Deck 24: Ecology and the Nature of Ecosystems

Question 1

As a rule of thumb,how much of the food energy taken in by an herbivore is passed on to a carnivore (primary consumer)?

A) 1%
B) 5%
C) 10%
D) 50%
E) 90%

Answer 1

10%

Question 2

What is another name for the taiga?

A) savanna
B) tropical rain forest
C) prairie
D) coniferous forest
E) tundra

Answer 2

coniferous forest

Question 3

Decomposers perform a valuable service because they recycle nutrients.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Both energy and chemicals cycle through an ecosystem.

Question 5

What is another name for autotrophs?

A) herbivores
B) carnivores
C) omnivores
D) producers
E) detritus feeders

Question 6

All of the energy in an ecosystem eventually becomes

A) sunlight.
B) feces.
C) heat.
D) detritus.
E) body mass.

Question 7

Which term is analogous to the word "niche"?

A) address
B) job description
C) properties
D) needs
E) desires

Question 8

The richest marine ecosystems are those in the open water where large fish abound.

Question 9

Life on Earth is dependent on a continued input of energy from the sun.

Question 10

Which is the following functions of an herbivore provides energy that becomes available to the carnivore that eats the herbivore?

A) excretion
B) defecation
C) growth and reproduction
D) cellular respiration
E) death

Question 11

Almost 100% of the energy taken in by plants from the sun is available to an ecosystem.

Question 12

Which of the following is not an abiotic component of an ecosystem?

A) decomposers
B) soil type
C) amount of rainfall
D) temperature
E) amount of sunlight

Question 13

The bottom of the ocean floor is not considered part of the biosphere because no sunlight reaches it.

Question 14

What do autotrophs require in order to produce food for themselves and all the heterotrophs?

A) sunlight, inorganic nutrients
B) sunlight, organic nutrients
C) an energy source, water
D) an energy source, inorganic nutrients
E) heat, water

Question 15

Which of the following defines an ecosystem?

A) a group of organisms of the same species interacting together
B) all of the living organisms in an area interacting together
C) all living organisms and the nonliving environment interacting together
D) aspects of the nonliving environment interacting together
E) all the places on Earth where living organisms can be found

Question 16

What is the name of the frigid ecosystem bordering the North Pole?

A) coniferous forests
B) prairies
C) temperate forests
D) taiga
E) tundra

Question 17

What two characteristics define a biome?

A) temperature and the types of plants found there
B) amount of precipitation and the types of plants found there
C) temperature and rainfall
D) latitude and rainfall
E) altitude and temperature

Question 18

Timothy has become a vegan.He does not eat any meat,eggs,milk,or cheese.How would Timothy be classified?

A) producer
B) herbivore
C) carnivore
D) omnivore
E) detritus feeder

Question 19

What kind of an organism is an earthworm?

A) producer
B) herbivore
C) carnivore
D) omnivore
E) detritus feeder

Question 20

To say that something is a producer is to give information regarding its niche in an ecosystem.

Question 21

What is the advantage of constructing an ecological pyramid based on biomass?

A) Aquatic ecosystem pyramids actually look like pyramids.
B) Size of the various organisms is eliminated as a factor.
C) This includes the detrital food web as well as the grazing food web in one pyramid.
D) This takes into account nutrient cycling as well as energy flow.
E) This eliminates the need to include producers in the pyramid.

Question 22

A biogeochemical cycle involves only the abiotic components of an ecosystem,and describes how chemicals circulate through those components.

Question 23

Which of the following biogeochemical cycles is a sedimentary cycle?

A) carbon
B) nitrogen
C) phosphorus
D) water
E) ice

Question 24

Which of the following is on the same trophic level as a rabbit?

A) deer
B) snake
C) fox
D) hawk
E) bobcat

Question 25

Minerals in rocks are considered what type of component of a chemical cycle?

A) reservoir
B) exchange pool
C) biotic community
D) abiotic community
E) none of these

Question 26

What does the word "trophic" mean?

A) energy
B) niche
C) web
D) feeding
E) biomass

Question 27

Assuming all of the following organisms are part of the same food web,which of the following would be an example of a secondary consumer?

A) leaves
B) caterpillars
C) sparrows
D) hawks
E) eagles

Question 28

What organism would be at the second level in a detrital food web?

A) leaves
B) detritus
C) birds
D) earthworms
E) shrews

Question 29

Most ecosystems contain quaternary consumers.

Question 30

A detrital food web and a grazing food web are separate because each starts at a different level.

Question 31

Are humans capable of upsetting global biogeochemical cycles with their activities?

Question 32

Diagram an ecological pyramid that consists of four trophic levels.Indicate the category of organisms at each level and provide an example of an organism for each category.

Question 33

List and explain the six steps in the hydrological cycle.

Question 34

The atmosphere would be considered what component of a chemical cycle?

A) reservoir
B) exchange pool
C) biotic community
D) source
E) none of these

Question 35

Which is at the beginning of a grazing food web?

