Deck 1: Ecology and Ecosystems: Understanding Interactions and Energy Flow

Question 1

The combined portions of Earth in which all living things exist is called the

A)biome.
B)community.
C)ecosystem.
D)biosphere.

Answer 1

biosphere.

Question 2

Which of the following descriptions about the organization of an ecosystem is correct?

A)Communities make up species, which make up populations.
B)Populations make up species, which make up communities.
C)Species make up communities, which make up populations.
D)Species make up populations, which make up communities.

Answer 2

Species make up populations, which make up communities.

Question 3

The simplest grouping of more than one kind of organism in the biosphere is

A)a population.
B)a community.
C)an ecosystem.
D)a species.

Answer 3

a community.

Question 4

Plants are

A)producers.
B)consumers.
C)herbivores.
D)omnivores.

Question 5

An organism that uses energy to produce its own food supply from inorganic compounds is called a(an)

A)heterotroph.
B)consumer.
C)detritivore.
D)autotroph.

Question 6

Organisms that obtain nutrients by breaking down dead and decaying plants and animals are called

A)decomposers.
B)omnivores.
C)autotrophs.
D)producers.

Question 7

All the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem make up a food

A)interaction.
B)chain.
C)network.
D)web.

Question 8

The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called the

A)organic mass.
B)trophic mass.
C)energy mass.
D)biomass.

Question 9

What is an ecological model of the relationships that form a network of complex interactions among organisms in a community from producers to decomposers?

A)food web
B)an ecosystem
C)food chain
D)a population

Question 10

What is the term for each step in the transfer of energy and matter within a food web?

A)energy path
B)food chain
C)trophic level
D)food pyramid

Question 11

A bird stalks, kills, and then eats an insect. Based on its behavior, which ecological terms describe the bird?

A)herbivore, decomposer
B)producer, heterotroph
C)carnivore, consumer
D)autotroph, herbivore

Question 12

A snake that eats a frog that has eaten an insect that fed on a plant is a

A)first-level producer.
B)first-level consumer.
C)second-level producer.
D)third-level consumer.

Question 13

The trophic levels in Figure 3-2 illustrate

A)the relative amount of energy at each level.
B)the amount of living organic matter at each level.
C)the relative number of individual organisms at each level.
D)that the producers outnumber first-level consumers.

Question 14

Only 10 percent of the energy stored in an organism can be passed on to the next trophic level. Of the remaining energy, some is used for the organism's life processes, and the rest is

A)used in reproduction.
B)stored as body tissue.
C)stored as fat.
D)eliminated as heat.

Question 15

Most of the energy available to a consumer trophic level is used by organisms for

A)transfer to the next trophic level.
B)respiration, movement, and reproduction.
C)producing inorganic chemical compounds.
D)performing photosynthesis.

Question 16

Which type of pyramid shows the amount of living tissue at each trophic level in an ecosystem?

A)a numbers pyramid
B)an energy pyramid
C)a biomass pyramid
D)a food pyramid

Question 17

Matter can recycle through the biosphere because

A)matter is passed out of the body as waste.
B)matter is assembled into chemical compounds.
C)biological systems do not use up matter, they transform it.
D)biological systems use only carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.

Question 18

Carbon cycles through the biosphere in all of the following processes EXCEPT

A)photosynthesis.
B)transpiration.
C)burning of fossil fuels.
D)decomposition of plants and animals.

Question 19

How is carbon stored in the biosphere?

A)in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
B)underground as fossil fuels and calcium carbonate rock
C)in the oceans as dissolved carbon dioxide
D)all of the above

Question 20

Which of the following has a direct role in the nitrogen cycle?

A)bacteria
B)legumes
C)decomposers
D)all of the above

Question 21

Organisms need nutrients in order to

A)utilize hydrogen and oxygen.
B)carry out essential life functions.
C)recycle chemical compounds.
D)carry out nitrogen fixation.

Question 22

The movements of energy and nutrients through living systems are different because

A)energy flows in one direction and nutrients recycle.
B)energy is limited in the biosphere and nutrients are always available.
C)nutrients flow in one direction and energy recycles.
D)energy forms chemical compounds and nutrients are lost as heat.

Question 23

Biogeochemical cycling ensures that

A)human activity will have no effect on elements, chemical
B)c compounds, and other forms of matter. living organisms will not become limited in any one nutrient. nutrients will be circulated throughout the biosphere.
C)nutrients will be circulated throughout the biosphere.
D)many nutrients will not reach toxic concentrations in the biosphere.