Download EOCT STUDY GUIDE: ECOLOGY

EOCT STUDY GUIDE: ECOLOGY
1. The diagram to the right shows a simplified
nitrogen cycle. Which process is responsible
for returning nitrogen to the air?
a. excretion
b. decomposition
c. photosynthesis
d. nitrification
2. The graph below shows the results of experiments with two species of duckweed, L.
polyrrhiza and L. gibba. Which of these best explain why growth is LESS when the two
species are grown together.
a. They attract more herbivores
b. One grows faster than the other
c. They compete for the same resources
d. One stimulates the growth of the other
3. Like the camel, many animals that live in soft sandy areas have large wide feet compared to
their body size. The large feet are an advantage in these environments because theya. are rapidly toughened by sharp sand grains
b. reduce the vibrations caused by walking
c. distribute body weight over a large area
d. allow rapid digging in the sand
4. Which of these DECREASES as the number of fish in a small pond increases?
a. Competition for food
b. Levels of body wastes in the pond
c. Number of available nesting sites
d. Number of predators
5. The gas responsible for creating the “greenhouse” effect is _____________.
a.
NH3
c. CO2
b.
H2
d. O2
6. In which biome do the evaporation rates exceed the precipitation rates?
a. Grassland
c. Hardwood forest
b. Tropical Jungle
d. Desert
7. The graph to the right shows the sizes of lynx and
hare populations between the years of 1845 and
1940. If a predator of the lynx enters the food
chain, you might expect the number of –
a. lynx to increase
b. hares and lynx to decrease
c. hares to increase
d. lynx and hares to become equal
8. Cowbirds often lay eggs in the nests of other songbirds. The young cowbirds grow up hearing
the songs of their foster parents but sing cowbird songs when they are adults. This is an
example of –
a. Imprinting
c. Mimicry
b. Instinct
d. Camouflage
9. Low availability of which element could be a limiting factor in a plant community?
a. Nitrogen
c. Mercury
b. Argon
d. Sodium
10. The bulk of these short-grass prairie plants is underground. The main benefit that these plants
receive from this adaptation is –
a. more surface area for the absorption of water
b. more resistance to insect-transmitted diseases
c. increased ability to maintain cooler leaf temperatures
d. improved ability to detect areas high in carbon dioxide
11. Which of these lists the hierarchy of ecological interactions in order from least to most
comprehensive?
a. Community, population, ecosystem, organismal
b. Ecosystem, community, population, organismal
c. Organismal, population, community, ecosystem
d. Organismal, ecosystem, population, community
e. Population, organismal, community, ecosystem
12. In which of the situations described below would you expect to observe exponential
population growth in nature?
a. In a population in which intraspecific competition is intense.
b. In a population for which living space is a limiting resource.
c. In a population that has just entered a new uninhabited environment.
d. In a population for which the food supply is a limiting resource.
13. A scientist discovers a small species of insect that lives inside the leaves of a tropical plant.
Investigating their relationship, she finds that the insect feeds on the leaf cells of only this
species of plant. However, removal of these insects causes plant growth to decline. Given
this information, this relationship is best described as a case ofa. Parasitism
c. Competitive exclusion
b. Mutualism
d. Interspecific competition
14. A community that is relatively stable and thus not changing much is called a
____________community.
a. Static
c. keystone
b. Climax
d. primary
e. Pioneer
15. A “niche” is best defined as:
a. The type of community in which a species occurs.
b. Overlap in resource use between two species.
c. The sum total of use by a species of the biotic and abiotic resources in its
environment.
d. An Interspecific interaction in which one species lives on or in another species.
e. A combination of species richness and relative abundance.
16. Which of these scenarios is the best example of primary succession?
a. Changes in the vegetation of abandoned cropland
b. Recovery of a forest after it is damaged by a hurricane
c. Changes in the vegetation of a forest that has been logged
d. Development of a community after a vocanic island emerges from the ocean
e. Recovery of a forest after a forest fire.
17. Imagine that a scientist studying a newly described species found in the Great Lakes discovers
that it eats small swimming herbivores. To which trophic level would this new species
belong?
a. Primary consumer
d. Secondary consumer
b. Producer
e. Tertiary consumer
c. Secondary consumer
f. Quarternary consumer
18. In general, energy pyramids do not extend beyond three to five levels becausea. There is not enough energy remaining at the very top of an energy pyramid to support
another trophic level.
b. There are not enough inorganic nutrients availabl in an ecosystem to support that
many species.
c. Detritivores would not be able to recycle the nutrients in trophic levels beyond the top
of a pyramid.
d. The top levels would become overcrowded with species, causing too much
Interspecific competition.
e. Nutrients present in the organism at higher levels would not be available to
decomposers.
