Ecology Practice Packet

ECOLOGY-Multiple Choice Practice Packet Chapters 50-55 MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) Important abiotic factors in ecosystems include which of the following? I temperature. IL water III. wind A) 1 only B) II only C) III only D) Land II only E) I, II, and III 2) Which of the following levels of organization is arranged in the correct sequence from most to least inclusive? A) ecosystem, community, population, individual B) population, ecosystem, individual, community C) individual, population, community, ecosystem D) community, ecosystem, individual, population E) individual, community, population, ecosystem 3) You are working for the Environmental Protection Agency considering the effect of a potentially toxic chemical in drinking water. There is as yet no documented scientific evidence against the chemical, but many suspect it to be a health hazard. Using the Precautionary Principle, what would be a reasonable environmental policy? A) Set the acceptable levels at the highest levels encountered, and keep them there unless future studies demonstrate negative health effects, B) Establish no regulations until there are conclusive scientific studies. C) Establish a contingency fund to handle insurance claims in the event that the chemical turns out to produce negative health effects. D) Caution individuals to use their own judgment in deciding whether to drink water from a potentially contaminated area. E) Set the acceptable levels conservatively low, and keep them there unless future studies show that they can be safely raised. 4) Introduced species A) often fail to colonize the new area. B) can disrupt the balance of the natural species with which they become associated, C) may become common enough to become pests. D) Both B and Care correct. E) A, B, and Care all correct. 5) Which ecological unit or relationship is least related to abiotic factors? A) community B) symbiosis C) ecosystem D) population E) species 6) Which of the following statements best describes the effect of climate on biome distribution? A) The distribution of biomes depends, in part, on the mean annual temperature and precipitation of an area. B) Correlation of climate with biome distribution is sufficient to determine the cause of biome patterns. C) Temperate forests, coniferous forests, and grasslands all have the same mean annual temperatures and precipitation. D) Fluctuation of environmental variables is not important if areas have the same annual temperature and precipitation means. E) Knowledge of annual temperature and precipitation is sufficient to predict which biome will be found in an arca. 7) Which of the following statements about aquatic ecosystems is false? A) Many aquatic biomes exhibit pronounced vertical stratification of chemical variables. B) Many lakes in temperate regions are characterized by seasonal thermal stratification. C) The distribution of photosynthetic organisms is not limited by the quality and intensity of light in marine ecosystems. D) All of the statements above are true. E) Marine algae and photosynthetic bacteria produce a substantial portion of the biosphere's atmospheric oxygen 8) The benthic zone in an aquatic biome A) is the site of most photosynthesis within the biome. B) is where one would most expect to find a thermocline. C) often supports communities of organisms that feed largely on detritus. D) Band Conly are correct. E) A, B, and Care correct. 9) Phytoplankton is most frequently found in which of the following zones? A) benthic B) abyssal C) photic D) aphotic E) oligotrophic 10) Coral reefs can be found on the southern east coast of the United States but not at similar latitudes on the southern west coast. Differences in which of the following most likely account for this? A) ocean currents B) sunlight C) day length D) salinity E) precipitation 48) Batesian mimicry systems involve all of the following except A) the models being easily recognized, B) the models being noxious or disagreeable. C) the ability of predators to "learn" characteristics of their prey. D) the models being cryptically colored. E) the mimics having no defense mechanism. 49) Which of the following is an example of Müllerian mimicry? A) two species of unpalatable butterfly that have the same color pattern B) a day-flying hawkmoth that looks like a wasp C) a katydid whose wings look like a dead leaf D) two species of moths that have eye spots that make them look like owls E) two species of rattlesnake that both rattle their tails 50) All of the following describe possible results of competition between two species except A) warning coloration. B) resource partitioning C) reduction in the population of one species. D) reduction in the populations of both species. E) competitive exclusion. 51) Which of the following terms best describes the interaction between termites and the protozoans that feed in their gut? A) ectoparasitism 15) endoparasitism C) mutualism D) competitive exclusion E) cornmensalism 52) Which of the following types of species interaction is incorrectly paired to its effects on the density of the two interacting populations? A) competition--both decrease B) parasitism--one increases, one decreases C) mutualism--both increase D) commensalism-both increase E) predation--one increases, one decreases 53) Elephants are not the most common species in African grasslands. The grasslands contain scattered woody plants, but they are kept in check by the uprooting activities of the elephants. Take away the elephants, and the grasslands convert to forests or to shrublands. The newly growing forests support fewer species than the previous grasslands. Elephants can be defined as what type of species in this community? A) dominant B) redundant C) dominant and keystone D) keystone E) none of the above 54) According to the nonequilibrial model, A) community structure remains constant in the absence of interspecific competition. B) communities are assemblages of closely linked species that function as tightly integrated units. C) communities will remain in a state of equilibrium in the absence of human activities. D) interspecific interactions induce changes in community composition over time. F) communities are constantly changing after being affected by disturbances. 55) Which of the following is considered by ecologists a measure of the ability of a community either to resist change or to recover to its original state after change? A) competitive exclusion B) stability C) succession D) partitioning E) productivity 56) When you eat lettuce, you are acting as a A) tertiary consumer. B) producer. C) detritivore. D) primary consumer. E) secondary consumer. 57) Which of the following organisms fix nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems? A) fungi B) chemoautotrophs C) cyanobacteria D) legumes E) phytoplankton