Deck 42: Ecosystems

Question 1

The greatest concentration of nitrogen on the planet Earth is found in ____.

A)living organisms
B)the atmosphere
C)soil minerals
D)fossil fuels
E)the oceans

Answer 1

B

Question 2

An energy pyramid shows the ____.

A)amount of organic material in the bodies of organisms at each trophic level
B)amount of energy that flows through each trophic level
C)amount of biomass at each trophic level
D)amount of energy in an ecosystem, quantified by the base of the pyramid only
E)trophic levels that exist in a specific ecosystem

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The biological components of a biogeochemical cycle include ____.

A)bodies of living organisms only
B)wastes and remains of organisms only
C)Earth's sediments only
D)bodies of living organisms and their wastes and remains
E)wastes and remains of organisms, and Earth's sediment

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Animals obtain minerals such as phosphorus primarily through ____.

A)drinking water
B)inhalation
C)eating meats only
D)eating plants only
E)eating both meats and plants

Question 5

Primary consumers eat ____.

A)detritivores
B)decomposers
C)producers
D)other consumers
E)any organism that is at a different trophic level

Question 6

Which cycle relies most heavily upon bacteria?

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

Question 7

The uppermost layer of soil that is saturated with water is referred to as ____.

A)a delta
B)headwater
C)surface water
D)an aquifer
E)the water table

Question 8

The majority of Earth's water is in ____.

A)lakes
B)rivers
C)soil
D)oceans
E)glaciers

Question 9

Four of the five answers listed below are heterotrophic. Select the exception.

A)consumers
B)carnivores
C)herbivores
D)parasites
E)producers

Question 10

Four of the five answers are consumers in an ecosystem. Select the exception.

A)wolves
B)sparrows
C)earthworms
D)fungi
E)grasses

Question 11

Energy flow in an ecosystem is ____.

A)cyclical
B)one-way
C)two-way
D)reversible under different conditions
E)exponential

Question 12

Oil and natural gas formed over hundreds of millions of years from the carbon-rich remains of which organisms?

A)bacteria
B)plankton
C)fish
D)terrestrial plants
E)terrestrial vertebrates

Question 13

An ecosystem is a community of ____ producers and ____ consumers that interact with one another and with their nonliving environment.

A)energy-consuming; energy-producing
B)primary; secondary
C)autotrophic; heterotrophic
D)heterotrophic; autotrophic
E)nutrient cycling; heat producing

Question 14

When describing food webs, the term "everything is connected to everything" is fitting. Why?

A)Decomposers break down organic material from all organisms.
B)Animals in an ecosystem share resources.
C)Producers are always at the first trophic level.
D)Each species in a food web is typically two links away from all other species.
E)Extinction of any species in a food web has a very low potential impact on other species.

Question 15

Which organisms would be part of a grazing food chain but not a detrital food chain?

A)herbivores
B)detritivores
C)bacteria
D)worms
E)producers

Question 16

Four of the five answers listed below pass through the atmosphere during their cycling. Select the exception.

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

Question 17

What is the major reservoir of phosphorus?

A)atmosphere
B)sedimentary rock
C)ocean
D)organic matter
E)groundwater

Question 18

In ecosystems, primary consumers are ____.

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

Question 19

How does phosphorus enter the biological portion of the cycle?

A)Land plants take up dissolved phosphate from soil water.
B)Bacteria fix phosphate from the atmosphere.
C)Consumers eat phosphate-containing soil.
D)Bacteria fix phosphate from water.
E)Erosion of rocks moves phosphate into water, which consumers drink.

Question 20

By the process called ____, an organism's tissues store a pollutant taken up from the environment, causing the amount in the body to increase over time.

A)pollutant fixation
B)biological magnification
C)chemical buildup
D)acidification
E)bioaccumulation

Question 21

Which gas is increasing the most in the atmosphere and causing the biggest threat to the world by intensifying the greenhouse effect?

A)carbon dioxide
B)carbon monoxide
C)ozone
D)fluorocarbon
E)oxygen

Question 22

Primary production is the ____.

A)rate of photosynthesis
B)rate of energy flow
C)amount of energy stored in the ecosystem
D)amount of energy utilized
E)rate at which consumers capture and store energy

Question 23

Producers take up ____ from the atmosphere and incorporate it into their tissues through the process of ____.

A)carbon dioxide; decomposition
B)carbon dioxide; cellular respiration
C)carbon dioxide; photosynthesis
D)oxygen; photosynthesis
E)oxygen; cellular respiration

Question 24

Producers are present at which trophic level?

A)first
B)second
C)third
D)fourth or higher
E)the level varies with different ecosystems

Question 25

The bottom or base of an energy pyramid consists of ____.

A)primary producers
B)secondary producers
C)primary consumers
D)secondary consumers
E)tertiary consumers

Question 26

Detritus specifically includes ____.

A)exclusively organic wastes
B)exclusively toxic materials
C)small bits of decaying organic matter
D)living bacteria and fungi
E)toxic wastes and small bits of decaying organic matter

Question 27

Most of the energy within an ecosystem is lost ____.

A)when organisms disperse
B)when organisms die
C)as a result of metabolism
D)by organisms at the top of the food web
E)by decomposers

Question 28

Burning of fossil fuels, use of synthetic fertilizers, and industrial livestock production all add which compound to the atmosphere?

