Essential Biology Chapter 19 Practice Test

Front 1

What organisms form the substrate of a coral reef?
A) platyhelminthes
B) protozoans
C) cnidarians
D) poriferans
E) nematodes

Back 1

C) cnidarians

Front 2

Populations of two coexisting species both feed only at the third trophic level. What
relationship may exist between these two organisms?
A) predation
B) mutualism
C) competition
D) commensalism
E) parasitism

Back 2

C) competition

Front 3

As a result of a disturbance, a community will ______.
A) not be repopulated
B) be replaced by a community that is completely different from the previous
community
C) not recover for thousands of years
D) undergo succession
E) not be recolonized

Back 3

D) undergo succession

Front 4

Organisms at the first trophic level are ______.
A) detritivores
B) decomposers
C) parasites
D) predators
E) autotrophs

Back 4

E) autotrophs

Front 5

In the food chain grass → antelope → human → lion, the antelope is ______.
A) both an herbivore and a secondary consumer
B) both a predator and a secondary consumer
C) both an autotroph and a primary consumer
D) both an herbivore and a primary consumer
E) a secondary consumer only

Back 5

D) both an herbivore and a primary consumer

Front 6

In the food chain grass → antelope → human → lion, the human is a(n) ______.
A) tertiary consumer
B) secondary consumer
C) herbivore
D) primary consumer
E) producer

Back 6

B) secondary consumer

Front 7

Which of these organisms are ultimately responsible for making energy available to the
other organisms listed here?
A) primary consumers
B) carnivores
C) producers
D) herbivores
E) heterotrophs

Back 7

C) producers

Front 8

Which of these convert organic matter to inorganic matter by breaking down dead
organisms?
A) autotrophs
B) secondary consumers
C) detritivores
D) producers
E) primary consumers

Back 8

C) detritivores

Front 9

Which of these organisms is a detritivore?
A) human
B) lion
C) cow
D) prokaryotic cell
E) dolphin

Back 9

D) prokaryotic cell

Front 10

Bears eat berries, humans, and large fish; large fish eat smaller fish and insects; humans eat
bears, large fish, and berries; Venus flytraps eat insects. The scenario described here is an
example of ______.
A) an ecosystem
B) parasitism
C) a food web
D) a population histogram
E) a food chain

Back 10

C) a food web

Front 11

Humans are ______.
A) detritivores
B) carnivores
C) primary producers
D) omnivores
E) herbivores

Back 11

D) omnivores

Front 12

How does energy flow differ from chemical cycling?
A) Energy flow is unidirectional; chemical elements can be recycled.
B) Energy can enter but cannot leave an ecosystem; chemical elements can leave but
cannot enter an ecosystem.
C) Energy flows from lower to higher trophic levels; chemicals cycle from higher to
lower trophic levels.
D) Energy can both enter and leave an ecosystem; chemical elements always remain
within a single ecosystem.
E) Energy cannot be created or destroyed; chemical elements can be created and
destroyed.

Back 12

A) Energy flow is unidirectional; chemical elements can be recycled.

Front 13

Approximately what percentage of the visible light reaching Earthʹs surface do producers
convert to chemical energy?
A) 10%
B) 0.1%
C) 0.001%
D) 1%
E) 0.01%

Back 13

D) 1%

Front 14

Biomass is the total amount of ______ an ecosystem.
A) organic matter tied up in the consumers of
B) solar energy in
C) organic matter tied up in the producers of
D) chemical elements recycled by the detritivores of
E) organic material in

Back 14

E) organic material in

Front 15

The rate at which organic matter is produced in an ecosystem is its ______.
A) energy flow
B) biomass
C) chemical cycle
D) primary productivity
E) trophic structure

Back 15

D) primary productivity

Front 16

On average, what percentage of the energy in the form of organic matter at one trophic
level is not available as biomass at the next highest trophic level?
A) 15%
B) 20.1%
C) 90%
D) 85%
E) 10%

Back 16

C) 90%

Front 17

In general, you would expect an energy pyramid to have roughly the same shape as a
diagram illustrating changes in ______ with increasing trophic level.
A) the sizes of organisms
B) the brain mass of organisms
C) biomass
D) primary productivity
E) the life spans of organisms

Back 17

C) biomass

Front 18

Why are most energy pyramids limited to three to five levels?
A) Energy pyramids, which are limited to no more than five levels, do not accurately
represent the energy dynamics of a food web, in which there often are more than five
trophic levels.
B) The higher the trophic level, the larger the organism; the larger the organism, the less
likely it will be prey.
C) The nutritional quality of existing biomass decreases with increasing trophic level.
D) Most ecosystems have insufficient space to support the increased number of
organisms that more trophic levels would require.
E) There is insufficient energy to support more trophic levels.

Back 18

E) There is insufficient energy to support more trophic levels.

