Download PRACTICE ECOLOGY QUESTIONS 1 Choose terms from the list

PRACTICE ECOLOGY QUESTIONS
1 Choose terms from the list below which best describe the following:
(a) All the organisms of one species living in a defined area.
(b) All the organisms living in the same defined area.
(c) The place where an organism is usually found.
(d) A self-supporting group of organisms and their environment.
ecosystem, population, habitat, biosphere, community, environment, farmland
2 What resources are competed for by (a) animals, (b) plants?
3 What is the distinction between interspecific competition and intraspecific
competition?
4 Which of the following are (a) biotic factors or (b) abiotic factors in an
ecosystem?
competition, temperature,
concentration
rainfall,
predation,
sunlight,
parasitism,
oxygen
2 Classify the following as producers, primary consumers or secondary
consumers.
caterpillar, falcon, mouse, tree, phytoplankton, pike, cat, grass, locust, goat,
otter, wheat
3 The diagram represents a food web that might occur on a rocky seashore.
octopus
crabs, prawns
gull
goby
blenny
starfish
dog whelk
marine
worms
shrimps
animal
carrion
acorn
barnacles,
limpets
microscopic green algae
mussels
periwinkles,
top shells
seaweed
(a) Pick out a food chain that includes shrimps and ends with gulls.
(b) Which are the producers?
(c) Name a primary, secondary and tertiary consumer in the food web.
(d) What might happen to the food web if all the mussels were killed by a
pollutant?
4 A meal consists of grilled trout, potatoes and mushrooms. Explain how each
item is ultimately the product of photosynthesis.
5 On average, what percentage of the sun's energy, which reaches the surface of
the Earth, is used for photosynthesis?
(a) 100% (b) 10% (c) 1% (d) 0.1 %
6 On average, what percentage of the food given to cattle is converted to flesh
and bone?
(a) 100% (b) 10% (c) 1 % (d) 0.1 %
7 Choose the most appropriate words from the list below to complete the
following
paragraph.
In a food chain, …… passes from one …… to another. The ……of the …… is always
less than that of the ……because most of the food eaten by the …… is used to
produce ……rather than new growth.
biomass, sunlight, trophic level, photosynthesis, producers, energy, consumers,
decomposers
8 Which two major groups of organisms make up the bulk of the decomposers?
9 The diagram represents part of a simplified
carbon cycle. Write the name of the
organisms, substances or processes
represented by the letters (a)-(f).
(d)
decay
10 What processes (a) remove and (b) add to
the carbon dioxide in the air?
(c)
plants
(e)
(b)
(a)
(f)
decay
11 What part do (a) nitrifying, (b) nitrogen-fixing and (c) denitrifying bacteria
play in the nitrogen cycle?
12 What processes remove nitrates from the soil?
13 The diagram represents a simplified water
cycle.
(a) Say what might be represented
by (i) - (iii).
evaporation
(b) At which three points in the cycle are
humans most likely to interfere?
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
____
____
____
rain
1. The sum total of an organism's interaction with the biotic and abiotic resources of
its environment is called its
a. habitat.
b. logistic growth.
c. biotic potential.
d. microclimax.
e. ecological niche.
2. An insect that has evolved to resemble a plant twig will probably be able to avoid
a. parasitism.
b. symbiosis.
c. predation.
d. competition.
e. commensalism.
3. Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed.
Which of the following terms would best describe this plant-herbivore interaction?
a. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
d. competition
soil
rivers
e. predation
____
4. Disturbances to ecological communities
a. are frequently related to human activities.
b. can remove organisms and alter resource availability.
c. can create vacated ecological niches that other species can colonize.
d. All of the above are true.
e. Only A and B are true.
____
5. You are most likely to observe primary succession
when you visit a(n)
a. tropical rain forest.
b. abandoned field.
c. old riverbed.
d. fairly recent volcanic island.
e. deep sea vent.
____
____
____
____
6. Which ecosystem does not belong with the others?
a. tundra
b. estuary
c. boreal forest
d. rain forest
7. The region of the ocean in which photosynthesis occurs is called the
a. deep sea zone
b. zooplankton zone
c. nutrient zone
d. photic zone
8. After a volcanic eruption, which organisms are the most likely to appear on the
newly exposed surface?
a. ferns
b. mosses
c. lichens
d. tree seedlings
9. Temperature, light, air, water, soil and climate are all ___________ parts of an ecosystem?
a. biotic
b. abiotic
c. living
d. boreal
____
____
10. Large regions that have about the same temperature and amount of rain or snow are
know as
a. ecosystems
b. biomes
c. abiotic areas
d. ecological reserves
11. Which of the following statements is consistent with the competitive exclusion principle?
a. Bird species generally do not compete for nesting sites.
b. The density of one competing species will have a positive impact on the population growth of
the other competing species.
c. Two species with the same fundamental niche will exclude other competing species.
d. Even a slight reproductive advantage will eventually lead to the elimination of inferior
species.
e. Evolution tends to increase competition between related species.
