General Ecology Quiz: Habitat and Ecological Niche

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

What do ecological equivalents refer to?

Species that undergo natural selection
Species that occupy the same geographical region
Unrelated organisms that occupy similar niches but live in different geographical regions (correct)
Species that undergo artificial selection

What is the definition of a species?

A group of individual organisms that never interbreed
A group of individual organisms that share similar characteristics
A group of individual organisms that interbreed and produce fertile, viable offspring (correct)
A group of individual organisms that live in the same geographical region

What is a characteristic of generalist species?

They undergo artificial selection
They can only live in one type of habitat
They are prone to becoming endangered
They can live in many different places and eat a variety of foods (correct)

What is a characteristic of specialist species?

They can only live in one type of habitat (C) Signup and view all the answers

What do generalist species and specialist species have in common?

They both have a high level of DNA alignment (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a result of specialist species having narrow niches?

They are prone to becoming endangered (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main outcome of most mutations?

No effect on the organism's survival (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the actual physical location where organisms making up a species live?

Habitat (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the source of Earth's biodiversity, according to the text?

Mutations (C) Signup and view all the answers

Who is credited with the idea that an organism's niche is its 'profession'?

Eugene Odum (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the full range of resources or habitat a species could exploit if there were no competition with other species?

Fundamental Niche (D) Signup and view all the answers

What can cause mutations to occur, according to the text?

Exposure to mutagens (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the resources or habitat a species actually uses?

Realized Niche (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of mutations occurring in different lines of descent?

Divergent evolution (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary driver of microevolution, according to the text?

Mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, and gene selection (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is included in the description of an organism's ecological niche?

The food it eats, place in the food web, how it gets food, and range of temperatures needed for survival (D) Signup and view all the answers

Who is credited with the concept of niche as an n-dimensional hypervolume?

G.Evelyn Hutchinson (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary mechanism of evolution that occurs due to chance events?

Genetic drift (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the process by which some individuals in a population have genetically based traits that enable them to better survive and reproduce?

Natural selection (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of a natural disaster that sharply reduces the size of a population?

Bottleneck effect (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for a heritable trait that enables organisms to better survive and reproduce in a given environment?

Adaptive trait (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the necessary condition for evolution by natural selection to occur, where a trait must be able to be passed from one generation to the next?

Heritable trait (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the factor in a population's environment that causes natural selection to occur?

Selective pressure (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main outcome of adaptation?

To survive and reproduce (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between adaptation and acclimatization?

Adaptation involves a change in the gene pool, acclimatization does not (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of a physiological adaptation?

Antibiotic-resistance (D) Signup and view all the answers