Which of the following sensory receptors is incorrectly paired with its category? rod-electromagnetic receptor |
olfactory receptor-electromagnetic receptor |
The middle ear converts air pressure waves to fluid pressure waves. |
air pressure waves to fluid pressure waves. |
During the contraction of a vertebrate skeletal muscle fiber, calcium ions spread action potentials through the T tubules. |
bind with troponin, changing its shape so that the myosin-binding sites on actin are exposed. |
Which sensory distinction is not encoded by a difference in neuron identity? spicy and cool |
loud and faint |
The transduction of sound waves into action potentials takes place within the middle ear as the vibrations are amplified by the malleus, incus, and stapes. |
when hair cells are bent against the tectorial membrane, causing them to depolarize and release neurotransmitter that stimulates sensory neurons |
Plasma membranes of adjacent cardiac muscle cells interlock at specialized regions called intercalated disks. What is the significance of this feature of cardiac muscles? The intercalated disks play the same role as striations of skeletal muscle. |
The intercalated disks allow coordinated contraction of the whole heart. |
In mammals, the eardrum transmits sound waves to three small bones, which transmit the waves to fluid waves within the cochlea. Where are the three small bones located? Middle ear |
Middle ear |
Identify the correct statement(s) about sensory receptors. Mechanoreceptors detect sound. |
Mechanoreceptors detect sound. Foods taste spicy when they activate the same sensory receptors that high temperatures activate. |
Sensory pathways have four basic functions: sensory reception, transduction, transmission, and perception. How do these functions differ between yourself and a star-nosed mole? |
The perception of sensory input by humans and star-nosed moles differs. The number and type of sensory receptors in humans and star-nosed moles differ. |
Identify the role(s) of ATP in muscle contraction. Provides the energy to convert myosin to a form that forms a cross-bridge with actin |
Provides the energy to convert myosin to a form that forms a cross-bridge with actin Binds to myosin to break an actin-myosin cross-bridge |
Which of the following is true of innate behaviors? Their expression is only weakly influenced by genes. |
They are expressed in most individuals in a population |
According to Hamilton’s rule, natural selection is more likely to favor altruistic behavior that benefits an offspring than altruistic behavior that benefits a sibling. |
natural selection favors altruistic acts when the resulting benefit to the beneficiary, corrected for relatedness, exceeds the cost to the altruist. |
Female spotted sandpipers aggressively court males and, after mating, leave the clutch of young for the male to incubate. This sequence may be repeated several times with different males until no available males remain, forcing the female to incubate her last clutch. Which of the following terms best describes this behavior? promiscuity |
polyandry |
A region of the canary forebrain shrinks during the nonbreeding season and enlarges when breeding season begins. This change is probably associated with the annual renewal of mating and nest-building behaviors. |
addition of new syllables to a canary’s song repertoire. |
Although many chimpanzees live in environments containing oil palm nuts, members of only a few populations use stones to crack open the nuts. The likely explanation is that members of different populations have different nutritional requirements. |
the cultural tradition of using stones to crack nuts has arisen in only some populations. |
Which of the following is not required for a behavioral trait to evolve by natural selection? An individual’s reproductive success depends in part on how the behavior is performed. |
In each individual, the form of the behavior is determined entirely by genes. |
Graylag goslings imprint on a nearby object that moves away from them during a sensitive period in the first few hours after they hatch, and follow the object steadfastly from that time on. What is the adaptive value of this behavior? This behavior is not adaptive because goslings may imprint on objects other than their parents. |
This behavior is likely to increase gosling survival. |
A female zebra finch reared by a father with a red feather taped to his head will select a mate with a similar ornament over an unornamented male. What are plausible ultimate explanations for this behavior? A female zebra finch that chooses a mate that resembles her father is more likely to choose a mate from her own species. |
A female zebra finch that chooses a mate that resembles her father is more likely to choose a mate from her own species. |
Select the correct statement(s) about the genetics of behavior. Behaviors with a genetic component can evolve through natural selection. |
Behaviors with a genetic component can evolve through natural selection. |
The majority of young, inexperienced Western garter snakes born in the laboratory from mothers captured in coastal areas of California readily eat pieces of slug. What are plausible proximate explanations for this behavior? Coastal snakes can detect odor molecules produced by banana slugs. |
Coastal snakes can detect odor molecules produced by banana slugs. Coastal snakes have a genetically acquired taste for banana slugs. |
In cross-fostering studies, the young of one species are placed in the care of adults from another species. In broad terms, what do researchers learn from such studies? Changes in the behavior of cross-fostered young provide information about how the social and physical environment influences behavior. |
Changes in the behavior of cross-fostered young provide information about how the social and physical environment influences behavior. Cross-fostering studies provide information about the relative importance of nature and nurture in the development of a trait. |
Which of the following areas of study focuses on the exchange of energy, organisms, and materials between ecosystems? population ecology |
landscape ecology |
Which lake zone would be absent in a very shallow lake? aphotic zone |
aphotic zone |
