C) III only
D) I and III only
E) II and III only
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.1

4
Use the survivorship curves in Figure 52.1 to answer the following questions.

Figure 52.1

15) Which curve best describes survivorship in oysters?
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.1

16) Which curve best describes survivorship in elephants?
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1

17) Which curve best describes survivorship in a marine crustacean that molts?
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.1

18) Which curve best describes survivorship in humans who live in developed nations?
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.1

19) Which curve best describes survivorship in squirrels?
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.1

20) Which curve best describes survivorship that is independent of age?
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.1

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21) In order to construct a reproductive table for a sexual species, you need to
A) assess sperm viability.
B) keep track of all of the offspring of a cohort.
C) keep track of the females in a cohort.
D) keep track of all of the offspring of the females in a cohort.
E) keep track of the ratio of deaths to births in a cohort.
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.1

22) A demographer studying a population of a particular organism would be least likely to be engaged in which of
the following?
A) constructing a life table for the organism
B) sampling the population and determining the sex ratio
C) studying courtship behavior between males and females
D) measuring birth and death rates
E) estimating how long an individual of a given age will live
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.1

23) Life history strategies usually result from
A) environmental pressures.
B) natural selection.
C) conscious choice.
D) A and B only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.2

24) Natural selection has led to the evolution of diverse natural history strategies, which have in common
A) many offspring per reproductive episode.
B) limitation by density-dependent limiting factors.
C) adaptation to stable environments.
D) maximum lifetime reproductive success.
E) relatively large offspring.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.2

25) Natural selection involves energetic trade-offs between or among life history traits such as
A) number of offspring per reproductive episode.
B) number of reproductive episodes per lifetime.
C) age at first reproduction.
D) A and C only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.2

6
26) Which of the following aspects of an organism's life is least relevant to its life history?
A) number of offspring per reproductive bout
B) age at which it first reproduces
C) frequency of reproduction
D) frequency of dispersal
E) all of the above
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.2

27) A population of ground squirrels has an annual per capita birth rate of 0.06 and an annual per capita death rate
of 0.02. Estimate the number of individuals added to (or lost from) a population of 1,000 individuals in one year.
A) 120 individuals added
B) 40 individuals added
C) 20 individuals added
D) 400 individuals added
E) 20 individuals lost
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.3
Skill: Application

28) A small population of white-footed mice has the same intrinsic rate of increase (r) as a large population. If
everything else is equal,
A) the large population will add more individuals per unit time.
B) the small population will add more individuals per unit time.
C) the two populations will add equal numbers of individuals per unit time.
D) the J-shaped growth curves will look identical.
E) the growth trajectories of the two populations will proceed in opposite directions.
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.3

29) Imagine that you are managing a large ranch. You know from historical accounts that wild sheep used to live
there, but they have been exterminated. You decide to reintroduce them. After doing some research to determine
what might be an appropriate founding population, you do so. You then watch the population increase, and graph
the number of individuals (vertical axis) against the number of generations (horizontal axis). The graph will
A) be a diagonal line, getting higher with each generation.
B) look like an "S," increasing with each generation.
C) look like an upside-down "U."
D) look like a "J," increasing with each generation.
E) look like none of the above.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.3
Skill: Application

7
30) In the logistic equation dN/dt = rN,
( ) K N
K
, r is a measure of the population's intrinsic rate of increase. It is
determined by which of the following?
A) birth rate
B) death rate
C) density
D) A and B only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.3

31) Carrying capacity (K)
A) is calculated as the product of annual per capita birth rate (r).
B) remains constant in the presence of density-dependent population regulation.
C) differs among species, but does not vary within a given species.
D) is often determined by energy limitation.
E) is always eventually reached in any population.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Knowledge

Use the following choices to answer the questions below. Each choice may be used once, more than once, or not at
all.

A.

B. rN
C. rN (K + N)
D. rN
( ) K N
K

E. rN
( ) N K
K

32) Logistic growth of a population is represented by dN/dt =
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Knowledge

33) Exponential growth of a population is represented by dN/dt =
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.3

34) As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by the logistic equation?
A) The growth rate will not change.
B) The growth rate will approach zero.
C) The population will show an Allee effect.
D) The population will increase exponentially.
E) The carrying capacity of the environment will increase.
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.4

8
35) Often the growth cycle of one population has an effect on the cycle of another-as moose populations increase,
wolf populations also increase. Thus, if we are considering the logistic equation for the wolf population,
dN/dt = rN,
( ) K N
K
,
which of the factors accounts for the effect on the moose population?
A) r
B) N
C) rN
D) K
E) dt
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4

