Ecosystems Test Review
1. Water samples are collected from different depths in the pond. The amount of sunlight that penetrates
the depths of the pond is much less than the sunlight that passes through the surface. How would you
expect the dissolved oxygen levels to compare at different depths?
A. The DO content will increase with greater depth
B. The DO content will remain constant regardless of depth
C. The DO content will decrease with greater depth
D. The DO content is subject to wild fluctuations and can not be predicted
2. The process in which glucose is synthesized by plants is called
A. photosynthesis
B. respiration C. eutrophication
D. decomposition
3. An input to photosynthesis is
A. sugar.
B. carbon dioxide
D. soil
C. oxygen
4. If the producer biomass in an ecosystem is 300 kg ha-1, what is the approximate secondary consumer
biomass (kg ha-1) likely to be in the same ecosystem?
A. 3000
B. 300
C. 30
D. 3
5. Let R be respiration, E be the food assimilated by a consumer, and W be the waste product of the
consumer. How is secondary production, SP, calculated?
A. SP = E – R
B. SP = E – R + W
C. SP = E – (R+W)
D. SP = E + R – W
6. Which of the following would not feed on another animal or insect?
A. Primary consumer B. secondary consumer
C. decomposer
D. omnivore
7. Which statement describes gross primary productivity?
A. The quantity of energy fixed by photosynthesis by green plants
B. The biomass gained by producers
C. The energy available to primary consumers
D. The energy taken in by a consumer through feeding
8. The amount of biomass added by plants over a time period is called
A. Gross primary productivity
C. Net primary productivity
B. Net secondary productivity
D. Respiration
9. Which of the following correctly represents the energy transformations involved in respiration
and photosynthesis?
Respiration
Photosynthesis
A.
Heat to chemical
Light to chemical
B.
Chemical to heat
Heat to chemical
C.
Chemical to heat
Light to chemical
D.
Heat to chemical
Heat to light
10. Which of the following represents an example of aerobic cellular respiration?
A. water + carbon dioxide + energy → glucose + oxygen
B. glucose + oxygen → water + carbon dioxide + energy
C. water + carbon dioxide → glucose + oxygen + water + energy
D. nitrogen + carbon dioxide + energy → methane + oxygen
11. Removal of a ________ from an ecological community has particularly strong or far-reaching impact
on food webs.
A. pioneer species
b. indicator species
c. keystone species
d. early successional species
12. ________, such as soil insects and millipedes, are consumers of nonliving organic matter.
A. primary consumers b. secondary consumers
c. carnivores
d. detrivores
13. When multiple organisms seek the same limited resource, their relationship is
A. parasitic
b. competitive
c. mutualistic
d. commensal
14. Orchids require tree limbs for support but do not harm the trees. This demonstrates ________.
A. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
d. amensalism
15. ____________ capture solar energy and synthesize sugars
A. producers
b. heterotrophs
c. primary consumers
d. keystone species
16. Fish that eat zooplankton would be classified as ______________.
A. producers
b. primary consumers c. secondary consumers
17. Herbivory is a type of ________________.
A. predation
b. mutualism
c. parasitism
d. decomposers
d. interspecific competition
18. Microbes in our digestive tract that help us digest food demonstrate a(n) ________ association
A. symbiotic
b. parasitic
c. competitive d. altruistic
19. Environmentally and economically acceptable means of controlling introduced invasive species
include ________.
A. public education, introduction of suitable predators, examination of imported goods
B. application of potent pesticides that kill the introduced species
C. banning of all importation of non-native species with heavy fines for non-compliance
D. removal of all the invasive individuals by collecting, baiting, trapping and, for plants, prescribed
burning
20. A population is a ________.
a. group of individuals of interacting species that live in one area
b. group of individuals of interacting species that interact in multiple ecosystems
c. group of individuals of a single species that live in one area
d. subset of bacteria that grow on a petri dish
21. Unregulated populations tend to increase by ________
a. linear growth
b. exponential growth
c. pyramidal growth
d. logistic growth
22. In a survey of an antelope population, 80 antelope were marked and released. Two weeks later
a second sample was captured, of which 16 antelope were found unmarked and 4 were
marked. What would be the estimated population size?
a. 100
b.200
c. 400
d. 1600
23. Most food chains seldom have more than four trophic levels because
A. in most ecosystems, competition for food is very great.
B. the total biodiversity in any ecosystem is limited.
C. energy is lost as it moves along a food chain and little remains at the level of the top
carnivore.
D. in many parts of the world, many species have become extinct and complex
ecosystems are rare.
24. Which of the following correctly describes the components of a population, community,
ecosystem and habitat?
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Habitat
A.
Biotic only
Biotic only
Biotic and abiotic
Biotic and abiotic
B.
Biotic only
Biotic and abiotic
Biotic and abiotic
Biotic and abiotic
C.
Biotic and abiotic
Biotic and abiotic
Biotic only
Abiotic only
D.
Biotic only
Biotic only
Biotic and abiotic
Abiotic only
25. If the rates of photosynthesis and respiration (in a plant) were exactly equal, which of the
following would be true?
A. Net Productivity would equal respiration
B. Net Productivity is at a maximum
C. Net Productivity would equal Gross Productivity
D. Net Productivity would be zero
26. In a mature forest, the trees are eaten by small primary consumers which are then eaten
by much larger secondary consumers. Which of the following pyramids best represent this
ecosystem?
Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of biomass
A.
B.
C.
D.
27. An animal population is given 50 kg of feed per day, of which 40 kg is consumed. 20 kg of
feed per day is used in respiration and 15 kg of faeces per day is released. Which of the
following are the correct values for gross and net productivity?
Gross Productivity
–1
(kg day )
Net Productivity
–1
(kg day )
A.
40
25
B.
25
5
C.
50
35
D.
40
5
28. A parasite, infecting the organs of its host, spreads from host to host more rapidly when the
host population, in a given area, is higher. Assuming infection with the parasite reduces
fertility, this would be an example of control of the host population through
A.
an external, density independent factor.
B.
an internal, density dependent factor.
C.
an external, density dependent factor.
D.
an internal, density independent factor.
29. Consider these statements concerning the flow of energy through ecosystems:
Statement 1: The amount of energy that is available to living things decreases as it is
transformed and passed along food chains.
Statement 2: As energy is transformed along food chains, no energy is destroyed.
Which is a correct evaluation of these statements?
Statement 1
Statement 2
A.
Demonstrates the first law of thermodynamics
Demonstrates the second law of
thermodynamics
B.
Is unrelated to the laws of thermodynamics
Demonstrates the second law of
thermodynamics
C.
Demonstrates the second law of
thermodynamics
Demonstrates the first law of
thermodynamics
D.
Demonstrates the second law of
thermodynamics
Is unrelated to the laws of
thermodynamics
30. Which graph best represents the change in growth rate of an S-shaped population growth
curve?
B.
A.
Rate
Rate
X = time at which carrying capacity is reached
Time
Time
X
X
C.
D.
Rate
Rate
Time
Time
X
X