Exam 7 Part 2: Part 1 Review, Ecosystem Ecology, Biomes & Conservation Answers
** Open from 12/14-12/17***
1. The most common biome type, by area occupied, is the
a. open ocean.
b. tropical rainforest.
c. tundra.
d. hot desert.
e. lentic habitats.
2. What characteristics are commonly used to identify the biomes of the Earth?
a. Temperature
b. precipitation
c. vegetation
d. all of the above
e. a and b only
f. a and c only
3. 6.
The maximum number of individuals a certain area can sustain is known as
a. the intrinsic rate of growth.
b. the carrying capacity.
c. the resource limit.
d. the logistic equation.
e. the equilibrium size.
4. A community with many individuals but few different species would exhibit
a. low abundance and high species complexity.
b. high stability.
c. high species diversity.
d. high abundance and high species richness.
e. low species richness and high abundance.
5. Which of the following statements best represents the productivity hypothesis regarding species richness?
a. The larger the area, the greater the number of species that will be found there.
b. Temperate regions have a lower species richness due to the lack of time available for migration after the last
ice age.
c. The number of species in a particular community is directly related to the amount of available energy.
d. As invertebrate productivity increases, species richness will increase.
e. Species richness is not related to primary productivity.
6. Of the following, the least productive ecosystem is:
a. The wetlands.
b. Coral reefs.
c. Tropical wet forests.
d. Tundra.
7. According to the competitive exclusion hypothesis,
a. two species that use the exact same resource show very little competition.
b. two species with the same niche cannot coexist.
c. one species that competes with several different species for resources will be excluded from the community.
d. all competition between species results in the extinction of at least one of the species.
e. none of the above is correct.
8. NPP can be defined as:
a. The amount of chemical energy, stored by autotrophs, that is available for heterotrophs
b. Photosynthesis – respiration carried out by the primary producer
c. Gross primary production.
d. All of the above.
e. A & B
9. Chemoautotrophic bacteria are
a. primary producers.
b. primary consumers.
c. secondary consumers.
d. tertiary consumers.
e. decomposers.
10. Carbon enters primary producers as CO2 from:
a. The soil
b. The atmosphere
c. Plant tissue
d. Other primary decomposers
11. When considering the average food chain, which of the following statements is true?
a. Secondary consumers are the most abundant organisms in an ecosystem.
b. The more lengths in the food chain, the more stable the ecosystem.
c. Biomass decreases as you move up the food chain. (The total mass of organisms in an area decrease as
you work your way up a food chain)
d. The trophic level with the highest species abundance is usually the primary producers.
e. All of the above are true.
12. Primary production in aquatic systems is limited mainly by
a. temperature and moisture.
b. temperature and light.
c. temperature and nutrients.
d. light and nutrients.
e. light and moisture.
13. The net primary production of cultivated land is closest to that of
a. tropical rain forest.
b. wetlands.
c. prairies.
d. temperate deciduous forest.
e. lakes and streams
14. Nitrogen fixation is the process
a. that converts organic nitrogen to ammonia.
b. by which plants and animals take up nitrates.
c. by which bacteria convert nitrate to gaseous nitrogen.
d. by which atmospheric nitrogen is converted to ammonia or ammonium ions (NH4+).
e. all of the above
15. Disturbances, such as logging, can decrease the loss of nitrogen from the ecosystem.
a. True
b. False (flipped)
16. Of the following, which chemical include a naturally occurring gaseous form in nature?
a. Calcium
b. Potassium
c. Phosphorus
d. Sulfur
17. Which of these factors is not generally correlated with species diversity?
a. Latitude
b. Productivity
c. Longitude
d. Gene pool diversity
18. Which of the following ecosystems would you expect to have the highest primary production?
a. Subtropical desert
b. Temperate grassland
c. Boreal forest
d. Tropical rainforest
19. Most of the net primary productivity that is consumed is used for what purpose?
a. Respiration by primary consumers
b. Respiration by secondary consumers
c. Growth by primary consumers
d. Growth by secondary consumers
20. Lowered oxygen levels in the water due to nitrogen fixation is called:
a. Speciation
b. deoxygenation
c. eutrophication
d. abiotic pressures
21. List the four ecosystem services and be sure to provide examples of each:
a. Provisioning services- provide raw materials (fish, food, medicinal products)
b. Regulating services- part of Earth’s life-support system (climate and temperature and precipitation)
c. Supporting services- enable all other ecosystem services (pollination)
d. Cultural services- enrich others who travel (national parks)
22. “The climate of a given region plays a major role in determining what types of organisms live there; and the
abundance of those organisms.” This defines which of the following terms?
a. Biome
b. Ecosystem ecology
c. Turbidity
d. Global ecology
23. Ecosystem Ecology focuses on two critical processes. List and describe them below.
1) Energy flow through ecosystems
2) Biogeochemical cycling in ecosystems
24. The ________ is the most important distinguishing characteristic for defining Terrestrial biomes.
a. Latitude
b. Climate
c. Type of vegetation present
d. The organisms present
25. What is Iowa’s local biome? Describe it.
Temperate Grassland- occurs in regions with relatively cold winters; Large predators and herbivores
present; few trees because of season droughts; some fires prevent the invasion of trees and speed up of
decomposition to return nutrients to the soil; produce exceptionally fertile soil
26. Iowa has been the site of many different biomes throughout the Earth’s history.
a. True (shallow ocean, glacier, tundra, grassland)
b. False
27. Primary producers (“autotrophs”) convert chemical energy into light energy.
a. True
b. False (flipped)
28. Define the following terms:
a. Omnivores- meat and plant eating
b.
c.
d.
e.
Carnivores- meat eating
Herbivores- plant eating
Heterotrophs- other-nourishing
Autotrophs- self-nourishing (primary producers)
29. List 4 examples of conservation efforts:
a. Management plants for invasive species to limit spread and prevent introduction
b. Seed banks to provide long-term storage and protect loss of genetic diversity in plants and crops
c. Genetic restoration by creating artificial gene flow in endangered species (Florida panther)
d. Wildlife corridors that encourage gene flow and recolonization
e. Designing effective and protective areas to persevere biodiversity from different detrimental impact
30. Why is it significant that much less energy is available to sequentially higher trophic levels of organisms within a
food chain?
The higher up you go, the increasingly large base of primary production to support each level’s population
gets lager and larger
31. Populations tend to be quite small for large predators because they are “high on the food chain”.
a. True (Why?)
b. False
32. Based on the current available data, is there evidence to support the conclusion that human activates are causing
global climate change? Explain why or why not.
Yes- 74% of the warming in the past 50 years is due to human activity; arctic warming twice the global average,
increased ~2 degrees Celsius since 1950 when much of the world was becoming more heavily reliant on manmade technology and other resources; 10 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1997