36) Which of the following might be expected in the logistic model of population growth?
A) As N approaches K, b increases.
B) As N approaches K, r increases.
C) As N approaches K, d increases.
D) Both A and B are true.
E) Both B and C are true.
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4

37) In models of sigmoidal (logistic) population growth,
A) population growth rate slows dramatically as N approaches K.
B) new individuals are added to the population most rapidly at intermediate population sizes.
C) density-dependent factors affect the rate of population growth.
D) All of the above are true.
E) Only A and C are true.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Knowledge

38) The Allee effect is a phenomenon that occurs when population size
A) becomes too small.
B) becomes too large.
C) approaches carrying capacity.
D) exceeds carrying capacity.
E) more than one of the above
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Knowledge

9
The following questions refer to the terms below. Each term may be used once, more than once, or not at all.

A cohort
B. dispersion
C. Allee effect
D. iteroparous
E. semelparous

39) a density-dependent factor
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4

40) Pacific salmon or annual plants
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.2
Skill: Knowledge

41) reproduce more than once in a lifetime
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.2
Skill: Knowledge

42) pattern of spacing for individuals within the boundaries of the population
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.1
Skill: Knowledge

43) A predator might be more likely to be spotted if a large number of prey are all together than it would be by a
single prey animal.
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4

44) Which of the following statements about the logistic model of population growth is incorrect?
A) It fits an S-shaped curve.
B) It incorporates the concept of carrying capacity.
C) It describes population density shifts over time.
D) It accurately predicts the growth of most populations.
E) It predicts an eventual state in which birth rate equals death rate.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4

45) Which of the following is true?
A) K-selection can be density-independent.
B) r-selection occurs in crowded environments.
C) Different populations of the same species will be consistently r- or K-selected.
D) r- and K-selection are two extremes of a range of life history strategies.
E) r-selection tends to maximize population size, not the rate of increase in population size.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Knowledge

10
46) The life history traits favored by selection are most likely to vary with
A) fluctuations in K.
B) the shape of the J curve.
C) the maximum size of a population.
D) population density.
E) the terms used in the logistic equation.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4

47) A species that is relatively r-selected might have all of the following characteristics except
A) a disturbed habitat.
B) small offspring.
C) parental care of offspring.
D) numerous offspring.
E) little homeostatic capability.
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4

48) In which of the following habitats would you expect to find the largest number of K-selected individuals?
A) an abandoned field in Ohio
B) the sand dunes south of Lake Michigan
C) the rain forests of Brazil
D) south Florida after a hurricane
E) a newly emergent volcanic island
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4
Skill: Application

49) All of the following characteristics are typical of an r-selected population except
A) occurrence in variable environments.
B) high intrinsic rate of growth.
C) onset of reproduction at an early age.
D) extensive parental care of offspring.
E) occurrence in open habitats.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4

50) Which of the following characterizes relatively K-selected populations?
A) offspring with good chances of survival
B) many offspring per reproductive episode
C) small offspring
D) a high intrinsic rate of increase
E) early parental reproduction
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.4

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51) Which of the following statements about the evolution of life histories is correct?
A) Stable environments with limited resources favor r-selected populations.
B) K-selected populations are most often found in environments where density-independent factors are important
regulators of population size.
C) Most populations have both r- and K-selected characteristics that vary under different environmental conditions.
D) The reproductive efforts of r-selected populations are directed at producing just a few offspring with good
competitive abilities.
E) K-selected populations rarely approach carrying capacity.
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.4

52) Your friend comes to you with a problem. It seems his shrimp boats aren't catching nearly as much shrimp as
they used to. He can't understand it because originally he caught all the shrimp he could handle. Each year he added
a new boat, and for a long time each boat caught tons of shrimp. As he added more boats, there came a time when
each boat caught a little less shrimp, and now, each boat is catching a lot less shrimp. Which of the following topics
might help your friend understand the source of his problem?
A) density-dependent population regulation
B) logistic growth and intrinsic characteristics of population growth
C) density-independent population regulation
D) A and B only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.4

53) Unlimited population growth is often prevented when death rates increase as population density increases. This
is an example of
A) K-selection.
B) r-selection.
C) positive feedback.
D) negative feedback.
E) the Allee effect.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.5
Skill: Knowledge

54) Which of the following can contribute to density-dependent regulation of populations?
A) the accumulation of toxic waste
B) intraspecific competition for nutrients
C) predation
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.5
Skill: Knowledge

