Deck 36: Ecosystems

Question 1

Plants obtain the carbon used in the manufacture of organic compounds from:

A) organic compounds in the soil
B) carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
C) fossil fuels
D) carbon dioxide in the soil

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A ___________ is a type of major land ecosystem determined mostly by the features of the climate in the area.Many are actually named for the dominant plants or lack of.

A) biome
B) community
C) biosphere
D) land formation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Shallow,highly productive lakes with an abundance of algae are called:

A) oligotrophic lakes
B) thermally stratified
C) eutrophic lakes
D) dimictic lakes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Loss of water from the leaves of plants occurs mostly via a process known as:

A) transpiration
B) evaporation
C) dehydration
D) guttation

Question 5

Certain bacteria are capable of transforming atmospheric nitrogen into a form other organisms can use through a process known as:

A) combustion
B) nitrogen oxidation
C) nitrogen fixation
D) nitrogen reduction

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a component of the physical habitat in which organisms live?

A) Rocks
B) Water
C) Wind
D) Bacteria

Question 7

Characterized by permafrost and low,shrubby plants,_______ can be found nearest the poles.

A) tundra
B) taiga
C) temperate deciduous forests
D) chaparral

Question 8

Choose the best definition of the term "ecology."

A) Ecology is the study of animals in their habitat.
B) Ecology is the study of plants and animals in their ecosystems.
C) Ecology is the study of communities of organisms.
D) Ecology is the study of interactions of organisms with each other and with their habitat.

Question 9

Humans intrude into the nitrogen cycle by:

A) disposing of human manure rather than allowing it to recycle
B) manufacturing nitrogen compounds to apply to agricultural fields
C) tying up nitrogen in human body mass because of overpopulation
D) use of antibiotics that destroy important bacteria in the nitrogen cycle

Question 10

Circling the globe at northern latitudes is ____________,with coniferous trees and long,cold winters.

A) tundra
B) taiga
C) temperate deciduous forests
D) chaparral

Question 11

In the annual cycle of a temperate lake,thermal stratification occurs when?

A) During spring overturn
B) During the summer
C) During fall overturn
D) During summer and winter

Question 12

Phosphorus is an essential element in all living things and is a component of:

A) carbohydrates
B) nearly all vitamins
C) most amino acids
D) ATP and DNA

Question 13

Life exists on Earth because of the constant flow of light energy from the Sun that is transformed into chemical energy.

Question 14

A type of ecosystem characterized by bioluminescent creatures eating debris can be found:

A) in estuaries
B) at the open ocean surface
C) in shallow waters overlying the continental shelves
D) in the deep sea waters,below the level of light penetration

Question 15

The British Isles experience warmer weather than other areas of the same latitude because of:

A) the vast forests that shelter the islands from winds
B) the warm,moist Gulf Stream
C) mountain ranges protecting the islands
D) industry causing a localized greenhouse effect

Question 16

Herbivores are at what trophic level within an ecosystem?

A) Level 1
B) Level 2
C) Level 3
D) Level 4

Question 17

_______________ are found halfway between the equator and poles,cover the interiors of major continents,and have been largely converted to agricultural use.

A) Temperate rain forests
B) Taigas
C) Grasslands
D) Savannas

Question 18

The type of ecosystem that can be found bordering the tropics worldwide that is characterized by huge herds of grazing animals is:

A) temperate rain forest
B) taiga
C) prairie
D) savanna

Question 19

The total amount of energy fixed by photosynthetic organisms minus the energy used in their own metabolic activities is:

A) primary productivity
B) secondary productivity
C) net primary productivity
D) net secondary productivity

Question 20

All of the different kinds of interacting organisms living within a certain area make up a:

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

Question 21

If forests are cut down,semiarid deserts could result.

Question 22

In an inverted aquatic biomass pyramid,which organism is likely found at the bottom?

A) Sharks
B) Phytoplankton
C) Trout
D) Zooplankton
E) Smelts

Question 23

The moisture that travels up from the plants into the atmosphere falls back to the Earth as rain.