1. What is the difference between weather and climate. (2)
2. Compare a habitat and a niche.
components of a niche. (4)
Be sure to include at least three
3. Define, and give an example of EACH of the following close interactions of
species. (4)
a) Commensalism
Definition:
Example:
b) Mutualism
Definition:
Example:
4. Compare primary and secondary succession. Give an example of where each
type of succession is likely to occur. (5)
5.
6. Choose one biome and explain how humans are negatively impacting this
biome (4).
Biome: _____________________________________
How humans are negatively impacting this biome:
Complete the table below (2pts for each correct answer).
Level
of Definition
organization
Individual
Biome
The area where all life on Earth can be found.
1 The graph represents a sigmoid growth curve
for a population of micro-organisms.
(a) Select the sequence of letters on the curve
which best represents (i) the exponential
phase of growth, (ii) the stationary phase and
(iii) the lag phase.
(b) What is taking place during the exponential
phase?
2 What are likely to be the limiting factors in
a population of (a) green plants, (b) birds?
h
g
f
population size
Biosphere
e
d
c
a
b
time
6 The table shows birth rates, death rates and infant mortality for four African
countries some years ago. Which country would you expect to show (a) the
greatest, (b) the smallest population increase by now, assuming no wars or
famines?
Country
Rates per 1000 population
i
k
Tanzania
Gabon
Ethiopia
Kenya
Birth rate
Death rate
Infant mortality
46
33
50
53
16
22
25
14
125
178
162
80
8 State the changes in society which could contribute to a falling death rate.
9 State three conditions in a society which could contribute to a reduction in the
birth rate.
Self-assessment questions
29.02
10 How would an increase in the fertility rate affect the age structure of a
population?
numbers of people
numbers of people
11 The bar charts show the numbers of people of different ages in two countries.
(a) Describe the age structure of the population in each case.
(b) Comment on the death rates in the two countries.
(c) Which of the two charts is characteristic of an industrialised country?
A
age
B
age
1. Generally, which of the following factors has the greatest effect on
determining the climate of a region?
a. Air currents
b. Distance from the equator
c. Longitude
d. Month of the year
e. Dominant plant species (1 mark)
2. With the aid of a diagram, explain how the greenhouse effect maintains
temperatures within the biosphere within a range suitable for life. (3 marks)
3. List three gases responsible for the greenhouse effect (2 marks)
4. From 1960 – 2012, scientists recorded the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere and the average temperature in Mauna Loa. The data are shown in the
graph below, followed by a graph of global temperature change over the same
period.
Based on the graphs, which of the following conclusions is most likely?
A. Carbon dioxide levels and overall global temperatures will continue to
increase over the next 50 years
B. Carbon dioxide levels should decline over between 2050 and 2100
C. Warm temperatures are the cause of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentration
D. There is an inverse relationship between global temperature and
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
E. Temperatures elsewhere in the biosphere must decline in order to
compensate for temperature increases observed at Mauna Loa observatory.
5. Draw the classical population growth curve for an idealised population. Be able
to name your axes, annotate your graph and label and explain the following phases
of the sigmoid growth curve:
1. Lag Phase
2. Exponential Growth Phase
3. Transitional/Logistic growth phase
4. Carrying capacity/ Plateau Phase
6. Density-dependent limiting factors are responsible for slowing down
population growth rate. Define density-dependent limiting factor, and give two
examples of density-dependent limiting factors that could apply to a population
of wild moose in a Canadian National Park.
Below is:
a) A graph of the classic demographic transition model describing population
dynamics as nations develop economically and socially.
b) Two age-structure diagrams (population pyramids) (A,B) representing
two different nations, Afghanistan and Switzerland.
A
B
7. Explain which stage of the demographic transition (1 – 5) is represented by
Pyramid A, including a brief description of birth rate, death rate and
population growth rate in your answer.
8. Explain which stage of the demographic transition (1 – 5) is represented by
Pyramid B, including a brief description of birth rate, death rate and
population growth rate in your answer.
9. Which age-structure pyramid represents Afghanistan and which pyramid
represents Switzerland?