Deck 31: Communities and Ecosystems

Question 1

A community is

A) populations of multiple species interacting with one another in a specific area.
B) populations of organisms and the abiotic factors in their environment.
C) competition for food between individuals in a population.
D) all the biotic and abiotic factors in an environment.
E) multiple organisms of the same species living in a specific area.

Answer 1

A
Explanation: A community must include multiple different species or populations.

Question 2

The physical space that an organism occupies in its environment is its

A) habitat.
B) niche.
C) biotic factor.
D) role.
E) abiotic factor.

Answer 2

A
Explanation: Habit refers to the actual spatial position of an organism in its environment.

Question 3

Which of the following communities is the least diverse?

A) 15 lions, 100 zebras, 80 giraffes
B) 50 squirrels, 75 oak trees, 60 maple trees
C) 4 crab spiders, 76 goldenrod, 60 echinacea
D) 40 bass, 60 minnow, 55 blue gill
E) 5 elm trees, 7 beech trees, 6 birch trees

Answer 3

C
Explanation: Diversity includes both species richness and species evenness. All 5 have the same number of species richness), but C has very uneven distribution of species with only 4 spiders.

Question 4

Which of the following would be considered a commensalistic relationship?

A) Some species of crabs decorate their shells with sea anemones and other corals. These "decorations"help camouflage the crab, and the movement of the crab from one area to the next exposes the corals and anemones to different sources of food.
B) Some spiders do not build webs, but live in the web of another species. When a prey item is caught in the web, the non-web building spider will sneak in and steal the prey.
C) A praying mantis hunts and eats a fly.

Question 5

All of the following are true about both primary and secondary succession except

A) both lead to a stable climax community.
B) both include a progression of changes in the community over time.
C) both occur in regions where soil is already present.
D) for both communities, fungi and vascular seedless plants are typically the first species to colonize the area.
E) both are colonized first by opportunistic species.

Question 6

Which of the following correctly lists the progression of species present during primary or secondary succession?

A) fungi, nonvascular plants, gymnosperms, animals
B) nonvascular plants, angiosperm, gymnosperms, fungi
C) animals, fungi, nonvascular plants, angiosperms
D) angiosperms, nonvascular plants, animals, gymnosperms
E) gymnosperms, angiosperms, fungi, nonvascular plants

Question 7

Which of the following is not an example of an animal's niche?

A) a small bird living in the dense shrubs at the base of a tree
B) two male lizards fighting over access to a female
C) a grasshopper feeding on leaves
D) an oystercatcher eating bivalves
E) lions and hyenas fighting over access to a zebra carcass

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem?

A) zebras and the lions that prey on them
B) a coral reef together with all the fishes and invertebrates living in and around it
C) flowering plants and all the insects and birds that pollinate them
D) male prairie chickens competing for access to mates
E) rabbits eating carrots

Question 9

The first pioneer species to appear in an area undergoing secondary succession is

A) an equilibrium species.
B) long-lived.
C) able to produce numerous offspring.
D) a secondary consumer.
E) slow to reach sexual maturity.

Question 10

Which of the following would be considered a mutualistic relationship?

A) Some species of crabs decorate their shells with sea anemones and other corals. These "decorations"help camouflage the crab, and the movement of the crab from one area to the next exposes the corals and
B) Some spiders do not build webs, but live in the web of another species. When a prey item is caught in the web, the non-web building spider will sneak in and steal the prey.
C) A praying mantis hunts and eats a fly.
D) The longest tapeworm removed from a human was approximately 11 meters long. Tapeworms do not have a digestive system, but obtain all of their nutrients from the host.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of species richness?

A) vultures feeding on the remains of a carcass
B) herd of 60 elk, 6 bald eagles, and 90 white pine trees
C) prairie chickens at a lake competing for access to mates
D) diving beetles, blue gill, lilies, water mites, crayfish
E) 100 kg of vegetation, 10 kg of grasshoppers, 1 kg of spiders

Question 12

An ecosystem

A) includes only the plants within a particular area.
B) includes all the living organisms within a specific area, but not the abiotic factors.
C) includes both living and abiotic factors within a particular region.
D) always includes equal numbers of plant and animal species.
E) only refers to biotic factors in a region.

