Deck 10: Cycles and Patterns in the Biosphere

Question 1

In the language of the food chain, herbivorous animals are called .

A) primary consumers
B) secondary consumers
C) tertiary consumers
D) dominant
E) the apex

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Why is the Linnaean system of limited interest to geographers?

A) not based on distributions
B) too simple
C) not in English
D) not logical
E) too difficult

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Net primary productivity is greatest on land _ .

A) in the middle latitudes
B) where nutrients are least
C) in the tropics
D) where nutrients are greatest
E) in the polar latitudes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The geographic study of living organisms is _ .

A) biology
B) biogeography
C) phytology
D) geomorphology
E) limnology

Question 5

Earth has species of animals compared to the number of plant species.

A) about 100 more
B) about 100 fewer
C) many more
D) many fewer
E) about the same number of

Question 6

Concerning the biosphere, the geographic viewpoint is most often concerned with .

A) specific plants
B) taxonomy
C) distributions and relationships
D) specific animals
E) none of the above

Question 7

Which of the following is a function of water in plants?

A) Water dissolves nutrients.
B) Chemical reactions take place in water.
C) Water carries nutrients to all parts of plants.
D) Water carries away waste products.
E) all of the above

Question 8

Over the last century and a half, the main source of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has been .

A) rock decomposition
B) burning of fossil fuels
C) photoperiodism
D) volcanoes
E) photosynthesis

Question 9

A(n) is another term for a consumer.

A) producer
B) heterotroph
C) photosynthetic plant
D) autotroph
E) bryophyte

Question 10

Concerning oxygen, which of the following is FALSE?

A) Most life cannot function without oxygen.
B) It helped produce the first life on Earth.
C) It was scarce in Earth's early atmosphere.
D) Photosynthesis produces oxygen.
E) Most oxygen has a biological origin.

Question 11

In nutrient cycles in general, minerals tend to be dispersed through .

A) evaporation
B) conduction
C) surface and subsurface runoff
D) assimilation
E) plant action

Question 12

is the term for the total complex of plant and animal life in an area.

A) Ecosystem
B) Fauna
C) Flora
D) Ecotone
E) Biota

Question 13

Which of the following does NOT belong with the others?

A) wind
B) oxygen cycle
C) edaphic influences
D) topographic influences
E) light

Question 14

is a tree which scatters its seeds only after a fire.

A) Southern yellow pine
B) Mangrove
C) Cottonwood
D) Cactus
E) Oak

Question 15

The Linnaean system of classification is .

A) based on three Latin names for each species
B) sadly outdated
C) hierarchical
D) so successful that it has not had to be modified
E) completely objective

Question 16

In which type of environment does the number of species tend to be the greatest?

A) very cold places
B) places with moderate temperatures
C) very warm places
D) species number is unrelated to temperature
E) places where cellular water occasionally freezes

Question 17

The conversion of nitrates into free nitrogen .

A) happens in the process of photosynthesis
B) is accomplished by bacteria
C) is called "fixing" of nitrogen
D) does not happen in nature
E) is not correctly described above

Question 18

Of the main nutrients in the biosphere, the one that is "fixed" inside nodules in certain plant roots is .

A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) carbon
D) calcium
E) hydrogen

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT an example of climatic influence on the biosphere?

A) Temperature
B) Wind
C) Edaphic conditions
D) Moisture
E) all of the above are examples

Question 20

Which of the following terms is the LEAST specific?

A) fauna
B) species
C) flora
D) benthos
E) biota

Question 21

At almost any scale, the most prominent environmental constraints on biota are exerted by various factors.

A) air pollution
B) climatic
C) edaphic
D) topographic
E) soil

Question 22

The textbook concludes .

A) no one knows how far birds migrate
B) all songbirds are about to die
C) the bobolink has become extinct
D) bird migration patterns have been unchanged for thousands of years
E) global climate change affects bird populations

Question 23

Wildfire can be said to .

A) be beneficial to some ecosystems
B) be capable of changing the composition of biota
C) be catastrophic to some ecosystems
D) cause some seeds to open
E) accomplish all of the above

Question 24

Which of the following elements DOES NOT have a sedimentary cycle?

A) Phosphorous
B) Calcium
C) Zinc
D) Sulfur
E) Nitrogen

Question 25

Which biogeochemical cycle exists because of the work of bacteria?

A) nitrogen
B) oxygen
C) carbon
D) energy
E) hydrologic

Question 26

Of the total solar energy reaching the Earth, percent is fixed by photosynthesis.

A) 10
B) 5
C) 40
D) 1
E) <1

Question 27

Which of the below is cycled in minor amounts compared to the other substances on the list?

