Old Final

Short Answer Questions (10 questions @ 5 points each):

1. True or False? Niche theory predicts that niche overlap along one dimension (e.g. diet) should be positively correlated with niche overlap along all other dimensions (e.g. habitat use).

2. True or False? Keystone predation by starfish can initiate a new round of secondary succession.

3. What is meant by the term, indirect effect? Imagine three species arranged along a resource spectrum, such that species 2 competes with both species 1 and 3, but that species 1 and 3 do not compete with each other. What is the sign of the indirect effect between species 1 and 3?

4. How did spatial complexity in Huffaker's mites increase the likelihood of predator/prey coexistence?


5. List three factors that help stabilize predator/prey coexistence.

6. True or False? Pianka found that among lizard communities, as species number increases, niche breadth and overlap increase.

7. True or False? Plant colonization and replacement in the wake of a receding glacier is an example of secondary succession.

8. Why are sand dunes considered both an example of primary succession and an example of secondary succession?

9. True or False? Intraspecific density dependence is required for there to be oscillations in Lotka-Volterra predator/prey models.

10. Briefly describe how intermediate levels of disturbance can lead to higher levels of species diversity.

Essay Questions (2 questions @ 25 points each):

1. Succession (25 pts). List eight different ways that Earlier Successional Species differ from Later Successional Species in their life-history traits, and briefly discuss how these differences in life-history traits help determine the sequence of succession.

2. Trophic Cascades (25 pts): In a California stream, Mary Power studied the following food chain: steelhead trout eat sticklebacks, which eat chironomid larvae, which eat algae. In an Ozark Mountain stream, she studied a different food chain; bass eat stonerollers, which eat algae. What effect does removing the top predator have on population size of the algae in each food chain? Diagram these two food chains and explain your reasoning.