Deck 23: Ecosystems and Populations

Question 1

If an owl is moved from a mature evergreen forest to a mature hedgerow in a suburban neighborhood, the owl's ________ has been changed.

A) biosphere
B) habitat
C) range
D) environmental resistance
E) niche

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which one of the following statements accurately reflects the nature of climax communities?

A) Climax communities have more consumers than producers, because the producers are so efficient.
B) Climax communities develop very quickly.
C) Succession begins once a climax community has been established.
D) Climax communities are so well established that when disturbed, they quickly recover.
E) Climax communities are the most efficient in terms of energy utilization and exhibit the greatest species diversity.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which statement describes the expected population growth in the next 50 years?

A) The population growth will be relatively equal throughout the world.
B) The greatest population growth is likely to occur in the more industrialized countries, including the United States and Europe.
C) Most countries worldwide will achieve zero population growth in the next 10 years.
D) The greatest population growth is likely to occur in the least industrialized countries.
E) There will be a net decline of population, with the United States and other industrialized countries contributing most to the population decline.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Population sizes begin to stabilize near the carrying capacity when

A) zero population is achieved
B) the number of species in the environment begins to decrease
C) environmental resistance begins to limit the population's biotic potential
D) the replacement fertility rate reaches 2.1
E) a population's biotic potential becomes unlimited

Question 5

In a graphical representation of an organism's population growth in a given habitat, the growth rate for an organism whose population is increasing according to its biotic potential is best represented by a(n)

A) line with a negative slope
B) S-shaped curve
C) flat line (no slope) set at the carrying capacity of the environment
D) exponential growth curve
E) flat line (no slope) set at the equilibrium point of environmental resistance versus biotic growth potential

Question 6

A scientist is studying the flow of energy into and out of a rain forest as well as the usage of energy by the organisms that inhabit that area. This study would be at the level of a(n)

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

Question 7

A species' biotic potential is intrinsically determined by all of the following EXCEPT which one?

A) the number of members of reproductive age
B) the number of offspring produced by each reproducing member
C) the time span before offspring reach reproductive maturity
D) the ratio of males to females
E) the presence of competing species in the same habitat

Question 8

All of the red squirrels living on a college campus would be a(n)

A) genus
B) family
C) population
D) ecosystem
E) community

Question 9

Human population begin to rise rapidly following the

A) Industrial Revolution
B) end of World War I
C) period known as the Black Death
D) end of the 20th century
E) end of the Ice Age

Question 10

The total living component of an ecosystem is its

A) niche
B) biotic potential
C) carrying capacity
D) biomass
E) geographic range

Question 11

The rapid growth of the human population still seen today began in the

A) 1200s
B) 1400s
C) 1700s
D) 1800s
E) 1900s

Question 12

The population of a particular species that an ecosystem can sustain indefinitely is called its

A) climax community
B) growth rate
C) carrying capacity
D) environmental range
E) habitat distribution

Question 13

Succession leads to the establishment of a(n)

A) community that consists of only one or two dominant species
B) climax community
C) ecosystem
D) community that has a limited number of natural resources
E) community that lacks efficiency in terms of its use of energy and nutrients

Question 14

Populations of species that occupy the same geographic area and interact with each other are collectively called a(n)

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

Question 15

Disease outbreak occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting a large portion of the population is referred to as

A) the biotic carrying capacity
B) a pandemic
C) the abiotic environmental resistance
D) the lag growth phase
E) a population "buffer"

Question 16

Which one of the following is represented by the calculation: (number of births - number of deaths)/total population?

A) fertility rate
B) birth rate
C) population growth rate
D) replacement fertility rate
E) zero population growth

Question 17

A progression of population changes that are tied to a region's industrial development and the economic well-being of its citizens is referred to as

A) replacement rate
B) succession
C) MICs
D) population resistance
E) demographic transition

Question 18

Woodpeckers, insects, bacteria, hawks, and raccoons are found to reside in the same forest. Studies of the interactions between these organisms would be at the level of a

A) community
B) species
C) biosphere
D) population
E) niche

Question 19

In which one of the following geographic locations is the climax community characterized by the presence of large slow-growing deciduous trees?

