Which of the following animals would you not expect to be highly poisonous?
a snake with red and black bands
a butterfly with orange and black wings
a pale green caterpillar
a red and black grasshopper

What type of populations would be most likely to show resource partitioning?
sympatric populations of species with similar ecological niches
sympatric populations of a predator and its prey
allopatric populations of the same animal species
allopatric populations of a flowering plant and its specialized insect pollinator

A group of long-billed prairie birds migrates from a pristine, protected prairie to a nearby, newly
restored prairie. They colonize and establish a breeding population in the restored prairie. Years later,
scientists compare the two bird populations and find that long-billed prairie birds in the newly
colonized area consume a much smaller range of food types than birds from the original population,
even though food availability is similar in the two areas. What might be an explanation for this?
The two populations of the long-billed prairie-birds had different fundamental niches, but the same
realized niche
The original population of long-billed prairie-birds had higher levels of competition for food resources
and in order to find enough food had a more varied diet. Those in the newly colonized area faced less
competition and adapted to a smaller range of food types.
While the long-billed prairie-bird’s fundamental niche included a wide range of prey species, competition
with other species in the newly colonized prairie reduced the realized niche such that fewer food types
were utilized
The long-billed prairie-bird’s fundamental niche shifted as a result of competition with other species
such that individuals in the newly colonized prairie foraged on a smaller variety of food types

The ideal biotic and abiotic environment a species can inhabit is referred to as the ________, while the
________refers to the environment that an animal actually inhabits after accounting for interactions
with other species.
ideal niche; realized niche
fundamental niche; realized niche
fundamental niche; ecological niche
realized niche; fundamental niche

Milkweed plants contain cardiac glycosides, substances that are toxic to many species. However, the
caterpillars of the monarch butterfly have evolved to feed on milkweed, and are thus able to tolerate
the toxins and even sequester them for protection from predators. Milkweed also produces a sticky
substance called latex, which can entrap and kill small monarch caterpillars. It has recently been
discovered that monarch caterpillars often nibble through a leaf’s petiole (attachment point) before
feeding on the leaf – this cuts off the supply of latex to the leaf. If you could travel far into the future,
what development do you think you would be most likely to find in the milkweed/monarch
interaction?
Monarchs have evolved to tolerate ingestion of latex and no longer chew through leaf petioles prior to
feeding
Milkweed plants have evolved to have tougher petioles; most monarchs are unable to chew through
them prior to feeding on leaves.
Monarch have switched from feeding on milkweed to feeding on oak leaves.
Milkweed plants have stopped producing cardiac glycosides, allowing other species besides monarchs to
feed on them.
You are studying the feeding habits of a group of four closely related bird species. You observe that all
four species feed on insects. However,you notice that the species do not feed at the same time of day:
one species feeds most actively at dawn, another during the middle of the day, another at dusk, and
the last species feeds at night. What term would you use to describe this behavior?
competitive exclusion
interference competition
resource partitioning
exploitation competition