Chapter 52: Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere

How are the Earth's climate systems influenced?​

• By the gravitational pull of the moon

• By solar energy heating the atmosphere, land, and water, which drives wind, ocean currents, and evaporation.​
  

• By human activity alone

• By the Earth's magnetic field changes.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

Which human activities are primarily responsible for increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases?

• Planting trees and conserving forests

• Using solar panels and wind turbines​
  

• Burning fossil fuels and deforestation​
  

• Recycling plastic and paper

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

Which of the following is characteristic of most terrestrial biomes?

• Distribution predicted almost entirely by rock and soil patterns

• Clear boundaries between adjacent biomes

• Vegetation demonstrating vertical layering

• Cold winter months

Which of the following statements about biomes is correct?

• The major factors affecting the distribution of biomes are temperature and precipitation

• Most biomes are unaffected by human activity

• Which biome type occurs on every continent

• Each continent is home to a biome not found elsewhere on Earth

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

Which environmental factor decreases with depth in aquatic biomes?​

• Nutrient level

• Salinity

• Oxygen levels

• Sunlight

Which of the following is a common characteristic of freshwater wetlands?

• High salt concentration

• Constantly dry soil.

• Water-saturated soils and nutrient-rich environments.

• Deep ocean trenches.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

Different species that inhabit the same type of biome but occur in widely separated geographic regions often appear similar due to __________.

• Chance

• Convergent evolution

• Recent common ancestry

• Close evolutionary relationships

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Cattle egrets, originally only found in Africa and southwestern Europe, can now be found in North America because of which of the following? ​

• Convergent evolution​

• Dispersal​

• Habitat selection​

• Habitat destruction

Which scenario best illustrates how ecological change and evolution can affect one another?​

• A drought causes lakes to dry up, but fish populations remain unchanged.​

• A new predator is introduced to an environment, leading prey species to evolve better camouflage over generations.​

• A species of bird migrates to a new area and maintains its existing diet.​

• Plants grow faster in summer due to more sunlight.​

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Fisheries often target older, larger cod fish,. This causes cod that reproduce at a younger age and smaller size to be favored by natural selection. How would this evolutionary response affect the cod population's ability to recover from overfishing? ​

• It would increase the population growth rate because younger cod mature quickly.​

• It would improve population recovery since more cod would be caught before reproducing.​

• It would slow recovery because smaller, younger cod produce fewer offspring.​

• It would have no effect on the population's recovery ability.​

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-4