12
55) Field observation suggests that populations of a particular species of herbivorous mammal undergo cyclic
fluctuations in density at three to five year intervals. Which of the following represent (a) plausible explanation(s) of
these cycles?
A) Periodic crowding affects the endocrine system, resulting in increased aggressiveness.
B) Increases in population density lead to increased rates of predation.
C) Increases in rates of herbivory lead to changes in the nutritive value of plants used as food.
D) All of the above are plausible explanations of population cycling.
E) Only B and C are plausible explanations of cycling in this population.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.5

56) Which of the following is an incorrect statement about the regulation of populations?
A) The logistic equation reflects the effect of density-dependent factors, which can ultimately stabilize populations
around the carrying capacity.
B) Density-independent factors have an increasingly greater effect as a population's density increases.
C) High densities in a population may cause physiological changes that inhibit reproduction.
D) Because of the overlapping nature of population-regulating factors, it is often difficult to precisely determine
their cause-and-effect relationships.
E) The occurrence of population cycles in some populations may be the result of crowding or lag times in the
response to density-dependent factors.
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.5

57) Which of the following would not be considered part of a metapopulation?
A) a prairie-dog town
B) a swarm of locusts
C) birds on a neighboring island
D) mosquitos in tree holes
E) people in a village
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.5

58) In a mature forest of oak, maple, and hickory trees, a disease causes a reduction in the number of acorns
produced by oak trees. Which of the following would least likely be a direct result of this?
A) There might be fewer squirrels because they feed on acorns.
B) There might be fewer mice and seed-eating birds because squirrels would eat more seeds and compete with the
mice and birds.
C) There might be an increase in the number of hickory trees because the competition between hickory nuts and
acorns for germination sites would be reduced or eliminated.
D) There might be fewer owls because they feed on baby squirrels, mice, and young seed-eating birds, whose
populations would be reduced.
E) There might be a decrease in the number of maple seeds as the disease spreads to other trees in the forest.
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.5

13
59) You are studying a population of finches on one island in an archipelago. You find that your population is
much larger than you would predict from your careful recording of hatching, fledgling, and death rates. The likely
explanation for this observation is
A) you are dealing with a metapopulation.
B) your island is the source of emigration.
C) your island is the target of immigration.
D) A and C only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.5

60) Which of the following is a density-independent factor limiting human population growth?
A) social pressure for birth control
B) earthquakes
C) plagues
D) famines
E) pollution
Answer: B
Topic: Concepts 52. 5, 52.6

61) Consider several human populations of equal size and net reproductive rate, but different in age structure. The
population that is likely to grow the most during the next 30 years is the one with the greatest fraction of people in
which age range?
A) 50 to 60 years
B) 40 to 50 years
C) 30 to 40 years
D) 20 to 30 years
E) 10 to 20 years
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Application

The following questions refer to Figure 52.2, which depicts the age structure of three populations.

Figure 52.2

62) Which population is in the process of decreasing?
A) I
B) II
C) III
D) I and II
E) II and III
Answer: B
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Application

14
63) Which population appears to be stable?
A) I
B) II
C) III
D) I and II
E) II and III
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Application

64) Assuming these age-structure diagrams describe human populations, in which population is unemployment
likely to be most severe in the future?
A) I
B) II
C) III
D) No differences in the magnitude of future unemployment would be expected among these populations.
E) It is not possible to infer anything about future social conditions from age-structure diagrams.
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Application

65) Assuming these age-structure diagrams describe human populations, which population is likely to experience
zero population growth (ZPG)?
A) I
B) II
C) III
D) I and II
E) II and III
Answer: C
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Application

66) Which of the following is not used in calculating an ecological footprint?
A) arable land
B) pasture and forest lands
C) fossil energy land
D) demographically transitional land
E) built-up land
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Knowledge

67) The unit(s) of measurement for an ecological footprint is (are)
A) weight of biomass per year.
B) number of species per ecosystem.
C) number of individuals per population.
D) number of people per continent.
E) area of land per person.
Answer: E
Topic: Concept 52.6

15
68) All of the following have contributed to the growth of the human population except
A) environmental degradation.
B) improved nutrition.
C) vaccines.
D) pesticides.
E) improved sanitation.
Answer: A
Topic: Concept 52.6
Skill: Knowledge

69) Which of the following variables is (are) important in contributing to the rapid growth of human populations?
A) the high percentage of young people relative to the whole population
B) the average age to first give birth
C) the carrying capacity of the environment
D) A and B only
E) A, B, and C
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.6

70) Choose the true statement from those listed below.
A) Because humans are the only organisms that can consciously regulate reproduction, we will not exceed carrying
capacity.
B) Because of their relatively high educational levels, developed countries keep their ecological footprints within
their ecological capabilities.
C) Famines are indicators that there is not enough food in the world.
D) Assumptions about dietary preferences can affect predictions about carrying capacity.
E) None of the preceding statements is true.
Answer: D
Topic: Concept 52.6

