FREE Ecology Behavioral Ecology Concepts Questions and Answers

Question 1

A shorebird forages for clams of different sizes buried at various depths.
It consistently ignores very small, easily accessible clams and also avoids extremely large clams that require a great deal of time and energy to unearth and open.
Which behavioral ecology concept best explains this selective foraging strategy?

Accepted Answer

Optimal Foraging Theory

Answer

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Answer

Character Displacement

Answer

Apparent Competition

Question 2

In a population of jacanas, a type of tropical wading bird, a single female defends a large territory that contains the smaller territories of several males. The female mates with all the males, who are then solely responsible for incubating the clutches of eggs she lays. This mating system is best described as:

Accepted Answer

Polyandry

Answer

Monogamy

Answer

Polygyny

Answer

Promiscuity

Question 3

Which of the following scenarios provides the clearest example of an altruistic behavior that is best explained by kin selection?

Accepted Answer

A Florida scrub jay forgoes its own reproduction for a season to help its parents defend their nest and feed its younger siblings.

Answer

A vampire bat that was successful in finding a blood meal regurgitates blood to feed an unrelated roost-mate that was unsuccessful.

Answer

A male langur monkey taking over a troop kills the unweaned infants of the previous dominant male.

Answer

A cleaner wrasse swims into the mouth of a large predatory fish to remove parasites, and the larger fish does not eat it.

Question 4

The male peacock's elaborate and brightly colored tail is metabolically expensive to grow and maintain, and it can make the bird more conspicuous to predators. However, peahens show a strong preference for mating with males that have the most impressive tails. This evolutionary outcome is a direct result of:

Accepted Answer

Intersexual Selection

Answer

Founder Effect

Answer

Intrasexual Selection

Answer

Stabilizing Selection

Question 5

An ecologist observes that a male American robin consistently confronts and chases away other male robins that enter a specific portion of a park lawn, where it forages and has its nest. The area that the robin actively defends against these intruders is best defined as its:

Accepted Answer

Territory

Answer

Niche

Answer

Home Range

Answer

Habitat

Question 6

In a stable population, two behavioral strategies exist for conflict over a resource: 'Hawk,' which always escalates to a fight, and 'Dove,' which always retreats if challenged. The fitness of an individual using either strategy depends on the frequency of the other strategy in the population. This dynamic, where a mixture of strategies persists because neither can be fully displaced by the other, is a classic example of:

Accepted Answer

An Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS)

Answer

Müllerian Mimicry

Answer

A Trophic Cascade

Answer

Resource Partitioning