Name: ___________________________________________________

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the
question.

1. The branch of biology dealing with interactions among organisms and between
organisms and their environment is called
a. economy
b. modeling
c. recycling
d. ecology

2. The combined portions of Earth where all living things exist are called the
a. biome
b. community
c. ecosystem.
d. biosphere.

3. All of the members of a particular species that live in one area are called a(an)
a. biome
b. population
c. community.
d. ecosystem.

4. Which of the following descriptions about the organization of an ecosystem is

correct?
a. Communities make up species, which make up populations.
b. Populations make up species, which make up communities.
c. Species make up communities, which make up populations.
d. Species make up populations, which make up communities.

5. The most straightforward grouping of more than one kind of organism in the biosphere
is
a. a population
b. a community
c. an ecosystem.
d. a species.

6. The lowest level of environmental complexity, including living and nonliving

factors, is the
a. biome
b. community
c. ecosystem.
d. biosphere.

7. Plants are
a. producers
b. consumers
c. herbivores.
d. omnivores.

8. What is the source of almost all the energy in most ecosystems?

a. carbohydrates
b. sunlight
c. water
d. carbon
9. The algae at the beginning of the food chain in Figure 3–1 are
a. consumers
b. decomposers
c. producers.
d. heterotrophs.

10. An organism that uses energy to produce its food supply from inorganic
compounds is called a(an)
a. heterotroph
b. consumer
c. detritivore
d. autotroph

11. An organism that cannot make its food is called a(an)

a. heterotroph
b. chemotroph
c. autotroph.
d. produce

12. Organisms that obtain nutrients by breaking down dead and decaying plants and
animals are called
a. decomposers
b. omnivores
c. autotrophs
d. producers

13. What is an organism that feeds only on plants called?

a. carnivore
b. herbivore
c. omnivore
d. detritivore

14. All the interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem comprise food:

a. interaction
b. chain
c. network
d. web

15. The total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level is called the
a. organic mass
b. trophic mass
c. energy mass
d. biomass

16. What is an ecological model of the relationships that form a network of complex
interactions among organisms in a community, from producers to decomposers?
a. food web
b. an ecosystem
c. food chain
d. a population

17. What is the term for each step in transferring energy and matter within a food
web?
a. energy path
b. food chain
c. trophic level
d. food pyramid
18. A bird stalks, kills and then eats an insect. Based on its behavior, which ecological
terms describe the bird?
a. herbivore, decomposer
b. Producer, heterotroph
c. carnivore, consumer
d. autotroph, herbivore

19. A snake that eats a frog and has eaten an insect that fed on a plant is
a first-level producer
.
b. first-level consumer
c. second-level producer
d. third-level consumer

20. The trophic levels in Figure 3–2 illustrate

a. the relative amount of energy at each level.
b. the amount of living organic matter at each level.
c. the relative number of individual organisms at each level.
d. that the producers outnumber first-level consumers.

21. In which way does Figure 3–2 differ from a typical model of trophic levels?
a. Second-level consumers outnumber first-level consumers.
b. Third, First-level consumers outnumber producers.
c. Third-level consumers outnumber second-level consumers
d. First-level consumers outnumber second-level consumers.

22. Only 10 percent of the energy stored in an organism can be passed on to the next
trophic level. Of the remaining energy, some is used for the organism’s life
processes, and the rest is
a. used in reproduction
b. stored as body tissue
c. stored as fat
d. eliminated as heat

23. Most of the energy available to a consumer trophic level is used by organisms for
a. transfer to the next trophic level.
b. respiration, movement, and reproduction.
c. producing inorganic chemical compounds.
d. performing photosynthesis.

24. Which type of pyramid shows the amount of living tissue at each trophic level in an
ecosystem?
a. a numbers pyramid
b. an energy pyramid
c. a biomass pyramid
d. a food pyramid

25. Matter can be recycled through the biosphere because

a. matter is passed out of the body as waste.
b. matter is assembled into chemical compounds.
c. biological systems do not use up matter; they transform it.
d. biological systems use only carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
26. The repeated water movement between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere is
called
a. the water cycle
b. the condensation cycle
c. precipitation
d. evaporation

27. What is the process by which bacteria convert nitrogen gas in the air to ammonia?
a. nitrogen fixation
b. excretion
c. decomposition
d. denitrification

28. Carbon cycles through the biosphere in the following processes EXCEPT
a. photosynthesis
b. transpiration
c. burning of fossil fuels
d. decomposition of plants and animals

29. How is carbon stored in the biosphere?

a. in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
b. underground as fossil fuels and calcium carbonate rock
c. in the oceans as dissolved carbon dioxide
d. all of the above

30. Which of the following directly affects the nitrogen cycle?

a. bacteria
b. legumes
c. decomposers
d. all of the above

31. Organisms need nutrients to

a. utilize hydrogen and oxygen
b. carries out essential life
c. recycles chemical compounds functions.
d. carries out nitrogen fixation

32. The movements of energy and nutrients through living systems are different because
a. energy flows in one direction and nutrients recycle.
b. energy is limited in the biosphere, and nutrients are always available.
c. nutrients flow in one direction, and energy recycles.
d. energy forms chemical compounds, and nutrients are lost as heat.

33. Biogeochemical cycling ensures that

a. human activity will not affect elements, chemical
b. c compounds and other forms of matter. Living organisms will not become limited in
any one nutrient. Nutrients will be circulated throughout the biosphere.
c. nutrients will be circulated throughout the biosphere.
d. many nutrients will not reach toxic concentrations in the biosphere.

TEST II. Complete each sentence or statement.

34. In the water cycle shown in Figure 3–3, the process of

_________________________ occurs between evaporation and precipitation.
RESPONSE:

35. The water shown flowing over land in Figure 3–3 is called ____________________.
RESPONSE:
Short Answer:
36. Describe the flow of energy among the following members of an ecosystem:
Decomposers, autotrophs, heterotrophs, and the sun.
RESPONSE:

37. Using Figure 3–3, trace the path of water that leaves a lake through evaporation and
describe how it might return to the lake.
RESPONSE:

38. What and where is the biosphere?

RESPONSE:

Figure 3–1
39. Using Figure 3–1, explain the relationship between sharks and the sun.
RESPONSE:

Figure 3–2
40. Describe the flow of energy to the owl in Figure 3–2 if the tree provides 1500
calories of energy to the insects.
RESPONSE:

Figure 3–4
41. Inferring Figure 3–4 shows a food web arranged into trophic levels. How many
energy-transferring steps away from the sun is the deer? How do you know?
RESPONSE:

42. Inferring A food web, such as the one in Figure 3–4, is a model of the feeding
relationships in an ecosystem. What makes this model representative of an
ecosystem?
RESPONSE:

43. Interpreting Graphics In Figure 3–4, how many first-level consumers exist for
each producer?
RESPONSE:

44. Comparing and Contrasting In Figure 3–4, compare the amount of energy
available to the wolf if it eats only first-level consumers with the amount of energy
available to the wolf if it eats only second-level consumers.
RESPONSE:

45. How does a food web differ from a food chain?

RESPONSE:

46. Describe the three types of ecological pyramids.

RESPONSE: