53
Behavioral Ecology
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
Fill in the Blank
1. Species that have social systems with sterile classes are termed _______.
Answer: eusocial
2. Members of social groups often have _______ exposure to disease compared to
solitary animals.
Answer: increased
3. Members of social groups usually have _______ protection from predators compared
to solitary animals.
Answer: increased
4. _______ may cause traits that reliably signal male quality to become exaggerated
through evolution.
Answer: Sexual selection
5. _______ involves the defense of an area that contains food, nesting sites, or other
resources.
Answer: Territorial behavior
6. In white-fronted bee-eaters, about half the nonbreeding individuals help at the nests of
other individuals. Helping relatives _______ fitness, and thus white-fronted bee-eaters
usually help relatives rather than nonrelatives.
Answer: increases
7. Ecologists often analyze their observations of animal behavior in terms of the costs and
_______ to the performer.
Answer: benefits
8. An important variable in determining the costs and benefits of altruism is the _______
between the performer and recipient.
Answer: relatedness
9. The _______ cost of a behavior is the difference between the energy an animal would
have expended had it rested, and the energy expended in performing the behavior.
Answer: energetic
10. The _______ cost of a behavior is an animal’s increased chance of being injured or
killed as a result of performing it, as opposed to resting.
Answer: risk
11. The _______ cost of a behavior is the sum of the benefits the animal forfeits by not
being able to perform other behaviors during the same time interval. For example, an
animal forfeits the possibility of feeding when it defends its territory.
Answer: opportunity
Multiple Choice
1. An elephant seal’s environment is defined as all
a. other elephant seals in the same area.
b. other organisms that influence it.
c. the physical characteristics of its area.
d. other organisms of its food web.
e. the physical and biological factors that influence it.
Answer: e
2. Which of the following would be an appropriate study in the field of ecology?
a. A comparison of vertebrate skeletal structures
b. A study of the effect of adrenaline on human heart rate
c. An investigation of the roles of hormones in plant growth
d. A study of the effect of fire on forest animals’ populations
e. A classification of fungi into various groups
Answer: d
3. _______ ecology is the study of how animals make decisions that influence their
survival and reproductive success.
a. Natural
b. Social
c. Behavioral
d. Physical
e. Environmental
Answer: c
4. The term for the environment in which an organism lives is its
a. community.
b. ecology.
c. habitat.
d. niche.
e. population.
Answer: c
5. Red abalone larvae will settle on coralline algae substrates only after recognizing a
chemical that the algae produce. As an example of a habitat selection cue, this chemical
probably is
a. required for abalone reproductive success.
b. produced by the algae in order to attract the abalone.
c. a good predictor of conditions suitable for abalone survival.
d. a food source for the abalone.
e. a waste by-product of the algae.
Answer: c
6. Bluegill sunfish are put in two tanks with their prey, water fleas. Each tank contains an
equal proportion of small, medium, and large water fleas. One tank has a low density of
water fleas, and the other has a high flea density. According to foraging theory, the
bluegill sunfish should eat
a. an equal proportion of the three flea sizes at both densities.
b. a greater proportion of large fleas at both densities.
c. equal proportions of the three flea sizes at low density and mostly large fleas at high
density.
d. mostly large fleas at low density and equal proportions of the three flea sizes at high
density.
e. mostly medium and large fleas at low density and mostly large fleas at high density.
Answer: c
7. Which of the following is not a necessary assumption of foraging theory?
a. Efficient predators spend less time on predation than nonefficient predators do.
b. Superior predators can produce more offspring.
c. Superior foraging ability can be genetically based.
d. Predators choose prey in ways that maximize their energy intake.
e. Efficient predators always choose the most abundant prey.
Answer: e
8. Some species of animals may eat soil in particular areas. This behavior results from a
need for _______ in the animal’s diet.
a. water
b. carbohydrates
c. minerals
d. oxygen
e. energy
Answer: c
9. When wood pigeons draw together in a tight group in response to the presence of a
hawk, they are exhibiting _______ behavior.
a. altruistic
b. flocking
c. selfish
d. spiteful
e. territorial
Answer: b
10. When a dog defends its food by attacking a second dog, the first dog is exhibiting
_______ behavior.
a. altruistic
b. cooperative
c. selfish
d. spiteful
e. territorial
Answer: e
11. Kin selection is
a. the mating of relatives.
b. the recognition of relatives among societal animals.
c. the adoption of young by generally unrelated adults.
d. a process of forcing young males out of a society while keeping the females.
e. a behavior that increases the survivorship of an individual’s relatives.
