Review Questions
4. The ability of an ecosystem to return to its equilibrium state after an environmental disturbance is called ________.
- resistance
- restoration
- reformation
- resilience
5. A re-created ecosystem in a laboratory environment is known as a ________.
- mesocosm
- simulation
- microcosm
- reproduction
6. Decomposers are associated with which class of food web?
- grazing
- detrital
- inverted
- aquatic
7. The primary producers in an ocean grazing food web are usually ________.
- plants
- animals
- fungi
- phytoplankton
8. What term describes the use of mathematical equations in the modeling of linear aspects of ecosystems?
- analytical modeling
- simulation modeling
- conceptual modeling
- individual-based modeling
9. The position of an organism along a food chain is known as its ________.
- locus
- location
- trophic level
- microcosm
10. The loss of an apex consumer would impact which trophic level of a food web?
- primary producers
- primary consumers
- secondary consumers
- all of the above
11. A food chain would be a better resource than a food web to answer which question?
- How does energy move from an organism in one trophic level to an organism on the next trophic level?
- How does energy move within a trophic level?
- What preys on grasses?
- How is organic matter recycled in a forest?
12. The weight of living organisms in an ecosystem at a particular point in time is called:
- energy
- production
- entropy
- biomass
13. Which term describes the process whereby toxic substances increase along trophic levels of an ecosystem?
- biomassification
- biomagnification
- bioentropy
- heterotrophy
14. Organisms that can make their own food using inorganic molecules are called:
- autotrophs
- heterotrophs
- photoautotrophs
- chemoautotrophs
15. In the English Channel ecosystem, the number of primary producers is smaller than the number of primary consumers because________.
- the apex consumers have a low turnover rate
- the primary producers have a low turnover rate
- the primary producers have a high turnover rate
- the primary consumers have a high turnover rate
16. What law of chemistry determines how much energy can be transferred when it is converted from one form to another?
- the first law of thermodynamics
- the second law of thermodynamics
- the conservation of matter
- the conservation of energy
17. The mussels that live at the NW Eifuku volcano are examples of _______.
- chemoautotrophs
- photoautotrophs
- apex predators
- primary consumers
18. The movement of mineral nutrients through organisms and their environment is called a ________ cycle.
- biological
- bioaccumulation
- biogeochemical
- biochemical
19. Carbon is present in the atmosphere as ________.
- carbon dioxide
- carbonate ion
- carbon dust
- carbon monoxide
20. The majority of water found on Earth is:
- ice
- water vapor
- fresh water
- salt water
21. The average time a molecule spends in its reservoir is known as ________.
- residence time
- restriction time
- resilience time
- storage time
22. The process whereby oxygen is depleted by the growth of microorganisms due to excess nutrients in aquatic systems is called ________.
- dead zoning
- eutrophication
- retrofication
- depletion
23. The process whereby nitrogen is brought into organic molecules is called ________.
- nitrification
- denitrification
- nitrogen fixation
- nitrogen cycling
24. Which of the following approaches would be the most effective way to reduce greenhouse carbon dioxide?
- Increase waste deposition into the deep ocean.
- Plant more environmentally-suitable plants.
- Increase use of fuel sources that do not produce carbon dioxide as a by-product.
- Decrease livestock agriculture.
25. How would loss of fungi in a forest effect biogeochemical cycles in the area?
- Nitrogen could no longer be fixed into organic molecules.
- Phosphorus stores would be released for use by other organisms.
- Sulfur release from eroding rocks would cease.
- Carbon would accumulate in dead organic matter and waste.