Disruptions to communities Knowledge-Based Practice

Questions

1. 1.

   Which of the following terms describes the ability of an ecological community to withstand a disturbance without undergoing significant changes in its structure and composition?

   • A) Ecological resilience
   • B) Ecological resistance
   • C) Ecological succession
   • D) Ecological redundancy
2. 2.

   According to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, how do moderate levels of environmental disturbance maintain high species diversity in an ecological community?

   • A) By accelerating competitive exclusion so that only the single most efficient species survives
   • B) By entirely eliminating pioneer species so that late-successional organisms dominate the habitat
   • C) By preventing competitively dominant species from excluding weaker competitors while allowing both colonizers and late-successional species to coexist
   • D) By creating completely uniform abiotic conditions that remove all selective pressures driving interspecific competition
3. 3.

   When an apex predator is abruptly eliminated from a stable ecological community, which of the following disruptive phenomena typically cascades through the lower trophic levels?

   • A) An uncontrolled surge in herbivore populations that causes widespread depletion of primary producers
   • B) A precipitous collapse of primary consumer populations due to an absence of selective predation pressure
   • C) A direct expansion in the carrying capacity and diversity of all autotroph species within the habitat
   • D) An immediate stabilization of energy flow caused by spontaneous autotrophic compensation
4. 4.

   Which of the following processes typically occurs in an ecological community immediately following a major disturbance, such as a wildfire, that destroys living vegetation but leaves the soil substrate intact?

   • A) Secondary succession begins with the rapid colonization of pioneer species utilizing the remaining soil and seed bank.
   • B) Primary succession is initiated because all prior biological interactions and ecological legacies have been completely erased.
   • C) Climax tree species immediately re-establish because their late-successional saplings require intense, direct solar radiation.
   • D) Trophic interactions permanently collapse, leaving the disturbed habitat incapable of supporting autotrophic organisms.
5. 5.

   Which of the following best describes a typical ecological consequence of introducing an invasive species into an established community?

   • A) An immediate increase in the overall species richness and niche differentiation among native specialists
   • B) A permanent stabilization of primary producer populations due to increased trophic redundancy
   • C) A complete cessation of nutrient cycling driven by the immediate loss of all decomposers
   • D) A decline or local extinction of native species due to intense competition for shared resources and a lack of co-evolved defenses

Answers and step-by-step solutions appear after you finish the test.