Answer: e
12. Altruistic acts are most likely to evolve into behavior patterns when the participants
a. are capable of learning.
b. have individual fitness.
c. are genetically related.
d. are largely nonsocial.
e. are mating partners.
Answer: c
13. If a female animal who is reproductively mature rejects a courting male of the same
species, she most likely determined that the male was
a. monogamous.
b. not from her social group.
c. polygynous.
d. not healthy.
e. None of the above
Answer: d
14. Although exceptions exist, a female animal generally _______ her reproductive
success by mating with many males.
a. reduces
b. increases
c. doubles
d. does not change
e. None of the above
Answer: d
15. Together, individual fitness and kin selection determine the _______ fitness of an
individual.
a. social
b. selective
c. exclusive
d. inclusive
e. reciprocal
Answer: d
16. Male courtship behavior accomplishes all of the following except
a. inducing a female to mate with the male.
b. displaying that the male is in good health.
c. showing that the male is a good provider.
d. conveying that the male has successfully mated in the past.
e. signaling that the male has a good genotype.
Answer: d
17. After copulation, a male may remain with a female for a time and prevent her from
copulating with other males. Although this behavior has its benefits, it also carries a high
_______ cost.
a. energetic
b. opportunity
c. risk
d. competitive
e. altruistic
Answer: b
18. After copulation, many male insects are genetically programmed to stay near the
female for a time. This behavior is adaptive because it
a. guards the female against injury.
b. prevents the female from copulating again until after fertilization.
c. allows the male to recover from the energetic cost of mating.
d. defends a nesting territory.
e. creates a social bond between the male and female.
Answer: b
19. The most widespread social system among animals is called a
a. family.
b. pack.
c. clan.
d. flock.
e. group.
Answer: a
20. Females may choose a mate based on all of the following except
a. the quality of the resources in his territory.
b. his display of food items.
c. his apparent good health.
d. his physical features.
e. the probability that his sperm will fertilize the eggs.
Answer: e
21. Female reproductive success is improved by choosing a male with all of the following
features except his
a. high genetic quality.
b. good health.
c. interaction with other mates.
d. high parental care.
e. control of abundant resources.
Answer: c
22. Parental care
a. increases the chances of survival of the parent.
b. increases the parent’s ability to produce additional offspring.
c. increases the chances of survival of the offspring.
d. decreases as the number of offspring increases.
e. decreases when costs to parents are lowered.
Answer: c
23. Which of the following characteristics is most likely to occur in a bird species having
brightly colored males and dull-colored females?
a. The males pursue the females during courtship.
b. The species has a monogamous mating system.
c. Offspring are raised by relatives of the parents.
d. The species forms large nesting colonies.
e. The relative size of the females is small compared to the males.
Answer: a
24. The most widespread social system among animals is
a. parents and offspring.
b. peer grouping.
c. several females and their offspring.
d. several pairs and their offspring.
e. a dominant pair, their offspring, and unrelated subordinates.
Answer: a
25. Among mammals, which offspring, if any, tend to leave their parents’ group?
a. Both males and females leave.
b. Females leave; males leave only if a new territory becomes available.
c. Males leave; females do not.
d. Neither males nor females leave.
e. Males leave, but females leave only if a new set of offspring is born.
Answer: c
26. Large numbers of sterile individuals occur in all of the following except
a. termites.
b. ants.
c. bees.
d. beetles.
e. wasps.
Answer: d
27. _______ theory tries to answer questions related to how an animal looks for and
acquires food.
a. Storage
b. Foraging
c. Social
d. Animal
e. None of the above
Answer: b
28. In species with diploid females and haploid males, which pair of relatives is most
similar genetically?
a. Mother and daughter
b. Mother and son
c. Father and son
d. Full sisters
e. Full brothers
Answer: d
29. Which of the following groups exhibits eusocial behavior and has diploid females and
haploid males?
a. Penguins
b. Bees
c. Jackals
d. Termites
e. Naked mole rats
Answer: b
30. W. D. Hamilton hypothesized that eusociality evolved because sterile worker females
are genetically more related to their sisters than to any other relatives. According to this
hypothesis, which one of the following would not be expected?
a. Queens would produce equal numbers of sons and daughters.
b. Workers would feed their sisters better than they feed their brothers.
c. If the original queen is lost, the workers would not favor the new queen’s daughters.
d. Worker females would have the same father and mother.
e. Both males and females would be diploid.
