Ecology Quiz
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1. 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.
____
2. Plants are
a. primary producers.
b. primary consumers.
c. herbivores.
d. omnivores.
____
3. What animals eat both producers and consumers?
a. herbivores
b. omnivores
c. chemotrophs
d. autotrophs
____
4. 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
____
5. A bird stalks, kills, and then eats an insect. Based on its behavior, which pair of ecological terms describes
the bird?
a. herbivore, decomposer
b. producer, heterotroph
c. carnivore, consumer
d. autotroph, herbivore
____
6. 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.
____
7. A word that means the same thing as consumer is
a. producer.
b. autotroph.
c. heterotroph.
d. carbohydrate.
____
8. 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.
____
9. Which is a biotic factor that affects the size of a population in a specific ecosystem?
a. average temperature of the ecosystem
b. type of soil in the ecosystem
c. number and kinds of predators in the ecosystem
d. concentration of oxygen in the ecosystem
____ 10. How does an area’s weather differ from the area’s climate?
a. Weather involves temperature and precipitation and climate involves only temperature.
b. An area’s weather depends on where it is located on Earth and the area’s climate does not.
c. An area’s weather does not change very much and an area’s climate changes many times.
d. Weather is the area’s day-to-day conditions and climate is the area’s average conditions.
____ 11. An organism’s niche is
a. the range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way it
obtains what it needs to survive and reproduce.
b. all the physical and biological factors in the organism’s environment.
c. the range of temperatures that the organism needs to survive.
d. a full description of the place an organism lives.
____ 12. Different species can share the same habitat, but competition among them is reduced if they
a. reproduce at different times.
b. eat less.
c. increase their populations.
d. occupy different niches.
Figure 4–1
____ 13. What would happen if the population of the bird species shown in the ecosystem in Figure 4–1 were to
suddenly decrease?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The grass population would increase.
The fish population would increase.
The fish would occupy the birds’ niche.
The grass and fish would compete for resources.
____ 14. A wolf pack hunts, kills, and feeds on a moose. In this interaction, the wolves are
a.
b.
c.
d.
hosts.
prey.
mutualists.
predators.
____ 15. Which of the following tells you population density?
a. the number of births per year
b. the number of frogs in a pond
c. the number of deaths per year
d. the number of bacteria per square millimeter
____ 16. Each of the following is a density-dependent limiting factor EXCEPT
a. competition.
b. temperature.
c. crowding.
d. disease.
____ 17. If a population grows larger than the carrying capacity of the environment, the
a. death rate may rise.
b. birthrate may rise.
c. death rate must fall.
d. birthrate must fall.
____ 18. The graph in the figure above shows the growth of a bacterial population. Which of the following correctly
describes the growth curve?
a. logistic
b. limiting
c. demographic
d. exponential
Completion
Complete each statement.
19. The study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their physical surroundings is called
____________________.
20. As shown in the figure above, the climate zone that receives the most direct sunlight throughout the year is
the _________________________ zone.
Short Answer
21. Make a table or list three biotic and three abiotic factors that determine the survival of a rabbit in a temperate
forest.
.
22.
Observe the carbon cycle in the figure above, then describe how deforestation might contribute to global
warming.
.
23. Name and define the three main classes of symbiotic relationships. Give examples of each.
Problem
24.
A population of snails has recently inhabited the field above. You use a quadrat that is 0.25m2 to estimate the
population. Out of ten plots you find and average of 26 individual snails. What would you estimate the
population of snails in the whole field to be? Calculate average density for your plots? The area of the field?
Finally, calculate the total population.
