Ecology Of Individual Organisms 3

Question 1

Which behavioral strategy describes an animal actively seeking out warmer microhabitats to raise its body temperature?

Accepted Answer

Behavioral thermoregulation

Answer

Behavioral thermoregulation involves using movement and habitat selection—such as basking—to regulate body temperature without internal heat production.

Question 2

What does the term 'acclimation' specifically describe in individual organism ecology?

Accepted Answer

Short-term physiological adjustments to environmental change within an individual's lifetime

Answer

Acclimation refers to reversible, short-term physiological changes in an individual in response to environmental variation, not genetic evolution.

Question 3

An organism found only within a narrow range of salinity is described as:

Accepted Answer

Stenohaline

Answer

Stenohaline organisms can tolerate only a narrow salinity range, making them sensitive to changes in aquatic salt concentrations.

Question 4

Which structural adaptation in the nasal passages of some desert mammals reduces respiratory water loss?

Accepted Answer

Enlarged turbinate bones that cool exhaled air

Answer

Turbinate bones create a large surface area that warms and humidifies inhaled air but cools exhaled air, recapturing moisture before it is lost.

Question 5

In ecology, 'fitness' at the individual organism level is most precisely defined as:

Accepted Answer

The relative contribution of an individual's genes to the next generation

Answer

Ecological fitness measures reproductive success—specifically how many offspring an individual contributes to the next generation relative to others.

Ecology Practice Test

Ecology Practice Test

Ecology Of Individual Organisms 3