A)nitrous oxide (N₂O)
B)phosphate (PO₄³⁻)
C)nitrate (NO₃⁻)
D)nitrite (NO₂⁻)
E)ammonium (NH₄⁺)

Question 29

The amount of energy that flows through a detrital food web is ____ that which flows through a grazing food web.

A)the same as
B)greater than
C)less than
D)the sum of
E)the difference of

Question 30

What ions form when atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater?

A)carbonic acid only
B)calcium carbonate only
C)bicarbonate only
D)both carbonic acid and calcium carbonate
E)both bicarbonate and calcium carbonate

Question 31

What is the main source of increasing greenhouse gases?

A)increased cellular respiration
B)increased use of fossil fuels
C)increased diffusion from the oceans
D)increased volcanic activity
E)increased animal life on Earth

Question 32

Ecological efficiency, described as the percentage of energy at one trophic level that ends up in tissue in the next level, is approximately ____ to ____%.

A)1; 5
B)1; 20
C)5; 30
D)10; 40
E)50; 60

Question 33

Most fresh water ____.

A)is frozen as ice
B)exists as groundwater
C)is located in aquifers
D)is stored in lakes
E)is stored in rivers

Question 34

On an annual basis, the greatest flow of carbon between nonbiological reservoirs takes place between ____.

A)the atmosphere and Earth's rocks
B)the ocean and Earth's rocks
C)the ocean and the atmosphere
D)plants and Earth's rocks
E)aquatic organisms and the atmosphere

Question 35

​Four of the five answers listed below are nonbiological reservoirs in biogeochemical cycles. Select the exception.

A)​aquifers
B)​oceans
C)​atmosphere
D)​guano
E)​limestone

Question 36

Stretching from South Dakota to Texas and supplying irrigation water to 27% of the nation's crops, what aquifer is the largest aquifer in the United States?

A)Edwards
B)Biscayne
C)Ogallala
D)Marshall
E)Mahomet

Question 37

The ____ cycle is a sedimentary cycle.

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

Question 38

Wastes would accumulate and most nutrients would stop cycling in the absence of ____.

A)plants and algae
B)bacteria and fungi
C)parasitic consumers
D)insects
E)vertebrates

Question 39

Some energy gets stored in molecules that most consumers cannot break down. For example, most carnivores cannot access energy tied up in bones, scales, hair, feathers, or fur. What effect does this have on energy transfer in an ecosystem?

A)More energy is lost through heat by the energy needed for digestion.
B)The transfer of energy between trophic levels is efficient.
C)There is an increased need for many trophic levels.
D)Only a small percent of the energy is passed from one trophic level to the next.
E)Second-level consumers do not require as much energy.

Question 40

Carnivores must be at or above which trophic level?

A)first
B)second
C)third
D)fourth
E)fifth

Question 41

Match the trophic category to the correct statement. The trophic categories may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
a.producer
b.herbivore
c.carnivore
d.decomposer
e.detritivore
most mushrooms function as this

Question 42

Match the trophic category to the correct statement. The trophic categories may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
a.producer
b.herbivore
c.carnivore
d.decomposer
e.detritivore
this is a primary consumer

Question 43

Soils that hold the most carbon occur in ____.

A)tropical rain forests
B)temperate deciduous forests
C)grasslands and in savannas
D)the arctic and in peatbogs
E)chaparral and in deserts

Question 44

Biological magnification can be defined as the ____.

A)chemical pollutant increasing in concentration as it moves up the food chain
B)amount of energy transfer increasing as it moves up the food chain
C)fixation of nutrients from the atmosphere
D)entrance of a chemical into the biological portion of a biogeochemical cycle
E)increase in food web members in biologically diverse ecosystems

Question 45

Match the trophic category to the correct statement. The trophic categories may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
a.producer
b.herbivore
c.carnivore
d.decomposer
e.detritivore
a bear feeding on blueberries is functioning as this

Question 46

An ecosystem is defined as ____.

A)a group of species that interact with one another
B)a population of individuals of a certain species
C)the habitat of a particular species
D)a biological community and its environment
E)the nonbiological components of a specific environment

Question 47

Match the trophic category to the correct statement. The trophic categories may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
a.producer
b.herbivore
c.carnivore
d.decomposer
e.detritivore
a bear feeding on a salmon is functioning as this

Question 48

Nitrogen is released into the atmosphere by ____.

A)nitrogen fixation
B)denitrification
C)nitrification
D)ammonification
E)decomposition

Question 49

Match the trophic category to the correct statement. The trophic categories may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
a.producer
b.herbivore
c.carnivore
d.decomposer
e.detritivore
an earthworm functions as this

Question 50

Plants are able to take up and use nitrogen only when it is available in what form(s)?

A)ammonium only
B)nitrate only
C)N₂ only
D)nitrate and ammonium
E)ammonium and N₂

Question 51

Movement of water results in movement of other nutrients. What element or elements have soluble forms that flowing water can carry from place to place?

A)carbon only
B)nitrogen only
C)phosphorus only
D)carbon and nitrogen only
E)carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus

Question 52

The effect of nitrification is to ____.

A)convert ammonium into nitrates
B)reduce nitrates to nitrites
C)convert nitrogenous compounds into free nitrogen
D)mimic nitrogen fixation
E)convert nitrates to organic nitrogen