Answer: e
31. Which of the following is not true of eusociality?
a. Eusocial species form elaborate nests or burrows.
b. Helping behavior may be a necessary prerequisite for the evolution of eusociality.
c. Some eusocial species contain only diploid members.
d. Eusociality may occur in one species and be lacking in a closely related species.
e. Eusocial individuals typically live part of their lives away from their society.
Answer: e
32. Large, hoofed, plant-eating mammals tend to
a. feed preferentially on high-protein foods.
b. live in herds.
c. feed in forests.
d. have monogamous mating patterns.
e. have higher metabolic rates than smaller mammals do.
Answer: b
33. Which is not true of social systems?
a. A social system can be studied by asking how individuals in the system benefit from it.
b. Social systems are dynamic; individuals’ relationships with one another change
constantly.
c. Relationships within a social system are determined partly by genetic relatedness.
d. Social systems have evolved primarily because societies have an increased success at
obtaining food.
e. Social systems continue to evolve in relation to animals’ sizes, diets, and habitats.
Answer: d
34. The benefits lost by an animal that is not able to feed while defending its breeding
territory is an example of _______ cost.
a. opportunity
b. energetic
c. risk
d. feeding
e. breeding
Answer: a
35–38. Match the social acts in the list below with the correct descriptions.
a. Altruistic act
b. Eusocial act
c. Kin selection
d. Cooperative act
35. Willow leaf beetles from the same clutch feed together. Beetles in groups can initiate
feeding on tough leaves more easily than lone beetles can, and there are group defenses
against predators.
Answer: d
36. Insects in a colony defend the colony against intruders.
Answer: b
37. A bird assists its parents in raising offspring.
Answer: c
38. Female mammals help other unrelated females raise their young.
Answer: a
39. Which of the following is not a consequence of parental care?
a. Increased chance of survival of the offspring
b. Increased care of each offspring
c. Increased chance of survival of the parent
d. Increased fitness of the parent
e. Decreased chance of production of additional offspring
Answer: c
40. Paternal care by male mammals is often less than that of birds. The reason for this
difference may be that
a. young mammals are less likely to be eaten by predators and thus need less care.
b. paternity is more certain in birds than in mammals.
c. there is less cost to birds for paternal care.
d. male mammals tend to leave, or are driven out of their social group.
e. newborn mammals are more self-sufficient than newly-hatched birds are.
Answer: d
41. Fitness for each sex is usually maximized in a mating cycle when males copulate
_______ and females copulate _______.
a. many times; once
b. once; once
c. many times; many times
d. a few times; many times
e. a few times; once
Answer: a
42. Group living
a. can result in foraging benefits.
b. reduces exposure to disease.
c. is usually advantageous when food is scarce.
d. has no effect on reproductive success.
e. usually decreases competition between individuals.
Answer: a
43. To construct a hypothesis about how a foraging animal should behave, a scientist first
specifies the objective of the behavior and then attempts to determine the behavioral
choices that would best achieve that objective. This process is called _______ modeling.
a. minimal
b. optimality
c. behavioral
d. forager
e. natural
Answer: b
44. Parental care is an example of _______ behavior.
a. selfish
b. spiteful
c. territorial
d. altruistic
e. reciprocal
Answer: d
45. Females are usually choosier than males with respect to mates because
a. they typically invest more energy per offspring than males do.
b. they typically have more total offspring than males do.
c. males are more variable, so females have more to choose from.
d. only females can nurse young in most animal species.
e. they pass on more genes to their offspring than males do.
Answer: a
46. Male mammals are most likely to provide care for young when
a. fertilization is internal.
b. the males are part of a mating pair.
c. other males exhibit parental care.
d. the males mate with many females.
e. certainty of paternity is low.
Answer: b
47. In some birds, individuals other than the parents help in rearing offspring. These
helpers are usually
a. unrelated to the parents.
b. close relatives of the parents.
c. unrelated females that have lost their own offspring.
d. members of a different altruistic species.
e. cuckolding males.
Answer: b
48. When helpers participate in rearing young, the fitness of parental Florida scrub jays
a. decreases due to competition with the helpers.
b. decreases due to reduced interaction with their offspring.
c. increases because the helpers often feed the parents.
d. increases due to increased offspring survival.
e. is usually unchanged.
