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






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






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






4. Rock and soil surface






5. Crawling and sessile organsms






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






7. Regiong beneatht he photic zone that receives no light






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






9. Nutrients - water - and sunlight limitations aid in maintaining populations at relatively constant levels






10. Oceans connect to form one continuous body of water - which controls the earth's temperature by absorbing solar heat






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






12. The oceans






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






14. Gaseous CO2 enters the living world when plants use it to produce glucose via photosynthesis. The carbon atoms in CO2 are bonded to hydrogen and other carbon atoms. the plant uses the glucose to make starch - proteins - and fat






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






16. 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






17. 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






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






19. 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






20. Recycle water - oxygen - and phosphorus






21. Cold - dry - and inhabited by fir - pine - and spruce trees -much vegetation has evolved adaptations for water conservation such as needle-shaped leaves -Extreme Northern Part of the US and in Southern Canada






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






23. 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






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






25. 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






26. Determine by the amount of decaying plant and animal life in the soil






27. 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






28. Include reproduction and protection from predators and destructive weather






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






30. Encompasses all that is external to the organism and is necessary for its existence






31. Symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit






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






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






34. 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






35. 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






36. Material is cycled and recycled betweenn organisms and their environments - passing from inorganic forms to organic forms and then back to the inorganic forms






37. Food chain is not a simple linear chain but an intricate web






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






39. 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






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






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






42. Determines water holding capacity






43. Developed long legs and many are hoofed






44. 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






45. Consumer organisms that are higher in hte food chain are usually larger and heavier than those further down






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






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






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






49. Algae - sponges - clams - snails - sea urchins - starfish - and crabs






50. An essential component of amino acids and nucleic acids - which are the building blocks of all living things