Chapter Questions
A community with many individuals but few different species would exhibita. low abundance and high species complexity.b. high stability.c. low species richness and high abundance.d. high species diversity.c. high abundance and high species richness.
Which of the following statements best represents the productivity hypothesis regarding species richness?a. The larger the area, the greater the number of species that will be found there.b. Temperate regions have a lower species richness due to the lack of time available for migration after the last Ice Age.c. The number of species in a particular community is directly related to the amount of available energy.d. As invertebrate productivity increases, species richness will increase.c. Species richness is not related to primary productivity.
The process of primary succession occursa. around a recently erupted volcano.b. on a newly plowed field.c. on a hillside that has suffered a mudslide.d. on a recently flooded riverbank.c. on none of the above.
The mechanism of succession in which carly colonizers exclude subsequent colonists from moving into a community is referred to asa. facilitation. $\quad$ d. inhibition.b. competitive exclusion. e. natural selection.c. secondary succession.
On which types of islands would you expect species richness to be greatest?a. small, near mainlandb. small, distant from mainlandc. large, near mainlandd. large, distant from mainlandc. species richness is equal on all these types of islands.
The amount of energy that is fixed during photosynthesis is known asa. net primary production.d. gross primary production.b. biomagnification.e. primary consumption.
Autotrophic organismsd. primary producers.b. sccondary consumers.e. decomposers.c. tertiary consumers.
Which organisms are the most important consumers of energy in a Georgia salt marsh?a. Spartina grass and algacd. crabsb. insectsc. bacteriac. spiders
Primary production in aquatic systems is limited mainly bya. temperature and moisture.b. temperature and light.c. temperature and nutrients.d. light and nutricnts.c. light and moisture.
The most highly productive terrestrial ecosystems area. deserts.c. forests.c. tundra.b. prairies.d. savannas.