Question 24

The tropics are warmer than the temperate regions because:

A) there is less wind there to cool it
B) they are at a higher altitude and closer to the Sun
C) the Sun's rays strike at a direct angle
D) they are closer to the Moon
E) the Sun's rays strike at an oblique angle

Question 25

All of the following are correct about oligotrophic lakes except:

A) they have an abundance of minerals and organic material
B) they are often deeper than eutrophic lakes
C) their deep water is rich in oxygen
D) they are highly susceptible to pollution from fertilizer runoff
E) they are highly susceptible to detergent and sewage contamination

Question 26

Which of the following are decomposers?

A) worms
B) vultures
C) fungi
D) arthropods

Question 27

The Earth completes one rotation about its axis every:

A) 12 hours
B) 1 day
C) 1 month
D) 1 year

Question 28

Which part of the lake contains numerous bacteria and wormlike organisms that consume dead debris?

A) Profundal
B) Limnetic
C) Littoral
D) Fundal

Question 29

Biological magnification can lead to high levels of mercury and lead in organisms higher in the food chain.

Question 30

The loss of _____ that occurs at each trophic level places a limit on how many top-level carnivores a community can support.

A) water
B) light
C) CO₂
D) energy
E) O₂

Question 31

Which zone in a lake is the shallowest part?

A) Profundal
B) Limnetic
C) Littoral
D) Fundal

Question 32

Which is incorrect about deep-sea organisms?

A) Some prokaryotes extract energy from hydrogen sulfide.
B) Some prokaryotes are photosynthetic there.
C) Some heterotrophic organisms obtain energy from debris that falls from above.
D) Some prokaryotes live symbiotically within the tissues of heterotrophs that live there.

Question 33

When you eat a hamburger,you are eating at which trophic level?

A) Level 1
B) Level 2
C) Level 3
D) Level 4

Question 34

All of the following are examples of detritivores except:

A) worms
B) vultures
C) fungi
D) arthropods

Question 35

When you eat a hamburger,you are the:

A) decomposer
B) producer
C) primary consumer
D) secondary consumer
E) tertiary consumer

Question 36

Where is an estuary found?

A) Below the top 300 meters of the sea where there is no light.
B) At the top 100 meters of the sea.
C) It is a small temporary pond of water.
D) It is the water that forms at the mouth of a river where it meets the sea.

Question 37

_______ bacteria convert nitrate into atmospheric nitrogen.

A) Nitrifying
B) Ammonifying
C) Denitrifying
D) Detritivorous

Question 38

All the deserts of the world occur at 65° latitude.

Question 39

It takes the Earth _______ to orbit around the Sun.

A) 12 hours
B) 1 day
C) 1 month
D) 1 year

Question 40

When the energy flow through an ecosystem is measured at each trophic level,__________ of the available energy passes from one level to the next.

A) 1% to 2%
B) 5% to 20%
C) 25% to 35%
D) 36% to 45%
E) 46% to 55%

Question 41

Devise an example of a food chain with four links.

Question 42

Uncontrolled growth of algae in an aquatic ecosystem is due to a process known as ________________,caused by excessive inputs of nutrients.

Question 43

____________ is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific.

Question 44

Microscopic organisms floating on the surface of the ocean make up the ___________________.

Question 45

_______ is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific.

Question 46

Why do food chains rarely have more than three or four links?

Question 47

Several food chains woven together comprise a ______________.

Question 48

The community plus its habitat make up an ____________________.

Question 49

The flow of energy is one way,but nutrients in ecosystems _____________.

Question 50

Deserts that occur on the back sides of mountain ranges are due to an effect called a __________________.

Question 51

How have humans intruded into the global water cycle?

Question 52

Plants are the ____________ in the food chain in an ecosystem.

Question 53

A _________________ in a community is made up of the organisms feeding at the same number of steps away from the Sun.

Question 54

Describe the environmental water cycle.

Question 55

Why would few reptiles be found in the tundra?