Deck 3: Ecosystems: What Are They and How Do They Work

Question 1

What term describes groups of different species living together in a particular place with a potential for interacting with one another?

A)organism
B)population
C)community
D)ecosystem
E)biosphere

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is a major violator of the chemical cycling principle?

A)primary producers
B)detritivores
C)decomposers
D)humans
E)bacteria

Answer 2

D

Question 3

All physical forms of water (solid, liquid, and gas)on or near the earth's surface make up the ____.

A)atmosphere
B)lithosphere
C)biosphere
D)hydrosphere
E)troposphere

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is an end product of anaerobic respiration?

A)acetic acid
B)glucose
C)oxygen
D)carbon dioxide
E)water

Question 5

Scientists estimate that tropical rain forests contain up to half of the earth's land plants and animal species. What percentage of the world's land surface do tropical rain forests cover?

A)2
B)4
C)8
D)10
E)12

Question 6

The oceans of the earth cover approximately what percentage of the earth's surface?

A)3%
B)29%
C)51%
D)71%
E)97%

Question 7

What is the innermost layer of the atmosphere, extending 17 kilometers above sea level at the tropics and about 7 kilometers above the earth's north and south poles?

A)troposphere
B)stratosphere
C)hydrosphere
D)geosphere
E)biosphere

Question 8

What is the term for the portion of the earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere where life is found?

A)organosphere
B)biological base
C)community
D)ecosystem
E)biosphere

Question 9

Which consumers feed on the flesh of herbivores?

A)primary consumers
B)secondary consumers
C)tertiary consumers
D)apoptotic consumers
E)bioconsumers

Question 10

High quality energy is constantly ____.

A)being made
B)being recycled
C)being destroyed
D)becoming matter
E)becoming low quality energy

Question 11

Ecology is the study of ____.

A)how human impacts the environment
B)the abiotic elements of the environment
C)the biotic elements of the environment
D)how organisms interact with each other and the nonliving environment
E)how evolution formed populations

Question 12

Life on the earth depends on interaction of gravity, the cycling of matter, and the ____.

A)recycling of energy
B)one-way flow of high-quality energy
C)one-way flow of matter
D)destruction of energy
E)consumption of matter

Question 13

The very necessary process of breaking down the dead bodies of organisms is a function of ____.

A)detritivores
B)omnivores
C)carnivores
D)herbivores
E)producers

Question 14

Ozone gas in the lower part of the stratosphere filters out how much of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV)radiation?

A)10%
B)20%
C)33%
D)67%
E)95%

Question 15

The disappearance of the tropical rain forests is an important issue because it will ____.

A)increase financial stability in the affected countries
B)accelerate atmospheric warming
C)stabilize regional weather patterns
D)result in more places to build cities
E)reduce the spread of new infectious diseases to humans

Question 16

Fossil fuels and minerals are found in the ____.

A)unisphere
B)atmosphere
C)hydrosphere
D)geosphere
E)biosphere

Question 17

Which of the following is an abiotic component of an ecosystem?

A)nutrients
B)microbes
C)autotrophs
D)heterotrophs
E)tertiary consumers

Question 18

Which statement about microorganisms is true ?

A)Bacteria and other microbes help purify the water we drink.
B)The majority of bacteria and fungi are toxic to humans.
C)Bacteria destroy more energy than they produce.
D)The "bacterial zoo" in our digestive systems has no known function.
E)The use of microorganisms to control plant diseases has not worked well.

Question 19

Organisms that feed only on plants are called ____.

A)detritivores
B)omnivores
C)carnivores
D)herbivores
E)decomposers

Question 20

Aerobic respiration requires ____.

A)glucose and carbon dioxide
B)glucose and oxygen
C)oxygen and water
D)carbon dioxide and water
E)carbon dioxide and oxygen

Question 21

If grass stores 1,000 energy units received from the sun, the ecological efficiency of the ecosystem is 10%, and the trophic levels are grass → cow → human, how many units of energy does the human receive of the original 1,000 units?

A)900
B)200
C)100
D)10
E)1

Question 22

Humans add sulfur to the atmosphere primarily by the release of ____.

A)sulfate
B)DMS
C)hydrogen sulfide
D)sulfur trioxide
E)sulfur dioxide

Question 23

The hydrologic cycle is the movement of ____.