Front 19

The main abiotic reservoir for carbon is ______.
A) the atmosphere
B) soil
C) dead organic matter
D) the oceans
E) fossil fuels

Back 19

A) the atmosphere

Front 20

What form of carbon is incorporated into organic matter by producers?
A) CO2
B) CH4
C) CFC
D) C6H12O6
E) COOH

Back 20

A) CO2

Front 21

The atmosphere is approximately 80% ______ gas.
A) CO2
B) CFC
C) H2O
D) CH4
E) N2

Back 21

E) N2

Front 22

Plants can utilize the ______ form of nitrogen.
A) thiol
B) N2
C) amino
D) hydroxyl
E) nitrate

Back 22

E) nitrate

Front 23

Which of these organisms convert atmospheric nitrogen gas to a form that can be utilized
by plants?
A) prokaryotes
B) protists
C) consumers
D) omnivores
E) heterotrophs

Back 23

A) prokaryotes

Front 24

______ convert nitrogen from a form that can be assimilated by plants to N2.
A) Nitrifying bacteria
B) Nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the soil
C) Senitrifying bacteria
D) E. coli
E) Nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the root nodules of legumes

Back 24

C) Senitrifying bacteria

Front 25

The major abiotic reservoir for phosphorus is ______.
A) the oceans
B) the atmosphere
C) rock
D) fossil fuels
E) dead organic matter

Back 25

C) rock

Front 26

Globally, most water moves from ______.
A) the oceans to the atmosphere by evaporation
B) land to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration
C) the atmosphere to land by precipitation
D) the atmosphere to the oceans by precipitation
E) land to the oceans by surface and groundwater runoff

Back 26

A) the oceans to the atmosphere by evaporation

Front 27

The Sahara Desert and the Negev Desert belong to the same ______.
A) community
B) abiota
C) biome
D) biota
E) population

Back 27

C) biome

Front 28

______ are the dominant herbivores of savanna ecosystems.
A) Antelopes
B) Zebras
C) Buffalo
D) Gnus
E) Insects

Back 28

E) Insects

Front 29

What is the basis of the difference between savannas and grasslands?
A) Savannas are warmer.
B) Savannas are located closer to the equator.
C) Savannas have trees.
D) Savannas are fire dependent.
E) Savannas lack grass.

Back 29

C) Savannas have trees.

Front 30

Which of these biomes is maintained by fire?
A) temperate deciduous forest
B) chaparral
C) tundra
D) desert
E) tropical forest

Back 30

B) chaparral

Front 31

Overgrazing of savannas can result in the formation of ______.
A) desert
B) temperate deciduous forest
C) chaparral
D) coniferous forest
E) taiga

Back 31

A) desert

Front 32

Most of the temperate grassland in North America has been converted to ______.
A) shopping malls
B) cities
C) farmland
D) national parks
E) suburbs

Back 32

C) farmland

Front 33

In an aquatic ecosystem, what name is given to the region where photosynthesis can occur?
A) pelagic zone
B) aphotic zone
C) benthic zone
D) thermocline
E) photic zone

Back 33

E) photic zone

Front 34

With regard to the environment as a whole, when is the worst time to apply pesticide to
your lawn?
A) when it is raining, or is about to rain
B) when it is cold, or is about to get cold
C) at the same time you apply fertilizer
D) at night
E) during the day

Back 34

A) when it is raining, or is about to rain

Front 35

What are estuaries?
A) regions where two rivers join
B) a freshwater biome
C) the start of a river
D) regions where ocean water meets land
E) regions where fresh water and salt water mix

Back 35

E) regions where fresh water and salt water mix

Front 36

Which of these biomes is one of the most biologically productive of all biomes?
A) open oceans
B) estuaries
C) temperate grasslands
D) tropical dry forests
E) temperate forests

Back 36

B) estuaries

Front 37

What name is given to the region where sea meets land?
A) pelagic zone
B) thermocline
C) intertidal zone
D) benthic zone
E) aphotic zone

Back 37

C) intertidal zone

Front 38

What name is given to the open ocean?
A) pelagic zone
B) thermocline
C) intertidal zone
D) benthic zone
E) aphotic zone

Back 38

A) pelagic zone

Front 39

In what ocean zone are phytoplankton found?
A) pelagic
B) thermocline
C) intertidal
D) benthic
E) aphotic

Back 39

A) pelagic

Front 40

What name is given to the seafloor?
A) pelagic zone
B) thermocline
C) intertidal zone
D) benthic zone
E) aphotic zone

Back 40

D) benthic zone

Front 41

The role of quinine in its natural environment is an example of ______.
A) mutualism
B) interspecific competition
C) intraspecific competition
D) alleotrophy

Back 41

B) interspecific competition

Front 42

Diseases such as malaria are examples of ______.
A) exponential growth
B) density-dependent factors
C) density-independent factors
D) population cycles

Back 42

B) density-dependent factors

Front 43

A mosquito that lives off of the blood of birds and mammals is an example of ______.
A) commensalism
B) parasitism
C) mutualism
D) competition
E) predation

Back 43

B) parasitism

Front 44

Ecologists sometimes study ______ by studying several different locations at different
stages of this process.
A) mutualism
B) predation
C) competition
D) succession
E) commensalism

Back 44

D) succession

Front 45

Plants take in carbon dioxide from ______ and in the process of ______ build carbohydrates.
A) water . . . cellular respiration
B) air . . . cellular respiration
C) water . . . photosynthesis
D) air . . . photosynthesis
E) organic molecules . . . photosynthesis

Back 45

D) air . . . photosynthesis

Front 46

Bacteria and fungi that feed on wastes and decomposing organisms in an ecosystem are
examples of ______.
A) detritivores
B) producers
C) primary consumers
D) secondary consumers
E) tertiary consumers

Back 46

A) detritivores

Front 47

Which one of the following increases oxygen levels in water?
A) increased temperature
B) decreased photosynthetic activity
C) increased salinity
D) increased decomposition
E) increased mixing and turbulence

Back 47

E) increased mixing and turbulence