Distributions | Ch37 – Test Bank – 18e

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MULTIPLE CHOICE - Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1) The relatively thin layer on the earth's surface where life is possible is known as the

A) ecosystem.
B) biosphere.
C) biome.
D) biopreserve.
E) lithosphere.

2) Which is NOT a correct association of earth components and properties?

A) hydrosphere—lakes, oceans
B) atmosphere—oxygen—ozone screening layer
C) lithosphere—source of mineral elements
D) atmosphere—78% oxygen, 21% nitrogen
E) All of the choices are correct.

3) The phenomenon where visible and U-V radiation are absorbed at the earth's surface and reemitted as longer infrared wavelengths that are then absorbed by water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane, is known as

A) the ozone layer.
B) the greenhouse effect.
C) global warming.
D) the atmospheric cycle.

4) The present concern over the apparent increase in the temperature of the biosphere is an intensification of the "greenhouse effect" caused primarily by the

A) decrease in the human population on earth.
B) increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels.
C) increased photosynthesis from increased carbon dioxide.
D) conversion of grasslands to farmlands.
E) increases in the tropical forest biome.

5) A terrestrial environment represented by a major biotic unit consisting of a characteristic and easily recognized variety of plant life is called

A) a zoogeographical realm.
B) an ecocline.
C) an ecosphere.
D) a biome.
E) None of the choices is correct.

6) Which is a correct description of the air circulation patterns of the earth?

A) Warm air rises at the equator and moves all the way to the poles where it cools and sinks.
B) In the Northern Hemisphere, the surface air moving northeast from 30 to 60 degrees is moist and encounters cold air moving south to form a stormy region.
C) Air evaporating at the equator is dry and therefore causes deserts when it sinks at 30 degrees north.
D) The polar cells are cold and cause rainfall as they descend to the equator.
E) The Coriolis effect deflects moving air to the left in the northern hemisphere.

7) What is a characteristic of a temperate deciduous forest?

A) the presence of such trees as pine, fir, spruce, and cedar
B) that the trees shed their leaves and become dormant during the winter
C) that the rainfall is low
D) that the forest floor has very little litter to serve as habitat for animals
E) All of the choices are correct.

8) As the latitude increases in the Northern Hemisphere, which biome sequence would you generally expect?

A) Tundra, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, tropical forest
B) Tundra, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, tropical forest
C) Tropical forest, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, tundra
D) Tropical forest, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, tundra
E) Tropical forest, deciduous forest, tundra, coniferous forest

9) A characteristic of a tropical forest is that

A) there is much vegetation but relatively few species of plants and animals are present.
B) the growing season is short.
C) the animals such as deer, moose, and elk are common.
D) the soil rapidly deteriorates when the forest is removed.
E) All of the choices are correct.

10) What biome has the highest agricultural productivity?

A) Prairie grassland
B) Temperate deciduous forest
C) Tropical rain forest
D) Tundra
E) Tropical rain forest and estuaries

11) Tundra is

A) an area of high precipitation and high humidity.
B) a mixed forest composed of evergreen and deciduous trees.
C) the treeless Arctic regions and high mountain tops.
D) composed of very little plant life and no animal life.
E) None of the choices is correct.

12) The biome that contains the greatest variety of plants and animals is the

A) grassland.
B) deciduous forest.
C) tundra.
D) tropical forest.
E) coniferous forest.

13) About how much of the earth's water supply is freshwater, including ice caps, rivers, freshwater lakes, etc.?

A) 25%
B) 10%
C) 2.5%
D) 0.25%
E) 0.0025%

14) High-oxygen, bubbly streams are described as

A) benthic.
B) pelagic.
C) lotic.
D) lentic.
E) estuarine.

15) Lake Baikal in southern Siberia is unique as a lake because it is

A) very old.
B) lentic.
C) lotic.
D) salty.
E) an upwelling.

16) What benthic area is deepest?

A) continental margins
B) continental shelf
C) continental slope
D) abyssal plain
E) continental rise

17) What ocean zone experiences the most frequent fluctuations?

A) intertidal
B) pelagic
C) upwelling
D) bathypelagic
E) None of the choices is correct.

18) What causes the geographic distribution of animals?

A) extinction
B) geological changes
C) migration
D) climate change
E) All of the choices contribute to zoogeography.

19) Vicariance is a method of animal distribution that

A) involves active movement on the part of the animals.
B) could result in allopatric speciation.
C) fully explains how animals have become distributed as they are today.
D) is referred to as continental drift.
E) None of the choices is correct.

20) Which is NOT correct concerning animal dispersal?

