Evolutionary Biology Review Questions
Course Introduction
Evolutionary Biology examines the fundamental processes driving the diversity and adaptation of life on Earth. This course covers the principles of natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, and mutation, exploring how these mechanisms result in evolutionary change over time. Students will investigate the origin of species, phylogenetic relationships, and the evidence supporting evolutionary theory from fossils, genetics, and comparative anatomy. Emphasis is placed on understanding both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary patterns, as well as the application of evolutionary concepts to contemporary biological issues such as antibiotic resistance and conservation.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Ecology 4th Edition by Michael Begon
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
14 Chapters
702 Verified Questions
702 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/425 Page 2
Chapter 1: Ecology and How to Do It
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7505
Sample Questions
Q1) You work on a research project to test what happens to a species of fish as dissolved oxygen levels decrease.You find that the fish becomes lethargic because cells are deprived of the necessary oxygen levels they need.This is an example of what kind of scientific explanation?
A) Ultimate
B) Predictive
C) Proximate
D) None of the above
Answer: C
Q2) An ecologist wants to study what plants colonize a site after a volcano has erupted.She plans to compare what plant species were once there with what plant species begin to grow in a matter of a few months.What term best describes the process she is interested in studying?
A) Unnatural history experiment
B) Ecological succession
C) Organismal ecology
D) All of the above
Answer: B
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 3
Chapter 2: Ecologys Evolutionary Backdrop
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7506
Sample Questions
Q1) A breeder is interested in producing an amelanistic morph of a bird species she breeds.Is this natural selection?
A) Yes, because she is selecting for a beneficial trait
B) No, because natural selection is a process driven by the natural environment, not humans
C) Yes, because the species will experience differential reproductive success
D) None of the above
Answer: B
Q2) A ring species evolves due to a process of speciation that unfolds when:
A) There are distinct forms of a species (subspecies) that are capable of producing fertile hybrids
B) Subspecies are arranged across a temperature gradient
C) Subspecies are arranged along a geographic gradient
D) The arrangement of the ring species is such that the two ends of the gradient themselves meet and where they do those individuals do not interbreed.
Answer: A,C,D
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 3: Physical Conditions and the Availability of Resources
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7507
Sample Questions
Q1) Which term refers to a strategy whereby organisms obtain energy by oxidizing methane,ammonium ions,hydrogen,or ferrous iron?
A) Chemotaxis
B) Chemosynthesis
C) Chemotherapy
D) None of the above
Answer: B
Q2) A niche can be thought of as being:
A) The same thing as a habitat
B) A summary of what an organism can tolerate
C) A summary of what an organism requires
D) A modern concept, proposed by Hutchison in 1957
E) An n-dimensional hypervolume
Answer: B,C,D,E
Q3) Which of the following are examples of defense mechanisms?
A) The shell of a nut
B) The shell of a crab
C) Clover that release hydrogen cyanide when herbivores feed on them
D) Epidermal hairs on plants that keep thrips away from leaves
Answer: A,B,C,D
Page 5
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 4: Climate and the Worlds Biomes
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7508
Sample Questions
Q1) Summer in the ___________ biome is in part affected by temperate air masses that result from the Ferrel and Polar cells moving further north.
A) Savanna
B) Boreal forest
C) Desert
D) Tropical rain forest
Q2) In deep lakes and ponds,no light reaches the lower layer of the water column.Which of the following would you predict might take place at this bottom layer?
A) There will be an abundance of predators and prey
B) There will be many aerobic bacteria
C) Dissolved oxygen levels will be low
D) Primary productivity will be high
Q3) When light from the sun hits Earth _____________,the intensity is greater relative to _______________.
A) At an oblique angle; light that hits at an acute angle
B) At a 90 degree angle; light that hits at an oblique or acute angle
C) At a vertical angle; light at the Equator
D) At a 90 degree angle; light at the Equator
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 5: Birth, Death and Movement
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7509
Sample Questions
Q1) Population growth that is S-shaped:
A) Often occurs with organisms with very short life cycles
B) Will show reduced increases in growth as the population reaches the carrying capacity
C) Grow exponentially as the population reaches the carrying capacity
D) Often occurs with organisms that have extremely long life cycles
Q2) Which of the following are examples of dispersal?
A) The passive transport of seeds on a duck to another site
B) A honey badger leaving its mothers care
C) A bird flying from California to Alaska for the winter
D) A young male mountain lion seeking out its own territory
Q3) Which of the following are examples of migration?
A) Directional movement of a large number of a species from one location to another.
B) Monarchs flying to Mexico once a year then returning to distant parts of North America later in the year.
C) Individuals moving away from one another.
D) Humpback whales traveling to warmer waters to give birth to calves.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 6: Interspecific Competition
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7510
Sample Questions
Q1) Coexistence between a superior and inferior competitor can occur if
A) The two species have independent, aggregated distributions.
B) The superior is homogenous throughout the habitat.
C) Competition were directed most from the superior to the inferior competitor.
D) All of the above.
Q2) Four species of ants that coexist in Kenya all occupy Acacia trees.Species battle for the occupation of trees and must colonize or recolonize sites as they become available.How is it possible that these four species overlap?
A) There is environmental heterogeneity.
B) They do not overlap. Each has its own niche.
C) Most effective colonizers are poor competitors.
D) Most effective competitors are poor colonizers.
Q3) The gecko,Lepidodactylus lugubris is outcompeted by an introduced species of gecko,Hemidactylus frenatus.This is because
A) Both species are insectivorous, and insects are a limiting resource.
B) Lepidodactylus lugubris is cannibalistic, and as a result depletes its own populations.
C) The diets of the two species overlap substantially.
D) Hemidactylus frenatus depletes resources to lower levels than L. lugubris.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
8
Chapter 7: Predation, Grazing and Disease
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7511
Sample Questions
Q1) In which interaction would it be typically be easiest to see the fitness impacts on the negatively affected individual?
A) Predation
B) Parasitism
C) Grazing
D) Symbiosis
Q2) A spider that spins a web to capture prey would be considered which of the following?
A) A foraging predator
B) A sit-and-wait predator
C) A grazer
D) A parasitoid
Q3) When a zero isocline is used in a Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model,it will show that
A) Predator and prey populations are independent
B) Predator and prey populations depend on parasites
C) Predator and prey populations are mutually exclusive
D) Predator and prey populations are linked, with predator abundance tracking that of the prey
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
9
Chapter 8: Molecular and Evolutionary Ecology
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7512
Sample Questions
Q1) If within a single population there were four genetically distinct morphs,what would this mean?
A) It would mean that the population had all the same DNA except at four loci.
B) It would mean that most individuals were bi-allelic.
C) It would mean that the population is polymorphic.
D) It would mean that the population is actually four races.
Q2) Are mutations in the coding regions of DNA primarily favored or selected against?
A) They are always selected for because they always increase fitness.
B) They are often selected against because they often make the mutated organism less fit.
C) They are generally maintained at a level of 50% throughout a population.
D) Selection does not act on this part of the genome.
Q3) What would it mean if you looked at a locus in a sequence of DNA and found a SNP that was bi-allelic?
A) It would mean that there are four genes for those two alleles.
B) It would mean that there are two nucleic variants at that locus.
C) It would mean that the organism has become a new species
D) All of the above
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 10
Chapter 9: From Populations to Communities
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7513
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following choices explains a dominance-controlled community?
A) Species are competitively equivalent. As a result, all species colonize a site and maintain their presence. Thus, species richness is high.
B) Species are not competitively equivalent. This means that some species will be able to colonize a site and maintain their presence, but some will not be able to do so.
C) Species can either be early species or later species, but ultimately regardless of which type of colonizer they are, each will be competitively equivalent.
D) Primary dominance is determined by density-dependent factors. As a result, the species richness is high.
Q2) Any species that has a low abundance but exerts strong effects upon the community through multiple trophic levels would be considered which of the following?
A) An early species
B) A late species
C) A keystone species
D) A gap species
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 10: Patterns in Species Richness
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7514
Sample Questions
Q1) Assume that resources for a community of species are available on a continuum.A common species of bird utilizes a particular portion of this continuum.What term defines the length of the portion of resources that this bird uses?
A) Module
B) Niche breadth
C) H
D) Pi
Q2) You are fishing in a large lake.You are not after any particular species you just want to catch fish.You would choose a fishing lure that:
A) Dives to the bottom of the lake.
B) Stays at the surface of the lake.
C) Goes to intermediate lake depths.
D) Goes to a depth where the lure would still be illuminated and thus visible to fish.
Q3) As vegetation productivity goes up in China,vertebrate richness _______.
A) Increases.
B) Decreases.
C) Remains the same.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: The Flux of Energy and Matter Through Ecosystems
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7515
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is accurate regarding the total potential rate of net primary productivity (NPP)of Earth's natural ecosystems?
A) Almost all NPP is produced in terrestrial ecosystems
B) Almost all NPP is produced in the oceans
C) Slightly more NPP is produced in terrestrial ecosystems and slightly less NPP is produced in the oceans
D) NPP is equal between terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans.
Q2) In which ecosystem would nitrogen most likely be limiting?
A) Desert
B) Boreal forest
C) Mediterranean
D) Mountains
Q3) In which ecosystem is phosphorous usually most limiting?
A) Boreal forest
B) Tundra
C) Atlantic forest
D) Tropical forest
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 13
Chapter 12: Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Alteration by Humans
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7516
Sample Questions
Q1) The rate of phosphorous flow through the global environment is three times faster now than before the industrial and agricultural revolutions.The main problem with this accelerated cycle is that?
A) It results in acidification of the oceans
B) It causes drastica alteration of ocean currents
C) It causes eutrophication of freshwater lakes
D) It initially slows the growth of freshwater vegetation
Q2) Coastal marshes contribute little to no methane to the atmosphere due to high levels of ________.
A) Nitrogen
B) Carbon
C) Sulfate
D) None of the above
Q3) Phosphorus cycles within ecosystems,but the vast majority of phosphorus is stored where?
A) Land plants
B) Ocean Sediments
C) Mineable rock
D) Animals
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 14
Chapter 13: Conservation Ecology
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7517
Sample Questions
Q1) The results of a study of southern dunlin in Sweden showed that _______.
A) As the population declined, mating pairs found individuals with rare alleles
B) As time progressed, the population size recovered
C) The offspring of mated close relatives were less likely to hatch
D) More eggs hatched from more closely related mating pairs than less closely related mating pairs.
Q2) A strategy to preserve biodiversity with several small reserves versus one large reserve would be effective if _________
A) Species are evenly distributed across the entire area
B) If species are distributed about the area in a heterogeneous manner
C) The area is dominated by species with very large home ranges
D) The region is very homogeneous
Q3) Why might it be important to preserve rare alleles in a population?
A) Because these alleles may be selected for in the future if environmental conditions change
B) Because these alleles are mutations that increase fitness
C) Because these alleles will confer immediate advantages
D) These alleles are not important to populations
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15
Chapter 14: The Ecology of Human Population Growth,
Disease, and Food Supply
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7518
Sample Questions
Q1) While aquaculture provides more food for people there may be a cost if____________.
A) Farmed fish are less nutritious than wild caught fish
B) Farmed fish are smaller than wild caught fish
C) Farmed fish are more diseased than wild caught fish
D) None of the above
Q2) What environmental problem(s)is/are related to increased corn production in the U.S.?
A) Air pollution
B) Nutrient pollution of waterways
C) Ozone depletion
D) Infectious disease spread
Q3) Which of the following is true of the trend to move from rural to urban cities?
A) They increase pressures on the environment
B) They decrease pressures on the environment by producing less greenhouse gas per resident
C) They are not sites of concentrated uses of energy
D) They are not sites of concentrated air pollution
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16