19. The concentration of toxins into successive trophic levels in a food web is termeda. Desertification
d. Biological magnification.
b. Biogeochemical cycling
e. Eutrophication
c. Deforestation
20. A single species is a
a. Group of interbreeding populations that are physically isolated from other species.
b. Group of different types of organisms that are reproductively isolated from each
other.
c. Group of different types of organisms that are physically isolated from each other.
d. Group of interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other
species.
e. None of these
21. The use of living organisms to degrade toxic pollutants is an example of
a. Biogenesis
d. Giardiasis
b. Bioremediation
e. Endosymbiosis
c. Binary fission
22. Grasslands that contain scattered trees
a. Are very widespread
b. Are called savannas
c. Comprise the chaparral biome
d. Are part of the tundra biome
e. Dominate much of central North America.
23. The cause of an algal bloom is:
a. Calcium and magnesium
d. Oxygen
b. Phosphorous and nitrogen
e. Salt
c. Carbon
24. This can cause holes in the ozone:
a. CO2
b. CFC’s
c. NH2
25. Which of the following is an parasitic relationship?
a. fungi and algae growing together in a lichen
b. plant roots and bacteria that provide nitrogen compounds
c. plant roots and fungi associated in mycorrhizae
d. fungal ergots growing on rye or other crops
e. plants and their pollinating insects
26. Which of the following is a biotic component of the environment of an organism?
a. Light levels
d. Temperature conditions
b. Mineral levels
e. Water availability
c. A predator
27. A(n) ___________________is where a freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean.
a. Aphotic zine
d. Estuary
b. Pelagic zone
e. Detritus
c. Biome
28. Almost all communities of organisms rely directly or indirectly upon energy from the sun.
An exception, where organisms obtain energy from chemicals from the Earth’s interior, are
the communities that occur ina. The aphotic zone of the oceans
b. Temperate deciduous forests
c. The benthic zone of lakes
d. Coral reefs
e. Hydrothermal vents
29. Fire is most important in shaping the adaptations of plants that live in which biome?
a. Tundra
d. Tropical forests
b. Deserts
e. Chaparral
c. Temperate deciduous forests
30. Due to a programming error, a space probe intended for Mars lands instead somewhere on
Earth. It transmits to base a photo of its surroundings, showing vegetation lacking trees or
other tall plants, and its soil probe detects a layer of permanently frozen soil beneath the
ground surface. From this information, in what biome would you conclude the probe has
landed?
a. Chapparral
d. Desert
b. Savanna
e. Temperate grassland
c. Tundra
31. Which of these is an adaptation that has evolved to aid animals in the conservation of water?
a. Production of sweat to cool the skin during high temperature periods.
b. The ability of some frogs and turtles to freeze during winter and still survive.
c. Having enzymes that can operate at temperatures above 50° C.
d. Having enzymes that can operate at temperatures below 0° C.
e. Excretion of concentrated urine by the kidneys.
32. Around hot water vents deep in the ocean, live
specialized communities. Bacteria turn hydrogen
sulfide into sugars by a chemical process. The
bacteria then provide food to other life forms, as
shown in the diagram. Compared to food chains on
the land, the bacteria fill the same role asa. Hawks
b. Rabbits
c. Green plants
d. mushrooms
33.
Thirty breeding pairs of rabbits were introduced
onto an island with no natural predators and a good
supply of water, shrubs, and grasses.
Over the next few years, the rabbit population will probablya. remain relatively constant due to equal birth and death rates
b. die out due to inbreeding
c. increase until the food supply runs low
d. decrease as the number of rabbit per litter decreases.
34. Which of the following is a consumer-producer relationship?
a. Roadrunners eating snakes
c. Toads eating grasshoppers
b. Snakes eating toads
d. Grasshoppers eating grass
35. What is the main cause of fish kills in rivers polluted by fertilizers?
a. Decreased mineral sources
c. Increased water temperatures
b. Decreased oxygen levels
d. Increased water levels
36. Which of these is a decomposer in a Georgia forest?
a. A pine tree
c. A dandelion
b. A mushroom
d. A caterpillar
37. The life supporting region of the Earth is called thea. Biosphere
d. Cell
b. Gene
e. Ecosystem
c. Hypothesis
38. Which group is most responsible for the recycling of atoms within the environment?
a. Autotrophs
c. Phototrophs
b. Consumers
d. Decomposers
39. In the system to the right, energy is transferred from insects to
fish bya. Food consumption
b. Water
c. Radiation
d. Decaying processes
40. If a single plant species is removed from a food web, then most
likelya. An animal species will fill the unoccupied niche
b. Other plants will produce enough food for herbivores
c. Dependent herbivores will have to find new food sources
d. Carnivores will be unaffected by the loss
41. On the pyramid of biomass, the most biomass is with:
a.
Herbivores
b. Secondary consumers
c. Producers
d. Tertiary consumers
42. Which relationship is represented when a hyena eats a rodent that it has caught?
a. Scavenger / carrion
c. Predator / prey
b. Herbivore / consumer
d. Host / parasite
43. In the graph to the right, what is the population of
deer at the carrying capacity of the environment?
a. 10
b. 25
c. 60
d. 100
44. Which population would be most affected if the snakes were removed from this food web?
a. Grass
b. Mouse
c. Lizard
d. Hawk