A) water
B) oxygen
C) phosphorous
D) carbon dioxide
E) nitrogen

Question 28

A(n) is another way in which a food chain can be conceptualized.

A) way of gaining energy at every step
B) final link at the apex
C) food pyramid
D) open system
E) sedimentary cycle

Question 29

In the selva, the vegetation is .

A) resistant to long droughts
B) usually damaged by nasty monkeys
C) dominated by broadleaf evergreen trees
D) short tundra grasses
E) seemingly unrelated to the environmental "spheres"

Question 30

are floating plants or animals.

A) Nekton
B) Terrestrial life
C) Flora
D) Plankton
E) Benthos

Question 31

Photosynthesis is a main means of fixing in the ecosystem.

A) carbon dioxide
B) benthos
C) oxygen
D) nekton
E) all of the above

Question 32

Organismic response to the length of exposure to light in a 24 hour period is called .

A) photoperiodism
B) biome
C) photosynthesis
D) dentrification
E) none of the above

Question 33

The biogeochemical cycles are considered to have been in a planetwide steady- state condition for the last billion years.

A) one million
B) one billion
C) one trillion
D) ten
E) one thousand

Question 34

How were the Yellowstone fires of 1988 eventually extinguished?

A) The fire ran out of trees to burn.
B) The wind blew them out.
C) Thousands of park visitors fought the fire.
D) The park rangers put them out.
E) Rain put them out.

Question 35

Most of the carbon near Earth's surface is held in _ .

A) geologic deposits
B) animals
C) glaciers
D) forests
E) lakes

Question 36

Carbon dioxide and water and light combined to create carbohydrates is a vital portion of which cycle?

A) nitrogen
B) hydrologic
C) carbon
D) energy
E) oxygen

Question 37

Carbon is fixed in the biosphere through into carbohydrate compounds.

A) photosynthesis
B) bacteria
C) transit
D) biomes
E) dentrification

Question 38

This entity has the greatest percentage of is mass as water::

A) earthworm
B) rock
C) humans
D) soil
E) tomatoes

Question 39

The energy source for the biosphere is

A) reflected energy from the moon.
B) radioactivity in rocks.
C) heat from volcanoes.
D) light from the Sun.
E) all of the above

Question 40

Which of the following is a source of atmospheric oxygen in the oxygen cycle?

A) the burning of fossil fuels
B) decomposition of water during photosynthesis
C) the weathering of rocks
D) water from plant transpiration
E) all of the above

Question 41

Which of the following does NOT belong with the others?

A) nekton
B) plankton
C) terrestrial biota
D) benthos
E) oceanic biota

Question 42

Until Yellowstone's devastating fire season of 1988, which of the following was the park's official policy?

A) allow human- caused fires to burn
B) allow wildfires to burn
C) don't allow any fires to burn
D) allow all fires to burn
E) start fires on purpose

Question 43

In terms of broad distribution patterns, and _ have a particularly close correlation.

A) soil, vegetation
B) fur- bearing animals, climate
C) wildfire, soil
D) soil, climate
E) climate, vegetation

Question 44

The end product of photosynthesis is (are) .

A) water
B) unknown
C) carbohydrates
D) carbon dioxide
E) light

Question 45

Plant decomposition releases into the atmosphere.

A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) carbon dioxide
D) sulpher
E) neon

Question 46

Biological amplification is most closely associated with .

A) carbon dioxide
B) DDT
C) loud birds
D) ozone
E) elephants

Question 47

The present binomial system of biological classification was devised by

A) Wallace.
B) Linnaeus.
C) Huxley.
D) Aristotle.
E) Darwin.

Question 48

In studying environmental relationships, which of the following is true?

A) Neither interspecific nor intraspecific relationships study is at the scale of the biome.
B) Both interspecific and intraspecific relationships need to be considered.
C) Intraspecific relationships need to be considered.
D) Neither interspecific nor intraspecific relationships need to be considered.
E) Interspecific relationships need to be considered.

Question 49

The driving force behind all life cycles in the entire biosphere is

A) hydrogen.
B) oxygen.
C) nitrogen.
D) water.
E) the Sun.

Question 50

The response of an organism to the amount of light it receives in a day is termed _ .

A) photoperiodism
B) ecotone
C) photosynthesis
D) dentrification
E) edaphic

Question 51

Planetwide, a balance of chemicals is maintained by _ .

A) solar radiation
B) decomposition
C) seasonal patterns
D) cycles
E) negative feedbacks

Question 52

In most organisms, is the most plentiful substance making up their mass.

A) nitrogen
B) oxygen
C) solid material
D) carbon dioxide
E) water

Question 53

Before Yellowstone's massive fires of 1988 much of the park was covered by .

A) lodgepole pine forest
B) Eastern hemlock forest
C) Sequoia trees
D) Great Plains grasslands
E) tundra

Question 54

Compared to the others, which of the following is the "hardest to pin down?"

