Ecology and Ecosystems QBA Exam 1 Practice Test

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• Which term describes the pattern of spacing among individuals within the population's boundaries?
• Which type of succession would occur after the melting of a glacier or a volcanic eruption?
• A stable, mature community that undergoes little or no change in species over time, a true climax community is unlikely to occur due to ongoing disturbances in communities is called what?
• An organism that eats secondary consumers is a ...
• Phenology is the timing of seasonal life cycle events; how does climate change influence it?
• Which item is not a type of ecological succession?
• Which statement best explains the ecological implications of generalists and specialists when environmental change occurs?
• A simple model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem.
• The condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place is known as what?
• Provide an example of climate warming affecting phenology, distribution, and productivity.
• Which statement best distinguishes a generalist from a specialist in ecology?
• Explain how carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles are integrated in ecosystems.
• Which term describes the long-term average pattern of weather in a region?
• Which abiotic factor directly affects visibility and decreases with ocean depth?
• Which of the following is not a type of ecological succession?
• What term describes a number that explains how fast a given population grows, positive or negative, and is calculated using immigration and emigration fluctuations?
• Which of the following is an example of secondary succession?
• Which factor is a primary driver of terrestrial primary productivity?
• Which process returns nitrogen to the atmosphere as N2?
• Which model represents how energy flows through an ecosystem with many pathways?
• Which growth pattern arises when resources are plentiful and unlimited, leading to rapid increases?
• Which formula defines the Shannon diversity index, and what does a higher value indicate?
• What is the primary mechanism by which phosphorus moves through ecosystems?
• Which ecosystem service category includes provisioning goods like food and water?
• Which methods are used to estimate GPP and NEP at the ecosystem scale?
• What is a trophic cascade?
• Which statement best distinguishes a food chain from a food web?
• A measure of how clear water is.
• The largest population that an environment can support at any given time is known as:
• In a stable population where births equal deaths, the population is in which state?
• The death rate is best described as the...
• What is biotic homogenization, and which processes contribute to it?
• An organism that eats primary consumers is called a ...
• What is the rule called that states only 10% of the energy in one trophic level is transferred to the next, with 90% lost as heat?
• What does a positive Net Ecosystem Production indicate regarding carbon balance?
• What does the prefix 'bio-' mean?
• What habitat occurs where freshwater meets seawater?
• Which process involves uptake of nitrogen by plants from the soil?
• In mark-recapture studies, what do these methods estimate?
• Define ecosystem respiration and how it differs from photosynthesis.
• N natality, the number of individuals born in a given time period, is also known as which rate?
• The term for physical, nonliving factors that shape an ecosystem is:
• Which term describes nonliving environmental factors like temperature and light?
• What is the first species to populate an area during primary succession?
• Which term describes a freshwater wetland habitat that is saturated and supports wildlife?
• In a lake, which zone is defined by light reaching the bottom and supporting rooted aquatic plants?
• Why are there typically only a few trophic levels in ecosystems?
• An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms.
• An organism that eats only plants, such as a cow or a rabbit.
• Which term describes a population that remains unchanged for long periods, with births and deaths balancing each other?
• What term describes the number of deaths that occur in a population during a given time period?
• Which process converts N2 to bioavailable NH4+?
• The phrase 'It's raining or snowing outside' is an example of which atmospheric concept?
• Which type of limiting factor is abiotic and tends to be independent of population size (examples include forest fires and hurricanes)?
• An organism that floats on the water is:
• In a lake, the well-lit, open surface waters farther from shore are called:
• According to island biogeography theory, what factors influence species richness on islands or fragments?
• Which statement correctly matches alpha, beta, and gamma diversity?
• Which density-dependent factor involves the struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources and often leads to population decline due to starvation?
• Which zone is characterized by regular immersion and exposure due to tides?
• Compare exponential and logistic population growth models, and define carrying capacity and density dependence.
• Which term refers to the relative amount of energy available at each trophic level?
