43) Of the following zoonotic diseases, which is most likely to be studied by a community ecologist?
A) mad cow disease
B) hantavirus
C) AIDS
D) avian flu
E) trichinosis
44) Which of the following studies would shed light on the mechanism of spread of H5N1 from Asia?
A) Perform cloacal or saliva smears of migrating waterfowl to monitor whether any infected birds show
up in Alaska.
B) Test fecal samples for H5N1 in Asian waterfowl that live near domestic poultry farms in Asia.
C) Test for the presence of H5N1 in poultry used for human consumption worldwide.
D) Locate and destroy birds infected with H5N1 in Asian open-air poultry markets.
E) Keep domestic and wild fowl from interacting with each other to minimize the probability that wild
fowl could get infected and migrate out of Asia.
45) Why is a pathogen generally more virulent in a new habitat?
A) More pathogens tend to immigrate into newer habitats.
B) Intermediate host species are more motile and transport pathogens to new areas.
C) Pathogens evolve more efficient forms of reproduction in new environments.
D) Hosts in new environments have not had a chance to become resistant to the pathogen through
natural selection.
E) New environments are almost always smaller in area so that transmission of pathogens is easily
accomplished between hosts.
46) In terms of community ecology, why are pathogens more virulent now than ever before?
A) More new pathogens have recently evolved.
B) Host organisms have become more susceptible because of weakened immune systems.
C) Human activities are transporting pathogens globally at an unprecedented rate.
D) Medicines for treating pathogenic disease are in short supply.
E) Sequencing of genes in pathogenic organisms is particularly difficult.
47) The oak tree pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, has migrated 650 km in 10 years. West Nile virus
spread from New York State to 46 other states in 5 years. The difference in the rate of spread is probably
related to
A) the lethality of each pathogen.
B) the mobility of their hosts.
C) the fact that viruses are very small.
D) innate resistance.
E) dormancy viability.
48) During the course of the formation of a parasite/host relationship, a critical first step in this evolution
would be
A) changing the behavior of the host or intermediate host.
B) developing asexual reproduction.
C) deriving nourishment without killing the host.
D) starting as an ectoparasite and then later becoming an endoparasite.
E) utilizing heterotropic nutrition during infection and autotrophic nutrition during dormancy.
Art Questions
Use the following diagram to answer the next few questions.
Figure 54.1
49) Which of the following statements is a valid conclusion of this experiment?
A) Balanus can only survive in the lower intertidal zone, because it is unable to resist desiccation.
B) Balanus is inferior to Chthamalus in competing for space on intertidal zone rocks.
C) The two species of barnacles do not compete with each other because they feed at different times of
day.
D) When Balanus is removed, it can be observed that the realized niche of Chthamalus is smaller than
its fundamental niche.
E) These two species of barnacle do not show competitive exclusion.
F) If Chthamalus were removed, Balanus’s fundamental niche would become larger.
50) Connell conducted this experiment to learn more about
A) character displacement in the color of barnacles.
B) habitat preference in two different species of barnacles.
C) desiccation resistance and barnacle species.
D) how sea-level changes affect barnacle distribution.
E) competitive exclusion and distribution of barnacle species.
Please refer to the art below to answer the following question.
Figure 54.2
51) According to the Shannon Diversity Index, which block would show the greatest diversity?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5
Use the following diagram of a hypothetical food web to answer the following questions. The arrows
represent the transfer of food energy between the various trophic levels.
Figure 54.3
52) Which letter represents an organism that could be a carnivore?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
53) Which letter represents an organism that could be a producer?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
54) Which letter represents an organism that could be a primary consumer?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
Use the following diagram of five islands formed at around the same time near a particular mainland, as
well as MacArthur and Wilson’s island biogeography principles, to answer the following questions.
Figure 54.4
55) Which island would likely have the greatest species diversity?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
56) Which island would likely exhibit the most impoverished species diversity?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
57) Which island would likely have the lowest extinction rate?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E
Scenario Questions
The next series of questions presumes that you have at least once visited and have some knowledge of
the fast-food restaurant McDonald’s. Use your knowledge of McDonald’s and your understanding of
community ecology to answer the following questions about an ecological community, McDonaldland.
58) In McDonaldland, which of the following would be an example of an introduced species?
A) Big Mac
B) Quarter Pounder
C) BK Whopper
D) Filet-O-Fish
E) Double Cheeseburger
59) Which of the following would be considered a keystone species in McDonaldland?