Media Activity Questions

71) You are doing a mark-recapture experiment to determine the population size of MendAliens living on an island.
Initially you capture, mark, and release 130 MendAliens. A few days later, you capture 90 MendAliens, 20 of which
are marked. What is your estimate of the population size of the MendAliens?
A) 14
B) 29
C) 130
D) 585
E) 234,000
Answer: D
Topic: Web/CD Activity: Estimating Population Density and Size

72) Which of these organisms has a survivorship curve similar to that of oysters?
A) humans
B) robins
C) grasses
D) elephants
E) cats
Answer: C
Topic: Web/CD Activity: Investigating Survivorship Curves

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73) Which of these was the first of the major events that stimulated an increase in the size of the human population?
A) the Industrial Revolution
B) the discovery of antibiotics
C) the advent of agriculture
D) the discovery of vaccines
E) the bubonic plague
Answer: C
Topic: Web/CD Activity: Human Population Growth

74) In the 14th century, ________ was responsible for the death of more than one-third of the entire European
population of humans.
A) tuberculosis
B) AIDS
C) influenza
D) bubonic plague
E) pneumonia
Answer: D
Topic: Web/CD Activity: Human Population Growth

75) If most of the individuals of a human population are in their prereproductive years, you would expect the
population size to ________ after 20 years.
A) stay the same
B) increase
C) decrease
D) decrease and then stabilize
E) decrease and then decrease more sharply
Answer: B
Topic: Web/CD Activity: Analyzing Age-Structure Pyramids

Self-Quiz Questions

76) The observation that members of a population are uniformly distributed suggests that
A) the size of the area occupied by the population is increasing.
B) resources are distributed unevenly.
C) the members of the population are competing for access to a resource.
D) the members of the population are neither attracted to nor repelled by one another.
E) the density of the population is low.
Answer: C

77) Population ecologists follow the fate of same-age cohorts in order to
A) determine a population's carrying capacity.
B) determine if a population is regulated by density-dependent processes.
C) determine the birth rate and death rate of each age group in a population.
D) determine the factors that regulate the size of a population.
E) determine if a population's growth is cyclical.
Answer: C

17
78) In a population that is growing as described by the logistic growth model,
A) the number of individuals added per unit time is greatest when N is close to zero.
[The key equation is dn/dt = r
max
N(K-N/K).]
B) the per capita growth rate (r) increases as N approaches K.
C) population growth is zero when N equals K.
D) the population grows exponentially when K is small.
E) the birth rate (b) approaches zero as N approaches K.
Answer: C

79) A population's carrying capacity is
A) can be accurately calculated using the logistic growth model.
B) generally remains constant over time.
C) increases as the per capita growth rate (r) decreases.
D) may change as environmental conditions change.
E) can never be exceeded.
Answer: D

80) Which pair of terms most accurately describes life-history traits for a stable population of wolves?
A) semelparous; r-selected
B) semelparous; K-selected
C) iteroparous; r-selected
D) iteroparous; K-selected
E) iteroparous; N-selected
Answer: B

81) The infant mortality rate is ________ in developing countries than in developed countries (see Figure 52.26 in
your textbook).
A) no different
B) about two times higher
C) slightly lower
D) about three times higher
E) more than six times higher
Answer: E

82) Scientific study of the population cycles of the snowshoe hare and its predator, the lynx, has revealed that
A) the prey population is controlled by the predators alone.
B) hares and lynx are so mutually dependent that each species cannot survive without the other.
C) the most obvious, plausible hypothesis about the cause of population cycles is not necessarily the correct one.
D) both hare and lynx populations are regulated mainly by abiotic factors.
E) the hare population is r-selected; the lynx population is K-selected.
Answer: C

83) The current size of the human population is closest to
A) 2 million.
B) 3 billion.
C) 4 billion.
D) 6 billion.
E) 10 billion.
Answer: D

18
84) Which of the following statements about human populations in developed countries is incorrect?
A) Average family size is relatively small.
B) The population has undergone the demographic transition.
C) Life history is r-selected.
D) The survivorship curve is Type I.
E) Age distribution is relatively uniform.
Answer: C

85) A recent study of ecological footprints (described in the text) concluded that
A) Earth's carrying capacity for humans is about 10 billion.
B) Earth's carrying capacity would increase if per capita meat consumption increased.
C) current demand by industrialized countries is much smaller than the ecological footprint of those countries.
D) the ecological footprint of the United States is larger than the ecological capacity of its land.
E) it is not possible for technological improvements to increase Earth's carrying capacity for humans.
Answer: D

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