• If a population grows quickly and then levels off as resources become scarce, this growth is described as?
• How is NPP defined?
• What term describes the total mass of living matter at each trophic level, which decreases as trophic level rises?
• Which of the following pairs correctly describe two common methods to estimate animal population size?
• Permanently dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone:
• Which process oxidizes NH4+ to NO3-?
• Which term describes organisms that drift or float in the water column and form the base of many aquatic food webs?
• What drives a detrital (saprotrophic) food web?
• What property quantifies the amount of dissolved salts in water?
• An organism that feeds on producers and occupies the second trophic level is called a ...
• What is the unit of measurement used to represent energy in ecological contexts?
• What term denotes the maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely?
• A model most often used to represent the feeding relationships in an ecosystem because there are many pathways, it shows a complex flow of energy through an ecosystem.
• Which zone has little to no light and organisms adapted to darkness?
• The living components of an environment that affect organisms are called:
• In population dynamics, which measure is used to describe the number of deaths per year?
• Which of the following is a classic example of an ecosystem engineer?
• Which term describes the living components of the environment that interact with organisms?
• What word best describes a period with no net change in population size?
• Differentiates density-dependent and density-independent population regulation with examples.
• What are the main goals and approaches of restoration ecology?
• What term describes a change in an ecosystem that occurs when one community replaces another due to changing abiotic and biotic factors?
• Why are wetlands important for carbon storage and biodiversity?
• Movement of individuals into a population is called:
• Which statement best describes gamma diversity?
• Which statement best describes a real-world example of a trophic cascade?
• An organism that uses sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food?
• Which unit is used to quantify energy in ecological studies?
• Portion of the marine biome shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate:
• Which term best describes population growth that increases as population size increases, producing an exponential pattern?
• Bottom of an aquatic ecosystem; consists of sand and sediment and supports its own community of organisms--includes both freshwater and marine ecosystems:
• Which statement best distinguishes species richness from species evenness?
• Overall weather in an area over a long period of time is referred to as what?
• The portion of the ocean floor where light does not penetrate and where temperatures are cold and pressures intense. Although it touches the bottom of the ocean, it does not include sediment or the benthic zone:
• A lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture:
• The prefixes 'a-' or 'an-' denote what meaning?
• State the competitive exclusion principle and one ecological implication.
• Which of the following is an example of a density-independent factor?
• If a community has S = 8 species and Shannon index H' = 2.0, what is Pielou’s evenness J' = H'/log(S)?
• An organism that gets its energy requirements by consuming other organisms.
• What remote sensing metric is commonly used to proxy chlorophyll and vegetation health?
• Which term refers to the shallow freshwater zone where light reaches the bottom and supports aquatic plants?
• Which set of factors best describes the drivers of biotic homogenization across landscapes?
• Ecological stoichiometry studies the balance of energy and multiple chemical elements in organisms; why are C:N:P ratios important in ecosystems?
• Each step in a food web or chain.
• Which term describes an organism that eats both plants and animals?
• All the different populations that live together in an area
• Succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil is called?
• Outline the major steps of the carbon cycle in ecosystems and how human activities modify it.
• Which parameter indicates how acidic or basic a solution is?
• Which horizon is typically characterized by the accumulation of clay and other minerals, forming the subsoil?
• This organism would live in the aphotic zone, has large eyes to see better with and is able to survive with limited availability of nutrients
• Define limnology and differentiate the epilimnion, metalimnion, and hypolimnion.
• Approximately what percentage of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next?
• The term for any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact is:
• Which nutrient is often the limiting factor in freshwater ecosystems?
• Compare stochastic disturbances and deterministic disturbances and their ecological consequences.
• Which of the following is a classic density-dependent factor?
• Which measure indicates how clear water is and can affect light penetration?
• Which statement correctly matches the four major types of species interactions with an example?
• The narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide is:
• A material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers is called ...
• What is the difference between resistance and resilience in an ecological system?
