Test your basic knowledge |

PCAT Biology Ecology

Subjects : pcat, biology
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Characterized by low rainfall - although considerably more than the desert biomes receive -provide no shelter for herbivorous mammals from carnivorous predators -ex: East of the Rockies - steppes of the Ukraine - and the pampas of Argentina






2. Only animal life and other heterotrophic life exists






3. Nitrates are absorbed by plants are used to syntheisze nucleic acids and plant proteins






4. Includes all portions of the planet that support life -the atmosphere - the lithosphere - and the hydrosphere






5. Animals eat plants and use the digested nutrients to form carbohydrates - fats - and proteins characteristic of the species. a part of these organic compounds is used as fuel in respiration in plants and animals






6. Animals eat the plants and synthesize specific animal proteins form the plant proteins. both plants and animals give off wastes and eventually die






7. The study of interactions between organisms and their environment






8. Adaptations for maintaining their internal osmolarity and conserving water






9. When a parasite benefits at the expense of the host






10. Have adaptations enabling them to survive in very cod water - with high pressures - and in complete darkness






11. Rock and soil surface






12. Algae - crabs - crustacea - and many different species of fish






13. Composed of populations that are able to exist under the new conditions






14. Individual unit of an ecological system - but the organism itself is composed of smaller units -organs >tissues >cells >molecules >atoms > subatomic particles






15. Used to include only the population and not their physical environment






16. Sunlit layer of the open sea extending to a depth of 250-600ft






17. Links between oceans and land






18. Includes climate - temperature - availability of light and water - and the local topology






19. Regiong beneatht he photic zone that receives no light






20. The metabolically produced CO2 is released to the air. The rest of the orgnaic carbon remains locked whthin an organism until its death (except for wastes given off) - at which time decay processes by bacteria return the CO2 to the air






21. Receive less rainfall than the temperate forests - have long - cold winters - and are inhabited by single coniferous tree-the spruce -extreme northern parts of Canada and Russia






22. The nitrogen locked up in the wastes and dead tissues is released by the action of the bacteria of decay - which convert the proteins into ammonia






23. Two species may rapidly evolve in divergent directions under the strong selection pressure resulting from intense competition. thus - the two species would rapidly evolve greater differences in their niches






24. Free-living organisms that feed on other living organisms






25. Animals that consume only plants or plant foods






26. Contains plankton - passively drifting masses of microscopic photosynthetic and heterotrophic organisms - and nekton - and algae






27. Because organisms at the upper levels of the food chain derive their food energy from organisms at lower levels - and because energy is lost from one level to the next - each level can support a successively smaller biomass






28. Integrated system of species that are dependent upon one another for survival






29. Receive less than ten inches of rain each year; the rain is concentrated within a few heavy cloudbursts -ex: Sahara in Africa and Gobi in Asia






30. Body temperature is very close to that of their surroundings -as temperature rises - these organisms become more active






31. Animals that eat both plants and animals






32. Determined by the same decisive factors-temperatures and rainfall






33. Animals that consume green plants (herbivores)






34. The chief disruptive force






35. One species may be competitively superior to the other and drive the second to extinction






36. Forest floors contain moss and lichens






37. First to resettle a virgin area






38. The stable - living part of the ecosystem in whicih populations exist in balance with each other and with the environment






39. Individuals belonging to the same species use the same resources and if a particular resource is limited - then these organisms must compete with one another






40. Region on the continental shelf that contains ocean area with depths up to 600 feet and extends several hundred miles from the shores






41. Community in an ecological succession is identified by a dominant species






42. Include reproduction and protection from predators and destructive weather






43. In the ocean - the top layer thorugh which light can penetrate - is where all aquatic photosynthetic activity takes place






44. The oceans






45. Plants growing on other plants - trees grow closely together; sunlight hardly reaches the forest floor






46. Symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit






47. Monkeys - lizards - snakes - and birds - floor is inhabited by saprophytes






48. Defines the functional role of an organism in its ecosystem -described what the organism eats - where and how it obtains its food - what climatic factors it can tolerate and which are optimal - the nature of its parasites and predators - where and ho






49. Live together in an intimate - often permanent association - which may or may not be beneficial to both participants






50. The orderly process by which one biotic community replaces or succeeds another until a climax community is established