Which of the following is true with respect to oligotrophic lakes and eutrophic lakes? Sediments in oligotrophic lakes contain larger amounts of decomposable organic matter. |
Eutrophic lakes are richer in nutrients. |
Which of the following biomes is correctly paired with the description of its climate? temperate broadleaf forest-relatively short growing season, mild winters |
tropical forests-nearly constant day length and temperature |
Which of the following is characteristic of most terrestrial biomes? clear boundaries between adjacent biomes |
vegetation demonstrating vertical layering |
The oceans affect the biosphere in all of the following ways except producing a substantial amount of the biosphere’s oxygen. |
regulating the pH of freshwater biomes and terrestrial groundwater. |
Which statement about dispersal is false? Dispersal occurs only on an evolutionary time scale. |
Dispersal occurs only on an evolutionary time scale. |
When climbing a mountain, we can observe transitions in biological communities that are analogous to the changes in a community through different seasons. |
in biomes at different latitudes. |
Suppose that the number of bird species is determined mainly by the number of vertical strata found in the environment. If so, in which of the following biomes would you find the greatest number of bird species? savanna |
tropical rain forest |
WHAT IF? If the direction of Earth’s rotation reversed, the most predictable effect would be winds blowing from west to east along the equator. |
winds blowing from west to east along the equator. |
In ecological terms, disturbance is an event such as a storm, fire, or human activity that changes a community, removing organisms and altering resource availability. Which of the following statements about the effects of disturbance is correct? A healthy community is in an equilibrium state of balance, with few disturbances. |
Disturbances can create patches of different habitats in a community. |
Which statement accurately describes the potential effects of disturbance on species diversity? Moderate levels of disturbance generally act to reduce species diversity within a community. |
Many species are well adapted to survive periodic disturbances. |
In Australia, researchers tested the hypothesis that sea urchin abundance limits kelp distribution. Select the evidence that offers the best support for this hypothesis. There is an inverse relationship between the abundance of sea urchins and the abundance of kelp. |
When sea urchins were removed from experimental plots, kelp cover increased. |
This graph shows the effect of removal of urchins and limpets (alone and together) on seaweed cover. Select the statement that accurately describes the results shown in this graph. Sea urchins have a much greater effect than limpets in limiting seaweed cover. |
Sea urchins have a much greater effect than limpets in limiting seaweed cover. |
Examine the climograph for some major North American biomes. Which two factors influence the distribution of organisms, as shown in this climograph? The presence of tundra and presence of forested land |
Annual mean temperature and annual mean precipitation |
Population ecologists follow the fate of same-age cohorts to determine if a population is regulated by density-dependent processes. |
determine the birth rate and death rate of each group in a population. |
A population’s carrying capacity increases as the per capita growth rate (r) decreases. |
may change as environmental conditions change. |
Scientific study of the population cycles of the snowshoe hare and its predator, the lynx, has revealed that the hare population is r-selected and the lynx population is K-selected. |
multiple biotic and abiotic factors contribute to the cycling of the hare and lynx populations |
Based on current growth rates, Earth’s human population in 2012 will be closest to 10 billion. |
7 billion. |
A recent study of ecological footprints concluded that it is not possible for technological improvements to increase Earth’s carrying capacity for humans. |
the ecological footprint of the United States is large because per capita resource use is high. |
The observation that members of a population are uniformly distributed suggests that the members of the population are competing for access to a resource. |
the members of the population are competing for access to a resource. |
According to the logistic growth equation the birth rate (b) approaches zero as N approaches K. |
population growth is zero when N equals K. |
Which pair of terms most accurately describes life history traits for a stable population of wolves? semelparous; r-selected |
iteroparous; K-selected |
During exponential growth, a population always quickly reaches its carrying capacity. |
grows at its maximum per capita rate. |
Which of the following statements about human population in industrialized countries is incorrect? The survivorship curve is Type I. |
Life history is r-selected. |
Consider a population whose growth over a given time period can be described by the exponential model: dN/dt = rN. Select the correct statement about this population. A population with an r of 0 will have no births or deaths during the time period under consideration. |
A population with a positive value of r will grow exponentially. |
Consider a population whose growth can be described by the logistic growth model: dN/dt = rmaxN[(K − N)/K]. Which of the following statements about this population is true? rmax declines as N increases. |
At low values of N, the logistic growth and exponential growth (dN/dt = rN) models predict similar population growth. |
The graph shows the growth of a laboratory culture of Paramecium aurelia. After 15 days, the researcher removed ~400 paramecia from the culture. How will the population growth rate (dN/dt) change as a result of this action? The growth rate of the Paramecium population will decrease. |
The growth rate of the Paramecium population will increase. |
Select the correct statement about the global carrying capacity for the human population. The global carrying capacity for the human population is limitless because technological advances allow food supply to keep up with global population growth. |
Estimates of the global carrying capacity for the human population depend on resource use per capita. |
