List of top Applied Ecology & Evolution Questions asked in GATE Ecology and Evolution

Which one of the following mechanisms is expected to generate tightly linked genes?
The origin and proliferation of which one of the following organisms was responsible for the ‘Great Oxidation Event’?
In a population of 534 blue sheep, there are two alleles, P and Q, at an autosomal locus. Allele P has a frequency of 30%. The number of sheep with the QQ genotype is 262. Assuming that this population is at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the expected percentage of sheep with the PQ genotype in the population is:
Which one or more of the following functions do insects directly perform in ecosystems?
During migration, which one or more of the following do birds use for long-distance navigation?
Fish schools in coral reefs can comprise multiple species that swim and forage together. Which one or more of the following options describe(s) potential fitness benefit(s) to individuals in a mixed-species group?
Mayflies lay eggs in water. Their nymphs (immature life stage) are aquatic and adults are terrestrial. Some mayflies perceive dry, paved parking lots as waterbodies and lay eggs there that do not survive. In this situation, which one or more of these statements is/are correct?

Match the following geographic regions to the mammals that are native to those regions.


 

In this figure, the rectangle (P) depicts the range of temperature and rainfall in which a plant species can survive and propagate. The circle (Q) demarcates the range of temperature and rainfall in which this plant species is actually found. Which one of the following statements about P and Q is accurate for this plant species?


 

Local communities are comprised of a subset of species from the regional species pool. Which one of the following processes is LEAST likely to cause species composition of local communities to differ from one another?
The species richness of trees increases from North to South in the Western Ghats, and from South to North in the Andes. Which one of the following can be an explanation for these patterns?
High water temperatures can cause coral bleaching, which often leads to coral death. In coral reefs that experience repeated bleaching, there can be substantial algal growth on dead coral, eventually leading to an algal dominated ecosystem. Such a transformation is known as
Across trophic levels, energy flows from producers to primary consumers, and from primary consumers to secondary consumers. Which one of the following options best represents the percentage of energy that is transferred from producers to secondary consumers?
Certain species of ibex and weevils depend on the same food source. A study finds that the removal of ibex results in an increase in the number of weevils, but the removal of weevils does not affect the ibex. Which one of the following options best describes this interaction?
Fossils of most of the modern animal phyla first appeared over a short period of time. In which one of the following geological time periods did this occur?
Which one of the following is an example of a cell type found only in a single phylum?
The hippocampus is a region of the brain whose size is positively correlated with navigation and spatial mapping ability in birds and mammals. Which one of the following observations would NOT be consistent with this statement?
A butterfly species in a homogenous forest patch starts exhibiting assortative mating, such that spotted individuals always mate with each other and plain individuals always mate with each other. This trait is heritable, and spotted parents always produce spotted offspring and plain parents always produce plain offspring. Which one of the following forms of speciation could this prezygotic reproductive barrier most likely lead to?
Lizards that produce many eggs often have a shorter lifespan than those who produce fewer eggs. Which one of the terms below describes the relationship between the number of eggs and lifespan?
Male rhinoceros beetles have horns that they use to fight each other. Despite the competitive advantage of having large horns, horn length never exceeds two thirds of their body length. What form of selection explains why horn length is constrained?
Hosts of parasites evolve effective immune responses to infection, which in turn results in those parasites evolving increased infectiousness towards the hosts. Which one of the following processes describes this type of interaction between hosts and parasites?

In primates, males are often larger than females. If sexual dimorphism evolved to enable males to compete for access to multiple females, in which mating system would we expect to see the greatest sexual dimorphism?

Fly larvae of a species feed simultaneously on a shared rotting fruit. If the density of fly larvae is high, then all the larvae grow up to be smaller sized adults than if the larval density were low. Which one of the following processes best describes this observation?
Rotting leaves of mango are composed of 25% of compound P which decomposes exponentially at a rate \( k_P = 0.5 \, {yr}^{-1} \) and 75% of compound Q which decomposes exponentially at a rate \( k_Q = 0.1 \, {yr}^{-1} \). What percentage of the initial amount of compound Q remains when half of the initial amount of compound P has decomposed? Choose the closest numerical value from the options provided.
One hypothesis for why the tropics have far greater species richness than higher latitudes is that the tropics are relatively aseasonal. Low seasonality can encourage high species richness through which one or more of the following mechanisms?