Ecology
SHORT QUESTIONS
Short answers can be a paragraph, but answers need to be on point.
1. Explain how does inbreeding increase the risk of extinction for a population.
2. For a population undergoing exponential growth, if its exponential growth rate (r) is 0.3148, what is its geometric growth rate (λ)? If the population size (N) is 2500 individuals, what is the rate of change of the population? Show all of your work.
3. Explain the differences between primary sexual characteristics and secondary sexual characteristics. Give an example of each.
4. For a population undergoing geometric growth, if its geometric growth rate (λ) is 2.07 and its initial population size (N0) is 863 individuals, what would the population size be after five generations? What would its geometric growth rate be after five generations? Show your work.
(one to one and half page including all the necessary information)
Choose and answer 2 of the questions from below. Include the reference from the relevant article where asked.
1. List and explain all the main drivers of evolution. Which one(s) lead(s) to adaptive evolution?
2. List and explain the major models for intersexual selection, including the initial proponent of each model. Describe one example from a peer-reviewed study. Give the citation by including the URL of the article.
3. Explain what a population cycle is and what are some of the potential causes of it. Describe one example from a peer-reviewed study. Give the citation by including the URL of the article.
4. Explain the optimal foraging theory, including all the factors involved in its prediction. Give an example of this from a peer-reviewed study. Give the citation by including the URL of the article.
5. Explain what a metapopulation is and how its dynamics are predicted. Describe one example from a peer-reviewed study. Give the citation by including the URL of the article.