Ecology The Economy of Nature

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Chapter 8: Life Histories

Life history traits represent the schedule of an organism’s life

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Topic: Life history traits represent the schedule of an organism’s life.

Level: easy

Fecundity is
a. the number of reproductive episodes of an organism.
b. the amount of overall energy expended to reproduction over the life of an organism.
c. the number of offspring produced by an organism per reproductive episode.
d. the period in the life of an organism when it can produce offspring.
Answer: c

2. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: easy

Which life history type do mammals exhibit?

a. slow
b. delayed
c. fast
d. accelerated
Answer: a

3. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: easy

Which does NOT have slow life history attributes?

a. oak tree
b. sea urchin
c. elephant
d. giant tortoise
e. bald eagle
Answer: b

4. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: easy

Which does NOT have fast life history attributes?

a. rabbit
b. fruit fly
c. grasses
d. albatross
e. shrimp
Answer: d

5. Topic: combinations of life history traits in plants

Level: medium

Grime proposed that combinations of life history traits in plants are mainly determined by three
factors. Which is NOT one of these factors?
a. disturbance
b. herbivory
c. competition
d. stress
Answer: b

6. Topic: combinations of life history traits in plants

Difficulty: medium
Consider a species with a fast potential growth rate, reproduction at a relatively early age,
allocation of a small proportion of net production to seeds, and reliance on vegetative spread.
According to Grime's classification of life history traits, this species fits the profile of a
a. stress-tolerant species.
b. facilitator.
c. ruderal.
d. competitor.
e. fixed-trait strategist.
Answer: d

7. Topic: combinations of life history traits in plants

Difficulty: medium
Consider a species with a slow potential growth rate, reproduction at a relatively late age,
allocation of a small proportion of net production to seeds, and reliance on vegetative spread.
According to Grime's classification of life history traits, this species fits the profile of a:
a. stress-tolerant species.
b. facilitator.
c. ruderal.
d. competitor.
e. fixed-trait strategist.
Answer: a

SHORT ANSWER

8. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: medium

Explain why life history variables, such as number of offspring, size of offspring, and degree of
parental care, are often correlated.
Answer: Species cannot maximize all of these traits. For example, if many offspring are
produced, they will probably be smaller than if few are produced. Parental care is much more
effective with few offspring.

9. Topic: combinations of life history traits in plants

Level: difficult
Explain the main life history trait that differentiates ruderals and stress-tolerant plants.
Answer: The main difference is the proportion of energy devoted to reproduction. Stress-tolerant
plants live in growth-limiting environments, so they increase their fitness by reducing the amount
of energy used for seed production; seeds are energetically costly and are likely to have low
survival in a stressful habitat. Ruderals are adapted to disturbance, meaning that mature plants
cannot depend on long-term survival. Because their fitness is maximized by ensuring future
generations, they allocate a high proportion of energy to reproduction.

10. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: medium
Which plant life history type, fast or slow, would best describe a weed species that is a good
invader of new habitats?
Answer: The fast life history would foster the development and spread of an opportunistic weed
species that can rapidly populate a new or disturbed habitat.

11. Topic: the slow-to-fast life history continuum

Level: Difficult
Which life history type, fast or slow, is more likely to describe an endangered animal species?
Answer: Most endangered species probably have a slow life history type. While parental care
provides high juvenile survivorship, the few offspring produced result in low recovery (or
resilience) to population declines.

Life history traits are shaped by trade-offs

MULTIPLE CHOICE

12. Topic: the principle of allocation

Level: easy

The principle of allocation states that life history traits are adapted to maximize
a. fitness.
b. frequency of reproduction.
c. number of offspring in the population.
d. ability of offspring to start populations in new habitats.
e. fecundity.
Answer: a

13. Topic: the principle of allocation

Level: medium

Which life history trait is most likely to be fixed for a species?

a. timing of reproduction in the lifespan
b. number of offspring
c. survival rate of offspring
d. total energy given to reproduction
e. size of offspring
Answer: e

14. Topic: fecundity and parental care versus parental survival

Level: medium

How does having a large number of offspring affect a parent’s fitness for subsequent breeding
seasons?
a. It could limit the number of offspring the adult produces in its life.
b. The increased energy needed to feed many offspring may lower adult survival in the following
breeding season.
c. The energy required to feed many offspring could trigger smaller broods in the future.
d. Competition with offspring for food could reduce energy for future reproduction.
Answer: b

15. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Level: easy

Which of the following does NOT apply to determinate growth?

a. growth in body size throughout life
b. cessation of growth upon maturation (adulthood)
c. a fixed age of maturation
d. characteristic of bird and mammals
e. iteroparity
Answer: a

16. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Level: easy
Which of the following does NOT apply to indeterminate growth?
a. growth in body size throughout life
b. cessation of growth upon maturation (adulthood)
c. flexible age of maturation
d. characteristic of plants and insects
e. semelparity
Answer: b

17. Topic: fecundity and parental care versus parental survival

Level: difficult
When adults have a high probability of survival from one year to the next and offspring survival
is relatively poor, the best strategy for an adult to maximize fitness is to
a. increase fecundity at the expense of survival.
b. delay reproduction for the next cycle.
c. increase survival at the expense of fecundity.
d. invest all excess energy in having fewer but larger offspring.
e. maintain a balance of fecundity and survival.
Answer: c

18. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: difficult
Some marine snails (species L) produce large numbers of small eggs that are shed into the sea,
hatch at an early stage of development, and feed on microscopic plants. Other marine snails
(species S) produce few eggs that are retained for a long time within the body of the mother snail
in a brood pouch, hatch at an advanced stage of development, and immediately begin to feed on
the surfaces of large plants like the adults. If a biologist discovers approximately equal numbers
of adults of species L and S in the same area over many generations, which of the following is
most likely?
a. Young that are cared for by parents until they reach a more advanced stage have a greater
chance of survival.
b. Approximately the same percentage of young produced by each species survive to maturity.
c. Organisms that produce a greater number of offspring will likely replace organisms with fewer
offspring.
d. The young of species L grow more rapidly than the young of species S.
Answer: a

19. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: difficult
Some marine snails (species L) produce large numbers of small eggs that are shed into the sea,
hatch at an early stage of development, and feed on microscopic plants. Other marine snails
(species S) produce few eggs that are retained for a long time within the body of the mother snail
in a brood pouch, hatch at an advanced stage of development, and immediately begin to feed on
the surfaces of large plants like the adults. A biologist discovers approximately equal numbers of
adults of species L and S in the same area over many generations. While studying the two
species of snails, the biologist hypothesizes that the two species expend approximately the same
amount of energy producing young. What assumption is the biologist making?
a. Species S snails could produce as many eggs as species L snails under certain conditions.
b. An egg of species S contains more energy than an egg of species L.
c. Since species L snails produce more eggs, these eggs probably contain more energy.
d. Species S snails provide some energy to the young when they are in the brood pouch.
Answer: b

20. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Difficulty: medium
For birds, age at maturity
a. varies directly with annual survival rates of adults.
b. varies inversely with annual survival rates of adults.
c. varies with the productivity of the environment.
d. is not related to annual survival rates of adults.
Answer: a

Use this figure to answer questions 21 to 23.

1. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span

Level: medium

Which panel best illustrates the most direct effect of predation?

a. a
b. b
c. c
d. d
Answer: a
22. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Level: difficult
Which variable best summarizes the response to increased predation mortality for adults and
suggests that putting more energy into reproduction provides an improved fitness benefit?
a. mature male guppy size
b. offspring volume (percent of adult mass)
c. number of offspring
d. embryo weight
Answer: b

23. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Level: medium
Which variable has the smallest proportional difference among the low and high levels of
predation risk?
a. mature male guppy size
b. offspring volume (percent of adult mass)
c. number of offspring
d. embryo weight
Answer: a

SHORT ANSWER

24. Topic: offspring number versus offspring size

Level: medium

For seed-producing trees, what conditions might favour production of few relatively large seeds?
What conditions might favour production of many relatively small seeds?
Answer: Trees of closed forests with little opportunity to disperse seeds into new habitats might
be expected to produce relatively few large seeds. Each seed could be supplied with substantial
reserves of food and nutrients, giving the developing seedling an opportunity to compete
successfully for limited resources. Trees of open forests with opportunities to disperse seeds into
new habitats might be expected to produce larger numbers of lighter seeds. Such seeds might be
more readily dispersed by wind, water, or small animals into open habitats. The larger numbers
of seeds would also increase the chances that some seeds will land in favourable sites, and
opportunities for rapid population expansion could be readily exploited.

