Deck 18: Communities and Ecosystems

Question 1

In a typical predator-prey relationship, ____.

A) the predator exerts selective pressure on its prey
B) the prey exerts selective pressure on its predator
C) the predator will not kill its prey
D) the predator feeds on carcasses
E) predator and prey exert selective pressures on each other

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Resource partitioning is the result of ____.

A) parasitism
B) mutualism
C) competition
D) predation
E) commensalism

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Competitive exclusion is based upon the idea that ____.

A) one species will voluntarily allow the other to survive
B) no two species can completely occupy the same niche
C) the larger species will dominate the smaller
D) competition is overrated as a factor in species survival
E) two species can live together, if they share the same niche but only at alternate times

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In S. invicta's native environment, _____ help keep the species in check.

A) harvester ants
B) fruit flies
C) phorid flies
D) songbirds
E) horned lizards

Question 5

How do red imported fire ants threaten the Texas horned lizard?

A) eating the lizard's eggs
B) eating plants that the lizard eats
C) eating ground-nesting bees
D) outcompeting harvester ants
E) outcompeting insects that songbirds eat

Question 6

Species richness and the relative abundance of each species determine ____.

A) the species composition of an ecosystem
B) the species diversity of a community
C) the species composition of a population
D) the species diversity of the biosphere
E) the species diversity in a niche

Question 7

An example of a nonbiological factor that affects community structure is ____.

A) mutualism
B) competition
C) parasitism
D) predation
E) rainfall

Question 8

An example of a one-way relationship in which one species benefits and another is directly hurt is ____.

A) commensalism
B) mutualism
C) interspecific competition
D) scramble competition
E) parasitism

Question 9

RIFAs are a(n) ____ species.

A) host
B) parasitic
C) pioneer
D) keystone
E) exotic

Question 10

An interaction that benefits both species is ____.

A) a neutral relationship
B) commensalism
C) competition
D) mutualism
E) parasitism

Question 11

The lichen shown here is an example of ____.

A) competition
B) parasitism
C) predation
D) commensalism
E) mutualism

Question 12

Which term denotes the conditions, resources, and interactions necessary for survival and reproduction of a species?

A) habitat
B) niche
C) carrying capacity
D) community
E) ecosystem

Question 13

The interaction between two species in which both species may be harmed is known as ____.

A) parasitism
B) mutualism
C) competition
D) predation
E) commensalism

Question 14

Solenopsis invicta, a species of fire ant, was introduced to the United States from ____.

A) South America
B) Canada
C) Asia
D) Africa
E) Europe

Question 15

The interaction in which one species benefits and the second species is neither harmed nor benefited is ____.

A) mutualism
B) parasitism
C) commensalism
D) competition
E) predation

Question 16

A community refers to ____.

A) the interaction between populations and their environment
B) the interaction between species and their environment
C) an area in which a single species lives
D) all species that live and interact in a specific area
E) the nonliving components of an area

Question 17

In contrast to predation, a parasite usually ____.

A) does not kill its host
B) always kills its host
C) is a short-term visitor
D) is larger than its host
E) does not harm its host

Question 18

Which is a characteristic of parasites?

A) They are indiscriminate in their choice of host.
B) They inflict serious injury and kill their host.
C) Some reside inside their host, whereas others live outside their host.
D) Parasitic hosts are always animals.
E) They rarely harm their host.

Question 19

The relationship between the yucca plant and the yucca moth that pollinates it is best described as  ____.

A) commensalism
B) parasitism
C) predation
D) mutualism
E) competition

Question 20

Red imported fire ants (RIFAs) disrupt natural communities by ____.

A) congregating inside electrical equipment
B) competing with native ant populations
C) stinging humans with deadly venom
D) disrupting pasture land
E) killing Texas horned lizards

Question 21

Which represents an early stage in primary succession?

A) pine tree growth
B) mosses and lichen on bare rock
C) weedy annual plants in an open field
D) climax species in succession
E) fields of food crops

Question 22

An example of a specific adaptation against predation is ____.

A) photosynthetic dinoflagellates providing sugars to corals
B) eagles and foxes fighting over a carcass
C) two species of Paramecium feeding on bacteria
D) sundew plants and wolf spiders competing for food
E) a skunk squirting foul-smelling, irritating repellents

Question 23

The cowbird chick with its foster parent exemplifies an example of ____.

A) commensalism
B) brood parasitism
C) competition
D) mutualism
E) parasitoidism

Question 24

Many introduced species have deleterious effects on communities and ecosystems because ____.

A) coevolved parasites and pathogens are absent
B) the introduced species are long-lived
C) predators prefer the introduced species, resulting in proliferation of native prey species
D) the community from which they came lost an important predator, competitor, or parasite
E) human beings do not know how to appreciate them

Question 25

Which is a factor in determining which plant type becomes the pioneer species in a primary succession event?

