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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. Rivers - lakes - ponds - and marshes






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






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






4. Animals that only eat other animals -possess pointed teeth and fang-like canine teeth for tearing flesh -have shorter digestive tracts because the easier digestibility of animal food






5. Autotrophic green plants and chemosynthetic bacteria that use the energy of the sun and simple raw materials to manufacture carbohydrates - proteins - and lipids






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






7. The major component of the internal environment of all living things






8. 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






9. 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






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






11. Include saprophytic organisms and organisms of decay






12. Determines water holding capacity






13. Organisms that manufacture their own food






14. Animals that consume primary consumers (carnivores)






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






16. Region exposed to low tides that undergoes variations in temperature and periods of dryness






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






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






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






20. Regiong beneatht he photic zone that receives no light






21. Energy is transferred from the original sources in green plants through a series o organisms with repeated stages of consumption and finally decomposition






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






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






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






25. Group of organisms of the same species living together in a given location






26. First to resettle a virgin area






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. 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






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






30. Nekton and benthos - scavengers - and predators (fiercely competitive)






31. Trees such as beech - maple - oaks - and willows shed their leaves during cold winters months






32. Adaptations for maintaining their internal osmolarity and conserving water






33. Evolved physical mechanisms that allow them to make Use of the heat produced as a consequence of respiratiion






34. 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






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






36. More than 70% of earth -plants have little controlling influence in communities -most stable ecosystems; the conditions affecting temperature - amount of available oxygen and cabon dioxide - and amount of suspended or dissolve materials are very stab






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






38. Made into nitrites by chemosynthetic bacteria and then to usable nitrates by nitrifying bacteria






39. Include reproduction and protection from predators and destructive weather






40. Distinct community in a geographic region






41. 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






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






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






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






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






46. Crawling and sessile organsms






47. 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






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






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






50. Needs constant energy source and cycling of materials between the living system