A) Emigration involves leaving an area.
B) Immigration entails coming into a new area.
C) Animals would move northward into favorable territory as a glacier retreated.
D) Animal reproduction is slow and there is constant outside pressure from others to immigrate.
E) Knowing the routes of dispersal is critical to understanding disjunct distributions.

21) To trace distribution by dispersal, a researcher must first establish the

A) rate of dispersal.
B) mode of dispersal.
C) center of origin.
D) reason for dispersal.
E) speciation event.

22) Which of the following would NOT be a vicariance event?

A) The ancestral Darwin finch is blown to the Galapagos Islands.
B) Salamander populations are split by a glacier in the last ice age.
C) Australia drifts away before placental mammals arise.
D) All of the choices would be vicariance events.

23) A family tree based on known vicariant events would be called a(n)

A) vicariant phylogeny.
B) dispersal map.
C) evolutionary template.
D) general area cladogram.
E) None of the choices is correct.

24) It is thought that the northern landmass that resulted from the division of Pangaea fragmented and gave rise to

A) North America, most of Eurasia, and Greenland.
B) North America and Central and South America.
C) Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.
D) South America, Antarctica, and Australia.
E) All of the choices are correct.

25) The theory of continental drift is supported by

A) similarity of fossils in Africa and South America.
B) paleomagnetic surveys.
C) mid-ocean ridges that are spreading between Africa and South America.
D) the fit of the continental shelves of South America and Africa, among others.
E) All of the choices fit with continental drift theory.

26) Why does continental drift theory not help explain the distribution of placental mammals?

A) Placental mammals were agile enough to cross all continental barriers.
B) Placental mammals evolved after the breakup of the major plates.
C) Their fossils were subject to more deformation.
D) We just haven't located enough fossils of them.
E) None of the choices is correct.

27) What happened when a land bridge was reestablished between North and South American at the end of the Pliocene?

A) Nothing happened because the major mammal groups had not evolved differently since the previous connection had been broken.
B) Only the porcupine, armadillo, and opossum invaded from the south and survived.
C) Both continents immediately dropped in diversity.
D) Many hoofed animals moved north and displaced North American fauna.
E) There was an enormous exchange of species in both directions.

FILL IN THE BLANK. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
28) Life on earth is confined to a narrow area called the ____________.

29) The terrestrial environments of the earth that are divided into large units based on their distinctive vegetation are called __________.

30) Water vapor and __________ in the atmosphere absorb heat energy rereadiated from the earth, leading to warming of atmospheric air.

31) The terrestrial biome having the greatest diversity of tree species is the __________.

32) Lotic refers to running-water habitats, while standing-water habitats are called __________.

33) The area of the ocean where most productivity occurs is the ___________ zone.

34) The vast open ocean is known as the __________ zone.

35) An aquatic habitat that is a transition zone where fresh water flows into the sea is called an __________.

36) Animals have become distributed around the earth by dispersal, continental drift, and __________.

37) According to the theory of continental drift, all of the continents of the earth were once joined together as one large landmass (called Pangaea) that split into two smaller masses: a northern Laurasia and a southern __________.

38) __________ are rocky subtidal zone habitats dominated by brown seaweeds.

39) Deep-sea communities on the abyssal plain are centered around __________.

ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
40) What are the physical factors that make the biosphere so relatively thin?

41) Why are so many deserts located between 15 and 30 degrees latitude?

42) Deserts and tundra have about the same rainfall, yet the tundra is not "dry." Why?

43) A famous ecologist, Dan Jantzen, has proposed that temperate forests can have a few dominant tree species in high density because winter keeps the insect populations suppressed so that they cannot build up the numbers to decimate all the tree seeds. Meanwhile, the tropical forest insect populations can increase until they have destroyed all seeds because there is no winter to interrupt their population growth. Propose a test for this hypothesis.

44) Contrast dispersal with seasonal migration. Why would the annual migration of monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico not constitute dispersal? Why would its return to the summer breeding grounds more accurately be called a dispersal than a migration?

45) Discuss the contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace to modern historical biogeography.

46) How do the various physical features of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact to produce a viable biosphere?

47) Which biome is the most diverse in terms of numbers of species? Why?

48) Compare the animal species diversity of a temperate deciduous forest with that of a tropical rainforest. Why is the diversity of one so much more than the other?

49) Explain the significance of the following: lotic vs. lentic; planktonic vs. benthic

50) Why is the intertidal zone paradoxically both the harshest and the richest of all marine environments?

51) How would you explain the vicariant distribution of the dawn redwood (restricted to a small area of China) with the disjunct distribution of its fossils and close living relatives in California?

52) Explain the salient features of the Continental Drift Theory. Why did it take so long for it to be accepted?

53) Discuss what is meant by the "Great American Interchange."

54) Of what value is knowing the former positions of the tectonic plates and their continental passengers?