Ecology and Ecosystems QBA Exam 1 Practice Test

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