Select the correct statement about the factors that limit the growth of a population. Density-dependent factors are biotic; density-independent factors are abiotic. |
If a factor limits population growth, increasing its availability will increase population growth. |
The feeding relationships among the species in a community determine the community’s species richness. |
trophic structure |
The principle of competitive exclusion states that two species cannot coexist in the same habitat. |
two species that have exactly the same niche cannot coexist in a community. |
Based on the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, a community’s species diversity is increased by frequent massive disturbance. |
moderate levels of disturbance. |
According to the equilibrium model of island biogeography, species richness would be greatest on an island that is environmentally homogeneous. |
large and close to a mainland. |
Keystone predators can maintain species diversity in a community if they prey on the community’s dominant species. |
prey on the community’s dominant species. |
Food chains are sometimes short because most producers are inedible. |
most of the energy in a trophic level is lost as it passes to the next higher level. |
Which of the following could qualify as a top-down control on a grassland community? limitation of plant biomass by rainfall amount |
effect of grazing intensity by bison on plant species diversity |
The most plausible hypothesis to explain why species richness is higher in tropical than in temperate regions is that tropical communities are younger. |
tropical regions generally have more available water and higher levels of solar radiation. |
Select the correct statement(s) about a terrestrial food chain. The total biomass of the top trophic level is greatest because the top consumers are large. |
About 1% of the energy stored in producers is converted to organic matter at the secondary consumer level. |
Gray wolves, once the top predators in Yellowstone National Park, were hunted to extinction there in 1926. In 1995, 15 wolves were brought to Yellowstone from Alberta. The wolf population has now grown to 300. Riparian vegetation would decline. |
Elk populations would decline. |
What is a likely outcome of a moderate disturbance, such as a severe thunderstorm? Reduced species diversity within a community |
Patches of different habitats within the landscape |
Select the correct statement(s) about the transfer of food energy up the trophic levels from its source in autotrophs. Few plants have adaptations to reduce feeding by herbivores. |
The length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain |
Which of the following may result from resource partitioning? A population’s fundamental niche may be smaller than its realized niche. |
A population may have a smaller realized niche when it coexists with a competitor. Competing species may partition time, feeding at different times of day. |
Which of the following organisms is incorrectly paired with its trophic level? eagle-tertiary consumer |
zooplankton-primary producer |
Which of these ecosystems has the lowest net primary production per square meter? a tropical rain forest |
an open ocean |
The discipline that applies ecological principles to returning degraded ecosystems to a more natural state is known as conservation ecology. |
restoration ecology. |
Nitrifying bacteria participate in the nitrogen cycle mainly by incorporating nitrogen into amino acids and organic compounds. |
converting ammonium to nitrate, which plants absorb. |
Which of the following has the greatest effect on the rate of chemical cycling in an ecosystem? the production efficiency of the ecosystem’s consumers |
the rate of decomposition in the ecosystem |
The Hubbard Brook watershed deforestation experiment yielded all of the following results except: Calcium levels remained high in the soil of deforested areas. |
Calcium levels remained high in the soil of deforested areas. |
Which of the following would be considered an example of bioremediation? reconfiguring the channel of a river |
adding nitrogen-fixing microorganisms to a degraded ecosystem to increase nitrogen availability |
If you applied a fungicide to a cornfield, what would you expect to happen to the rate of decomposition and net ecosystem production (NEP)? Decomposition rate would decrease and NEP would increase. |
Decomposition rate would decrease and NEP would increase. |
How do pyramids of net production and pyramids of biomass differ? Pyramids of net production include fewer trophic levels than pyramids of biomass. |
Unlike pyramids of biomass, pyramids of net production are based on measurements per unit time. |
Some aquatic ecosystems have inverted biomass pyramids, in which primary consumers outweigh the producers. Why is it that a pyramid of biomass, but not a pyramid of net production, may be inverted? A pyramid of biomass may be inverted because it is based on biomass at one point in time. Pyramids of net production are based on productivity per unit time. |
A pyramid of biomass may be inverted because it is based on biomass at one point in time. Pyramids of net production are based on productivity per unit time. |
Why is it that nitrogen is often a limiting plant nutrient, despite the fact that the atmosphere is 80% nitrogen gas (N2)? Because plants cannot assimilate nitrogen-containing compounds |
Because plants cannot fix N2 |
Select the correct statement describing the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen-fixing microbes provide energy for carbon fixation. |
Bacteria obtain energy from nitrification. |
Your textbook states, "Like organisms, ecosystems are open systems." Which of the following provide a legitimate example to illustrate this statement? A population of reef fishes with a high reproductive rate in a mangrove ecosystem may be a source of recruits for a population in an adjacent coral reef ecosystem with a lower reproductive rate. |
A population of reef fishes with a high reproductive rate in a mangrove ecosystem may be a source of recruits for a population in an adjacent coral reef ecosystem with a lower reproductive rate. Earth’s atmosphere is bombarded by about 1022 joules of solar radiation each day. |
Unit 6 Mastering Biology
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