underground water reservoirs
Aquifers are ________.
an increase in the prairie dog population
In the late 1800s and early 1900s farmers and ranchers slaughtered coyotes, bobcats, wolves, mountain lions, eagles, and rattlesnakes, trying to protect their cattle. One direct result may have been ________.
sum of all the planet’s living organisms and the abiotic portions of the environment
The biosphere consists of the ________.
it helps to define the entire closed system
Examining areas from the landscape scale, termed landscape ecology, is useful because ________.
the prairie dogs kept the soil loose, so rain sank in and grasses grew
The ranchers now wanted to bring back the prairie dogs because they realized that ________.
as we produce synthetic fertilizers and apply them to crops, lawns, and parks
Humans have dramatically altered the rate of nitrogen fixation into forms usable by autotrophs ________.
net primary productivity
The rate at which biomass becomes available to consumers is termed ________.
increasing evaporation
By damming rivers and using methods such as flood irrigation, we are ________.
transitional zones between ecosystems
Ecotones are the ________.
Once humans change one thing in an ecosystem, they may find unexpected results occurring elsewhere in the ecosystem.
Some of the conclusions that can be drawn from this scenario include that ________.
excess nutrients from fertilizers
The eutrophication that has taken place in the Gulf of Mexico and other locations appears to be due to ________.
an ecosystem
Any network of relationships among a group of components, which interact with and influence one another through exchange of matter and/or information, is referred to as ________.
phosphorus weathered from rock
The origin of all phosphorus in biological tissues is ________.
quickly soaked into the loose soil, watering the grasses
When the rains came down on the rocky mountainsides, the water ran down into the grasslands where the prairie dogs were active and ________.
an ecotone
The swamplands of extreme southern Louisiana, which contain elements of both the forests and coastal marshes, could be called ________.
The sixth mass extinction event is occurring in the present. Organisms are dying off and various species are going extinct as a result of modern humans’ over-pollution, destruction of habitats, and global climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
Briefly describe the sixth mass extinction event, when it occurred, and its specific causes.
increase the incidence of disease transmission
High population density can
niche
Functional role of a species in a community
large mammals such as gorillas
A Type I survivorship curve, with higher death rates at older ages, is typical of
speciation
Process by which new interbreeding organisms that produce fertile offspring are generated
indicate the relative numbers (frequency, or percentage) of individuals in each age class
Age pyramids, used to show the age structure of a population, generally
In 1970 the Costa Rican government and international representatives came together to create the first national parks and protected areas of natural land. Now the government protects more than a quarter of the country’s land.
What are the two efforts that Costa Rica has employed to sustain its biodiversity?
endemic
Native or restricted to a specific geographic region, occurring in one area and nowhere else on earth
exponential growth
Increase in population size by a fixed percentage each year. The graph takes the shape on an J-shaped curve.
eagles nesting in the tallest trees in the Grand Canyon
Which of the following would represent a clumped population dispersion pattern?
density-dependent factor
Limiting factor that relies on number of organisms in a given area
population
Group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area
Fungal disease is the cause of the declines, as it is in most other tropical areas.
Which of the following statements most accurately describes the decline of frog populations on Monteverde in Costa Rica?
logistic growth
Initial increase in population size by a fixed percentage each year followed by no growth because of limiting factors. The graph takes the shape on an S-shaped curve.
grasshopper; whale
Which of the following pairs contains, first, an r-selected organism and, second, a K-selected organism?
are K-selected
Groups of organisms with low biotic potential, such as gray whales, that produce at most one offspring every other year
resistance to tick carried diseases which make withstand cold weather harder
In a population of moose, an example of an adaptive trait that could help with reproduction and/or survival would be
the groups will probably diverge genetically, and speciation may occur.
Heavy rains and mudslides cause a river to change course, isolating two groups of lizards from one another. Over a long period of time,
growth rate, death rate, emigration, immigration
Which of the following gives the major factors that determine a population’s growth rate?
carrying capacity
Maximum population size a given environment can sustain
density-independent factor
Limiting factor whose effects are constant regardless of number of organisms is a given area
species
A group of interbreeding organisms that produce fertile offspring