Answer: d
49. In many mammals, including primates,
a. females are more likely than males to remain in natal groups.
b. males are more likely than females to remain in natal groups.
c. both males and females usually leave natal groups.
d. both males and females typically remain in natal groups.
e. natal groups rarely persist once young are independent.
Answer: a
50. Baboons travel in groups that are defended from predators by adult males. This
behavior of the males probably _______ the baboons’ fitness because it _______.
a. increases; increases their survival
b. increases; increases survival of their offspring
c. decreases; decreases their survival
d. decreases; decreases survival of their offspring
e. is unrelated to; has no effect on their survival
Answer: b
51. An example of eusociality is
a. female birds throwing each other’s eggs out of the communal nest.
b. the existence of a few mating females in an insect colony.
c. male bees stealing one another’s mates.
d. male elephant seals defending harems against one another.
e. parent birds feeding their offspring.
Answer: b
52. Behavioral ecology studies
a. how animals make decisions about their survival.
b. how animals choose their mates.
c. how animals select food and shelter.
d. group interactions.
e. All of the above
Answer: e
53. Which of the following is not a criterion used by a predator in choosing its prey?
a. How long it will take to capture the prey
b. The energy it will receive from eating the prey
c. The abundance of the prey
d. Whether another predator is after the same prey
e. Whether the prey contains the proper nutrients for the predator
Answer: d
STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
Knowledge and Synthesis Questions
1. Which of the following is not usually included within the domain of ecology?
a. Interactions between conspecifics
b. Modifications of the environment by organisms
c. Evolution of different social organizations
d. Modification of the environment by physical processes
2. Birds spend some of their time scanning the horizon for predators. While scanning,
they cannot be foraging for food. Which of the following does this situation illustrate?
a. Cooperative hunting
b. Energetic cost
c. Risk cost
d. Opportunity cost
3. Experimental data suggest that human enjoyment of spices in food is probably
a. of no adaptive significance, because a taste for spices appears to be entirely a learned
(or culturally determined) behavior.
b. adaptive, because most spices help to prevent the growth of microbes in food.
c. adaptive, because spices mask the bad taste of spoiled food, thereby making it
palatable.
d. maladaptive, because spices often bind to mineral nutrients in the diet and thus prevent
their absorption.
4. Two species of mice live in the same geographical region, but Species 1 prefers open
fields, whereas Species 2 lives in forests. When presented in an experiment with
simulated “fields” and “forests,” individuals of each species born in a laboratory
preferred the environment in which they normally lived. This experiment illustrates the
concept of
a. habitat selection.
b. optimal foraging strategy.
c. territoriality.
d. Both a and b
5. Suppose a predator has two different prey: Species 1 and Species 2. You perform a
series of experiments in which the density of Species 1 is varied while the density of
Species 2 is kept constant. At each Species 1 density, you determine how many prey of
Species 1 and 2 the predator takes. The two curves (a and b) plotted in the following
graph show the outcome of this study.
Select the statement that correctly interprets these curves.
a. Curve a indicates that Species 2 is the preferred prey.
b. Curve b indicates that Species 1 is the preferred prey.
c. Curve b indicates that Species 1 is not the preferred prey.
d. Neither of these curves provides insight into the prey preference of the predator.
6. You observe an example of an apparently altruistic act by an animal that seems to
reduce its near-term likelihood of reproductive success. What would be the least
plausible explanation for its behavior?
a. The act aids the reproductive success of individuals sharing a high proportion of genes
with the altruistic individual.
b. The act is only apparently altruistic; over the long term, the behavior actually
contributes to individual fitness.
c. The act increases the inclusive fitness of the animal performing it.
d. The act is advantageous because it helps the species to survive and reproduce, even if
the altruist itself does not.
7. Some birds give a species-specific vocalization called an “alarm call” when they see a
predator, although this call may direct the predator toward them. Other members of their
species respond to these calls by taking cover. This would be an example of altruistic
behavior that is beneficial to the calling bird if
a. the bird giving the vocalization survives the attack.
b. the inclusive fitness of the bird giving the vocalization is increased.
c. all birds survive the attack.
d. the birds benefiting are offspring of the bird giving the vocalization.