A) the species of plants that preceded it
B) the animals that occupy the area
C) chance events that affect the order in which pioneer species arrive
D) the nature of the existing soils
E) the type of disturbance

Question 26

The first plant to colonize the plains of Mount Saint Helens after this volcano erupted in 1980 was a prairie lupine. The prairie lupine is therefore an example of ____.

A) a secondary successor
B) a pioneer species
C) a keystone species
D) an exotic species
E) an introduced species

Question 27

Tapeworms and flukes are examples of ____.

A) commensalism
B) mutualism
C) competition
D) predation
E) parasitism

Question 28

Two species of closely related squirrels both feed on acorns produced by oak trees. One species feeds exclusively near the top of the tree and the other feeds exclusively toward the bottom of the tree. This is an example of ____.

A) competitive exclusion
B) resource partitioning
C) mutualism
D) commensalism
E) mimicry

Question 29

How are parasitoids different from typical brood parasites?

A) T hey are usually not insects.
B) T hey affect only plants.
C) T hey lay eggs inside a host, which is eventually killed.
D) They fool another species into caring for their young.
E) They usually only affect the eggs of birds.

Question 30

Considering the traditional view of ecological succession, which plant would most likely be a pioneer species in a primary succession event?

A) an oak tree that produces acorns dispersed by squirrels
B) a snapdragon flower pollinated by bees
C) a dandelion that produces seeds asexually, which are dispersed by the wind
D) a perennial species such as Douglas fir trees
E) a birch tree

Question 31

Hoverflies like to drop in at outdoor picnics to sample the sweets, but the reaction of humans is to flee the scene because of the flies' uncanny resemblance to bees. Thus, the survival of hoverflies is enhanced by ____.

A) mimicry
B) display behavior
C) warning coloration
D) chemical defenses
E) camouflage

Question 32

The plants and animals present in a region from which the trees were removed ten years earlier represent ____.

A) primary succession
B) a climax forest
C) pioneer species
D) secondary succession
E) species introduction

Question 33

Commensalism is a type of ____.

A) predation
B) symbiosis
C) active competition
D) scramble competition
E) competitive exclusion

Question 34

Which is an example of an event that would give rise to primary succession?

A) a dense landslide of mountain rocks covering an entire valley
B) a fire that burns all surface vegetation
C) an abandoned agricultural field
D) a lake that dries up, killing all aquatic plants
E) a forest that is logged

Question 35

Secondary succession can occur ____.

A) after a fire
B) on a new sand dune
C) on bare rock
D) immediately after the formation of an artificial lake
E) on a glacier

Question 36

This image shows an area in which a glacier has melted. What is indicated by the number "2"?

A) competition for food resources
B) resource partitioning between two competing species
C) emergence of climax species
D) colonization by pioneer species
E) secondary succession

Question 37

Phorid flies lay their eggs inside the bodies of various insects and spiders. When the larvae hatch, they consume the body of the "host" from the inside out. The phorid fly is an example of a ____.

A) brood parasite
B) parasitoid
C) commensalist
D) competitive excluder
E) mutualist

Question 38

The monarch butterfly is poisonous to birds; therefore, birds avoid eating them. Viceroy butterflies look very similar to monarch butterflies but are not poisonous. Because they look like monarch butterflies, birds also do not eat viceroy butterflies. This is an example of ____.

A) resource partitioning
B) competitive exclusion
C) mimicry
D) camouflage
E) commensalism

Question 39

An example of keystone species are ____.

A) beavers that build dams
B) mice that feed on mushrooms and truffles
C) Douglas fir trees
D) kudzu
E) earthworms that aid decomposition

Question 40

This orchid attached to a tree branch is an example of ____.

A) competition
B) parasitism
C) predation
D) commensalism
E) mutualism

Question 41

At the bottom or base of an energy pyramid are the ____.

A) primary consumers
B) primary producers
C) secondary consumers
D) secondary producers
E) tertiary consumers

Question 42

In a hypothetical land ecosystem, plants (the primary producers) capture 1000 kilocalories of sunlight energy per square meter per year. Approximately how many kilocalories of the plant's energy will be harvested by the third trophic level?

A) 1
B) 10
C) 100
D) 1,000
E) 2,000

Question 43

In most land ecosystems, ____ food chains predominate.

A) decomposer
B) detrital
C) producer
D) consumer
E) grazing

Question 44

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ____.

A) is destroying the ozone layer
B) has dramatically increased in the last few decades
C) is one of the prime reasons for acid depositions
D) is a waste gas produced by respiration and has no biological use
E) can change spontaneously to carbon monoxide in sunlight

Question 45

An array of organisms together with their physical environment is referred to as a(n) ____.

A) population
B) community
C) ecosystem
D) biosphere
E) landscape

Question 46

In the simplified prairie food chain illustrated by the following pictures, the letter C represents a ____.

