Biol 210 Environmental Biology Exam 1C Spring 2016 MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) Abundant light and constant nutrient input make among the most productive ecosystem on Earth. A) estuaries B) lakes C) streams D) fens E) bogs 1) 2) Which of these ecosystems has the lowest net primary production per square meter? A) a grassland B) a salt marsh C) a tropical rain forest D) an open ocean E) a coral reef 2) 3) According to the first law of thermodynamics, A) potential energy tends to degrade into an unavailable form. B) entropy tends to increase. C) chemical reactions are exothermic. D) energy is neither created nor destroyed. 3) 4) Imagine that a deep temperate zone lake did not "turn over" during the spring and fall seasons. Based on the physical and biological properties of limnetic ecosystems, what would be the difference from normal seasonal turnover? A) The ph of the lake would become increasingly alkaline. B) An algal bloom of algae would result every spring. C) Lakes would suffer a nutrient depletion in surface layers. D) The lake would fail to freeze over in winter. E) The lake would be uniformly cold during the winter and summer. 4) 5) Which of the following best represents potential energy converted to kinetic energy? A) turning on a flashlight B) a windmill pumping water up into a water storage tank C) pulling a boat up onto a shoreline D) plants capturing sunlight to produce sugars using photosynthesis 5) Deep in the ocean off the shore of Japan are communities nestled around hydrothermal vents where super-heated water springs from the bottom of the ocean. No sunlight ever penetrates to these deep regions. In these communities, bacteria have special enzymes that allow them to form organic matter by chemosynthesis. These communities frequently have worms, clams, shrimp, and many other organisms clustered together. 6) Hydrothermal vent communities are unusual because A) a producer exists without sunlight. B) there are no producers in the ecosystem. C) a primary producer synthesizes organic matter. D) a consumer eats a producer. 6) 1
7) In such a system, fish feed on shrimp that feed on the bacteria. This food chain represents a A) secondary consumer eating a primary consumer which then eats a producer. B) consumer eating a producer which then consumes chemoautotrophic bacteria. C) tertiary consumer eating a secondary consumer eating a primary consumer. D) primary consumer eating a secondary consumer eating a tertiary consumer. 7) 8) In ecosystems, why is the term cycling used to describe material transfer, whereas the term flow is used for energy exchange? A) Both material and energy are recycled and are then transferred to other ecosystems as in a flow. B) Materials are repeatedly used, but energy flows through and out of ecosystems. C) Materials are cycled into ecosystems from other ecosystems, but energy constantly flows within the ecosystem. D) Both material and energy flow in a never-ending stream within an ecosystem. E) None of the choices is correct. 8) 9) Consider the food chain grass grasshopper mouse snake hawk. How much of the chemical energy fixed by photosynthesis of the grass (100%) is available to the hawk? A) 60% B) 1% C) 0.01% D) 10% E) 0.1% 9) 10) Living organisms draw their essential elements from A) the atmosphere and lithosphere. B) the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. C) the lithosphere. D) the atmosphere. 10) 11) Evaporation of water from plant leaves is called. A) transpiration B) runoff C) evaporation D) hydrologic movement E) respiration 11) 12) Which of the following is primarily responsible for limiting the number of trophic levels in most ecosystems? A) Nutrient cycling rates tend to be limited by decomposition. B) Decomposers compete with higher-order consumers for nutrients and energy. C) Nutrient cycles involve both abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems. D) Energy transfer between tropic levels is in almost all cases less than 20% efficient. E) Many primary and higher-order consumers are opportunistic feeders. 12) 2
Food web for a particular terrestrial ecosystem (arrows represent energy flow and letters represent species) 13) Examine this food web for a particular terrestrial ecosystem. Which species is most likely a decomposer on this food web? A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E 13) 14) Examine this food web for a particular terrestrial ecosystem. Which species is autotrophic? A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E 14) 15) Examine this food web for a particular terrestrial ecosystem. Species C is toxic to predators. Which species is most likely to benefit from being a mimic of C? A) A B) B C) C D) D E) E 15) 16) Plants assimilate energy through the process of A) respiration. B) photosynthesis. C) decomposition. D) regeneration. 16) 17) Which of the following terms encompasses all of the others? A) secondary consumers B) primary consumers C) herbivores D) carnivores E) heterotrophs 17) 18) All the organisms and their physical and chemical environment within a specific area best describes. A) ecological communities B) populations C) the biosphere D) biomes E) ecosystems 18) 19) Trophic efficiency is A) usually greater than production efficiencies. B) the ratio of net secondary production to assimilation of primary production. C) about 90% in most ecosystems. D) the percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next. E) a measure of how nutrients are cycled from one trophic level to the next. 19) 3