8. Which of the following characteristics is/are shared by all eusocial species?
a. A sex determination system in which males are haploid and females are diploid
b. Queens that mate with a single male
c. Presence of sterile classes
d. All of the above
9. Which of the following statements would explain why one or more social species have
become very abundant?
a. Social living allows social species to exploit the services of other organisms in
harvesting resources.
b. Social living enables organisms to exploit temporally and spatially patchy food
resources.
c. Social living permits individuals to be specialized in their activities, thereby increasing
the efficiency of the group in utilizing resources.
d. All of the above.
10. An individual of Species A displaces an individual of Species B from food that the
latter has discovered. This is an example of
a. behavioral dominance.
b. territoriality.
c. habitat selection.
d. Both a and b
Answers
Knowledge and Synthesis Answers
1. d. All except the modification of the environment by physical factors are normally
included within the domain of ecology.
2. d. The forfeited benefits of behaviors that could not be performed as a result of
performing a different behavior, like scanning, comprise the opportunity cost of the
performed behavior.
3. b. Experiments indicate that the majority of spices commonly used in cooking inhibit
the growth of more than one kind of food-borne bacteria.
4. a. The environment in which a species normally lives is its habitat.
5. b. Because the number of Species 2 taken by the predator increases markedly at low
Species 1 densities, you can conclude that the predator includes Species 2 in its diet only
when insufficient Species 1 individuals are available. The number of Species 1 taken is
independent of Species 1 density.
6. d. For altruistic behavior to evolve by natural selection, it must increase the fitness of
the individual performing the behavior, usually through kin selection. Any explanation of
an altruistic act based on its purported benefit to the species as a whole violates this
principle.
7. b. Altruistic behavior is beneficial to the performer when the improvement in the
reproductive success of relatives exceeds the reduced reproductive success of the
individual performing the act. This would be true if the behavior improves the inclusive
fitness (individual fitness + kin selection) of the performer.
8. c. By definition, eusocial species live in social groups with sterile castes. The sex
determination mechanism in which males are haploid and females are diploid is found in
the Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) but not in termites and naked mole-rats. Within
the Hymenoptera, there are species in which queens mate with many males.
9. d. The social ants and termites frequently exploit other species in harvesting resources.
Wildebeest are an example of an abundant social species that utilizes patchy foods.
Human beings, as well as many eusocial species, exhibit specialization of behavior that
improves the efficiency of resource utilization (e.g., food procurement).
10. a. The scenario presented in the question clearly illustrates behavioral dominance of
Species A over Species B. Not enough information is given in the question to justify the
assumption that either species was defending a territory.
TEXTBOOK SELF QUIZ QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following is not a component of the cost of performing a behavior?
a. Its energetic cost
b. The risk of being injured
c. Its opportunity cost
d. The risk of being attacked by a predator
e. Its information cost
2. An almost universal cost associated with group living is
a. increased risk of predation.
b. interference with foraging.
c. higher exposure to diseases and parasites.
d. poorer access to mates.
e. poorer access to sleeping sites.
3. Which is not an important assumption of foraging behavior theory?
a. Efficient foragers spend less time fulfilling their energy needs than inefficient ones.
b. Superior foragers will generally produce more surviving offspring.
c. A successful predator will choose its prey in such a way as to maximize its energy
intake.
d. An efficient predator will always choose the most abundant prey.
e. The ability of a predator to discriminate among prey items has a genetic basis.
4. The basic components of an optimality model of behavior are
a. the type of behavior and its neural control mechanisms.
b. the objective of the behavior and the choices that would best achieve it.
c. the objective of the behavior and its neural control mechanisms.
d. the goal of the behavior and the constraints imposed by the animal's structure.
e. the objective to be maximized and the currency used to measure it.
5. The choice of a mating partner may be based on
a. the inherent qualities of a potential mate.
b. the resources held by a potential mate.
c. both the inherent qualities of a potential mate and the resources it holds.
d. the success of individuals of the opposite sex in courtship.
e. All of the above
6. Altruistic behavior
a. confers a benefit on the performer by inflicting some cost on some other individual.
b. confers a benefit both on the performer and on some other individual.
c. inflicts a cost both on the performer and on some other individual.
d. confers a benefit on another individual at some cost to the performer.
e. confers a cost on the performer without benefiting any other individual.
7. Kin selection is
a. mating between relatives.
b. the adoption of young by an unrelated adult.
c. the ability to recognize one’s relatives in a social group.
d. a behavior that increases the survivorship of an individual’s relatives.
e. only found among social mammals.
