ecology (practice test questions)

Question 1

Which level of organization includes organisms and nonliving things?

Answer 1

ecosystem

Question 2

The process by which H2O circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land is know as what?

Answer 2

the water cycle

Question 3

In which form is carbon in the atmosphere?

Answer 3

co2 gas

Question 4

What is the name of the process that releases nutrients from dead bodies of plants and animals back into the soil?

Answer 4

decomposition

Question 5

Which type of consumer can be both a primary and a secondary consumer?

Answer 5

omnivore

Question 6

Which level of organization includes a region on the globe that has similar temperature and rainfall patterns and similar species living there?

Answer 6

biome

Question 7

Which part of the water cycle deals with water evaporating from plants?

Answer 7

transpiration

Question 8

Nitrogen is needed in _____________ to make proteins.

Answer 8

amino acids

Question 9

Which global system is phosphorus not a part of?

Answer 9

atmosphere

Question 10

Which type of pyramid shows the amount of organic/living tissue in each trophic level?

Answer 10

biomass pyramid

Question 11

What is the difference between a community and an ecosystem?

Answer 11

community: only biotic factors
ecosystem: biotic and abiotic factors both

Question 12

Which phase is defined as water turning from a gas to a liquid?

Answer 12

condensation

Question 13

What is the process of bacteria converting N2 gas into usable nitrogen?

Answer 13

nitrogen fixation

Question 14

Where do the majority of all autotrophs get their energy from?

Answer 14

sun (photosynthesis)

Question 15

Which type of pyramid shows the total number of organisms at each tropic level?

Answer 15

pyramid of numbers

Question 16

List the levels of organization from smallest to largest.

Answer 16

individual, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere

Question 17

Which two parts of the water cycle deal with water turning from a liquid into a gas?

Answer 17

evaporation and transpiration

Question 18

What is the process of bacteria converting usable nitrogen into N2 gas

Answer 18

denitrification

Question 19

Why do living things need phosphorus?

Answer 19

it helps build DNA

Question 20

What percent of energy is transferred from one level to the next on an energy pyramid?

Answer 20

10% (90% is used or lost as heat)

Question 21

Sunlight is the main energy source for life. Which process converts sunlight into food?

Answer 21

photosynthesis

Question 22

What is the process of an organism taking in O2 and releasing CO2?

Answer 22

respiration

Question 23

Which process releases carbon dioxide from fossil fuels?

Answer 23

burning

Question 24

What gas is released when humans burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas?

Answer 24

co2

Question 25

What do all biotic factors in a given area make up?

Answer 25

community

Question 26

Where do the majority of all autotrophs get their energy from?

Answer 26

the sun

Question 27

a location composed of animals, plants, rocks, water, and minerals would be a...

Answer 27

ecosystem

Question 28

what do all biotic factors in a given area make up?

Answer 28

community

Question 29

In what way are plants and deep-sea bacteria alike?

Answer 29

they are both able to produce carbohydrates (food) and oxygen

Question 30

Give 1 example of a herbivore and 1 example of a carnivore that you could find in your backyard

Answer 30

squirrel, fox

Question 31

WHich tpe of consumer can be both a primary and a secondary consumer?

Answer 31

omnivore

Question 32

Which global system is phosphorus not a part of?

Answer 32

atmosphere

Question 33

In what types of places can you find carbon, an element that must be cycled throughout the ecosystem?

Answer 33

in rocks and soil, in carbohydrates and proteins, CO2 in the air

Question 34

Which level of organization is made of different species of living organisms interacting with each other?

Answer 34

community

Question 35

What is the difference between heterotrophs and autotrophs?

Answer 35

hetero/animlas consume food, auto/plants create food from light energy

Question 36

what would happen if decomposers were not part of an ecosystem?

Answer 36

organic matter would not break down and nutrients would not recenter the environment

Question 37

what is biomass?

Answer 37

the total mass of orgnaic living tissue in a given area or volume

Question 38

where do we get coal, oil, and natural gas from?

Answer 38

they are formed from decayed organisms. they are fossil fuels

Question 39

How is transpiration different than evaporation?

Answer 39

trans: heated water leaves plants. evap: heated water leaves surfaces on earth

Question 40

what is the difference between an abiotic factor and a biotic factor? give an example of each

Answer 40

abiotic is nonliving (rocks) biotic is living (plants)

Question 41

a human eats a fish that has eaten a beetle that has eaten a leaf. which organism is the primary consumer?

Answer 41

beetle

Question 42

the study of alligators interacting with each other and with the pollution and nutrient levels in their environment would be called

Answer 42

ecology

Question 43

what happens to the number of organisms that can exist at each level of an energy pyramid as the trophic levels increase?

Answer 43

decrease

Question 44

ow do animals get nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus?

Answer 44

they have to ingest food that contains those elements

Question 45

nitrogen fixation is where bacteria on the roots of bean plants convert nitrogen from a ______ form to a _______ form

Answer 45

gas, solid

Question 46

what is the different between a decomposer and a detritivore?

Answer 46

decomposers: break down organic matter. detritivores eat dead matter (vultures)

Question 47

describe how energy flows in an ecosystem.

Answer 47

energy flows in one direction from the producer to the different consumers

Question 48

what is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

Answer 48

chain - linear and simple. web - branched, complex, more realistic

Question 49

as organism levels move up the energy pyramid, what happens to the amount of total energy?

Answer 49

decreases- only 10% of the energy moves up

Question 50

what two processes bring water from the land into the atmosphere as a gas?

Answer 50

evaporation and transpiration

Question 51

what is the difference between photosynthesis and chemosynthesis?

Answer 51

photo: sun. chemo: inorganic molecuels

Question 52

what role do animals play in the carbon cycle?

Answer 52

animals eat carbon and carbohydrates for energy. they put carbon in the environment when they die or breathe.

Question 53

what is the difference between a biomass pyramid and a pyramid of numbers?

Answer 53

numbers = total number of organisms at each tropic level; biomass = total mass of organisms at each level

Question 54

give an example of a food chain that has 4 links

Answer 54

grass, insect, frog, bird

Question 55

what role do bacteria play in the nitrogen cycle

Answer 55

bacteria convert nitrogen gas into something plants can use. they then put gas back into the atmosphere from the soil

Question 56

what is the big difference between carnivores and omnivores

Answer 56

carn: only meat; omn: meat and plants

Question 57

what is denitrification?

Answer 57

the process of bacteria converting nitrogen to a gas and putting it back into the atmosphere