A) northeastern United States
B) southwestern United States
C) Arctic
D) midwestern United States
E) western United States

Question 20

The Black Death that devastated the human population of portions of Europe during the 1300s represents a

A) modest bacterial outbreak
B) pandemic
C) localized environment at carrying capacity
D) regional environment exceeding carrying capacity
E) viral epidemic

Question 21

Organisms that feed on the bodies of dead organisms are known as

A) omnivores
B) primary consumers
C) herbivores
D) decomposers
E) autotrophs

Question 22

Most precipitation reaching land results from

A) evaporation of surface water over land
B) upwelling of freshwater
C) atmospheric synthesis of water
D) evaporation of water from oceans
E) evaporation of water from plants during photosynthesis

Question 23

The figure above shows an ecological pyramid. Which level of this pyramid contains the primary producers?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) C and D

Question 24

Under natural conditions, the amount of nitrogen gas returned to the atmosphere by denitrification approximately balances

A) phosphorus cycling
B) evaporation
C) nitrogen fixation
D) sublimation
E) photosynthesis

Question 25

Slow weathering of sedimentary rock makes "new" ________ available in the exchange pool found in soil.

A) phosphorus
B) nitrogen
C) high energy carbohydrates
D) PCBs
E) oxygen

Question 26

Which one of the following is TRUE regarding an ecological pyramid?

A) The total biomass at each level of an ecosystem is generally determined by the available amount of energy.
B) The population of producers depends largely on the populations of consumers below it.
C) The amount of energy represented by tertiary consumers is greater than the amount of energy represented by primary consumers.
D) Animals such as wolves and eagles would be located at the base of the pyramid.
E) The amount of energy represented by producers is equivalent to the amount of energy represented by the secondary consumers.

Question 27

The biosphere is so large that, unlike the case of the more simple ecosystems, it is impossible to disturb the balances that exist in this ecosystem.

Question 28

During photosynthesis, high energy carbohydrates are produced at the end of

A) light absorption by chlorophyll
B) cellular respiration
C) the light reactions
D) the Calvin cycle
E) the electron transport pathway

Question 29

Trees undergoing photosynthesis in a mature forest can best be described as

A) primary consumers
B) secondary consumers
C) chemoautotrophs
D) primary producers
E) heterotrophs

Question 30

The phosphorus cycle is unique from nitrogen and carbon in that it

A) forms the most layers of sediment
B) is found only in aquatic environments
C) is restricted to ocean habitats
D) can be found anywhere
E) never enters the atmosphere

Question 31

The process of converting nitrogen gas to ammonium is called

A) biogeochemical processing
B) sublimation
C) nitrogen fixation
D) evaporation
E) nitrification

Question 32

Once populations exceed the carrying capacity of the environment, environmental resistance increases.

Question 33

A population is comprised of one or more species of organisms that may interact but do not interbreed.

Question 34

A species moving into a new habitat will be able to adapt only if there is genetic change in the population.

Question 35

Omnivores differ from carnivores in that omnivores derive their energy from

A) green plants
B) plants and animals
C) detritus
D) animals only
E) plants, animals, and photosynthesis

Question 36

Which one of the following is TRUE regarding the flow of energy through an ecosystem?

A) Energy flows from the sun to consumers to producers and then back to consumers.
B) When significant decomposer activity occurs, energy flow through the ecosystem is not cyclic.
C) Energy is cycled through an ecosystem and rarely lost as heat.
D) Energy flows from the sun to producers to consumers.
E) As energy flows through an ecosystem, it does not change form.

Question 37

Which one of the following is most likely to feed on detritus?

A) bears
B) plants
C) fungi
D) deer
E) tigers

Question 38

In plants, ammonium is often converted to nitrate before it can be used by the plant. This process is known as

A) nitrogen fixation
B) photosynthesis
C) decarboxylation
D) nitrification
E) denitrification

Question 39

Approximately ________% of the stored energy of an organism at one level of a food web is transferred to the tissues of the organism that consumes it at the next level of the food web.

