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TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 13142

The Norway rat (Rattus Norvegicus), a widespread pest, was controlled for about a decade by the anticoagulant warfarin. This chemical substance, placed in food pellets, is absorbed by the intestinal tract and inhibits the clotting of blood. After a population decline for about 10 years, rat populations increased and stabilized. In one European population, as illustrated in the graph below, the percentage of rats resistant to warfarin has remained fairly stable over a number of years.

Resistance to warfarin is governed by a dominant autosomal gene, R. More than 15 percent of the resistant animals are heterozygous at this locus (Rr). The table below indicates the response to warfarin and relative reproductive fitness of individuals that are homozygous or heterozygous for the dominant gene (R). The RR individuals have a 20-fold increase in vitamin K requirement over individuals.

Fitness is a measure of the reproductive success of a particular genotype. The highest fitness is 1.00.
There is a substantial number of heterozygotes in the population. Which of the following is the best explanation of this observation?

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles
  1. Heterozygotes (Rr) have a selective advantage over both homozygotes (RR and rr). 
  2. The gene for susceptibility (r) is increasing rapidly each generation.
  3. The gene for susceptibility (r) is being lost by chance each generation.
  4. Dominant homozygotes (RR) enjoy a reproductive advantage over heterozygotes
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TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12243

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

All of the following are strategies used by potential prey to avoid predation EXCEPT 
TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12242

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

Small body size often allows animals to exploit desert habitats because it
TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12241

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

The process of speciation can be prevented by
TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12240

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

Two plant species co-occur in a prairie. Species X always occurs near species Y. However, species    often occurs in isolation from species X and produces more seeds when alone than when growing next to species X. Which of the following interactions between species X and Y could generate this pattern?
TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12239

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

The figures above show the results of an experiment in which two microbial species, A and B, were grown in three treatments. In treatment I, species A was grown alone. In treatment II, species B was grown alone. In treatment III, both species were grown together at the same starting densities as in (I) and (II). The results suggest the interaction is best described as
TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12238

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles

The mussel Mytilus edulis thrives in saline habitats, in both the highly salty seawater of tidal zones and the less salty estuaries. This results in two kinds of populations: one adapted to the higher salt concentrations of the tidal zone, and one adapted to the lower salt concentrations of the estuary. It has been found that the more salt-tolerant populations have high frequencies of an allele that produces an enzyme involved in maintaining osmotic equilibrium. Conversely, estuarine mussels having the same enzyme seem to be disfavoured and have a much higher death rate than mussels without the allele. Adult estuarine populations do have lower frequencies of this allele. Each spring, large numbers of larvae from  the salty habitats pour into the estuaries.
The invasion of the seawater larvae would be expected to facilitate change in the genetic structure of the estuarine population by a process called