M. Mangel:  An Ecology Problem Book, Version 5 -1998
               An Ecology Problem Book
                                       1
                          Marc Mangel
                                               2
           with Contributions by Paul Switzer , Sarah
                             Eppley3
            1Department of Environmental Studies and
                   Institute of Marine Sciences
                     University of California
                      Santa Cruz, CA 95064
                     2Department of Zoology
                   Eastern Illinois University
                      Charleston, IL 61920
           Section of Evolution and Ecology and Center
                      for Population Biology
                     University of California
                         Davis, CA 95616
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               M. Mangel:  An Ecology Problem Book, Version 5 -1998
               TABLE OF CONTENTS
               Introduction and Acknowledgments                         3
               The Basic Tools                                          4
               The Search for Pattern                                    8
               The Darwinian Paradigm                                    16
               Physiological and Behavioral Ecology                     20
               Life History                                             37
               Single Species Population Growth                         47
               Predators and Prey                                       62
               Competition                                              69
               Communities                                              80
               Conservation                                             94
               Synthetic  Questions                                       107
               Question based on reading the 4th edition of C. Krebs's
                    Ecology                                             119
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           M. Mangel:  An Ecology Problem Book, Version 5 -1998
           INTRODUCTION
           This problem book has many objectives:
                • To get you to think about the course each night: do not wait
           until the last minute to begin working on the problems.
                • To get you to deal with data.  Statistics courses that you take
           in the future will be more meaningful once you understand the kinds
           of data that arise in ecological studies.
                • To get you to be more comfortable with theoretical and
           quantitative methods. Not every ecologist uses those methods, but
           one should not be put off by them.
                • To familiarize you with material as it appears in the
           professional literature.
           Many questions are open-ended. In part this is because there is no
           "right" answer and in part because you should think widely and
           broadly about what the problems mean.
           In problems involving mathematics (mainly algebra -- although
           there are cases in which elementary calculus is used) the quality of
           mathematical exposition (i.e. can the reader follow the steps, do you
           write full equations, etc.) matters.  Graphs must be done either on
           graph paper or using statistical software.  No credit will be given for
           problems involving graphing that are done on regular notebook
           paper.  Some sections contain advanced material, appropriate for
           graduate sutdents.  Most of the material is appropriate for
           undergraduate students.
           In problems involving verbal answers, the quality of your
           presentation (i.e. full sentences, sentence structure, choice of words)
           matters.  In either case, when answering questions, be specific:
           points will be deducted for irrelevancies in your answer.
           Advanced problems are intended for students who have taken an
           advanced undergraduate course with me or for graduate students.
           Acknowledgements:
           The following students helped improve the book:  Sukhjit Basi,
           Brenna Bemis, Lisa Caris, Tom Confal, Sarah Cooke, Jacqueline
           Jacobsen, Tait Kjellberg, Tom Moore and Mona Shah.
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           M. Mangel:  An Ecology Problem Book, Version 5 -1998
           ECOLOGICAL CHOPS
           From Introductory Biology
           1.  Order the geological time scale for the following eras and periods.
           Indicate whether each is an era or a period
                Cambrian
                Cenozoic
                Cretaceous
                Devonian
                Jurassic
                Mesozoic
                Missippian
                Ordovician
                Paleozoic
                Pennsylvanian
                Permian
                Quaternary
                Tertiary
                Triassic
           2. What are the differences between spiders and insects?
           3. Tuna are a fish but warm blooded. How can that be?
           4.  Diapause hormone in the silk moth Bombyx mori has the following
           structure:
                Thr-Asp-Met-Lys-Asp-Glu-Ser-Asp-Arg-Gly-Ala-His-Ser-Glu-
                Arg-Gly-Ala-Leu-Cys-Phe-Gly-Pro-Arg-LeuNH2
                i) What is diapause?
                ii) What is the DNA code for this hormone?
                iii) In which spot of the DNA code would you expect the most
           variability and why?
                iv) Give an example showing how the same hormone could be
           coded by two different DNA sequences.
           5. Imagine a single locus in a diploid organism.  If there are only two
           alleles A and B at this locus, there is only one kind of heterozygote
           (AB). If there are three alleles, A, B and C, there are three kinds
           heterozygotes (AB, AC, and BC).
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