1 Every ecosystem carries out the basic processes of:

energy flow and matter cycling


photosynthesis and nitrification


solar energy capture and re-radiation


evaporation and precipitation




2 The biological role played by a species in its environment is called a:


ecosystem


habitat


niche


population



3 Predators rarely kill and eat all available prey because:


predator and prey species often occupy the same trophic level in an ecosystem


prey species often lack protective mechanisms to deter being eaten


many predator and prey species have a commensalistic relationship


predator species often will switch its prey as one prey species becomes less abundant




4 _____ is an overabundance of nutrients that leads to excessive plant growth and


reduction of oxygen in an ecosystem.


denitrification


eutrophication


nitrification


phosphorylation



5 Which of these biomes receives the greatest amount of yearly rainfall?


boreal forest


grasslands


temperate forests


tropical forests



6 An organism's position within a food web is known as its:


ecosystem


habitat


niche


trophic level



7 Which of the following describes organisms in a pelagic zone?


plankton floating near the ocean surface


bottom-dwellers on the ocean floor


barnacles glued to stone in an intertidal zone


frogs in a pond close to the pond's edge



8 Which of the following is NOT an example of secondary succession?


farmland is abandoned


a forest is clear cut


a lava flow covers the landscape


a wildfire burns away the vegetation on a hillside



9 In a lake, the epilimnion is the:


environment found close to shore in a lake


environment found at the lake bed


lower, colder layer


upper surface layer