Download Project-Ecology-

Ecology Multiple Choice Project
1. All of the following statements about the earth’s ozone layer are false EXCEPT:
a. it is composed of o2
b. it amplifies the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth
c. it is thinning as a result of widespread use of certain chlorine-containing
compounds
d. it is thickening as a result of widespread use of certain chlorine-containing
compounds
e. it allows green light in but screens out red light
2. Which of the following is the major primary producer in a grassland ecosystem?
a. lion
b. gazelle
c. grass
d. snake
e. diatom
3. The carrying capacity of a population is defined as:
a. the amount of time the parents in the population spend rearing and nurturing
their offspring.
b. The maximum population size that certain environment can support at a
particular time
c. The amount of vegetation that a certain geographic area can support
d. The number of different types of species a biome can support
e. The number of different genes a population can carry at a particular time
4. Which of the following is the term used to describe major types of ecosystems that
occupy broad geographic regions?
a. biome
b. community
c. chaparral
d. trophic level
e. biosphere
5. A lake that is full of nutrients and that supports a vast array of algae is said to be:
a. oligotrophic
b. profundal
c. littoral
d. eutrophic
e. limnetic
6. Which of the following best describes an estuary?
a. An area that is periodically flooded so its soil is consistently damp
b. An area where a river changes course after being diverted from its original
course by an obstacle.
c. The area where a fresh water river merges with the ocean
d. The area where a mass of cold water and a mass of warm water meet in a
pelagic zone
e. An outshoot of land that extends into the ocean
7. Which of the following is the term that refers to the layer of inorganic and organic
nutrients that layers the ocean floor?
a. Littoral zone
b. Limnetic zone
c. Profundal zone
d. Benthic zone
e. Photic zone
For Q’s 8-12, use the following below lettered answers:
a. temperate grassland
b. tropical rainforest
c. temperate deciduous forest
d. tundra
e. desert
8. Characterized by permafrost and few large plants.
9. Characterized by epiphytes and significant canopy.
10. characterized by trees that lose their leaves in the fall and home to migrating birds.
11. Characterized by frequent fires and nutrient rich soil.
12. Characterized by sparse rainfall and fluctuating temperatures.
13. Ecology as a discipline directly deals with all of the following Allee of biological
organization except:
a. population
b. cellular
c. organismal
d. ecosystem
e. community
14. Which ecological unit or relationships is least related to abiotic factors?
a. community
b. ecosystem
c. population
d. species
e. symbiosis
15. Probably the most important factor(s) affecting the distribution of biomes is (are)
a. wind and water current patterns
b. species diversity
c. community succession
d. climate
e. day length and rainfall
16. The proximate causes of behavior are interactions with the environment, but behavior
is ultimately shaped by:
a. hormones
b. evolution
c. sexuality
d. pheromones
e. the nervous system
17. A type of learning that can occur only during a brief period of early life and results in
a behavior that is difficult to modify through later experiences is called:
a. insight
b. imprinting
c. habituation
d. operant conditioning
e. trial and error learning
18. The type of learning that causes specially trained dogs to salivate when they hear
bells is called:
a. insight
b. imprinting
c. habituation
d. operant conditioning
e. classical conditioning
19. Carrying capacity (K)
a. Is a calculated as the product of annual per capita birth rate
b. Remains constant in the presence of density-dependent population regulation
c. Differs among species, but does not vary within a given species
d. Is often determined by energy limitation
e. Is always eventually reached in any population
20. To measure the population density of monarch butterflies occupying a particular park,
100 butterflies are captured, marked with a small dot on a wing, and then released.
The next day, another 100 butterflies are captured, including the recapture of 20
marked butterflies. One would correctly estimate the population to be:
a. 200
b. 500
c. 1,000
d. 10,000
e. 900,000
f.