Question 13

Ecological succession is

A) a change in communities caused by human activities.
B) a stable community that forms after a change.
C) an orderly process of change in the community of organisms.
D) what happens to a cultivated field every year that crops are planted.
E) competition between opportunistic and equilibrium species.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of primary succession?

A) new growth in a forest after a forest fire
B) regrowth and recolonization on Mt. St. Helens in areas covered with rock and lava
C) a wheat field that is not allowed to grow wild
D) regrowth of vegetation in an area covered by a mudslide after flooding
E) colonization of an isolated island by a population of long-horned beetles

Question 15

Which of the following would be considered an example of competition?

A) Some species of crabs decorate their shells with sea anemones and other corals. These "decorations"help camouflage the crab, and the movement of the crab from one area to the next exposes the corals and anemones to different sources of food.
B) Some spiders do not build webs, but live in the web of another species. When a prey item is caught in the web, the non-web building spider will sneak in and steal the prey.
C) A praying mantis hunts and eats a fly.
D) The longest tapeworm removed from a human was approximately 11 meters long. Tapeworms do not have a digestive system, but obtain all of their nutrients from the host.
E) Pseudoscorpions are small, harmless arachnids. To move from one place to another, they will sometimeslatch onto the legs of flies and thus be carried long distances that they would not readily be able to traverse.

Question 16

Which of the following is an example of predation?

A) daddy-long-legs, a type of arachnid that eats dead and decaying matter
B) marine filter-feeders that have long tentacles to filter food particles from the water
C) a starfish which is able to evert its stomach to break open and eat clams
D) a vulture feeding on a dead carcass
E) a tick that attaches to a deer and sucks its blood

Question 17

Which of the following is a community?

A) a group of walrus on a beach
B) hummingbirds at a feeder
C) trout and the lake they inhabit
D) squirrels and the oak trees they live in
E) a herd of elephants in the Namib Desert

Question 18

Which of the following would be considered a parasitic relationship?

A) Some species of crabs decorate their shells with sea anemones and other corals. These "decorations"help camouflage the crab, and the movement of the crab from one area to the next exposes the corals and anemones to different sources of food.
B) Some spiders do not build webs, but live in the web of another species. When a prey item is caught in the web, the non-web building spider will sneak in and steal the prey.
C) A praying mantis hunts and eats a fly.
D) The longest tapeworm removed from a human was approximately 11 meters long. Tapeworms do not have a digestive system, but obtain all of their nutrients from the host, which can cause problems for the host especially if he or she is undernourished.

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of the competitive exclusion principle?

A) two different species occupying the same ecological niche
B) two species competing for food and territory
C) competition of mates between two different species
D) two species sharing the same habitat
E) one species outcompeting another species in a particular niche

Question 20

Which of the following is not true about species diversity?

A) It includes species richness.
B) It includes species age distribution.
C) It is influenced by the relative abundance of species.
D) It is influenced by the distribution of the different species.
E) It is not impacted by species richness.

Question 21

A decomposer ultimately obtains all its energy from

A) sunlight.
B) mushrooms.
C) preying on other living organisms.
D) parasitizing living organisms.
E) dead and decaying plant matter.

Question 22

A chemoautotroph obtains its energy from all of the following except

A) ammonia.
B) oxygen.
C) sulfides.
D) nitrites.
E) inorganic compounds.

Question 23

In an aquatic ecosystem, the aquatic plants are eaten by small invertebrates that in turn are eaten by crayfish, which are eaten by fish, which are then eaten by ducks. Based on this, which of the following is incorrectly matched?

A) aquatic plant - producer
B) crayfish - secondary consumer
C) duck - 4th trophic level
D) fish - tertiary consumer
E) small invertebrates - 2nd trophic level

Question 24

Which of the following boxes indicates the process of nitrification?

