Question

Complete sentences are generally advised, but some questions may be answered with bullets or lists--depending on the context.

1. Explain how interspecific competition may lead to resource partitioning, providing an example
2. Explain character displacement, and provide an example.
3. Distinguish between a food chain and a food web.
4. Summarize two hypotheses that explain why food chains are relatively short.
5. Describe the successful biomanipulation of Finland’s Lake Vesijärvi.
6. Distinguish between the bottom-up and top-down models of community organization.
7. Compare parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism.
8. Define a zoonotic pathogen. Explain, with an example, how zoonotic pathogens may be controlled.
9. Explain the factors responsible for the "dead zone" where the Mississippi R. meets the Gulf of Mexico.
10. Describe the “whole-lake” experiment conducted at the Experimental Lakes Area in Canada which demonstrated that phosphorus (P) was the nutrient most limiting algal productivity in lakes.
11. Explain why toxic compounds usually have the greatest effect on top-level carnivores.
12. Describe the term ‘trophic efficiency’ (energetically) and provide an example of it in a food chain.

Answer 1

1) Interspecific competition (when species fight for a resource in short supply) may result in resource partitioning (differentiation of ecological niches) such that more species that stay in one region, while all of those species do not have ecological niches. Common examples of resource partitioning include the Anole lizards and a number of bird species

2) Character displacement is the process where variations between related species whose distributions overlap are accentuated geographically in areas where the species co-occur, but where the distributions of the species do not overlap are minimised or missing. most notable example is two species of Darwin's finches

3)

4) The Energetic Hypothesis: Length of food chain is limited by inefficient energy transfer (More support)

The Dynamic Stability Hypothesis: Long food chains are less stable than short ones

7) Mutualism is where both organisms benefit, commensalism is where one benefits but the other organism isn't harmed, and lastly, parasitism is where one organism benefits but the other organism is harmed.

8) Zoonotic pathogen refers to naturally spread diseases including humans and livestock. There are several mechanisms by which pathogens can infect humans. The key paths are by consuming oxygen, drinking water, swallowing infected food or touch with the mouth by hand. example- Athogens that are transmitted to humans from other organisms, either by direct interaction or by an intermediary system called a vector (often pests like ticks, lice and mosquitoes)
-- Can prevent zoonotic diseases by identifying key interactions between pathogens and their vectors and by tracking the spread of pathogen