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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. Evolve toward a balance in which the predator is a regulatory influence on th prey but not a threat to its survival






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






3. 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






4. Polar bears - musk oxen - and arctic hens






5. Only animal life and other heterotrophic life exists






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






7. Developed long legs and many are hoofed






8. 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






9. 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






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






11. The chief disruptive force






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






13. Rock and soil surface






14. 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






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






16. Animals that eat both plants and animals






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






18. Distinct community in a geographic region






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






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






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






22. Forest floors contain moss and lichens






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






24. Regiong beneatht he photic zone that receives no light






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






26. 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






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






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






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






30. Determines water holding capacity






31. The ultimate source of energy for all organisms






32. (living) includes all living things that directly or indirectly influence the life of the organism including the relationships that exist between organisms






33. Animals that consume dead animals






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






35. 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






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






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






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






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






40. Affect the type of vegetation that can be supported






41. 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






42. One species may be competitively superior in some regions - and the other may be superior in other regions under different environmental conditions. this would result in the elimination of one species in some places and the other in other places






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






44. Links between oceans and land






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






46. Animals that consume green plants (herbivores)






47. Rivers - lakes - ponds - and marshes






48. Include those protists and fungi that decompose dead organic matter externally and absorb the nutrients - they consistitute a vital link in the cycling of material within the ecosystem






49. Animals that feed on secondary consumer






50. First to resettle a virgin area