[JMU] BIO 250: Quantitive Ecology and Evolution EXAM 2
UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
What is a Life Cycle? The stages that individuals go through in their life, from being born to
reproducing to death.
What are the different types of reproduction? - Sexually between males and females
- Asexually individuals clone themselves
- Hermaphrodites are individuals that switch their reproductive organs from one
sex to another to reproduce
What is a life-history trait? It is a heritable trait that determines some aspect of life history. The life-history
trait directly impacts species fitness.
What are examples of Life History Traits? - Size at birth
- Size at maturity
- Sexual Maturity
- Fecundity: Number and size of offspring produced
- Survivorship
- Longevity
Life Histories strategies deal with ___ Tradeoffs; since they evolved from natural selection associated to resource
location.
What is a trade-off? Constraints that prevent fitness contribution of two different traits being
contributed at the same time.
What is Fecundity? It is the physiological ability and potential to reproduce as a population or
individual.
How is fecundity and fertility different? Opposed to fertility, fecundity is the actual rate or number of children born per
number of females.
What is invested in Life History Traits? Energy and resources improving fitness and it cant be spent on other things
decreasing fitness.
What does early reproduction cause? It leads to fitness costs as parents who reproduce with smaller bodies produce
smaller and more vulnerable offspring.
What does producing more offspring cause? It leads to fitness costs, and offspring will be smaller and more vulnerable.
What does caring too much for a offspring cost? It leads to a fitness cost that the offspring will grow slower, and this delays future
reproduction.
Why is the number of offspring produced in a single It is an important life-history trait. There is an optimal amount of offspring that one
reproductive event significant? can produce. Producing many or few offspring per reproductive event can be a
successful strategy.
, Optimum clutch size the maximum number of young the parents can successfully fledge.
What does altricial mean? hatched or born in an undeveloped state and requiring care and feeding by the
parents.
What happens to altricial bird clutches when latitude and The clutch size increases, reflecting an underlying pattern of evolutionary
day length increase? mechanisms increasing altricial bird fitness. There is a limit to the clutch increase,
and this prediction doesn't apply to some species of birds.
Why don't some altricial birds fledge larger clutches? Some species have evolved to have smaller clutches despite the cost as they
provide some benefit.
What are the hypotheses that support small clutch size? - Parental Cost Hypothesis
- Predation Risk Hypothesis
- Variable Food Supply Hypothesis
What is the parental cost hypothesis? A smaller clutch increases the likelihood that the parents will survive to reproduce
in future years. This increases their lifetime fitness by limiting the cost associated
with rearing a large clutch.
What is the predation risk hypothesis? A smaller clutch reduces both parental foraging effort and noise created by
hungry nestlings, lowering the chance that predators will discover the nest.
What is the variable food supply hypothesis? A smaller clutch increases the likelihood that parents rear clutches during times of
food scarcity.
What is the most significant hypothesis explaining small Parental Cost Hypothesis
clutch size?
What is a "K species"? A species with a large investment in offspring that are large in size and few per
reproductive event.
EX: Humans, big babies lots of investment, and typically one baby per pregnancy.
What is a "r species"? A species with small investment in offspring that are small in size and many per
reproductive event.
EX: Mice, small babies, little investment, and have 3-14 babies per pregnancy.
What are population dynamics? The changes in the size of ecological populations over time.
Why are population dynamics important? They provide a quantitative way to compare life-history strategies and assess its
success in a particular environment.
What are the three most important demographic - Birth Rate (b)
parameters? - Death Rate (d)
- Growth Rate (r)
UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
What is a Life Cycle? The stages that individuals go through in their life, from being born to
reproducing to death.
What are the different types of reproduction? - Sexually between males and females
- Asexually individuals clone themselves
- Hermaphrodites are individuals that switch their reproductive organs from one
sex to another to reproduce
What is a life-history trait? It is a heritable trait that determines some aspect of life history. The life-history
trait directly impacts species fitness.
What are examples of Life History Traits? - Size at birth
- Size at maturity
- Sexual Maturity
- Fecundity: Number and size of offspring produced
- Survivorship
- Longevity
Life Histories strategies deal with ___ Tradeoffs; since they evolved from natural selection associated to resource
location.
What is a trade-off? Constraints that prevent fitness contribution of two different traits being
contributed at the same time.
What is Fecundity? It is the physiological ability and potential to reproduce as a population or
individual.
How is fecundity and fertility different? Opposed to fertility, fecundity is the actual rate or number of children born per
number of females.
What is invested in Life History Traits? Energy and resources improving fitness and it cant be spent on other things
decreasing fitness.
What does early reproduction cause? It leads to fitness costs as parents who reproduce with smaller bodies produce
smaller and more vulnerable offspring.
What does producing more offspring cause? It leads to fitness costs, and offspring will be smaller and more vulnerable.
What does caring too much for a offspring cost? It leads to a fitness cost that the offspring will grow slower, and this delays future
reproduction.
Why is the number of offspring produced in a single It is an important life-history trait. There is an optimal amount of offspring that one
reproductive event significant? can produce. Producing many or few offspring per reproductive event can be a
successful strategy.
, Optimum clutch size the maximum number of young the parents can successfully fledge.
What does altricial mean? hatched or born in an undeveloped state and requiring care and feeding by the
parents.
What happens to altricial bird clutches when latitude and The clutch size increases, reflecting an underlying pattern of evolutionary
day length increase? mechanisms increasing altricial bird fitness. There is a limit to the clutch increase,
and this prediction doesn't apply to some species of birds.
Why don't some altricial birds fledge larger clutches? Some species have evolved to have smaller clutches despite the cost as they
provide some benefit.
What are the hypotheses that support small clutch size? - Parental Cost Hypothesis
- Predation Risk Hypothesis
- Variable Food Supply Hypothesis
What is the parental cost hypothesis? A smaller clutch increases the likelihood that the parents will survive to reproduce
in future years. This increases their lifetime fitness by limiting the cost associated
with rearing a large clutch.
What is the predation risk hypothesis? A smaller clutch reduces both parental foraging effort and noise created by
hungry nestlings, lowering the chance that predators will discover the nest.
What is the variable food supply hypothesis? A smaller clutch increases the likelihood that parents rear clutches during times of
food scarcity.
What is the most significant hypothesis explaining small Parental Cost Hypothesis
clutch size?
What is a "K species"? A species with a large investment in offspring that are large in size and few per
reproductive event.
EX: Humans, big babies lots of investment, and typically one baby per pregnancy.
What is a "r species"? A species with small investment in offspring that are small in size and many per
reproductive event.
EX: Mice, small babies, little investment, and have 3-14 babies per pregnancy.
What are population dynamics? The changes in the size of ecological populations over time.
Why are population dynamics important? They provide a quantitative way to compare life-history strategies and assess its
success in a particular environment.
What are the three most important demographic - Birth Rate (b)
parameters? - Death Rate (d)
- Growth Rate (r)
