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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. Determined by the same decisive factors-temperatures and rainfall






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






3. One that exerts control over the other species that are present






4. Only animal life and other heterotrophic life exists






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






6. Determines the nature of plant and animal life in the soil






7. Organisms that manufacture their own food






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






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






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






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






12. 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






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






14. 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






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






16. First to resettle a virgin area






17. Each member of a food chain uses some of the energy it obtains from its food for its own metabolism and loses some additional energy in the form of heat






18. 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






19. Forest floors contain moss and lichens






20. 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






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






22. 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






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






24. Links between oceans and land






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






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






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






28. 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






29. 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






30. Rivers - lakes - ponds - and marshes






31. 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






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






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






34. 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






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






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






38. Determines water holding capacity






39. Two fates await the ammonia (NH3). some are nitrified or dentrified






40. Polar bears - musk oxen - and arctic hens






41. Vegetation such as vines and eppiphytes






42. Developed long legs and many are hoofed






43. 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






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






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






46. Animals that feed on secondary consumer






47. 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






48. The study of interactions between organisms and their environment






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






50. Include saprophytic organisms and organisms of decay