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






2. 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






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






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






5. Any group of similar organisms that are capable of reproducing






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






7. 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






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






9. Organisms that manufacture their own food






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






11. The chief disruptive force






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






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






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






15. Deer - fox - woodchuck - and squirrel






16. Regiong beneatht he photic zone that receives no light






17. The oceans






18. 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






19. Forest floors contain moss and lichens






20. Vegetation has evolved adaptations for water conservation such as needle shaped leaves






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






22. Symbiotic relationship from which both organisms derive some benefit






23. Affect the type of vegetation that can be supported






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






25. First to resettle a virgin area






26. Community in an ecological succession is identified by a dominant species






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. 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






29. 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






30. Links between oceans and land






31. Must be maintained at an optimal level -organisms have adaptations necessary for protection against extremes






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






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






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






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






36. 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






37. Rivers - lakes - ponds - and marshes






38. 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






39. Include saprophytic organisms and organisms of decay






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






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






42. 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






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






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






45. 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






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






47. Only animal life and other heterotrophic life exists






48. 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






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






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