A) detritus
B) earthworms
C) beetles
D) shrews
E) leaves

Question 36

What is the loss of water from plants called?

A) runoff
B) precipitation
C) evaporation
D) transpiration
E) transference

Question 37

If the first-level carnivore consumes 500 kg of energy from herbivore tissue,how much is available to the second-level carnivores?

A) 500 kg
B) 100 kg
C) 50 kg
D) 10 kg
E) 5 kg

Question 38

Do all ecological pyramids have a broad base with a smaller top?

Question 39

When water evaporates from the ocean,it leaves the salts behind.

Question 40

Hail and snow are examples of

A) evaporation.
B) precipitation.
C) runoff.
D) transpiration.
E) aquifers.

Question 41

Which is an exchange pool for the carbon cycle?

A) the ocean
B) carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
C) limestone
D) fossil fuels
E) soil

Question 42

Cultural eutrophication can be caused by

A) respiration and transpiration.
B) mercury from industrial sources.
C) bacteria and viruses from sewage and barnyard waste.
D) detergents, fertilizers, and sewage treatment plants.
E) biological magnification.

Question 43

How does phosphate enter the soil?

A) conversion in the atmosphere due to lightning
B) precipitation from clouds
C) weathering of rocks
D) photosynthesis
E) cellular respiration

Question 44

What is the primary source of carbon for aquatic algae?

A) calcium carbonate
B) calcium chloride
C) bicarbonate
D) carbon dioxide
E) carbon monoxide

Question 45

How is carbon dioxide made availabe to living organisms?

A) by breathing
B) by cellular respiration
C) by photosynthesis
D) by combustion
E) by decay

Question 46

The ratio between the uptake of carbon dioxide by photosynthesis and the release of carbon dioxide by respiration is approximately

A) 1 (i.e., about the same).
B) 2 (i.e., twice as much carbon dioxide is taken up by photosynthesis as is released by respiration).
C) 5 (i.e., five times as much carbon dioxide is taken up by photosynthesis as is released by respiration).
D) 0.5 (i.e., half as much carbon dioxide is taken up by photosynthesis as is released by respiration).
E) 0.1 (i.e., one-tenth as much carbon dioxide is taken up by photosynthesis as is released by respiration). The transfer rates of these two is about even.

Question 47

The global climate has already warmed about 0.6 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution.

Question 48

What is involved in the process of denitrification?

A) conversion of nitrogen gas to ammonium
B) conversion of nitrogen gas to nitrate
C) conversion of ammonium to nitrate
D) conversion of nitrite to nitrate
E) conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas

Question 49

There is more nitrogen gas in the atmosphere than there is oxygen.

Question 50

One of the consequences of building roads,parking lots,and buildings is

A) increased evaporation from the ocean.
B) decreased precipitation over the oceans and the land.
C) increased transpiration of plants in the vicinity.
D) increased runoff into nearby streams, lakes, wetlands, or the ocean.
E) a decrease in the level of the water table.

Question 51

Which of the following is a legume involved in housing nitrogen-fixing bacteria?

A) ferns
B) oak trees
C) grass
D) beans
E) roses

Question 52

Biological magnification occurs as organisms get larger due to increased water,air,and soil pollution.

Question 53

How is the nitrogen cycle like the carbon cycle?

A) Both are gaseous cycles.
B) Both require photosynthesis to utilize the chemical.
C) Both are lost to the atmosphere during cellular respiration.
D) Both are stored in fossil fuels.
E) Neither has a reservoir in nature.

Question 54

Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

A) oxygen
B) carbon dioxide
C) methane
D) nitrous oxide
E) hydrofluorocarbons

Question 55

Water vapor contributes to global warming.

Question 56

Phosphorus is needed by living organisms because it is a part of proteins.

Question 57

Which of the following is not an effect of global warming?

A) rise in sea level
B) expansion of forests in the temperate zones
C) melting of glaciers
D) wetter coastal regions
E) flooding of coastal agricultural land

Question 58

Which of the following is associated with groundwater mining?

A) aquifers
B) standing water (lakes and ponds)
C) ice
D) ocean
E) runoff

Question 59

Organisms that live in an aquatic environment get their carbon from calcium carbonate shells on the bottom,instead of from carbon dioxide in the environment.

Question 60

There are no reservoirs of carbon for the carbon cycle.

Question 61

When energy flows from one trophic level to another,only a small amount is actually used.Which of the following uses of energy by an organism allows for the least amount of transfer to a different trophic level?

A) cellular respiration
B) growth
C) death
D) excretion
E) reproduction

Question 62

When a rabbit eats a bean plant,a portion of the available energy moves into the rabbit's body.When the rabbit is eaten by a hawk,a portion of the available energy moves into the hawk's body.Indicate the various areas that energy is used by an organism,and why only 10% of the rabbit's available energy will move to the hawk.