A) biosphere
B) hydrosphere
C) lithosphere
D) atmosphere
E) all of the above: they are equally imprecise

Question 55

Animals which eat plants are also known as .

A) secondary consumers
B) carnivores
C) predators
D) final consumers
E) herbivores

Question 56

Which of the following is another term for a tropical rainforest?

A) savanna
B) flora
C) selva
D) steppe
E) fauna

Question 57

The relationship between climates and fauna is .

A) important
B) non- existent
C) important and obvious
D) just as distinct as with their floral counterparts
E) unknown

Question 58

In Yellowstone, what was true about tourism and the devastating fires of 1988?

A) Many tourists were killed.
B) The fires were quenched by parking many RVs to block their paths.
C) Tourism has come back stronger than ever.
D) Tourism was unaffected.
E) Tourists, when surveyed, did not want to view "burned stumps".

Question 59

The following element(s) have a sedimentary cycle.

A) all of the above
B) zinc
C) phosphorus
D) sulfur
E) copper

Question 60

Most atmospheric free nitrogen is cycled to Earth by means of _ .

A) rain
B) assimilation
C) weathering
D) mining
E) none of the above

Question 61

The Linnaean classification system is based mainly on .

A) edaphic factors
B) root depth
C) anatomical similarities
D) flower type
E) all of the above

Question 62

The effects of soil on flora and fauna are called .

A) ecotonal
B) biotic
C) edaphic
D) topographic
E) transitory

Question 63

In relation to wildfire, the California redwood and the southern yellow pine are .

A) susceptible to starting wildfires by bursting into flame
B) heavily damaged by the least amount of fire
C) "fireproof"
D) in biomes where fire is not common
E) plants that need fire to open their cones

Question 64

In the concept of the food chain, the fundamental unit consists of .

A) predators
B) bacteria
C) plants
D) secondary consumers
E) humans

Question 65

The effect of winds on life is

A) mostly negative.
B) almost always positive.
C) mostly positive.
D) a mix of positive and negative.
E) almost always negative.

Question 66

Approximately how many species of plants are in existence?

A) 6,000,000
B) 150,000
C) 600,000
D) 1,500
E) 6,000

Question 67

It is estimated that most of Earth's presently living but unidentified species are .

A) mammals
B) in the Tundra biome
C) infertile
D) hindering scientific study because they defy Linnaean classification
E) microscopic

Question 68

is the term for the physical amount of plant material at a location.

A) Biology
B) Biomass
C) Intraspecific composition
D) Biome
E) Biota

Question 69

is (are) a common feature of the hydrology of tropical rainforests.

A) Streams running part of the year
B) Water in life rather than in streams
C) Few streams
D) Swamps
E) Lakes

Question 70

Net primary productivity is greatest in the oceans .

A) in the polar latitudes
B) in the middle latitudes
C) in the tropics
D) where nutrients are greatest
E) where nutrients are least

Question 71

Which cycle has been significantly altered by humans?

A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) nutrient
D) carbon
E) all of the above

Question 72

Considering all major biogeochemical cycles, the human input is

A) never likely to be important.
B) insignificant.
C) making major alternations in most cycles.
D) is several times larger than the natural fluxes of mass and energy.
E) limited to the carbon cycle.

Question 73

Humans fit into the food pyramid as _.

A) primary consumers
B) herbivores
C) secondary producers
D) the apex of the pyramid
E) primary producers

Question 74

Animal wastes on the ground form a part of the cycle.

A) copper
B) oxygen
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) phosphorous

Question 75

Which of the following is (are) important concerning edaphic influences on plants?

A) relative abundance of soil organisms
B) moisture supply
C) soil texture
D) nutrient supply
E) all of the above

Question 76

Of the climatic factors, is usually the most limited in its impact on biotic distributions.

A) wind
B) light
C) temperature
D) photoperiodism
E) moisture

Question 77

Which of the following is the form of nitrogen that is readily available for plants?

A) nitrous oxide
B) solid nitrogen
C) nitrates
D) liquid nitrogen
E) nitrates

Question 78

If the biosphere is to function properly, its components must be .

A) fully used up within biogeochemical cycles
B) replaced from the ocean
C) arranged so that they don't become "fixed"
D) recycled
E) replaced from space

Question 79

Which of the following does not refer to life in the oceans?

A) plankton
B) benthos
C) nekton
D) food chain
E) vadose

Question 80

In the devastating Yellowstone fires of 1988, what was the impact on wildlife?

A) Most of the large animals perished.
B) None of the wildlife was harmed.
C) Most of it survived.
D) Most of it was destroyed.
E) Large animals were completely driven from the park.