Final Exam, Spring
2004
Answers
are in BOLD, BLUE font (NOTE: Answers for questions
that ask for examples have a few of the possible answers that are acceptable
- there may be other correct answers)
Instructions: This review is worth 110 points (~18% of your course
grade) and will be due on Wednesday, 5/12/04, no later than 12:15 p.m, no exceptions. You may not consult any references or any other
person while working on this review. Your signature under the Honor Code,
which you read and underline as you read, signifies that the work is
yours alone and is pledged under the Honor Code. When you break the seal
on the envelope you will have five hours to complete the review. Print
legibly; I can only grade what I can read! You may type your answers, but
use an equivalent amount of space provided underneath the question. If you
choose the latter option, turn in both this review and the typed answers.
For each question or part, limit your answers to the space allotted below
the question. Any part of your answer outside of the space provided will
not be graded.
1.
TRUE/FALSE: For each of the following statements, place a T or
an F in the space to indicate whether it is true or false. One point each
= 6 points.
a.
_____ The intrinsic rate of increase of a population,
r, leads to exponential growth in an environment with no limiting resources.
b.
_____ Density dependent responses rarely occur in populations
affected by density independent factors.
c.
_____ When harvesting a resource, such as a fish population,
the best way to maintain high growth is to maintain the population close to
carrying capacity and not exploit the population too far below K.
d.
_____ A keystone species is one whose influence on a
community is proportionate to its abundance, and whose influence is large
because of its high biomass.
e.
_____ Lake eutrophication causes fish kills because overgrowth
of algae clogs their gills.
f.
_____ Late successional species
tend to have K-selected life history traits.
2.
Answer one of the following two questions in
animal physiology (4 points).
-
a.
Which type of lipoprotein is associated with a higher
risk of atherosclerosis? How might it affect incidence of heart disease?
-
OR
-
b.
Ammonia is the least energetically expensive nitrogenous
waste to produce. Why don’t all animals excrete ammonia?
3.
Answer one of the following two questions in
animal physiology (9 points).
-
a.
Consider the transport of carbon dioxide in blood of
mammals. Address, in one sentence each, the following: 1) the forms
in which carbon dioxide is transported, 2) the relationship between carbon
dioxide in the blood and blood pH, and 3) how increased carbon dioxide in
inhaled air affects breathing rate.
-
OR
-
b.
The respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems
are closely tied together. Provide three examples of how control and regulatory
mechanisms of one system affect at least one of the other two systems during
normal glucose metabolism or in a diabetic. Be specific.
4.
Briefly describe, in one sentence each, two examples that illustrate the energetic or nutrient
cycle connections between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (6 points).
5.
List two
life history traits that represent a trade-off. Describe how different
species may invest in these two traits differently, depending on particular
environmental conditions (8 points).
6.
Apply the concept of dynamics to each of the following levels
of the biological hierarchy, using one complete sentence for each (3
points each = 9 points):
-
a.
Populations
-
b.
Communities
-
c.
Ecosystems
7.
Relate succession to two of the following three
concepts, using one complete sentence for each that you choose (6 points):
8.
What are two major conclusions of the article
“Fishing down aquatic food webs” (6 points)?
9.
Relate in one way the article “Fishing down aquatic
food webs” to our discussion of food resources and a meat-centered diet in
human populations (4 points).
10. Describe how the age- and spatial-structure of populations can
affect future growth or decline of a population (6 points).
11. Explain the
importance of two of the following factors when considering metapopulations.
Limit yourself to one sentence per factor (8 points).
12. If two species consume the same resource and are no
longer found in the same community, does that mean that competition has occurred?
Explain (5 points).
13. For the following graph, answer the associated questions.
There are three questions in this section, each worth 3 pts = 9 points.
-
a.
Briefly describe
the relationship between the theoretical curve depicted in Figure 1 and
real population dynamics.
-
b.
On the graph, circle both
the carrying capacity for the population and the point at which the
population growth rate is highest.
-
c.
What is the biological meaning of carrying capacity?
14. Consider the life history traits of exotic (invasive)
species to those that are in danger of extinction, and answer all three
questions (6 points).
-
a.
Which type of species is more likely to be r-selected
species?
-
b.
Which group is likely to have higher predation pressure?
-
c.
Which group has species that typically have higher genetic
diversity?
15. Select one biogeochemical cycle and use a schematic
drawing to illustrate part of that element’s major reservoirs, forms,
and processes that move it from one reservoir to another or change it from
one form to another. To receive full credit, you must indicate three
processes, three forms, and three reservoirs (9 points).
16. Lake Victoria, in Africa, is a large, deep, isolated
lake that, until recently, contained hundreds of species of cichlid (pronounced
SIK-LID) fishes found nowhere else (i.e., they’re endemic). They are threatened
by the recent introduction of a top predator, the Nile perch. Many Lake Victoria cichlids have reduced population sizes or have become
extinct since the Nile perch introduction. Use specific concepts from Biology
112, that you identify, to explain in OUTLINE form (DO NOT
write an essay): 1) why there were so many endemic species to begin
with, 2) why the Nile perch should or shouldn’t be considered a keystone
predator, and 3) what we need to know or do to preserve the remaining
species (9 points). Answer at the top of the next page!!
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