20) Turnover of water in temperate lakes during the spring and fall is made possible by which of the following? A) a distinct thermocline between less dense warm water and cold, dense water B) cold, more dense water layered at the bottom C) the changes in the density of water as seasonal temperatures change D) warm, less dense water layered at the top E) currents generated by nektonic animals 20) 21) Why does a vegetarian leave a smaller ecological footprint than an omnivore? A) Eating meat is an inefficient way of acquiring photosynthetic productivity. B) There is an excess of plant biomass in all terrestrial ecosystems. C) Vegetarians need to ingest less chemical energy than omnivores. D) Vegetarians require less protein than do omnivores. E) Fewer animals are slaughtered for human consumption. 21) 22) Which of these ecosystems has the highest net primary productivity per square meter? A) boreal forest B) savanna C) open ocean D) tropical rain forest E) temperate forest 22) 23) In a typical grassland community, which of the following is the primary consumer? A) shrew B) snake C) hawk D) grasshopper E) grass 23) 24) What percentage of groundwater drawn from aquifers each year is used for irrigation? A) 3% B) 21% C) 68% D) 38% E) 11% 24) 25) A large oak tree with its abundant leaves glimmering in the sun on an early fall morning represents A) a heterotrophic consumer. B) a heterotrophic producer. C) an autotrophic consumer. D) an autotrophic producer. 25) 26) What percentage of the Earth's water is found in oceans? A) 100% B) 86% C) 98% D) 72% E) 91% 26) 27) Why is net primary production (NPP) a more useful measurement to an ecosystem ecologist than gross primary production (GPP)? A) NPP can be expressed in energy/unit of area/unit of time. B) NPP is the same as the standing crop. C) NPP represents the stored chemical energy that is available to consumers in the ecosystem. D) NPP can be expressed in terms of carbon fixed by photosynthesis for an entire ecosystem. E) NPP shows the rate at which the standing crop is utilized by consumers. 27) 4
28) The Earth's atmosphere is mostly composed of. A) water and carbon dioxide B) nitrogen and oxygen C) nitrogen and carbon dioxide D) oxygen and carbon dioxide E) water and oxygen 28) 29) A specific example of non-consumptive use of water is. A) agriculture B) cattle grazing operations on federal lands C) disposal of sewage wastewater D) commercial forestry E) industrial cooling processes 29) 30) Sometimes people say that plants make energy from the sun. However, plants make sugars using sunlight. Stating that plants make energy is actually A) a violation of the second law of thermodynamics. B) a violation of the first law of thermodynamics. C) a violation of the law of inertia. D) a violation of the law of the conservation of momentum. 30) 31) How does inefficient transfer of energy among trophic levels result in the typically high endangerment status of many top-level predators? A) Top-level predators are destined to have small populations that are sparsely distributed. B) Predators have short life spans and short reproductive periods. C) Top-level predators are more likely to be stricken with parasites. D) Predators are more disease-prone than animals at lower trophic levels. E) Predators have relatively large population sizes. 31) 32) The muddy Mississippi River, transporting soils that have eroded from farm fields, represents a mixing of the A) hydrosphere and biosphere. B) lithosphere and hydrosphere. C) atmosphere and lithosphere. D) biosphere and atmosphere. 32) 33) If the flow of energy in an arctic ecosystem goes through a simple food chain, perhaps involving humans, starting from phytoplankton to zooplankton to fish to seals to polar bears, then which of the following could be true? A) The total biomass of the fish is lower than that of the seals. B) Seal populations are larger than fish populations. C) Polar bears can provide more food for humans than seals can. D) The fish can potentially provide more food for humans than the seal meat can. E) Seal meat probably contains the highest concentrations of fat-soluble toxins. 33) 34) The majority of Earth's fresh water exists. A) in the oceans B) in groundwater C) in the atmosphere D) in freshwater lakes, streams, and rivers E) in the form of ice 34) 5
