Ecology Practice questions
Multiple Choice
_____ 1. Which of the following descriptions about the organization of an ecosystem
is correct?
a. Communities make up species, which make up populations.
b. Populations make up species, which make up communities.
c. Species make up communities, which make up populations.
d. Species make up populations, which make up communities.
_____ 2. The lowest level of environmental complexity that includes living and
nonliving factors is the
a. biome. c. ecosystem. b. community. d. biosphere.
_____ 3. Which of the following is NOT a basic method used by ecologists to study
the living world?
a. experimenting b. animal training c. modeling d. observing
_____ 4. Plants are
a. primary producers. b. primary consumers. c. herbivores. d. omnivores.
_____ 5. Compared to land, the open oceans
a. have less zooplankton. c. are nutrient-poor environments. b. contain unlimited
nitrogen. d. are rich in silica and iron.
_____ 6. All the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem make up a/an
a. interaction b. network c. food chain
d. food web.
_____ 7. The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called the
organic mass. c. energy mass. b. trophic mass. d. biomass.
a.
_____ 8. A word that means the same thing as consumer is
a. producer. c. heterotroph. b. autotroph. d. carbohydrate.
_____ 9. Matter can recycle through the biosphere because
a. matter does not change into new compounds.
b. matter is assembled into chemical compounds.
c. biological systems do not use up matter, they transform it.
d. biological systems use only carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
_____10. What is transpiration?
a. Water is falling to the ground as precipitation.
b. Water is evaporating from the ocean.
c. Water is being evaporated by plants.
d. Water is seeping into the ground to become groundwater.
_____11. Nitrogen fixation is carried out primarily by
a. humans. c. bacteria. b. plants. d. consumers.
_____12. The movements of energy and nutrients through living systems are
different because
a. energy flows in one direction, and nutrients recycle.
b. energy is limited in the biosphere, and nutrients are always available.
c. nutrients flow in two directions, and energy recycles.
d. energy forms chemical compounds, and nutrients are lost as heat.
_____13. Animals that get energy by eating the carcasses of other animals that have
been killed by predators or have died of natural causes are called
a. scavengers. c. heterotrophs. b. omnivores. d. detritivores.
_____14. Each of the following is an abiotic factor in the environment EXCEPT
a. plant life. c. rainfall. b. soil type. d. temperature.
_____15. The branch of biology dealing with interactions among organisms and
between organisms and their environment is called
a. economy. c. recycling. b. modeling. d. ecology
____16. Which of the following is true about secondary consumers in an ecosystem?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They eat only plants.
They are eaten by primary consumers.
They are smaller and weaker than primary consumers.
They are fewer in number than are primaryconsumers.
____17. In the nitrogen cycle, the transformation of gaseous nitrogen into nitrogencontaining compounds is performed primarily by
A. fungi
B. bacteria C. greenplants D. herbivores
____18. Which of the following organisms is most likely to be located at the apex of
the pyramid of biomass?
A. grasshopper B. snake C. mouse D. hawk
____19. The organic and inorganic materials in all the organisms in an ecosystem
will eventually return to the environment by the action of
a.
b.
c.
d.
decomposers
producers
primaryconsumers
secondaryconsumers
____20. Which of the following best explains why there are seldom more than five
trophic levels in a food chain?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Most carnivores function at more than one trophic level.
Trophic levels above this number contain too many individuals.
Top carnivores are too few in number to prey effectively.
Energy is lost from each trophic level.
Fill in the blanks
1. ________________ is an organism that makes its own food and stores energy
2. Consumer (Heterotroph) is an organism that obtains food and energy from other
__________
3. Types of Consumers are _____________- organisms that eat only plants,
____________– organisms that eat only animals and _________________ –
organisms that eat both plants and animals.
4 _______________are organisms that obtain energy by breaking down wastes and
the remains of dead organisms
5 Examples: mushrooms and earthworms
6. In a food chain, an ______ points from the organism being _______ to the
organism who eats.
7. Primary source of energy in a food chain is the _________
8. Consumers that eat _________
9. • _______________ are the consumers that eat first-level consumers.
10. • Only about ________ of the energy consumed by a first-level consumer is
available for the second-level consumer.
11. The other 90% is used to support the life processes (keeping warm, pooping,
etc) of the primary consumer
12. • This means that the higher the level of consumer, the fewer there are of
them because they have to eat A LOT to get enough energy
13. • ____ ____ is a series of overlapping or connected food chains that exist in
an ecosystem.
14. • _____________ is a place where an organism lives and that provides the
things the organism needs
15. • Species – a group of similar organisms that can mate with one another to
produce children
16. • Population – all the members of one species in a particular area
17. • Community – the different populations that live together in an area
18. • Ecosystem – Living and non-living things that interact in a particular area
19. • The type of place an organism lives is the ecosystem, the specific part of the
ecosystem that meets the organism’s needs is its ________
20. • __________ factors are the living parts of an ecosystem
21. • Abiotic Factors are the ____________ parts of an ecosystem
Use the word bank below to find the answers:
Ecology, Prey, Carnivore, Autotroph, Parasitism, Commensalism, Herbivore,
Mutualism, Decomposer, Omnivore, Predator, Limiting Factor, Homeostasis,
Heterotroph, Secondary Succession
1. One organism benefits without harming the other
2. Maintaining a natural balance on earth
3. Study of organisms and their environment
4. Gradual replacement of one community by another
5. A relationship in which both organisms benefit
6. Organisms that cannot make their own food
7. A relationship in which one organism benefits but harms the other
8. Organisms that can make their own food
9. An organism that hunts
10. Organisms that eats only meat
11. Organism that breaks down dead material
12. Any biotic factor that restricts distribution of organisms
13. Organism that eats both plant and animals
14. Organism that is hunted
15. An organism that eats only plants
In the space to the left, write the word or phrase that includes the rest.
_____________1. trophic level, food web, food chain
_____________2. parasitism, commensalism, mutualism, symbiosis
_____________3. organism, ecosystem, population, community
_____________4. ecosystems, biotic factors, biosphere, abiotic factors
_____________5. omnivores, consumers, carnivores, herbivores
_____________6. evaporation, precipitation, water cycle, respiration
_____________7. little rainfall, plants with waxy coats, desert, tundra
_____________8. low temperature, little precipitation, tundra, permafrost