Part 1: Multiple Choice. Read each question carefully; checking all of the choices before
selecting your answer. Pick the ONE BEST answer. If you erase, do so completely.
1. The term “niche” is sometimes confused with “habitat”.
a. niche includes habitat and everything else that affects the survival and
reproduction of the organism
b. the niche is the physical location where an organism lives.
c. to define niche the organism’s gene pool must be specified
d. communities and populations are distinguished by the niche an organism occupies
e. all of the above are correct
2. Organisms that have adapted to a very specialized niche:
a. have an advantage because they have less competitors
b. are often referred to as “generalists”
c. can be created by evolutionary divergence
d. are more likely to become extinct in a rapidly changing environment
e. 3 of the above choices would be correct
3. Pick the choice that refers to salt water systems only.
a. watershed, wetland, aquifer, river
b. ponds, streams, inland wetlands, seasonal wetlands
c. coastal marsh, mangrove swamp, surface water, flood plain
d. euphotic zone, bathyal zone, abyssal zone
e. littoral zone, limnetic zone, profundal zone, benthic zone
4. Coral Reefs are important to humans for which of the following reasons:
a. a food source for man and animals
b. protection from storm surges
c. potential medicines from the plants and animals of the reef
d. tourism
e. all of the above
5. These photosynthetic bacteria may be responsible for as much as 70% of the primary
productivity of the oceans! They are known as:
a. ultraplankton
b. benthos
c. zooplankton
d. nekton
e. phytocytes
6. Turtles and whales belong to a category of sea dwelling animals called:
a. plankton
b.nekton
c. benthos
d.euphos
e. none of the above
7. Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis would be LEAST likely to
survive in this part of the ocean:
a. euphotic zone
b. bathyal zone
c. estuarial zone
d. abyssal zone
e. end zone
8. Consider a large lake and an open ocean. Decomposers would be most prevalent in
these zones:
a. benthic zone and abyssal zone
b. limnetic zone and abyssal zone
c. benthic zone and euphotic zone
d. littoral zone and abyssal zone
e. all of the above
9. Golf courses, farmland and even your own lush, green lawn are fertilized with inorganic
nutrients. These chemicals can runoff into lakes and other freshwater bodies and cause:
a. oligotrophication
b. eutrophication
c. mesotrophication
d. glaciation
e. emaciation
10. Filtering toxic wastes and pollutants, absorbing and storing excess water from storms,
and providing habitats are some of the functions of an aquatic system we have all too
often destroyed for growing crops and constructing buildings. The aquatic system
described here is the:
a. inland wetland
b. lake overturn
c. profundal zone
d. coral reef
e. tidal zone
11. Use this graph to determine which biome would be expected in an area receiving 150 cm
of rainfall/year on average, with a temperature range of -3 to +3o C.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Tropical rain forest
Temperate rain forest
Termperate deciduous forest
Taiga
tundra
19. Tornado is to land as:
a.Hurricane is to typhoon
b. Typhoon is to tsunami
c. Hurricane is to ocean
d. The Pacific Ocean is to the Atlantic Ocean
e. Dorothy is to Toto
20.Which of the following would NOT be an effect of El Niño?
a. Warmer weather
b. Suppression of upwellings
c. Warmer coastal waters
d. An increase in plankton and all related aquatic species
e. Alternation of much of earth’s weather
21. Upwellings are important to aquatic ecosystems because they:
a. bring nutrient rich bottom water to the surface
b. warm the water at the surface
c. prevent extreme weather systems from developing
d. absorb carbon dioxide and other gases from the atmosphere
e. often carry the eggs of reproducing fish
22. The cause of the four seasons on earth is:
a. the distance of the earth from the sun as the earth revolves around the sun
b. the yearly revolution of the earth around the sun and the tilt of the earth's axis
relative to the plane of revolution
c. the moon’s orbit around the earth and the lunar tropospheric phenomena that
include tides and moon phases
d. the rotation of the sun around the earth and variable solar energy reaching the
earth.
e. Global air circulation changes in response to uneven solar heating
Part 2: Biomes of the World…let’s do some matching!
The following are biomes listed in our textbook. Match the biome to its description. Not all
biomes will be used and you may use a biome name more than once
A. Tundra
AC. Tropical rain forest
B. Taiga
AD. Tropical deciduous forest
C. Temperate deciduous fores
AE. Tropical scrub forest
D. Temperate grassland (G),
BC. Savannah
E. Chaparral
BD. Mountains
AB. Desert
BE. Ice
Put the letter of your biome choice on the appropriate line.
23. With no exposed soil, it's hard for plants to take root, so there really isn't much of a base for a
biological community. One may see algae in the snow and perhaps a few insects that feed on them.
Most of the food resources are in the adjacent ocean, so life is restricted to the near shore. Beluga
whales, harbor seals, penguins and polar bears may be found here.
24. Evergreen coniferous trees are the dominant plant form. These trees shed snow easily, and they
retain their needles through the winter. The needles themselves are well-adapted, with thick waxy
coatings and small surface area, to resist cold conditions and minimize water loss. Visit Russia or
Northern Canada to experience this biome.
25. Looking at the plant life, it is easy to think that the soil is rich, but it is actually nutrient poor. Over
the years the rain has washed these out of the soil, so all the nutrients are actually in the living plants
and animals.
26. This biome covers about 1/5th of the Earth's land surface. Flora (plantlife) are rare. Animals present
burrow under ground and are likely to be nocturnal; an adaptation to this harsh environment.
27. There is an approximately 6 month growing season. The 20 to 60 inches of precipitation is distributed
evenly throughout the year. The non-growing season is due to temperature-induced drought during
the cold winters. Most known for changing seasons and fall colors.
28. Winters are long, dark, and cold, with mean temperatures below 0°C for six to 10 months of the year.
The temperatures are so cold that there is a layer of permanently frozen ground below the surface,
called permafrost. This permafrost is a defining characteristic of the biome. In summers, the top layer
of soil thaws only a few inches down, providing a growing surface for the roots of vegetation.
29. A rich mix of plants and underlain by some of the world's most fertile soils. Since the development of
the steel plow most have been converted to agricultural lands. Semiarid, continental climates of the
middle latitudes typically have between 10 and 20 inches of precipitation a year. Much of this falls as
snow, serving as reservoir of moisture for the beginning of the growing season.
30. About ¼ of the world’s land surface. Dramatic changes in altitude, climate and soil give rise to a
wide variety of vegetation and animals. Soils are prone to erosion however they contain the majority
of the world’s forests. This biome plays an important role in the hydrologic cycle.