A) tertiary consumer
B) secondary consumer
C) first trophic level
D) primary consumer
E) third trophic level

Question 47

Which is an example of a detritivore?

A) bacteria
B) plants
C) fungi
D) crab
E) protist

Question 48

An example of a primary consumer is a(n) ____.

A) tiger
B) grasshopper
C) eagle
D) hyena
E) snake

Question 49

Although energy flows in one direction in an ecosystem, nutrients ____ through an ecosystem.

A) move from consumers to producers
B) drive the energy flow
C) build up
D) deteriorate
E) cycle

Question 50

In an Arctic food web, the organisms in these pictures represent the ____.

A) second trophic level
B) secondary consumers
C) first trophic level
D) primary consumers
E) third trophic level

Question 51

The warming action on Earth's atmosphere is referred to as ____.

A) respiration accumulation
B) the greenhouse effect
C) the smog problem
D) the blanket phenomenon
E) ozone depletion

Question 52

Nitrogen is released into the atmosphere by ____.

A) nitrogen fixation
B) denitrification
C) nitrification
D) ammonification
E) decomposition

Question 53

In the simplified prairie food chain illustrated in the following pictures, the letter D represents ____.

A) tertiary consumer
B) secondary consumer
C) first trophic level
D) primary consumer
E) third trophic level

Question 54

The niche of an earthworm in an ecosystem is as a(n)____.

A) producer
B) consumer
C) detritivore
D) decomposer
E) parasite

Question 55

The greatest concentration of nitrogen on Earth is found in ____.

A) living organisms, including bacteria
B) the atmosphere
C) soil minerals
D) fossil fuels
E) oceans

Question 56

An energy pyramid is ____.

A) a demonstration of the first law of thermodynamics
B) a representation of the decline in available energy as it travels through the trophic levels
C) fundamentally different from the pyramid of biomass and the pyramid of numbers
D) a demonstration of the interactions between species in a community
E) a representation of an ecosystem's diversity

Question 57

Light energy from the sun is captured by photosynthesis as ____.

A) heat energy in chemical bonds
B) energy in chemical bonds
C) chemical energy lost to the environment
D) kinetic energy in chemical bonds
E) conserved energy

Question 58

Approximately ____ of Earth's total primary production is supplied by the ocean's primary producers.

A) one-fourth
B) one - third
C) half
D) three - fourths
E) all

Question 59

Most of the water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere comes from evaporation from ____.

A) lakes
B) rivers
C) land
D) oceans
E) plants

Question 60

In a natural community, the primary consumers are ____.

A) herbivores
B) carnivores
C) detritivores
D) decomposers
E) producers

Question 62

The nitrogen cycle on land begins with ____.

A) nitrification
B) denitrification
C) decomposition
D) uptake by producers
E) nitrogen fixation

Question 63

In this figure, what do the orange arrows marked #3 indicate?

A) light energy
B) heat energy
C) greenhouse gases
D) atmospheric gases
E) carbon dioxide

Question 64

About half of all Americans rely on ____ for their drinking water.

A) glaciers
B) sea water
C) stream water
D) aquifers
E) lake water

Question 66

Some ___ have enzymes to break the bonds of atmospheric nitrogen and use it for the metabolism of proteins and other nitrogen-containing molecules.

A) fungi
B) bacteria
C) plants
D) protists
E) animals

Question 67

An aquifer is most closely related to ____.

A) sea water
B) lake water
C) stream water
D) glacial water
E) groundwater

Question 68

Nitrogen gas is first converted into _____ by certain_____ before it enters the land nitrogen cycle.

A) nitrate; bacteria
B) ammonium; bacteria
C) elemental nitrogen; bacteria
D) nitrate; bacteria and fungi
E) ammonium; bacteria and fungi

Question 69

Nitrification is the process of ____.

A) converting nitrogen gas to ammonia
B) converting nitrogen gas to nitrate
C) converting ammonium to nitrate
D) converting nitrate to ammonia
E) converting nitrate to nitrogen gas

Question 72

Which is formed from the carbon shells of marine organisms?

A) limestone
B) phosphates
C) glaciers
D) rhyolite
E) gneiss

Question 73

Most of the Earth's phosphorous is in the form of ____.

A) phosphoric acid
B) elemental phosphorous
C) phosphate
D) phosphorous cations
E) carbonate

Question 75

In this figure, what do the yellow arrows marked #1 and #2 indicate?

A) light energy
B) heat energy
C) greenhouse gases
D) atmospheric gases
E) carbon dioxide

Question 76

The process that converts nitrate into nitrogen gas is known as ____.

A) denitrification
B) nitrification
C) nitrogen fixation
D) assimilation
E) assimilation and nitrification

Question 77

Where is most of the Earth's phosphate found?

A) ocean water
B) aquifers
C) the atmosphere
D) rocks and sediments
E) plants