Test Bank
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 56: Species Interactions and Coevolution
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. The leaves cut by leafcutter ants are used to feed
a. themselves.
b. their larvae.
c. a cultivated fungus.
d. bacteria.
e. a green mold.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. The relationship between a zebra and the lion that eats it is an example of a(n) _______
relationship.
a. competitive
b. mutualistic
c. antagonistic
d. commensalistic
e. amensalistic
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
3. Which of the following does not involve an antagonistic interaction?
a. Parasitism
b. Predation
c. Herbivory
d. Competition
e. All of the above involve antagonistic interactions.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
4. Which of the following is an example of a mutualistic interaction?
a. Barnacles obtain safe haven by riding on a whale, while the whale is unaffected.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,b. A bacterial species lives inside a plant’s roots and provides usable nitrogen to the
plant, which in turn provides sugar nutrients to the bacteria.
c. A virus infects a bird, thus reducing the bird’s fecundity.
d. A wasp lays its egg inside a caterpillar, and the hatched wasp larva consumes the
caterpillar
e. A bluejay forces sparrows to leave a bird feeder so that it can eat the seeds.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
5. Although most herbivory involves an antagonistic interaction, some herbivorous
interactions do not. Which of the following is not an antagonistic interaction?
a. Aphids pierce stems and consume plant sap, but they do not damage other plant parts.
b. Nematodes feed on the starches in plant roots; the roots live but their growth is slowed.
c. Bears eat blueberries; then they defecate the blueberry seeds throughout the forest, and
the seeds germinate.
d. Gypsy moth caterpillars feed on the leaves of oak and aspen, defoliating and stressing
the trees.
e. Leaf miner insects feed on sugars in leaf cells without killing the leaves.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
6. Although a lichen looks like a single organism, it actually is an association between a
fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually an alga. The lichen association is considered
mutualistic, but the relationship is complex and also shows some features of parasitism.
Which of the following facts about lichens is least characteristic of an entirely mutualistic
relationship?
a. One kind of fungus can partner with more than one kind of alga.
b. In nature, the fungal species that occur in lichens almost never occur outside of lichens.
c. Studies of lichens always find nutrient flow from algae to fungi, but do not always find
nutrient flow from fungi to algae.
d. Some lichens live in habitats where no non-lichenized fungus or algal species is able to
survive.
e. Lichens most often reproduce asexually with small clusters of cells from both partners.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
7. The tree sloth of South America feeds on leaves and buds, which are digested by
bacteria that inhabit the sloth’s large stomach. While in a tree, the sloth is difficult for
predators to find because it is tinted green from the cyanobacteria that live in its fur. A
variety of nonbiting insects also live in the fur, but they appear to have no effect on the
sloth. Based on this information, one can say that the sloth has mutualistic interactions
with the ________ and the ________.
a. leaves and buds; digestive bacteria
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,b. digestive bacteria; cyanobacteria
c. cyanobacteria; insects
d. insects; leaves and buds
e. leaves and buds; cyanobacteria
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56. 1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
8. Two species of beetles are herbivores on the same host plant, and the presence of either
species reduces the population growth of the other. The relationship between the beetles
is therefore best described as
a. antagonistic.
b. predation.
c. herbivory.
d. competition.
e. amensalism.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
9. Which of the following relationships has negative consequences for both species
involved?
a. Predation
b. Competition
c. Amensalism
d. Parasitism
e. Mutualism
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
10. Suppose the fecal matter from dogs helps fertilize a particular species of plant, thus
increasing the plant’s ability to grow in a particular area. The relationship between the
dogs and the plants would be described as
a. mutualism.
b. amensalism.
c. herbivory.
d. antagonistic.
e. commensalism.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
11. While hunting, a bear smashes into and destroys a bush, and then continues pursuing
its prey. The relationship between the bear and the bush would be described as
a. herbivory.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, b. antagonistic.
c. amensalism.
d. commensalism.
e. predation.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. A cow’s rumen, or first stomach, provides the ideal environment for a variety of
microbes. When a cow consumes grass, these microbes digest the grass, releasing
nutrients both for their own and for the cow’s use. While most of the microbes continue
to live in the rumen, some of the microbes are killed during the digestive process and
provide additional nutrition for the cow. This complex relationship between the cow and
her microbes has features of which two categories of interactions?
a. Competition and mutualism
b. Mutualism and predation
c. Commensalism and amensalism
d. Predation and parasitism
e. Amensalism and competition
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
13. Which type of interaction is most random and brief?
a. Amensalism
b. Commensalism
c. Competition
d. Mutualism
e. Predation
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
14. Another term for coevolution is
a. amensalism.
b. commensalism.
c. aposematism.
d. reciprocal adaptation.
e. character displacement.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
15. Which of the following relationships is least likely to result in coevolution?
a. Mutualism
b. Parasitism
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 56: Species Interactions and Coevolution
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. The leaves cut by leafcutter ants are used to feed
a. themselves.