25. Topic: offspring number versus offspring size

Level: medium

Tropical songbirds tend to lay fewer eggs in each clutch than birds nesting at higher latitudes.
David Lack of Oxford University first placed this observation in a life-history context. To what
relation did Lack attribute this pattern?
Answer: Lack recognized that life-history traits vary in predictable ways with environmental
factors and constraints. He hypothesized that clutch size was commensurate with availability of
resources (food, in this case), which tend to decrease with latitude.

26. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: medium

We might expect natural selection to favour organisms that produce more offspring. Why is this
not the case for species with a high degree of parental care?
Answer: When parental care requirements are high, parents are not able to provide adequate care
for larger broods, and survival rates will be lower than if they had fewer offspring.

Use this figure to answer questions 27 and 28.

27. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: medium
Use the information in the figure to explain whether the fitness of the parent increases with more
eggs produced and why.
Answer: The ratio of chicks fledged per number of eggs is relatively constant (approximately
0.5) up to seven eggs, but fewer chicks are fledged with an eighth egg.

28. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: difficult
According to the figure, what are the implications of producing five versus eight eggs? Which
option should be favoured by natural selection?
Answer: The number of chicks fledged is the same whether five or eight eggs are produced.
Since it takes more parental energy to produce eight eggs and care for eight chicks, the survival
rate per egg is lower with eight eggs. Therefore, natural selection should favour the production of
five rather than eight eggs.

29. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: medium

The number of chicks fledged in a brood may not be independent of the number of eggs
produced. How might researchers test these variables independently to determine whether there
is a relationship between them?
Answer: Researchers can add or subtract the number of eggs in a nest to see whether this
influences the number of chicks fledged.

30. Topic: offspring number versus parental care

Level: difficult
Explain two significant ways in which environmental productivity and stability can influence the
number of offspring produced and their probability of survival.
Answer: A productive and stable environment will allow females to dedicate a relatively high
level of energy to reproduction, which means more offspring for most species. In addition, such
an environment will allow for a larger food supply for offspring, even if indirectly through
maternal lactation.

31. Topic: growth versus age of sexual maturity and life span
Level: difficult
Compare the relative influence of determinate and indeterminate growth patterns on natural
selection for adult size.
Answer: An indeterminate growth pattern is more likely to influence adult size, especially that of
females, than determinate growth patterns. Since females with determinate growth stop growing
at maturation, the fitness of offspring should be due to other factors. Females with indeterminate
growth will vary greatly in size and thus fecundity. Since few species with indeterminate growth
exhibit a high level of parental care, there is no negative consequence for producing more
offspring.
32. Topic: fecundity and parental care versus parental survival
Level: medium

How would fecundity and age at maturity be influenced by adult and juvenile survival rates?
Answer: If the ratio of adult to juvenile survival is high, then either adults should not put much
energy into reproduction, or maturation should be delayed, or both. In the opposite situation, the
ratio of adult to juvenile survival is low. This would encourage semelparity, in which the adult
puts as much energy as possible into one mortality-causing reproductive event.

Organisms differ in the number of times that they reproduce, but they all eventually
become senescent

MULTIPLE CHOICE

33. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Level: easy

What is the reproduction pattern of most insects?

a. semelparity
b. iteroparity
c. annual
d. perennial
Answer: a

34. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Level: easy

Red foxes mature after their first year of life and may live for 5 to 10 years. Foxes often
reproduce many times over their life. The term to describe this aspect of their life history is
a. opportunistic.
b. precocious.
c. iteroparous.
d. semelparous.
Answer: c

35. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Level: medium

What type of reproduction will be favoured if adult plant survival is low because of a disturbance
such as fire?
a. semelparity
b. iteroparity
c. annual
d. perennial
Answer: a

36. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Difficulty: medium
A mature female sockeye salmon swims up to 5000 km from her Pacific Ocean feeding ground
to the mouth of a coastal river in British Columbia and then another 1000 km upstream to her
spawning ground. Once there, she lays thousands of eggs in her single reproductive event and
promptly dies. The salmon's reproductive life history is
a. semelparous.
b. iteroparous.
c. annual.
d. perennial.
Answer: a

37. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Difficulty: medium
Lobelia telekii and its relative, L. keniensis, both grow on Mount Kenya in Africa. L. telekii
grows on dry rocky slopes whose resources for reproduction (particularly moisture) are highly
variable in time and space. L. keniensis is found in moist valley bottoms with more stable
moisture supplies. Which species is semelparous?
a. L. telekii
b. L. keniensis
Answer: a

38. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity

Difficulty: medium
"Bet hedging" (spreading reproduction over both good and bad years) has been proposed as an
advantage to
a. iteroparity.
b. semelparity.
c. both a and b.
d. neither a nor b.
Answer: a

39. Topic: senescence

Level: easy

A gradual increase in fecundity and increase in the probability of mortality is known as

a. logistic growth.
b. acclimation.
c. senescence.
d. semelparity.
Answer: c

40. Topic: senescence

Difficulty: medium
In human females the increased prevalence of birth defects in offspring and of infertility after 30
years of age is known as
a. iteroparity.
b. semelparity.
c. senescence.
d. middle age.
e. reproductive failure.
Answer: a

41. Topic: senescence

Difficulty: medium

If maintaining high survival and reproduction would increase an individual’s fitness at any age,
what is the most likely reason these traits decline with age in humans?
a. fewer reproductive opportunities
b. increased risk of death from childbirth
c. DNA damaged over time
d. increased exposure to toxins
e. less efficient metabolism
Answer: c

42. Topic: senescence

Difficulty: medium
Across a wide range of bird and mammal species, the rate of aging
a. is positively related to the mortality rate due to extrinsic causes.
b. is negatively related to the mortality rate due to extrinsic causes.
c. is unrelated to the mortality rate due to extrinsic causes.
d. increases with the latitude of species range.
Answer: a

SHORT ANSWER
43. Topic: semelparity and iteroparity
Level: difficult
Yucca plants are mostly iteroparous, but some can be semelparous. Based on the information in
Figure 8.9, semelparous yuccas have a higher percentage of seed germination, which suggests
high fitness. Why, then, are most yucca varieties iteroparous?
Answer: With semelparous yucca species, the probability of adult survival is low on account of
fire; it makes sense to put a lot of energy into reproduction, even if that limits survival and
further reproduction. Where there is a higher survival rate among mature plants, natural selection
favours spending less energy on reproduction so that the plant can survive to reproduce again.

44. Topic: senescence

Level: medium

Is senescence inevitable? Please explain your answer, accounting for the great variation in
patterns of aging among different species.
Answer: Yes, it appears that all mechanisms, biological and otherwise, inevitably wear out.
However, organisms differ greatly in their longevity, and some apparently invest more resources
in processes that prevent or repair damage. The degree to which resources are allocated to such
processes appears to be related to the hazards of life. Species for which external factors
(accidents, predation, bad weather) greatly reduce the likelihood of adult survival receive little
fitness benefit from investment in processes that prevent or repair damage. Among these species
resources devoted to maintenance and repair would detract from early fecundity. Species with
greater likelihood of adult survival are more likely to reap the reproductive benefits of an
extended life span, and the cost of somewhat reduced early fecundity is likely to be more than
offset by the advantages conferred by multiple reproductive events.

Life histories are sensitive to environmental conditions

MULTIPLE CHOICE

45. Topic: stimuli for change

Level: easy

What environmental factor would likely lead to later maturation with an iteroparous reproductive
strategy?
a. fewer interspecific competitors
b. higher rainfall over several years
c. a lower severity and frequency of disturbance
d. global warming
Answer: c

46. Topic: the effects of resources

Level: medium

Which of the following is NOT a potential benefit of increased resource availability?

a. fast growth
b. early development
c. large size at maturation
d. reduced predation risk
Answer: b
47. Topic: the effects of global warming
Level: easy

For some organisms, warmer spring temperatures have led to

a. larger adult size.
b. larger offspring at birth.
c. later offspring production.
d. earlier offspring production.
e. delayed maturation
Answer: d

48. Topic: the effects of resources

Difficulty: easy
Many animals undergo a dramatic metamorphosis from larval to adult form. Poorly nourished
animals cannot grow as fast as well-nourished animals and therefore do not reach a given mass
as quickly as their well-nourished counterparts. If metamorphosis occurs when a specific
minimum body mass is reached, which of the following costs is most likely incurred by a poorly
nourished animal?
a. longer period of risk prior to reproduction
b. reduced reproductive output as an adult
c. deformed offspring
d. offspring with poor competitive ability
e. reduced parental care
Answer: a

49. Topic: the effects of resources

Difficulty: medium
Research on frogs has shown that compared with well-nourished counterparts, poorly nourished
frogs mature
a. at the same size but at a much later age.
b. at the same age but at a much smaller size.
c. at a somewhat later age and at a somewhat smaller size.
d. at a somewhat earlier age and at a somewhat smaller size.
Answer: c

SHORT ANSWER

50. Topic: stimuli for change

Level: difficult
Many life history events are matched to seasonal changes in environmental conditions, such as
the onset of winter. Explain why photoperiod is a more reliable seasonal indicator for plants than
air temperature.
Answer: Although air temperature changes are seasonally predictable, actual temperatures on a
given date vary unpredictably from year to year. However, solar angles and the time of sunrise
and sunset do not change from year to year and are therefore much more reliable seasonal cues
than air temperatures.