A) Box A
B) Box B
C) Box C
D) Box D
E) Box E

Question 25

If there is 2,000 kg of caterpillars, how much of this biomass will be converted into top carnivore tissue?

A) 20,000 kg
B) 2,000 kg
C) 200 kg
D) 20 kg
E) 2 kg

Question 26

Based on the figure shown here, which of the following is a secondary consumer?

A) skunk
B) owl
C) rabbit
D) insects
E) deer

Question 27

An organism that obtains its food from the process of photosynthesis is an)

A) autotroph.
B) consumer.
C) heterotroph.
D) decomposer.
E) omnivore.

Question 28

A keystone species is

A) the largest species in a community.
B) the most numerous species in a community.
C) the least numerous species in a community.
D) a species on which many other species depend.
E) the species that occupies most of the niches within a particular environment.

Question 29

All of the following are true about ecosystems except

A) chemicals are constantly recycled and reused.
B) chemicals are converted from one form to another.
C) energy is constantly recycled.
D) energy is required continuously because some energy is lost.
E) the ultimate source of energy is the sun.

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of a sedimentary cycle?

A) the phosphorus cycle
B) the nitrogen cycle
C) the carbon cycle
D) the atmospheric cycle
E) eutrophic cycle

Question 31

When too many nutrients are added to of a body of water, this is known as

A) a biogeochemical cycle.
B) reservoirs.
C) eutrophication.
D) global warming.
E) nitrogen fixing.

Question 32

Which of the following is an autotroph?

A) rose bush
B) lion
C) decomposer
D) omnivore
E) hyena

Question 33

Among American warblers, several different species often live in the same spruce trees and eat caterpillars. However, each species reproduces at a slightly different time of year and each species also forages at different areas within the tree canopy. These differences in foraging behaviors and reproduction is an example of

A) competitive exclusion.
B) character displacement.
C) resource partitioning.
D) mutualism.
E) competitive inclusion.

Question 34

Martin is studying blue gill fish, which are insectivores. How would you classify this fish?

A) autotrophic consumer
B) autotrophic producer
C) heterotrophic decomposer
D) detritivore
E) heterotrophic consumer

Question 35

Which of the following boxes indicates the process of denitrification?

A) Box A
B) Box B
C) Box C
D) Box D
E) Box E

Question 36

On average, 90% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.

Question 37

Which of the following has the slowest phosphate transfer rate?

A) runoff
B) decomposition of plants and animals
C) mining
D) weathering of rocks
E) fertilizers

Question 38

In an aquatic ecosystem, the aquatic plants are eaten by small invertebrates that in turn are eaten by crayfish, which are eaten by fish, which are then eaten by ducks. In this system, the greatest amount of biomass would be found in the

A) aquatic plants.
B) small invertebrates.
C) crayfish.
D) fish.
E) ducks.

Question 39

Based on the figure shown here, which of the following is both a primary and secondary consumer?

A) skunk
B) mouse
C) rabbit
D) deer
E) snake

Question 40

Based on the figure shown here, which organism is not a primary consumer?

A) rabbit
B) deer
C) mouse
D) chipmunk
E) fisher

Question 41

The most inclusive level of biological organization is

A) ecosystems.
B) biomes.
C) the biosphere.
D) communities.
E) ecotypes.

Question 42

As humans continue to use fossil fuels as a primary source of energy, the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion will continue to increase dramatically. What is the effect of large-scale deforestation on the carbon in the atmosphere?

A) Because trees are a major sink for atmospheric carbon, fewer trees will result in less carbon being removed from the atmosphere for photosynthesis.
B) As trees are removed, there is more room for carbon to enter the soil directly and be used by other plants.
C) The large-scale removal of forests does not have any real effect on atmospheric carbon, because carbon dioxide is not stored in trees.
D) Because trees produce carbon dioxide, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere will decrease with their wide-scale removal.