A) 1
B) 10
C) 25
D) 50
E) 100

Question 40

Which one of the following statements is TRUE regarding the nitrogen cycle?

A) Nitrogen fixation results in the production of nitrogen from carbon.
B) Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be used by living organisms because two nitrogen atoms are held tightly together by a triple covalent bond.
C) Plants rely on animals for their source of usable nitrogen.
D) Once nitrogen is "fixed," it must then be converted to nitrogen gas before it can be used by living organisms.
E) In a balanced ecosystem, denitrification occurs more often than nitrogen fixation.

Question 41

With the exception of lipids, plants are capable of producing all the organic molecules they need using water and minerals from the soil and energy stored in the sugar molecules they make through photosynthesis.

Question 42

Climax communities generally exhibit the greatest species diversity.

Question 43

A niche is the location within an environment within which a species lives.

Question 44

Modern farming practices have advanced to the point where they have little impact on the balance of existing ecosystems in the area.

Question 45

For an organism reaching its biotic potential, the growth rate is characterized by a(n)________ curve.

Question 46

The introduction of invasive species may increase the environmental resistance for a native species.

Question 47

According to the second law of thermodynamics, when energy is converted from one form to another, some of that energy is transformed into heat energy, which is generally released from the "system."

Question 48

It is more accurate to use a food web rather than a food chain to depict the complex nature of an ecosystem because most organisms use more than one species as a source of food and most organisms are preyed upon by more than one species.

Question 49

The study of the relationship between living organisms and their physical environment is called ________.

Question 50

Chemicals that make up living organisms are constantly recycled between organisms and the Earth.

Question 51

Major end products from photosynthesis include oxygen gas and simple high energy carbohydrates.

Question 52

The type of location where a species lives is its ________.

Question 53

Nutrients cycle most rapidly with the reservoir pool of a biogeochemical cycle and least rapidly with the biomass pool.

Question 54

For bacteria living in benthic regions of a lake, exponential growth could continue even if the carrying capacity of the environment was exceeded provided nutrients were unlimited.

Question 55

As soon as a population achieves the replacement fertility rate of 2.1, the population will stop growing.

Question 56

The majority of precipitation reaching land is derived from evaporation of oceanic waters.

Question 57

In a given geographic location, the combination of all living organisms plus the physical environment in which they live is termed a(n) ________.

Question 58

A biogeochemical cycle involves the cycling of a chemical element between the biomass, exchange pool, and ________.

Question 59

During photosynthesis, high energy carbohydrates are produced during the ________.

Question 60

The process by which there is a natural sequence of change in the type of organisms within a particular community is called ________.

Question 61

The ________ is an organism's role in its community.

Question 62

The number of offspring produced by each reproducing member of a species, the ratio of males to females and the time it takes offspring to become reproductively mature are determinants of the ________ of a population.

Question 63

The size of a population of a given species that can be indefinitely sustained by an ecosystem is its ________.

Question 64

The total biomass at each level of an ecosystem or the total amount of energy stored at each level of an ecosystem can be depicted with the use of a(n) ________.

Question 65

Unlike the carbon and nitrogen cycles, the phosphorous cycle is classified as a(n) ________ cycle because phosphorus never enters the atmosphere.

Question 66

The process by which some bacteria convert nitrate to atmospheric nitrogen gas is called ________.

Question 67

The point at which the number of births equals the number of deaths is called ________.

Question 68

Excess sugar produced by plants is stored in the form of ________ in cells of their seeds, fruits, or roots.

Question 69

Most primary producers are plants that generate simple, high energy carbohydrates through the process of photosynthesis. This biochemical event essentially captures sunlight and uses the energy to fuel pathways that lead to the production of useful products. How are plants able to capture sunlight to initiate this process?

Question 70

During a murder investigation in your hometown, the crime scene investigation unit has discovered blow fly maggots developing on the body. As an amateur detective, you arrive on the scene just in time to explain to the investigators how the flies are serving as decomposers and carnivores at the same time. How is this possible?

Question 71

Factors in the environment that limit the ability of a species to meet its biotic potential are known as ________ factors.