Ecology Quiz Prep

As taller and taller plants move into an area, what happens to the shorter grasses and wildflowers?

• They grow more as the tree roots break up the soil.

• They are under too much shade and die

• They are less able to pollinate with all the tree pollen in the way.

• Animals that live in the trees destroy the grasses and wildflowers.

What happens when a parasite attaches to a host?

• The host is unharmed by the parasite.

• The parasite kills the host in a short period of time.

• The host becomes stronger through fighting the parasite.

• The host is harmed because the parasite takes nutrients away.

Which process is not a part of the carbon cycle?

• Decomposing animals returning carbon to the soil

• Carbon in the air decreasing when fossil fuels are burned.

• Plants taking carbon in to their bodies when doing photosynthesis.

• Organisms giving off carbon dioxide when they do cellular respiration.

90% of the energy at each level of a trophic pyramid is lost and cannot be used by the organisms in the next layer up. In what form is most of this energy lost?

• Chemical Reactions

• Motion

• Heat

• Light

How does nitrogen move from the abiotic part of an ecosystem into the biotic part of an ecosystem

• When bacteria take nitrogen from the atmosphere and make it useable for plants

• When plants take nitrogen from the soil and make it part of their bodies.

• When nitrogen from a dead body decomposes into the soil.

• When nitrogen in a plant is eaten by an animal.

Which sorts of organisms are usually decomposers?

• snakes and lizards

• fungi and bacteria

• insects and plants

• rats and lichens

Which of the following is not a benefit of forest fires?

• Fire changes the overall temperature of the ecosystem

• Fire destroys invasive plants

• Fire adds ash to the nutrients of the soil

• Fire opens clearings for new growth

In the food chain:

sun-->bush-->caterpillar-->robin-->hawk

what is the role of the caterpillar

• tertiary consumer

• secondary consumer

• primary consumer

• producer

Which of the following is not primary succession?

• An ecosystem grows on volcanic rock near a recent eruption.

• A new island rises up in the ocean.

• An ecosystem grows on new rock is exposed as a glacier melts.

• The Great Dismal Swamp growing back after a fire.

What is the most frequent way humans destroy an ecosystem?

• Fertilizer runoff into rivers and the ocean

• Introducing new genes through genetic engineering.

• Introducing invasive species.

• Destroying habitats of particular species.