b. their larvae.
c. a cultivated fungus.
d. bacteria.
e. a green mold.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. The relationship between a zebra and the lion that eats it is an example of a(n) _______
relationship.
a. competitive
b. mutualistic
c. antagonistic
d. commensalistic
e. amensalistic
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
3. Which of the following does not involve an antagonistic interaction?
a. Parasitism
b. Predation
c. Herbivory
d. Competition
e. All of the above involve antagonistic interactions.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
4. Which of the following is an example of a mutualistic interaction?
a. Barnacles obtain safe haven by riding on a whale, while the whale is unaffected.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,b. A bacterial species lives inside a plant’s roots and provides usable nitrogen to the
plant, which in turn provides sugar nutrients to the bacteria.
c. A virus infects a bird, thus reducing the bird’s fecundity.
d. A wasp lays its egg inside a caterpillar, and the hatched wasp larva consumes the
caterpillar
e. A bluejay forces sparrows to leave a bird feeder so that it can eat the seeds.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
5. Although most herbivory involves an antagonistic interaction, some herbivorous
interactions do not. Which of the following is not an antagonistic interaction?
a. Aphids pierce stems and consume plant sap, but they do not damage other plant parts.
b. Nematodes feed on the starches in plant roots; the roots live but their growth is slowed.
c. Bears eat blueberries; then they defecate the blueberry seeds throughout the forest, and
the seeds germinate.
d. Gypsy moth caterpillars feed on the leaves of oak and aspen, defoliating and stressing
the trees.
e. Leaf miner insects feed on sugars in leaf cells without killing the leaves.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
6. Although a lichen looks like a single organism, it actually is an association between a
fungus and a photosynthetic partner, usually an alga. The lichen association is considered
mutualistic, but the relationship is complex and also shows some features of parasitism.
Which of the following facts about lichens is least characteristic of an entirely mutualistic
relationship?
a. One kind of fungus can partner with more than one kind of alga.
b. In nature, the fungal species that occur in lichens almost never occur outside of lichens.
c. Studies of lichens always find nutrient flow from algae to fungi, but do not always find
nutrient flow from fungi to algae.
d. Some lichens live in habitats where no non-lichenized fungus or algal species is able to
survive.
e. Lichens most often reproduce asexually with small clusters of cells from both partners.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
7. The tree sloth of South America feeds on leaves and buds, which are digested by
bacteria that inhabit the sloth’s large stomach. While in a tree, the sloth is difficult for
predators to find because it is tinted green from the cyanobacteria that live in its fur. A
variety of nonbiting insects also live in the fur, but they appear to have no effect on the
sloth. Based on this information, one can say that the sloth has mutualistic interactions
with the ________ and the ________.
a. leaves and buds; digestive bacteria
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,b. digestive bacteria; cyanobacteria
c. cyanobacteria; insects
d. insects; leaves and buds
e. leaves and buds; cyanobacteria
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56. 1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
8. Two species of beetles are herbivores on the same host plant, and the presence of either
species reduces the population growth of the other. The relationship between the beetles
is therefore best described as
a. antagonistic.
b. predation.
c. herbivory.
d. competition.
e. amensalism.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
9. Which of the following relationships has negative consequences for both species
involved?
a. Predation
b. Competition
c. Amensalism
d. Parasitism
e. Mutualism
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
10. Suppose the fecal matter from dogs helps fertilize a particular species of plant, thus
increasing the plant’s ability to grow in a particular area. The relationship between the
dogs and the plants would be described as
a. mutualism.
b. amensalism.
c. herbivory.
d. antagonistic.
e. commensalism.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
11. While hunting, a bear smashes into and destroys a bush, and then continues pursuing
its prey. The relationship between the bear and the bush would be described as
a. herbivory.
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, b. antagonistic.
c. amensalism.
d. commensalism.
e. predation.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. A cow’s rumen, or first stomach, provides the ideal environment for a variety of
microbes. When a cow consumes grass, these microbes digest the grass, releasing
nutrients both for their own and for the cow’s use. While most of the microbes continue
to live in the rumen, some of the microbes are killed during the digestive process and
provide additional nutrition for the cow. This complex relationship between the cow and
her microbes has features of which two categories of interactions?
a. Competition and mutualism
b. Mutualism and predation
c. Commensalism and amensalism
d. Predation and parasitism
e. Amensalism and competition
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 4. Analyzing
13. Which type of interaction is most random and brief?
a. Amensalism
b. Commensalism
c. Competition
d. Mutualism
e. Predation
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
14. Another term for coevolution is
a. amensalism.
b. commensalism.
c. aposematism.
d. reciprocal adaptation.
e. character displacement.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 56.1 What Types of Interactions Do Ecologists Study?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
15. Which of the following relationships is least likely to result in coevolution?
a. Mutualism
b. Parasitism
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