Density =
snails/m2
Area =
Population=
Remember:
m2
snails
area for rectangle = L x W
&
area for right-triangle = ½ L x W
Ecology Quiz
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS:
OBJ:
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2. ANS:
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3. ANS:
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10. ANS:
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12. ANS:
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14. ANS:
OBJ:
TOP:
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 64 | p. 65
3.1.1 Describe the study of ecology.
TOP: Foundation Edition
comprehension
A
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
REF: p. 69
3.2.1 Define primary producers.
TOP: Foundation Edition
knowledge
B
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 71
3.2.2 Describe how consumers obtain energy and nutrients.
Foundation Edition
BLM: comprehension
C
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 77
3.3.1 Trace the flow of energy through living systems.
TOP: Foundation Edition
knowledge
C
PTS: 1
DIF: L3
REF: p. 71
3.2.2 Describe how consumers obtain energy and nutrients.
analysis
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
REF: p. 77
3.3.2 Identify the three types of ecological pyramids.
BLM: knowledge
C
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
REF: p. 71
3.2.2 Describe how consumers obtain energy and nutrients.
Foundation Edition
BLM: knowledge
A
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 73 | p. 82
3.4.3 Explain why nutrients are important in living systems.
Foundation Edition
BLM: comprehension
C
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 66
3.1.2 Explain how biotic and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem.
Foundation Edition
BLM: application
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 96
4.1.1 Differentiate between weather and climate.
TOP: Foundation Edition
analysis
A
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
REF: p. 100
4.2.1 Define niche.
TOP: Foundation Edition
knowledge
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 101
4.2.2 Describe the role competition plays in shaping communities.
application
B
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 102
4.2.3 Describe the role predation and herbivory play in shaping communities.
synthesis
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 102
4.2.3 Describe the role predation and herbivory play in shaping communities.
Foundation Edition
BLM: application
15. ANS:
OBJ:
TOP:
16. ANS:
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TOP:
17. ANS:
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18. ANS:
OBJ:
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D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 131
5.1.1 List the characteristics used to describe a population.
Foundation Edition
BLM: analysis
B
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
REF: p. 138 | p. 139 | p. 140
5.2.2 Identify the limiting factors that depend on population density.
Foundation Edition
BLM: knowledge
A
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 140
5.2.1 Identify factors that determine carrying capacity.
TOP: Foundation Edition
comprehension
D
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 133
5.1.3 Describe exponential growth.
TOP: Foundation Edition
application
COMPLETION
19. ANS: ecology
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
TOP: Foundation Edition
20. ANS: 23.5°N, 23.5°S
REF: p. 65
BLM: knowledge
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 97
OBJ: 4.1.2 Identify the factors that influence climate.
BLM: application
OBJ: 3.1.1 Describe the study of ecology.
TOP: Foundation Edition
SHORT ANSWER
21. ANS:
Biotic factors may include: plants the rabbit eats, predators that eat the rabbit, and animals that compete with
the rabbit for food and territory. Abiotic factors may include: temperature, rainfall, and space.
PTS: 1
DIF: L3
REF: p. 66
OBJ: 3.1.2 Explain how biotic and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem.
BLM: synthesis
22. ANS:
Deforestation, especially when accomplished by burning, removes plants that use carbon dioxide in
photosynthesis, leaving more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere. In addition, burning trees
releases carbon dioxide, adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and further contributing to global
warming.
PTS: 1
DIF: L3
REF: p. 178
OBJ: 6.4.2 Identify the role of ecology in a sustainable future.
23. ANS:
BLM: synthesis
The three main classes of symbiotic relationships are mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. In
mutualism, both species benefit from the relationship. For example, flowers depend on certain insects to
pollinate them. The flowers provide the insects with food in the form of nectar, pollen, or other substances. In
commensalism, one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. Barnacles
attached to the skin of whales benefit from food particles in the water moving past the swimming whale, but
the whale is not affected. In parasitism, one member benefits by obtaining all its nutritional needs from the
host. The host can be damaged but is usually not killed. Fleas, ticks, and lice are examples of parasites that
live on the bodies of mammals.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
REF: p. 103 | p. 104
OBJ: 4.2.4 Identify the three types of symbiotic relationships in nature.
TOP: Foundation Edition
BLM: application
PROBLEM
24. ANS:
sfg
PTS: 1