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Final exam for the course of Ecosystem
Ecology, April 25, 2009
Name___________
Student
Number__________
1. Multiple choice.
For each question, there is only one best answer.
Circle the correct
answer with your pen
or pencil. (1 pt. each, 40 pts. total).
1). If you are trying to develop a
self-contained ecosystem that will be shipped into
space to live
by itself, which of the
following is the minimum situation required for
success:
a. autotrophs only are needed.
b. autotrophs and heterotrophs both are
needed.
c.
autotrophs and
decomposers are both needed.
d. you
must have autotrophs, heterotrophs, and
decomposers.
2). Seasonality in the
tropics is most related to variation in ________
while seasonality in the
temperate zone
is most related to variation in __________.
a. rainfall, temperature
b.
temperature, rainfall
c. the tilt of
the earth, the spin of the earth
d. the
spin of the earth, the tilt of the earth
3). Which of the following nutrient
cycles directly contributes to acid rain?
a. phosphorus cycle
b.
sulfur cycle
c. hydrologic cycle
d. lead cycle
4). Deserts
are associated with which latitude:
a.
equatorial zones
b. 45
degrees north or south of equator
c. 30
degrees north or south of equator
d. they are not associated with
latitude at all
5). Which type of
response curve is most likely characteristic of
micronutrients such as boron?
a. linear
response
c. optimum
response
b. saturation response
d. sigmoid response
6). If the earth spun in the opposite
direction, the climate of Sichuan would probably
be:
a. Much warmer
throughout the year.
b. Generally
wetter than it is now.
c. Drier than it
presently is.
d. Sichuan would be
unaffected by the change in spin.
7).
The increasing concentration of chemicals
(including nutrients or pollutants) in higher
trophic
levels is termed:
a.
net primary productivity
b.
biological magnification
c.
trophic dynamics
d. biological
remuneration
8). Which of the following
nutrients with a gaseous biogeochemical cycle
requires interactions
with specific
bacteria to make the cycle
a. oxygen
b. nitrogen
c. sulfur
d. carbon
9). What is
typical of local nutrient cycles in situations
that supported temperate grasslands before
human settlement?
a. large
accumulation of litter in the soil
b.
very high and constant rates of decomposition
c. most nutrients stored in living
biomass
d. unused nutrients rarely
found
10). Higher plants most often
absorb nitrogen from the soil in the form of
a. free nitrogen gas
b. ammonia
c.
amino acids
d. nitrates
e. nitrites
11).
As an ecosystem passes through the stages of
succession
a. its species
diversity decreases
b. its
biomass increases
c. it
becomes less stable
d. its
ability to withstand stress decreases
12). Competition
a.
describes
an
interaction
in
which
one
organism
is
adversely
affected
while
the
other
is
unaffected
b.
occurs only over food sources
c. may
result in one species dying off or being forced to
change its ecological niche
d. occurs
only between closely related organisms
13). As energy flows through the
ecosystem, the amount available to each trophic
level
a. decreases
b. increases
c. remains the same
d. none of the prior answers is correct
14). When we eat vegetables we are
acting as
a. producers
b. primary consumers
c. secondary consumers
d. decomposers
15)
. Why has earth’s climate
warmed over the past 150 years?
a. increased greenhouse gas
concentration
b. increased solar input
c. land-use and land-cover change
d. a and c
e. all of the
above
16). Why do seasons occur on
Earth?
a.
earth’s distance
from
the sun varies throughout the
year.
b. the Coriolis force
c.
because of the tilt of
earth’s axis.
d. because the
earth is close to the sun in the summer and far
from the sun in the winter.
e. because
of seasonal changes in albedo
17).
Which of the following has the highest albedo?
a. sea ice
b. fresh snow
c. tundra
d. desert
e. standing dead grass
18).
Turnover of plant tissues is _________ in the
arctic compared to the tropics.
a. slower
b. faster
c. about the same
d.
energetically more expensive
e. none of
the above
19). Of the following, which
is the best substitution for NPP?
a. photosynthetic capacity
b. productivity per unit leaf area
c. total leaf area
d.
specific leaf area
e. average leaf N
concentration
20). Which season of the
year has the highest concentration of
CO
2
in the atmosphere of the
Northern Hemisphere?
a.
summer b. autumn
c. winter d. spring
21). Water is important in the Earth
system because
a.
it’s
necessary for life
b. it
exists in nature in gas, liquid, and solid states
c. in changing from one state to
another energy is stored or released
d.
in
it’s
various
phases
it
is
the
primary
medium
by
which
energy
is
transmitted
among
Earth’s reservoirs.
e. all of the above.
22).
Wind-driven ocean currents occur in
a.
the deep ocean
b. the surface ocean
c. the deep and the surface ocean
d. do not occur in the ocean
23). Between which reservoirs does most
of carbon transfer take place?
a.
between the atmosphere and rocks
b.
between the atmosphere and the ocean
c.
between the atmosphere and biomass
d.
between the ocean and rocks.
24). For a
system that is in Steady State
a.
inflow = outflow and the contents of the reservoir
is constant with time.
b. inflow =
outflow and the contents of the reservoir grows
over time.
c. inflow = outflow and the
contents of the reservoir declines over time.
d. inflow does not equal outflow.
25). What are the mechanisms of inflow
and outflow in the short-term organic carbon
cycle?
a. diffusion and lithification
b. plate tectonics and respiration
c. photosynthesis and respiration
d. lithification and respiration
26). The inorganic carbon cycle
describes the way that carbon is transported among
the reservoirs
of the atmosphere,
ocean, and solid Earth
a. by mechanisms
that involve living organisms.
b. by
mechanisms that do not involve living organisms.
c. by all mechanisms.
d. by
mechanisms that use pesticides or hormones.
27). Chemical weathering occurs when
a. CO
2
dissolves
in the ocean
b. Rocks
(CaCO
3
and
CaSiCO
3
) are dissolved by
rain water and are washed into the ocean.
c. Volcanic eruptions emit dust and
gases into the atmosphere
d. Burning of
fossil fuel causes acid rain.
28).
Goats depend on autotrophs for the production of:
a. oxygen
b. carbohydrates
c. both of the above
d.
goats are autotrophy
29). The number of
individuals that an area can support refers to
its:
a. birth rate
b. death
rate
c. carrying capacity
d.
ecological niche
30). Critically
important minerals and other essential substances
would be permanently lost to
organisms
if it were not for the:
a. producers
b. consumers
c. decomposers
d. niches
31). Who developed
the five factors of soil formation that constrain
soil and ecosystem
development?
a. Arthur Tansely
b. John Derrick Ovington
c.
Hans Jenny
d. Raymond L. Lindeman
32). PET is always ________ AET
a. >
b. <
c. =
d.
≥
33). Turnover rate is equal to:
a. MRT
b. stock/flow
c. flow times stock
d.
flow/stock
34). Photorespiration is
catalyzed by
a. PEP
carboxylase
b. succinase
c.
ATP synthase
d. rubisco
e.
alpha-ketogluterate.
35). When soils
are dry or nutrient poor, in which tissues would
you expect plants to invest
relatively
more growth?
a. roots
b.
shoots
c. stems
d. rubisco
36). Metamorphic rocks: