Environmental Science Review

The diagram on the right shows a Chesapeake Bay Waterbird Food Web. Which of the following organisms from the food web are considered secondary consumers?

• osprey

• bivalves

• sea ducks

• benthic invertebrates

The graph below represents the amount of available energy at successive nutrition levels in a particular food web. The X’s in the diagram represent the amount of energy that was most likely ___.

• changed into inorganic compounds

• retained indefinitely by the herbivores

• recycled back to the producers

• released as heat to the environment

Which statement best describes the flow of energy as it passes through the organisms in the pyramid?

• Energy flows through the organisms from bottom to top and decreases at each level.

• Energy flows through the organisms from bottom to top and increases at each level.

• Energy flows through the organisms from top to bottom and increases at each level.

• Energy flows through the organisms from top to bottom and decreases at each level.

Tiny droplets of water in the air collect on the outside of a cold drink and form clouds high in the atmosphere. Which process is involved when water from the air turns into its liquid form?

• Precipitation

• Evaporation

• Transpiration

• condensation

The diagram to the right shows the nitrogen cycle. Animals need nitrite (NO₂) to make proteins. Nitrogen (N₂) is found in the air but is not in a form that animals can use. Through the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen from the atmosphere becomes nitrite. Which of these can be concluded about the importance of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle?

• Bacteria are important because they make nitrites that fungi need.

• Bacteria are important because they change nitrogen into nitrites that animals need.

• Bacteria are important because they allow plant roots to absorb nitrites from the air.

• Bacteria are important because they decompose plant matter that compete with living plants for nitrites.

A biologist compares how different ecosystems undergo succession. She divides the series of events happening during succession into different stages. What feature is found only in secondary succession but not in primary succession?

• the lack of pioneer species in the second stage

• the presence of pioneer species in the final stage

• the presence of trees and large plants in the final stage

• the presence of soil in the first stage

Jill made the table below during her research on aquatic zones. Based on her description of the ocean zones, infer why there are no aquatic plants and phytoplankton that live in the benthic zone of the ocean?

• The ocean floor contains many decomposers.

• Most sunlight is absorbed before reaching this level.

• Water is a limiting factor.

• The temperature in this zone is extremely low.

Base your answer(s) to the following question(s) on the graph below and on your knowledge of biology. The graph shows the growth of a population of rabbits in a specific ecosystem. Which environmental factor could have caused the change indicated at A?

• Increase predation by herbivores

• Increased availability of food

• Increased competition among carnivores

• Increased number of decomposers

Some small fish attach themselves to the body of a shark without harming it and feed upon its leftover food. The relationship between shark and the fish is an example of ___.

• commensalism

• mutualism

• competition

• parasitism

The graph below shows changes in a caribou population over time. Which of the following is a possible explanation for the stabilization of the caribou population?

• An equal number of deaths and births

• An unequal number of deaths and births

• An unequal number of immigrants and deaths

• An equal number of immigrants and births