Ecology Of Individual Organisms 5

Question 1

What distinguishes 'regulation' from 'conformity' as strategies for maintaining internal homeostasis?

Accepted Answer

Regulators use energy to keep internal conditions stable despite external change; conformers allow internal conditions to track the environment

Answer

Regulatory organisms expend energy to buffer internal conditions against environmental variation, while conformers passively allow their internal state to mirror the environment.

Question 2

Why is nitrogen excretion in the form of uric acid advantageous for reptiles and birds living in arid environments?

Accepted Answer

Uric acid requires very little water to excrete, conserving body water

Answer

Uric acid is nearly insoluble and can be excreted as a paste with minimal water loss, making it a water-conserving nitrogen waste product.

Question 3

An organism's 'realized niche' differs from its 'fundamental niche' because the realized niche:

Accepted Answer

Is the actual range used after biotic interactions like competition restrict the organism

Answer

The realized niche is the subset of the fundamental niche an organism actually occupies after competitive exclusion and other biotic interactions reduce its range.

Question 4

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?

Accepted Answer

Optimal foraging theory / marginal value theorem

Answer

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.

Question 5

Which of the following is the best example of 'cryptic coloration' as an individual-level antipredator adaptation?

Accepted Answer

A stick insect's twig-like body shape and brown color

Answer

Cryptic coloration (camouflage) allows an organism to blend into its background, reducing detection by predators, as perfectly illustrated by stick insects.

Ecology Practice Test

Ecology Practice Test

Ecology Of Individual Organisms 5