Chapter 5 AP® Environmental Science Practice Exam

Section 1: Multiple-Choice Questions

Choose the best answer for questions 1–12.

Question 1

1. Which is NOT a measure of biodiversity?

  1. Economic diversity

  2. Ecosystem diversity

  3. Genetic diversity

  4. Species diversity

  5. Species richness

Question 2

2. Which statement describes an example of artificial selection?

  1. Cichlids have diversified into nearly 200 species in Lake Tanganyika.

  2. Thoroughbred racehorses have been bred for speed.

  3. Whales have evolved tails that help propel them through water.

  4. Darwin’s finches have beaks adapted to eating different foods.

  5. Ostriches have lost the ability to fly.

Question 3

3. The following table represents the number of individuals of different species that were counted in three forest communities. Which statement best interprets these data?

Species Community A Community B Community C
Deer 95 20 10
Rabbit 1 20 10
Squirrel 1 20 10
Mouse 1 20 10
Chipmunk 1 20 10
Skunk 10
Opossum 10
Elk 10
Raccoon 10
Porcupine 10

  1. Community A has greater species evenness than Community B.

  2. Community A has greater species richness than Community B.

  3. Community B has greater species evenness than Community C.

  4. Community C has greater species richness than Community A.

  5. Community A has greater species evenness than Community C.

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Question 4

4. The yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is a fish that breeds in spring. A single female can produce up to 40,000 eggs at one time. This species is an example of which of the key ideas of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection?

  1. Individuals produce an excess of offspring.

  2. Humans select for predetermined traits.

  3. Individuals vary in their phenotypes.

  4. Phenotypic differences in individuals can be inherited.

  5. Different phenotypes have different abilities to survive and reproduce.

Question 5

5. In 2002, Peter and B. Rosemary Grant studied a population of Darwin’s finches on one of the Galápagos Islands that feeds on seeds of various sizes. After a drought that caused only large seeds to be available to the birds, they found that natural selection favored those birds that had larger beaks and bodies. Once the rains returned and smaller seeds became much more abundant, however, natural selection favored those birds that had smaller beaks and bodies. Which process is the best interpretation of this scenario?

  1. Genetic drift

  2. Founder effect

  3. Microevolution

  4. Macroevolution

  5. Bottleneck effect

Question 6

6. When a population of monkeys migrates to a new habitat across a river and encounters another population of the same species, what evolutionary effect may occur as a result?

  1. Gene flow

  2. The founder effect

  3. Genetic drift

  4. The bottleneck effect

  5. Recombination

Question 7

7. The northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) was once hunted to near-extinction. Only 20 animals remained alive in 1890. Then, after the species was protected from hunting, its population grew to nearly 30,000 animals. However, this large population possesses very low genetic variation. Which process is the best interpretation of this scenario?

  1. Evolution by natural selection

  2. Evolution by artificial selection

  3. Evolution by the founder effect

  4. Evolution by the bottleneck effect

  5. Evolution by genetic drift

Question 8

8. Which statement is NOT correct?

  1. Most speciation is thought to occur through allopatric speciation.

  2. Polyploidy is an example of sympatric speciation.

  3. Speciation can be caused by either natural selection or random processes.

  4. Geographic isolation can eventually lead to reproductive isolation.

  5. Speciation cannot occur without geographic isolation.

Question 9

9. Which allows more-rapid evolution?

  1. Long generation times

  2. Rapid environmental change

  3. Large population sizes

  4. Low genetic variation

  5. High genetic variation

Question 10

10.Which conditions do NOT define the fundamental niche of a species?

  1. Humidity

  2. Predators

  3. Temperature

  4. Salinity

  5. pH

Question 11

11.Some scientists estimate that the current global extinction rate is about 30,000 species per year. If there are currently 10,000,000 species on Earth, how long will it take to destroy all of Earth’s biodiversity?

  1. Less than 100 years

  2. Between 100 and 300 years

  3. Between 300 and 500 years

  4. Between 500 and 700 years

  5. Between 700 and 1,000 years

Question 12

12.Global climate change can cause the extinction of species due to all of the following EXCEPT

  1. the inability of individuals to move.

  2. the absence of a favorable environment nearby.

  3. the presence of another species occupying a similar niche in neighboring areas.

  4. the rapid rate of environment change.

  5. the presence of high genetic variation.

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Section 2: Free-Response Questions

Write your answer to each part clearly. Support your answers with relevant information and examples. Where calculations are required, show your work.

Question 1

1. Look at the photograph below and answer the following questions.

image
(Radius Images/Alamy)

  1. Explain how this human impact on a forest ecosystem might affect the ability of some species to move to more suitable habitats as Earth’s climate changes. (2 points)

  2. Propose and explain one alternative plan that could have preserved this forest ecosystem. (2 points)

  3. Distinguish between the terms microevolution and macroevolution. Explain how the organisms in the forest on the left could evolve into species different from those in the forest on the right. (6 points)

Question 2

2. Read the following article, which appears courtesy of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and answer the questions that follow.

Drug-Resistant E. coli and Klebsiella Bacteria Found in Hospital Samples and Elsewhere in U.S.

A research team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, examining bacterial isolates obtained in hospital and non-hospital clinical settings between 2000 and 2006, has identified drug-resistant strains of E. coli and Klebsiella bacteria in more than 50 blood, urine and respiratory samples. These resistant strains, which resemble bacteria reported in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, were thought to be rare in the United States.

“This antibiotic resistance problem is likely to become widespread,” said paper co-author Jan Evans Patterson, M.D., professor of medicine, infectious diseases, and pathology at the UT Health Science Center. “It affects the way we will treat infections in the future. In the past, we were concerned with antibiotic resistance in the hospital primarily, but in this review many of the strains we detected were from the community. This tells us antibiotic resistance is spreading in the community as well, and will affect how we choose antibiotics for outpatient infections.”

If the trend continues, it may become difficult to select appropriate antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infections, for example. “The trend over the last decade has been to treat urinary infections empirically, to pick the drug that has worked,” said James Jorgensen, Ph.D., professor of pathology, medicine, microbiology, and clinical laboratory sciences at the Health Science Center. “Now it is important for physicians to culture the patient’s urine to be sure they have selected the right antibiotic. The top three drugs that are often prescribed may not be effective with these resistant bacteria.”

  1. Explain how drug-resistant strains of bacteria could evolve in a hospital. (4 points)

  2. According to the article, what are scientists now concerned about that they were not concerned about in the past? (2 points)

  3. Explain how new drugs could be viewed as restricting the fundamental niche of a particular bacterial species. (2 points)

  4. Propose two possible solutions to the current problem of drug-resistant bacteria. (1 point each)