ES Ch 3 Review

Multiple Choice

The air people breathe resides in the lowermost layer of the atmosphere called the ____.

• stratosphere

• geosphere

• ozone layer

• biosphere

• troposphere

Multiple Choice

The oceans contain about ____ of Earth’s water.

• 71%

• 55%

• 85%

• 38%

• 97%

Multiple Choice

Earth’s life-support system consists of four main spherical systems—the air, water, living things, and the ____.

• biosphere

• atmosphere

• hydrosphere

• geosphere

• troposphere

Multiple Choice

A group of individuals of the same species living in a particular place is a(n) ____.

• ecosystem

• population

• organism

• community

• biosphere

Multiple Choice

Bacteria and fungi are typically categorized as ____.

• primary consumers

• autotrophs

• producers

• decomposers

• tertiary consumers

Multiple Choice

A primary consumer can also be described as a(n) _________________, a word that means “plant eater.”

• herbivore
• carnivore

• omnivore

• detritivore

Multiple Choice

About how much energy is lost with each transfer from one trophic level to the next?

• 0%

• 35%

• 65%

• 10%

• 90%

Multiple Choice

Food chains and food webs show how producers, consumers, and decomposers are connected to one another as chemical energy flows through different ____ in an ecosystem.

• trophic levels

• biospheres

• energy pyramids

• abiotic components

• life-support systems

Multiple Choice

Despite the open ocean’s slow net primary productivity (NPP), it produces more of Earth’s stored chemical energy per year than any other ecosystem or life zone.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Plants utilize a portion of their gross primary productivity (GPP) for cellular respiration.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The level of productivity in oceans can be explained by the fact that ____.

• more sunlight is available to organisms in oceans

• growth in oceans is not limited by nutrient availability

• the volume of the global ocean is enormous

• there are fewer primary consumers in oceans

• oceans are home to whales, which are large animals

Multiple Choice

Gross primary productivity (GPP) is the rate at which ____.

• producers use stored chemical energy through cellular respiration

• consumers convert and store chemical energy obtained from producers

• producers convert radiant energy into chemical energy

• consumers use stored chemical energy to fuel life processes

• producers make chemical energy potentially available to consumers

Multiple Choice

Because Earth does not get significant inputs of matter from space, its essentially fixed supply of nutrients must continually be recycled to support life.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The process by which cells are able to convert glucose into usable energy using oxygen is known as photosynthesis.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best represents the process of photosynthesis?

• carbon dioxide + water → solar energy + glucose + oxygen

• oxygen + glucose + solar energy → carbon dioxide + water

• carbon dioxide + glucose + solar energy → water + oxygen

• oxygen + glucose → solar energy + carbon dioxide + water

• carbon dioxide + water + solar energy → glucose + oxygen

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best represents the process of aerobic respiration?

• glucose + carbon dioxide → oxygen + water + energy

• glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water + energy

• energy + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water + glucose

• water + glucose → oxygen + carbon dioxide + energy

• energy + glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water

Multiple Choice

Carbon is cycled through the biosphere via ____.

• photosynthesis and aerobic respiration

• the rock cycle

• fuel combustion and decomposition

• volcanic activity and organic decay

• soil bacteria and precipitation

Multiple Choice

Nitrogen fixation is the process of turning nitrogen from the atmosphere into a form usable by living things.

This accomplished by ____.

• legumes

• bacteria

• protozoa

• algae

• roundworms

Multiple Choice

Water evaporates from the surfaces of plants through a process called ____.

• infiltration

• respiration

• percolation

• surface runoff

• transpiration

Multiple Choice

Precipitation that infiltrates through soil into underground layers of rock, sand, and gravel called ____.

• aquifers

• lakes

• watersheds

• magma

Multiple Choice

It is easier to carry out a controlled experiment in the field than it is in the laboratory.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

One challenge of laboratory research is that ____.

• observations may not reflect what actually takes place in nature

• measurements are difficult to make in that environment

• real organisms cannot be used

• field locations can be expensive and difficult to access

• too many variables are uncontrolled

Multiple Choice

Planetary boundaries, or ecological tipping points, may be thought of as ____.

• boundaries beyond which life on Earth is no longer possible

• boundaries where Earth’s planetary systems interact

• points at which planetary systems achieve maximum productivity

• points beyond which degraded planetary systems cannot recover

• a measurement of humans’ beneficial environmental impacts

Multiple Choice

Since the late 1960s, ecologists have developed _______________ that simulate ecosystems.

• mathematical models

• biospheres

• satellites

• controlled experiments