21. The most common kind of dispersion in nature is:
a. Clumped
b. Random
c. Uniform
d. Indeterminate
e. Dispersive
22. A population of ground squirrels has an annual per capita birth rate of .06 and an
annual per capita death rate of .02. Estimate the number of individuals added to (or
lost from) a population of 1,000 individuals in one year.
a. 120 added
b. 40 added
c. 20 added
d. 400 added
e. 20 added
23. As N approaches K for a certain population, which of the following is predicted by
the logistic equation?
a. The growth rate will not change
b. The growth rate will approach zero
c. The population will show an Allee effect
d. The population will increase exponentially
e. The carrying capacity of the environment will increase
24. Which of the following variables is (are) important in contributing to the rapid growth
of human populations?
a. The high % of young people
b. The average age to first give birth
c. Carrying capacity of the environment
d. Only a and b
e. a, b, and c
25. According to the competitive exclusion principle, 2 species cannot continue to occupy
the same:
a. Habitat
b. Niche
c. Territory
d. Range
e. Biome
26. Evidence shows that some grasses benefit from being grazed. Which of the following
terms would best describe this plant-herbivore interaction?
a. Mutualism
b. Commensalisms
c. Parasitism
d. Competition
e. Predation
27. With a few exceptions, most of the food chains studied by ecologists have a
maximum of how many links?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 5
d. 10
e. 15
28. In a tide pool, 15 species of invertebrates were reduced to 8 after on species was
removed. The species removed was likely a(n):
a. Community facilitator
b. Keystone predator
c. Herbivore
d. Resource partitioner
e. Mutualistic organism
29. Which of the following statements about succession is correct?
a. Secondary succession occurs where no soil exists
b. Primary succession occurs in areas where soil remains after a disturbance
c. Secondary succession can occur where a disturbance has left soil intact
d. Some cases of succession involve facilitation, a phenomenon in which species
inhibit the growth of newcomers
e. Through successional dynamics, most communities will eventually become
more stable through time.
30. What is it called when established species in a community make their environment
more favorable for competitors than for later species?
a. coevolution
b. competitive exclusion
c. facilitation
d. inhibition
e. competitive replacement
31. To measure biodiversity in a community you need to know:
a. The number of species
b. The relative abundance of each species
c. The physical size of each species
d. Both a and b
e. a, b, and c
32. Altruism exists in populations because:
a. Species within a community grow to lover each other
b. It can result in the passing on of the altruistic member’s genes
c. It can result in the overall success of the community
d. It can result in a bond between the altruistic member and the recipient who
receives altruism, and the recipient might later reciprocate the altruism
e. It can result in maximizing of the altruistic member’s genetic representation in
a population, if the altruistic member’s behavior is directed toward a close
relative.
33. A bacterial colony that exists in an environment displaying ideal conditions will
undergo:
a. Logistic growth
b. Explosive growth
c. Hyperactive growth
d. Exponential growth
e. Unbounded growth
34. A species’ specific use of the biotic and abiotic factors in an environment is
collectively called the species’:
a. Habitat
b. Trophic level
c. Niche
d. Placement
e. Partitioning
35. Several Food chains are hooked together in a
a. Trophic structure
b. Food web
c. Energy transfer web
d. Community
e. population
36. The fundamental difference between materials and energy is that:
a. Materials are cycled through ecosystems; energy is not
b. Energy is cycled through ecosystems; materials are not
c. Energy can be converted into materials; materials cannot be converted into
energy
d. Materials can be converted into energy; energy cannot be converted into
materials
e. Ecosystems are much more efficient in their transfer of energy than in their
transfer of materials
37. Organisms in which of the following groups can be primary producers?
a. Cyanobacteria
b. Zooplankton
c. Flowering plants
d. A and C
e. A, B, and C
38. To recycle nutrients, the minimum and ecosystem must have is:
a. Producers
b. Producers and decomposers
c. Producers, primary consumers, and decomposers
d. Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers
e. Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, top carnivores, and
decomposers
39. In the nitrogen cycle, the process by which organic nitrogen is decomposed back to
ammonium is know as:
a. Ammonification
b. Denitrification
c. Nitrogen-fixation
d. Nitrogen cycling
e. Nitrogenation
40. The process in which CO2 in the atmosphere intercepts and absorbs reflected infrared
radiation and re=reflect is back to the Earth is known as:
a. Global warming
b. Atmospheric insulation
c. Stratospheric insulation
d. Biological magnification
e. The greenhouse effect