A) Big Mac
B) Large French Fries
C) Premium Caesar Salad with Crispy Chicken
D) Filet-O-Fish
E) Chicken McNuggets
60) Which two “species” are likely to compete for the same ecological niche?
A) Big Mac and Quarter Pounder
B) French Fries and Hash Browns
C) Premium Caesar Salad with Crispy Chicken and Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich
D) Filet-O-Fish and Double Cheeseburger
E) No two species can ever occupy the same ecological niche.
61) According to the McDonaldland scenario, which of the following would best define an ecological
community?
A) all of the sandwiches sold at McDonaldland
B) the entire menu at McDonaldland
C) all of the fast-food restaurants in the United States
D) the condiments served at McDonaldland
E) the breakfast menu at McDonaldland
62) In a two-week marketing analysis, McDonald’s was interested in finding out the popularity of the
Big Mac. Using the realized/fundamental niche concept of community ecology, what should the
marketing researchers do?
A) Study the sales of McDonald’s restaurants that are in close proximity to other fast-food restaurants.
B) Serve only Big Macs at McDonald’s and analyze the sales.
C) Remove the Quarter Pounder from the menu and see if Big Mac sales increase.
D) Serve Big Macs without the special sauce to see if sales go down.
E) Serve Big Macs during breakfast hours.
The symbols +, -, and o are to be used to show the results of interactions between individuals and groups
of individuals in the examples that follow. The symbol + denotes a positive interaction, – denotes a
negative interaction, and o denotes where individuals are not affected by interacting. The first symbol
refers to the first organism mentioned.
63) What interactions exist between a “carrier crab” and “sea urchin hitch-hiker”?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
64) What interactions exist between the cattle egret and grazing cattle?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
65) What interactions exist between a lion pride and a hyena pack?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
66) What interactions exist between a bee and a flower?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
67) What interactions exist between a tick on a dog and the dog?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
68) What interactions exist between cellulose-digesting organisms in the gut of a termite and the
termite?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
E) -/-
69) What interactions exist between mycorrhizae and evergreen tree roots?
A) +/+
B) +/o
C) +/-
D) o/o
End-of-Chapter Questions
The following questions are from the end-of–chapter “Test Your Understanding” section in Chapter 54
of the textbook.
70) The feeding relationships among the species in a community determine the community’s
A) secondary succession.
B) ecological niche.
C) species richness.
D) species-area curve.
E) trophic structure.
71) The principle of competitive exclusion states that
A) two species cannot coexist in the same habitat.
B) competition between two species always causes extinction or emigration of one species.
C) competition in a population promotes survival of the best-adapted individuals.
D) two species that have exactly the same niche cannot coexist in a community.
E) two species will stop reproducing until one species leaves the habitat.
72) Based on the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, a community’s species diversity is increased by
A) frequent massive disturbance.
B) stable conditions with no disturbance.
C) moderate levels of disturbance.
D) human intervention to eliminate disturbance.
E) intensive disturbance by humans.
73) According to the equilibrium model of island biogeography, species richness would be greatest on
an island that is
A) large and close to a mainland.
B) large and remote.
C) small and remote.
D) small and close to a mainland.
E) environmentally homogeneous.
74) Keystone predators can maintain species diversity in a community if they
A) competitively exclude other predators.
B) prey on the community’s dominant species.
C) allow immigration of other predators.
D) reduce the number of disruptions in the community.
E) prey only on the least abundant species in the community.
75) Food chains are sometimes short because
A) only a single species of herbivore feeds on each plant species.
B) local extinction of a species causes extinction of the other species in its food chain.
C) most of the energy in a trophic level is lost as it passes to the next higher level.
D) predator species tend to be less diverse and less abundant than prey species.
E) most producers are inedible.
76) Which of the following could qualify as a top-down control on a grassland community?
A) limitation of plant biomass by rainfall amount
B) influence of temperature on competition among plants
C) influence of soil nutrients on the abundance of grasses versus wildflowers
D) effect of grazing intensity by bison on plant species diversity
E) effect of humidity on plant growth rates
77) The most plausible hypothesis to explain why species richness is higher in tropical than in temperate
regions is that
A) tropical communities are younger.
B) tropical regions generally have more available water and higher levels of solar radiation.
C) higher temperatures cause more rapid speciation.
D) diversity increases as evapotranspiration decreases.
E) tropical regions have very high rates of immigration and very low rates of extinction.