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






2. The chief disruptive force






3. Rhododendrons and pines are more suited for growth in acid oil






4. Cannot synthesize their ow food and must depend upon autotrophs or others in the ecosystem to obtain their food






5. Have cold winters - warm summers - and moderate rainfall -found in the Northeast and Central-Eastern United States and Central Europe






6. Animals that consume green plants (herbivores)






7. Live in burrows had few birds and mammals are found except those which have developed adaptations for maintaining constant body temperatures






8. Organisms that manufacture their own food






9. Freshwater Biomes vs. Saltwater 2: In rivers and streams - strong swift currents exist - and thus fish that have developed strong muscles and plants with _____________ have survived






10. Elemental nitrogen is chemically inert and cannot be used by most organisms. Lightning and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the roots of legumes change the nitrogen into the usable - soluble nitrates






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






12. Polar bears - musk oxen - and arctic hens






13. When one organism is benefited by the association and the other is not affected






14. 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






15. Freshwater Biomes vs. Saltwater 1: Freshwater is _______________ which results in the passage of water into the cell. Freshwater organisms have homeostatic mechanisms to maintain water balance by the regular removal of the excess water. these include






16. 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






17. Freshwater Biomes vs. Saltwater 3: Freshwater biomes - except very large lakes - are affected by variations in _________. temperature of freshwater bodies varies considerably; they may freeze or dry up - and mud from their floors may be stirred up by






18. Active swimmers such as fish - sharks - or whales that feed on plankton and smaller fish






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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. Every energy transfer involves a loss of energy and each level of the food chain uses some of the energy it obtains from the food for its own metabolism and loses some additional energy in the form of heat






25. Links between oceans and land






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






27. Rock and soil surface






28. One or both organisms can't survive without the other






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. Includes the community and the environment and usually all five kingdoms






31. Region typical of the open seas and can be divided into photic and aphotic zones






32. Rivers - lakes - ponds - and marshes






33. Adaptations for maintaining their internal osmolarity and conserving water






34. Recycle water - oxygen - and phosphorus






35. Ammonia (NH3) is broken down to release free nitrogen - which returns to the beginning of the denitrifying






36. 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






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






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






39. 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






40. Include reproduction and protection from predators and destructive weather






41. Consists of populations of different plants and animal species interacting with each other in a given environment






42. The vegetation that becomes dominant and stable after years of evolutiionary development






43. Without a constant input of energy from the sun - an ecosystem would soon run down - as food is transferred from one level of the food chain to the next - a transfer of energy occurs






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






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






46. Frozen area with no vegetation and terrestrial animals -animals that do inhabit polar regions generally live near the polar oceans






47. Treeless - frozen plain found between the taiga lands and the northern ice sheets - very short summer and thus a very short growing season during which time the ground becomes wet and marshy






48. The study of interactions between organisms and their environment






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






50. Vegetation such as vines and eppiphytes