A)carbon
B)hydrogen
C)hydrocarbons
D)carbohydrates
E)water

Question 24

Vitousek, Rojstaczer, and others estimate humans now use, waste, or destroy what percentage of the earth's total potential NPP?

A)18%
B)28%
C)38%
D)58%
E)78%

Question 25

What term describes organisms that complete the final breakdown and recycling of organic materials from the remains of all organisms?

A)detritivores
B)omnivores
C)carnivores
D)herbivores
E)decomposers

Question 26

Most precipitation falling on terrestrial ecosystems becomes ____.

A)surface runoff into lakes, streams, and the ocean
B)ice in glaciers
C)groundwater in aquifers
D)storage as part of rocks
E)storage in living components of ecosystems

Question 27

Each trophic level in a food chain or food web contains a certain amount of organic matter, called ____.

A)food
B)energy
C)biomass
D)organisms
E)decomposition

Question 28

Which terrestrial ecosystem or life zone produces the highest net primary productivity per year?

A)temperate forest
B)Savanna
C)tundra
D)swamps and marshes
E)extreme desert

Question 29

How much of the earth's water supply is available as accessible liquid freshwater?

A)0.024%
B)2.1%
C)4.7%
D)7.1%
E)9.6%

Question 30

Despite a low net primary productivity (NPP), which ecosystem or life zone produces the most biomass each year?

A)swamps and marshes
B)tropical rain forest
C)temperate forests
D)open ocean
E)estuaries

Question 31

Which terrestrial ecosystem or life zone produces the lowest net primary productivity per year?

A)taiga
B)extreme desert
C)desert scrub
D)temperate grassland
E)agricultural land

Question 32

What refers to the conversion of water from liquid to vapor from the earth's oceans, lakes, rivers, and soil?

A)substitution
B)evaporation
C)transpiration
D)precipitation
E)respiration

Question 33

What is a result of phosphate rich runoff from land?

A)improved agricultural production
B)increased growth of algae in streams, lakes, and other water bodies
C)healthier forests and increased forest growth
D)decreased need for fertilization of agricultural crops
E)erosion and release of marine sediments

Question 34

Complex networks of interconnected food chains are ____.

A)food webs
B)food distribution interactions
C)trophic levels
D)pyramids of energy
E)trophic chains

Question 35

The hydrologic cycle is driven primarily by ____.

A)solar energy
B)lunar tides
C)solar tides
D)mechanical energy
E)chemical energy

Question 36

Much of the earth's sulfur is stored in

A)plants and animals
B)the oceans
C)the atmosphere
D)underground rocks and minerals
E)soil

Question 37

Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide are added to the atmosphere by ____.

A)volcanoes
B)floods
C)meat consumption
D)sea spray
E)acid rain deposition

Question 38

What is a major difference between the phosphorus cycle and the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles?

A)The phosphorous cycle is much faster than the others.
B)The phosphorous cycle does not include the atmosphere but the others do.
C)The phosphorous cycle makes use of living organisms but the others do not.
D)The phosphorous cycle is able to create new energy.
E)The phosphorous cycle has not been impacted by human activity.

Question 39

The most fundamental structural and functional units of life are ____.

A)atoms
B)molecules
C)compounds
D)cells
E)mitochondrion

Question 40

The typical percentage of high quality energy loss in transfers from one trophic level to the next is about ____.

A)1%
B)5%
C)35%
D)60%
E)90%

Question 41

Ammonia that is not taken up by plants may undergo ____.

A)denitrification
B)nitrogen fixation
C)nitrification
D)acid deposition
E)phosphorization

Question 42

Thanks to concentrated efforts, nearly half of the waste produced by humans is now recycled.

Question 43

The use of transmitters and GPS systems are very important in the study of ____.

A)alterations in the water cycle
B)acid rain
C)environmental degradation
D)volcanic activity
E)endangered species

Question 44

What is one major way in which humans harmfully impact the water cycle?

A)overpumping of aquifers
B)expanding wetlands
C)decreasing runoff
D)increasing infiltration
E)recharging aquifers

Question 45

Nitrogen gas, the major component of the atmosphere, cannot directly be used by plants and animals.

Question 46

The form of nitrogen used by plants to produce various amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, and vitamins is ____.