• Which term best describes organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms?
• Which term describes the living components of the environment that organisms interact with?
• Which type of succession occurs after a disturbance that destroys a community but leaves the soil intact?
• An organism that eats dead matter to return nutrients to the soil, air and water to be used.
• Define a limiting factor in population growth.
• What measure describes how hot or cold water is, generally decreasing with depth?
• The term that means life is:
• Which of the following is an example of a pioneer species?
• Which zone is the deepest, dark, and experiences high pressure on the deep ocean floor?
• Which zone in a lake is the nearshore area where light reaches the bottom?
• Explain a keystone species and provide an example and its ecological role.
• An organism that eats secondary consumers is called a ...
• Which of the following is an example of a density-dependent factor?
• Which of the following is NOT a regulator of aquatic primary productivity?
• Which prefix means life?
• In ecosystem carbon budgeting, which statement best describes GPP?
• A long-term pattern of weather in a region is called:
• What does carrying capacity represent in ecological models?
• Which term describes an organism that collects energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce food?
• Define resource partitioning and give a terrestrial example.
• NEP is defined as?
• If NEP is negative, what does it indicate about the ecosystem's carbon balance?
• Which term describes a constant population size despite changes in births and deaths, often due to limits from resources?
• This organism would live in the photic zone of the open ocean
• Provide an example of temporal niche partitioning among birds.
• Pielou’s evenness J' = H'/log(S). What does a value near 1 imply?
• Which cycle has no gaseous phase and moves mainly via weathering and runoff?
• Which type of succession occurs on surfaces where no soil previously existed?
• Which term describes a period of the year characterized by particular weather and temperature conditions?
• Which principle states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed?
• An organism that eats primary consumers is a ...
• How do disturbance regimes influence ecosystem structure and species diversity?
• An organism that eats both autotrophs and heterotrophs, such as a bear or human.
• Which type of limiting factor is often biotic and density-dependent (examples include predation, disease, parasites, and competition)?
• How do invasive species affect ecosystem processes and resilience?
• Beta diversity measures what aspect of biodiversity?
• Which organism would live in the intertidal zone as it can survive both in water and outside of the ocean?
• Co-limitation means what in ecological growth?
• Which density-dependent factor tends to occur when population size is high, such as disease?
• Which processes are part of the hydrological cycle, and how do infiltration vs runoff influence nutrient transport?
• Which term describes all populations living together in a given area?
• Explain what a BACI experimental design is and how it helps detect ecological effects of disturbances.
• Define a biome and identify primary factors that determine its distribution.
• What term refers to the maximum population size that an ecosystem can sustain indefinitely?
• How does fragmentation influence species richness according to the island biogeography framework?
• What is the term for the number of individual organisms per defined unit area?
• Which term best describes a population whose size stays about the same because births equal deaths?
• Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) equals what?
• Movement of individuals out of a population is called:
• What term is a synonym for an autotroph, an organism that makes energy using sunlight?
• Which statement about soils and oceans in carbon storage is most accurate?
• Which statement about pioneer species is true?
• Which zone receives enough light for photosynthesis?
• Which term is used to describe the number of individuals born in a given time period?
• Which term refers to a rapid population increase caused by an abundance of resources?
• Which of the following is an example of a density-independent factor?
• Transect/quadrat sampling is used to estimate population size by counts along fixed lines or plots and can account for detection probabilities.
• An organism that preys on other heterotrophs, such as wolves, lions and lynxes.
• Describe primary vs secondary succession.
• Which term refers to a period when the population does not increase because resources cap growth?
• In a stratified lake, which layer contains the cold, deep water with the least light penetration?
• An organism that eats producers is called a ...
• Define energy transfer among trophic levels and the implications of the 10% rule.
• Which term best describes an organism that preys on other heterotrophs?
• A change in season from winter to spring is an example of:
• Which soil horizon is primarily associated with leaching of minerals?
• Conditions in the environment that put limits on where an organism can live are called: