BIO 325 - Introductory Ecology- First Exam Fall 2004

Short Answer Questions (5 points each): answer each question with one word to one sentence

1. List two ways that we gain confidence that a particular hypothesis is true.

2. How does Mendel's Law of Segregation falsify the hypothesis of blending inheritance?

3. Alternative male mating strategies in coho salmon is an example of what kind of selection?

4. True or False? In F2 stickleback hybrids between Benthics and Limnetics, all individuals had an intermediate gill raker number between the high number found in Limnetics and the low number found in Benthics.

5. True or False? Epistasis is due to interactions between alternative alleles within a gene.

6. In the Mimulus (monkeyflower) speciation study, name one trait that Schemske and Bradshaw found to be attractive (or repulsive) to bee pollinators, and one trait that was found to be attractive (or repulsive) to hummingbird pollinators.

7. What term is given to the slope of a regression line of fitness on phenotype?

8. Does gene flow among populations enhance or inhibit local adaptation and speciation? Why?

9. True or False? Hybrid sterility (e.g. mules) is an example of a pre-mating reproductive isolating mechanism.

10. When Lack increased the number of eggs in parental birds nests above the average clutch size found in nature, what were the consequences for the number of fledglings (chicks that leave the nest) that were produced, and why?

Essay Questions (25 points each): Answer each question in a paragraph in the space provided. If you need additional space use the back of the page.

1. Briefly outline the logical series of steps in Darwin's theory of Evolution by means of Natural Selection, and describe how these can be related directly to the Breeder's equation. Be sure to define your quantitative genetic terms.

2. Consider John Endler's experiment on the effects of predation on orange breeding coloration in male guppies. Please illustrate how his experiment addresses each of the steps in Darwin's theory of Natural Selection (above).