Question 43

The greenhouse effect

A) will lead to decreased sea levels.
B) decreases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.
C) increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.
D) is caused by gases such as carbon dioxide trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere.
E) is due to gases forming a barrier around the Earth and insulating the Earth from the sun's rays.

Question 44

What is the main reason that the tundra does not have large plants?

A) The seeds of large plants were never dispersed into these regions.
B) The amount of sunlight is not great enough for large plants to survive.
C) The amount of rainfall is not enough for large plants to survive.
D) The other species of plants have outcompeted them for resources.
E) The permafrost persists, even during the summer.

Question 45

Biomes are defined by

A) their size.
B) types of animals.
C) communities.
D) temperature and rainfall.
E) plants, animals, and inorganic matter.

Question 46

How does climate change effect Earth's oceans?

A) The pH level of the ocean will shift to a more acidic environment, leading to stress and the possible extinction of many species of shellfish and corals.
B) The pH level of the ocean will shift to a more basic environment, leading to a decrease in overall productivity.
C) As levels of carbon in the atmosphere increase, the amount of carbon in the ocean decreases proportionately.
D) Excess carbon in the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, which directly increases ocean temperature. As
E) the CO₂ levels in the atmosphere increase, so do the levels in the ocean, leading to ocean acidification.

Question 47

All of the following are reservoirs except

A) oil.
B) calcium carbonate.
C) coal.
D) natural gas.
E) bicarbonate.

Question 48

Which two terrestrial biomes are the most similar with regards to rainfall?

A) desert & taiga
B) rainforest & desert
C) desert & temperate forest
D) temperate grasslands & desert
E) temperate forests & rainforests

Question 49

To increase her tomato yield, an organic gardener plants legumes alongside her tomato bushes rather than using fertilizers. Why did she plant legumes?

A) Legumes have root nodules with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
B) Legumes convert ammonium to nitrates.
C) Root nodules on legumes have denitrifying bacteria.
D) Legumes are an immediate source of phosphorus and nitrogen.
E) Root nodules on legumes produce nitrifying bacteria.

Question 50

What is the source of carbon for most aquatic organisms?

A) carbon dioxide
B) calcium carbonate
C) bicarbonate ions
D) carbon monoxide
E) fossil fuels

Question 51

Which ecosystem makes up approximately 70% of the Earth's surface?

A) aquatic; marine
B) aquatic; fresh water
C) aquatic; coral reefs
D) terrestrial; tundra
E) terrestrial; rainforest

Question 52

In aquatic ecosystems, primary productivity is most dependent on

A) organic nutrients.
B) species richness and diversity.
C) the type of soil.
D) the rate of photosynthesis.
E) inorganic nutrients.

Question 53

What process is occurring in Box C?

A) nitrification
B) decomposition
C) denitrification
D) nitrogen fixing
E) nitrogen incorporation

Question 54

Water is a major limiting factor in which of the following biomes?

A) temperate grasslands
B) tundra
C) savannah
D) tropical rainforest
E) coral reef

Question 55

Which of the following terrestrial ecosystems has the highest rate of primary productivity?

A) marsh
B) tropical rainforest
C) temperate rainforest
D) prairie
E) tundra

Question 56

What is the first step in energy flow through an ecosystem?

A) Producers absorb solar energy.
B) Producers are eaten by the herbivores.
C) Decomposers break down the organic matter and make it available for the producers.
D) Top-level carnivores eat the herbivores or omnivores within the ecosystem.
E) Producers absorb nutrients from the soil.

Question 57

When an animal respires, the carbon in the carbon dioxide that it breathes out comes indirectly from

A) the air that the organism breaths in.
B) dead and decaying plant matter.
C) fossil fuels.
D) photosynthesis.
E) carbon fixation.

Question 58

What is the main reason that the tundra does not have large plants?

A) The seeds of large plants were never dispersed into these regions.
B) The amount of sunlight is not great enough for large plants to survive.
C) The amount of rainfall is not enough for large plants to survive.
D) The other species of plants have outcompeted them for resources.
E) The permafrost persists, even during the summer.