Test your basic knowledge |

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. 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






2. First to resettle a virgin area






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






4. 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






5. 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






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






7. Include reproduction and protection from predators and destructive weather






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






9. Body temperature is very close to that of their surroundings -as temperature rises - these organisms become more active






10. 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






11. Individuals belonging to the same species use the same resources and if a particular resource is limited - then these organisms must compete with one another






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






13. Lichens and moss






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






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






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






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






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






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






20. 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






21. Affect the type of vegetation that can be supported






22. Symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit






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






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






25. Animals that eat both plants and animals






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






27. Determines water holding capacity






28. 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






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






31. Only animal life and other heterotrophic life exists






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






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






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






35. Free-living organisms that feed on other living organisms






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






37. 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






38. 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






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






40. Animals that feed on secondary consumer






41. 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






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






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






44. Animals that consume dead animals






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






46. 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






47. 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






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






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






50. Polar bears - musk oxen - and arctic hens