35) To recycle nutrients, an ecosystem must have, at a minimum, A) producers and decomposers. B) producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers. C) producers, primary consumers, and decomposers. D) producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, top carnivores, and decomposers. E) producers. 35) 36) The correct sequence of the scientific method is A) form a theory, ask a question, form a hypothesis, observation, test a hypothesis. B) observation, ask a question, form a hypothesis, test a hypothesis, form a theory. C) form a hypothesis, ask a question, observation, test a hypothesis, form a theory. D) ask a question, observation, form a hypothesis, test a hypothesis, form a theory. 36) 37) After a winter storm, bright sunlight returns and the snow and ice on the road melts into liquid water. This is an example of A) movement changing the position of snow and ice. B) matter changing the heat of the atmosphere. C) light energy converted to heat energy changing the state of water. D) movement generating heat that changes the position of ice and snow. 37) 38) Subtraction of which of the following will convert gross primary productivity into net primary productivity? A) the energy fixed by photosynthesis B) the energy contained in the standing crop C) all solar energy D) the energy used by autotrophs in respiration E) the energy used by heterotrophs in respiration 38) 39) Which of the following does not represent an important aspect of sound science? A scientist A) conducts experiments to determine if a new drug is effective against a certain type of lung cancer. B) accepts funding from an industry and tries to generate data to support their products to treat lung cancer. C) attends a scientific meeting to reveal the effectiveness of a new lung cancer treatment. D) collects data and describes the characteristics of a particular type of lung cancer. 39) 40) Most of Earth's water resides in A) the polar ice caps and glaciers. B) the oceans. C) freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. D) groundwater. 40) 41) Secondary consumers that can eat only primary consumers receive what percent of the energy fixed by primary producers in a typical field ecosystem? A) 1% B) 80% C) 10% D) 0.1% E) 20% 41) 6
42) The real goal of hypothesis testing is to A) form a theory. B) understand why science never changes. C) fully explain observations. D) eliminate incorrect ideas. 42) 43) The information of an energy pyramid reveals that A) consumers at lower trophic levels do not have as many calories as consumers at higher trophic levels. B) it is expensive and inefficient to get most of your dietary calories from meats. C) it is expensive and inefficient to get most of your dietary calories from grains. D) consumers at higher trophic levels are usually more abundant than consumers at lower trophic levels. 43) 44) A hypothesis can best be described as. A) a proven fact B) The science of asking questions and finding concrete answers C) an explanation that has been tested many times D) A proposed explanation based on observation E) A comparison between groups with an explanation for differences 44) 45) Aquatic primary productivity is most limited by which of the following? A) increased pressure with depth B) light and nutrient availability C) temperature D) pollution E) predation by primary consumers 45) 46) A cow's herbivorous diet indicates that it is a(n) A) decomposer. B) secondary consumer. C) autotroph. D) primary consumer. E) producer. 46) 47) A hypothesis refers to a(n) A) testable explanation for an observed phenomenon. B) phenomenon that is observed but is not yet understood. C) untestable explanation for an observed phenomenon. D) falsified explanation for an observed phenomenon. 47) 48) In the summer, the heater on an automobile still works well, even though you do not need it. This is because the heater in a car draws on surplus heat generated when gas is used to power the engine. This extra heat, wasted in the summer, is produced as a result of the A) second law of thermodynamics. B) law of inertia. C) first law of thermodynamics. D) law of the conservation of momentum. 48) 7
49) Which of the following is responsible for the differences in summer and winter temperature stratification of deep temperate zone lakes? A) Winter ice sinks in the summer. B) Stratification is caused by a thermocline. C) Water is densest at 4 C. D) Stratification always follows the fall and spring turnovers. E) Oxygen is most abundant in deeper waters. 49) 50) Which of the following best illustrates sustainability? A) increasing our reliance upon renewable sources of energy B) constructing coal mines that do not require extensive surface excavations C) upgrading or replacing computers every few years to improve performance D) converting automobiles from gasoline to natural gas as a new source of fuel 50) 8
Answer Key Testname: BIOL210EXAM1C2016S 1) A 2) D 3) D 4) C 5) A 6) A 7) A 8) B 9) C 10) B 11) A 12) D 13) E 14) A 15) B 16) B 17) E 18) E 19) D 20) C 21) A 22) D 23) D 24) C 25) D 26) C 27) C 28) B 29) C 30) B 31) A 32) B 33) D 34) E 35) A 36) B 37) C 38) D 39) B 40) B 41) A 42) D 43) B 44) D 45) B 46) D 47) A 48) A 49) C 9
Answer Key Testname: BIOL210EXAM1C2016S 50) A 10