A)ammonium ions
B)nitrogen gas
C)proteins
D)nitrites
E)nitrate ions

Question 47

While the troposphere is 11 miles thick above sea level at the tropics, it is only four miles thick above the North and South poles.

Question 48

The reason we observe a "pyramid" of energy flow instead of an energy flow "cube" is because the low ecological efficiency of biological systems limits the numbers of organism in the higher trophic levels.

Question 49

The hydrosphere is the earth's intensely hot core, thick mantle composed mostly of rock, and thin outer crust.

Question 50

A group of different species living in a particular place, and potentially interacting with each other is called a population.

Question 51

Carbon is a major component of ____.

A)water
B)the oceans
C)organic compounds
D)the atmosphere
E)hydrologic cycle

Question 52

Gross primary productivity (GPP)is the biomass produced by photosynthesis minus the rate at which biomass is used for aerobic respiration.

Question 53

Which statement about water is true ?

A)Water exists as a liquid over a wide temperature range.
B)Water compresses when it freezes.
C)Water filters out nearly all UV radiation.
D)Water evaporates with very little energy.
E)Liquid water is typically not a good solvent.

Question 54

What is a primary link between photosynthesis and aerobic respiration?

A)phosphorus
B)sulfur
C)hydrogen
D)carbon
E)nitrogen

Question 55

Although tropical rain forests are only about 2% of the earth's land surface, they contain about 50% of the world's land plant and animal species.

Question 56

Methane, CO₂, and water vapor make up about 30% of the earth's troposphere.

Question 57

Scientists have less than ____ percent of the ecological data they need to evaluate the ecosystems in the United States.

A)5
B)8
C)12
D)25
E)50

Question 58

Transfer of energy through food chains or webs is very efficient, making a lot of energy available to organisms.

Question 59

Humans intervene in the nitrogen cycle in several ways. Which of the following is one of those ways?

A)Burning fossil fuels adds nitric oxide.
B)Agriculture decreases the production of nitrous oxides.
C)Protecting and replanting forests releases nitrogen.
D)Harvesting nitrogen-rich crops stores nitrogen in the topsoil.
E)Agriculture with fertilizers uses nitrogen in the aquatic systems.

Question 60

Ecological tipping points related to the earth's major natural systems are also called

A)natural limits
B)extinction forces
C)ecological delimiters
D)planetary boundaries
E)biosphere requirements

Question 61

Nitrogen fixation is accomplished by specialized ____________________ in the soil and ____________________ in aquatic environments.

Question 62

Despite its low NPP, the ____________________ produces more of the earth's biomass per year than any other ecosystem or life zone.

Question 63

____________________ refers to how fast producers can make the chemical energy that is stored in their tissues and that is potentially available to other organisms (consumers)in an ecosystem.

Question 64

Organisms that cannot produce their own food and, therefore, must eat other organisms, are called ____________________.

Question 65

Destruction of tropical rain forests will help accelerate ____________________.

Question 66

Organisms that convert simple inorganic compounds into nutrients, without sunlight, are called ____________________ .

Question 67

____________________ can help scientists understand large and very complex systems by allowing them to change variables and project possible changes.

Question 68

In hundreds of years, we have released large quantities of fossil fuels that took millions of years to form.

Question 69

Temporary oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial storage sites for nutrients are called ____________________.

Question 70

Because carbon makes up such a small amount of the earth's atmosphere, even a small change, caused by nature or by humans, affects the earth's climate.

Question 71

Tropical rain forests may be prevented from returning to cleared areas if an irreversible ______________ is reached.

Question 72

Ecologists assign every type of organism in an ecosystem to a feeding level or ____________________.

Question 73

The hydrologic cycle is a way nature renews water quality.

Question 74

Carbon cycles through the biosphere and depends on the process of ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 75

Nutrient cycles connect past, present, and future forms of life.

Question 76

A group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time is a(n)____________________.

Question 77

Decomposers are mainly bacteria and ____________________.

Question 78

The rotten-egg smell coming from volcanoes and anaerobic decomposition in bogs and swamps comes from the gas ____________________.

Question 79

The three major processes in the water cycle are ____________________, ____________________, and ____________________.

Question 80

Over land, most water that reaches the atmosphere comes from transpiration.