Ecology Quiz

What is Ecology?

• The study of the interactions that take place among organisms and their environment

• The study of living organisms in an ecosystem

• The study of human impact on the environment

• The study of animal behavior

What does the term 'Habitat' refer to?

• A large geographic area with similar climates and ecosystems

• The non-living parts of an ecosystem

• A place where an organism lives and that provides the types of food, shelter, moisture, and temperature needed for survival

• The largest number of individuals of a particular species that an ecosystem can support

Which of the following best defines a 'Producer'?

• Organism that consumes waste and dead organisms

• Organism that makes its own food, autotroph

• Organism that cannot make own food, a heterotroph

• An animal that is hunted and caught for food

What is Symbiosis?

• The relationship between a predator and its prey

• The process by which energy flows through an ecosystem

• Any close relationship between species, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

• The unique ways an organism survives, obtains food and shelter, and avoids danger

What is a 'Limiting factor' in an ecosystem?

• The number of organisms that an ecosystem can support

• The unique ways an organism survives, obtains food and shelter, and avoids danger

• Anything that can limit the size of a population, including living and nonliving features of an ecosystem, such as predators or drought

• The interconnected food chains and feeding relationships

Which of the following is an example of commensalism?

• Both species benefit from the interaction

• One species benefits while the other gets nothing out of the interaction

• One species benefits while the other is harmed in the interaction

• Both species are harmed in the interaction

What role do decomposers play in an ecosystem?

• They produce their own food through photosynthesis

• They consume living plants and animals

• They break down dead organisms and waste, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem

• They control the population of other species through predation

What is Biodiversity?

• The number of different species within a specific habitat

• The genetic variation within a population of a single species

• The variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem

• The study of ecosystems and the interactions of organisms within them

Which of the following best describes an ecosystem?

• A community of people living in a particular country or region and their physical surroundings

• A natural environment including the flora and fauna, together with the chemical and physical environment

• A collection of plants and animals that have common characteristics for a particular environment

• The physical and biological components of an environment considered in relation to each other as a unit

What does the term 'niche' refer to in an ecosystem?

• The physical space where an organism resides

• The role and position a species has in its environment

• The maximum population size an ecosystem can support

• The variety of species living in an ecosystem