8. Species whose social groups include sterile individuals are said to be
a. eusocial.
b. semisocial.
c. oligosocial.
d. sterisocial.
e. supersocial.
Answers
1. e
2. c
3. d
4. b
5. c
6. d
7. d
8. a
ONLINE QUIZ QUESTIONS
1.The environment in which an organism lives is called its
a.lek.
b.tribe.
c.habitat.
d.population.
e.biome.
Answer: c
2.An act is said to be altruistic if it
a.confers a benefit on the performer by inflicting some cost on some other individual.
b.confers a benefit both on the performer and on some other individual.
c.inflicts a cost both on the performer and on some other individual.
d.confers a benefit on another individual at some cost to the performer.
e.imposes a cost on the performer without benefiting any other individual
Answer: d
3.Which of the following statements about male and female roles in social systems is not
correct?
a.Females invest more in gamete production, but they may invest more or less than males
in care of offspring.
b.Biparental care is prevalent among birds.
c.Males of most mammal species help feed offspring.
d.Males with a high probability of parentage invest more in parental care than males that
are less certainly related to the offspring of their mates.
e.Among fishes, if there is unequal parental care by individuals of the two sexes, it is
nearly always the male that does more.
Answer: c
4.A lek is
a.a territory held by a single male.
b.a territory held by two or more males.
c.a display ground at which a single male displays.
d.a display ground at which two or more males display.
e.a territory held by two or more females.
Answer: d
5.Among social birds, there are usually more male than female helpers in those species
with helpers because
a.males are better helpers than females.
b.males typically receive greater benefits from helping.
c.males survive better than females.
d.mothers do not allow their daughters to help.
e.males often need to wait for an unoccupied territory elsewhere.
Answer: e
6.Small African hoofed mammals are usually solitary because
a.they feed on scattered high-quality foods in forested environments.
b.the low quality of their food does not permit them to assemble in groups.
c.they are too small to defend themselves against predators.
d.they are too small to follow the rains to areas where grass growth is best.
e.they are usually driven from their natal groups.
Answer: a
7.Which of these is not a component of the cost of a particular behavior?
a.Energetic cost
b.Territory cost
c.Risk cost
d.Opportunity cost
Answer: b
8.Animals can improve survival and reproductive success by having exclusive use of the
resources of their habitat by establishing a(n)
a.lek.
b.habitat.
c.territory.
d.optimality model.
e.nest.
Answer: c
9._______ helps to answer questions regarding predator actions.
a.Foraging theory
b.Cost-benefit approach
c.Opportunity cost
d.Social behavior
e.Altruism
Answer: a
10.When would eusociality be favored?
a.Where altruism is low
b.Where there is a high degree of kin selection
c.If establishment of new colonies is difficult and dangerous
d.If helping provides very little benefit to fitness
e.Where organism are asexual
Answer: c
11.At a high density of prey
a. the bluegill sunfish becomes highly selective and eats only large, energy-rich prey.
b. the bluegill sunfish maximizes its rate of energy intake.
c. the bluegill sunfish eats small prey.
d. the bluegill sunfish prefers large fish, but will eat small ones as well.
e. a and b
Answer: e
12.At a low density of prey
a. the bluegill sunfish becomes highly selective and eats only large, energy-rich prey.
b. the bluegill sunfish maximizes its rate of energy intake.
c. the bluegill sunfish eats small prey.
d. the bluegill sunfish prefers large fish, but will eat small ones as well.
e. b and c
Answer: e
13.At a medium density of prey
a. the bluegill sunfish becomes highly selective and eats only large, energy-rich prey.
b. the bluegill sunfish maximizes its rate of energy intake.
c. the bluegill sunfish eats small prey.
d. the bluegill sunfish prefers large fish, but will eat small ones as well.
e. b and d
Answer: e
14.The numbers of small, medium, and large prey that the sunfish eats reflect the
effective proportions of prey in the environment.
a. true
b. false
Answer: a
15.In a low density prey situation,
a. the effective proportions of prey in the environment are higher than the actual
proportions in the diet.
b. the effective proportions of prey in the environment are lower than the actual
proportions in the diet.
c. the effective proportions of prey in the environment are the same as the actual
proportions in the diet.
d. the effective proportions of prey in the environment are absent and the actual
proportions in the diet are present.
e. the effective proportions of prey in the environment are present and the actual
proportions in the diet are absent.
Answer: a