Ecology Exam Practice

The branch of biology dealing with interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment is called

• economy

• modeling

• recycling

• ecology

Which of the following descriptions about the organization of an ecosystem is correct?

• Communities make up species, which make up populations

• Populations make up species, which make up communities.

• Species make up communities, which make up populations.

• Species make up populations, which make up communities.

The simplest grouping of more than one kind of organism in the biosphere is

• species

• population

• biosphere

• community

The lowest level of environmental complexity that includes living and nonliving factors is the

• biome.

• community.

• ecosystem.

• biosphere.

Plants are

• primary producers

• primary consumers

• herbivores

• omnivores

How do most primary producers make their own food?

• respiration

• photosynthesis

• eating other organisms

• decomposing other organisms

Which of the following organisms does NOT require sunlight to live?

• chemosynthetic bacteria

• algae

• trees

• photosynthetic bacteria

In which way are plants in a sunny mountain meadow and sulfur bacteria in a deep-sea volcanic vent alike?

• They both use photosynthesis to make their own food.

• They both produce carbohydrates and oxygen.

• They both use chemosynthesis to produce their own food.

• They both produce carbon and hydrogen.

Which of the following are autotrophs?

• plants

• algae

• cyanobacteria

• chemosynthetic bacteria

• all of these

Corn planted in a field that has been previously planted with legumes and then plowed under is likely to be

• less productive because legumes remove phosphorus from the soil.

• more productive because bacteria living on the roots of legumes fix nitrogen in the soil.

• more productive because nitrogen-fixing bacteria help to keep away pests.

• less productive because the legumes have already taken all the nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus from the soil.