FOREST ECOLOGY

FOR 3213

Example Examination 2

 

  1. Show in a figure the general relationship between net photosynthesis and light intensity for sun leaves and shade leaves.

  2. Define ecotype and give an example. How can you determine whether ecotypes exist?

  3. What are onshore and offshore winds? Describe why and when they occur.

  4. Describe the components of the energy budget equation. How would each of these components be affected when a forest stand is clearcut?

  5. Compare and contrast pioneer and gap-phase species. What are the traits of these two types of plants? How do these traits favor the survival of the different types of plant species?

  6. Describe and give an example of the five different ecological roles that solar radiation plays for plants and plant communities.

  7. Explain what is meant by the statement that trembling aspen combines reproductive traits which favor fitness and which favor flexibility in a population. What are the traits and what are the benefits?

  8. What are five different effects of wind on plants? Describe or give an example of each one.

  9. What is a seed bank? How can a seed bank develop? What are the practical implications of a seed bank?

  10. Leaves have developed adaptations that give them the capacity to raise their temperature up to 30 o C above or lower their temperature 15 o C below ambient air temperature. What are the morphological or physiological adaptations of leaves that give them this capacity? What is the advantage of having the capacity to lower or raise their temperature?

  11. Field experiments done several decades ago demonstrated that other factors in addition to light affected the establishment and growth of seedlings on the floor of a closed forest. What was the experiment and what were the results? What were the other factors?

  12. Name five components of the atmosphere and describe how each one affects plants.

  13. State five factors that affect temperature at the soil surface. Explain why each factor affects temperature.

  14. Define phenotypic plasticity, give an example and describe why it can be beneficial.

  15. How does a plant measure the length of the photoperiod? Describe two phenological events in plants controlled by photoperiod.