51. Topic: the effects of predation

Level: medium

One might suppose that an earlier, longer summer would be beneficial for most species, because
it offers a longer growing season for offspring. How might earlier offspring births in a predator
species be detrimental to it?
Answer: If the prey species of the predators are not similarly affected, offspring may not have an
available food source.

52. Topic: the effects of predation

Level: medium

Size limits for fish catches typically refer to the minimum size of individuals that can be
harvested and retained. How might size limits affect the spawning strategy of a fish population
compared with no size limits, assuming the fish captured are representative of the size
distribution of the population?
Answer: A size limit to catches would disproportionally increase mortality on larger and older
fish. A very high fishing mortality of older and larger fish would tend to select for a semelparous
strategy, especially if the fish were harvested shortly after they became mature.

53. Topic: the effects of resources

Level: difficult
How might population density affect life history?
Answer: A high population density can imply severe competition for resources. This could
increase the mortality rate of offspring by limiting the number of offspring a female can produce,
the resources available to the offspring to ensure their survival, or both.
54. Topic: the effects of global warming
Level: difficult
Explain the relationship between the two plotted variables in Figure 8.14b. How can egg
development and laying occur prior to the end of May if there is a relation between the mean
date of laying and average temperatures for May?
Answer: The birds must use cues from earlier in the spring to establish the laying date from year
to year. The data show that if the air temperatures in early May are high enough, they will lay
eggs before the end of the month. This also suggests a potential for a bias in the relationship of
mean May temperatures and laying date if the days in May after laying are particularly warm or
cold.
55. Topic: the effects of global warming
Level: difficult
The data in the figure show a relationship between the mean flowering date for many plant
species around Concord, New Hampshire, in the United States, and the mean spring temperature
over a time span exceeding 150 years. However, there is a lot of scatter around the best-fit line in
panel b. What information in the chapter might suggest the source of this scatter, and what does
it imply about the plant species’ cues for flowering?
Answer: The scatter in the data could be due to the fact that some of the plants did not change
their flowering date over time despite an increase in spring temperatures. This suggests that these
plants probably use a cue such as photoperiod rather than heat to determine flowering date.

Analyzing ecology: coefficients of determination

MULTIPLE CHOICE

56. Topic: analyzing ecology

Level: easy

The equation = + is for a

a. parabola.
b. hypotenuse.
c. straight line.
d. intercept.
Answer: c

57. Topic: analyzing ecology

Level: medium

The error sum of squares in a regression is based on

a. the difference between the actual and expected values of .
b. the degree of change in per unit .
c. on how close the y-intercept is relative to 0.
d. how much the best fit line deviates from linearity.
Answer: a

SHORT ANSWER

58. Topic: analyzing ecology

Level: difficult
Examine the equation for the coefficient of determination ( ), especially the total sums of
squares. If we hold the error sums of squares constant, will the slope of the relation influence the
value? Why or why not?
Answer: Yes, because if the slope is closer to a horizontal line, the total sums of squares will
always be small. This will always reduce the value, even with the error sums of squares held
constant.

Ecology Today: Connecting the Concepts

SHORT ANSWER

59. Topic: selecting on life histories with commercial fishing

Level: medium

Explain how human fishing for larger individuals from a population of fish can reduce the
average maturation time in the population.
Answer: If individuals delay maturation to achieve large size and increase fecundity, they risk
increased mortality due to fishing. Therefore, natural selection should favour individuals that
mature prior to reaching a large size.

60. Topic: selecting on life histories with commercial fishing

Level: difficult
Would human removal of large fish from a population influence both the age of maturation in the
population and the proportion of energy dedicated to reproduction? Explain your answer.
Answer: If the mortality rate of large fish is high, then the juvenile survival rate will either
remain unchanged or—if there is less competition for a shared food resource—increase. This
difference in mortality rates would suggest that fish entering maturation should put more energy
into reproduction than a population not exposed to size-selective fishing.