Name:_________

Please submit this final examination in electronic form as either (a) a PDF file, (b) as a text file, or (c) as a MS Word file (including RTF). Our preference, of course, is that you submit your exam as a PDF file.

Restrict your answer to no more than 2-4 lines of text per question (we will not read beyond the 4th line of your answer). You should be able to convince us of your answer within 2-4 lines of text.

Each question is worth 5 points: one point for "yes" or "no" and 4 points for the remainder of your answer.

You may submit your exam at any time during the next 2 weeks. However, the exam is due no later than at the end of the time specified for the final examination for this class (Wednesday, December 12th, 5 pm).

Wilford Weatherly was the third of the Weatherly brothers. He was an evolutionary plant ecologist who constantly wondered why certain plant and environmental characteristics fit together and why some combinations were never observed in nature. Below are a number of his "brain teasers" that you should have no difficulty figuring out. As was typical of Wilford, for each question below, there is a set of characters - some plant and some environmental. What we first need to know is would you expect to find characters together in the same plant or do the plant and environmental characters fit together? Answer with a "yes" or a "no". If not, why not? If so, do they represent a particular adaptive syndrome characteristic of a specific species or group of species from a particular environment? Can you possibly identify the plant? Where is that environment?

b. high photosynthetic rate
glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations
C3 photosynthesis

c. high photosynthetic rate
glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations
C4 photosynthesis

d. high carbon allocation to roots
herbaceous
perennial

e. location with summer rain
tree life form
deciduous leaves

f. large seasonal fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 concentration of 20+ ppm
equatorial latitude
maritime location

g. deciduous leaves
temperate climatic region
cold winter temperatures

h. carbon isotope ratio of -14 ”
grass
C3 photosynthesis

i. indeterminate reproductive structures
unpredictable end of growing season associated with onset of drought
annual life form

j. grassland
cold winter temperatures
dry summers with limited precipitation

k. halophyte
gray to white leaves
epidermal cells with salt glands

l. tolerant of moderate, fast-moving fires
non-serotinous cones
tree

m. high plant biological diversity
endemic species
herbaceous life forms

n. epiphyte
high transpiration rate
high leaf conductance to water loss

o. large seeds
many seeds
CAM photosynthesis

p. semalparous reproduction
grass
high reproductive output

q. high phosphorus uptake capacity
roots associated with mycorrhizae
RuBP carboxylase in leaves

r. leaf temperatures above air temperature
low leaf conductance to water vapor
low water potentials

s. leaf angles steepest at the top of the canopy
large leaves
LAI = 6

t. low vegetative stature
vegetation consisting of perennial forbs and grasses
cool summertime temperatures