Of Individual Organisms Flashcards
7 cards from real Ecology practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Of Individual Organisms flashcards as text
What distinguishes 'regulation' from 'conformity' as strategies for maintaining internal homeostasis?
Answer: Regulators use energy to keep internal conditions stable despite external change; conformers allow internal conditions to track the environment
Regulatory organisms expend energy to buffer internal conditions against environmental variation, while conformers passively allow their internal state to mirror the environment.
Why is nitrogen excretion in the form of uric acid advantageous for reptiles and birds living in arid environments?
Answer: Uric acid requires very little water to excrete, conserving body water
Uric acid is nearly insoluble and can be excreted as a paste with minimal water loss, making it a water-conserving nitrogen waste product.
An organism's 'realized niche' differs from its 'fundamental niche' because the realized niche:
Answer: Is the actual range used after biotic interactions like competition restrict the organism
The realized niche is the subset of the fundamental niche an organism actually occupies after competitive exclusion and other biotic interactions reduce its range.
Which concept explains why an individual foraging animal should abandon a food patch when the rate of energy gain falls to the average rate for the habitat?
Answer: Optimal foraging theory / marginal value theorem
The marginal value theorem of optimal foraging predicts that a forager maximizes net energy gain by leaving a depleting patch when its local intake rate equals the average habitat rate.
Which of the following is the best example of 'cryptic coloration' as an individual-level antipredator adaptation?
Answer: A stick insect's twig-like body shape and brown color
Cryptic coloration (camouflage) allows an organism to blend into its background, reducing detection by predators, as perfectly illustrated by stick insects.
In life history theory, the term 'iteroparity' refers to organisms that:
Answer: Reproduce multiple times over the course of their lives
Iteroparous organisms spread reproductive effort across multiple breeding seasons, balancing current reproduction against ongoing survival and future reproduction.
What is the primary selective pressure that drives the evolution of diapause in insects?
Answer: Synchronization of development with seasonally favorable environmental conditions
Diapause is a hormonally mediated developmental arrest that allows insects to survive unfavorable seasons and time emergence to coincide with resource availability.