Which of the following statements describes a critical difference between chemical energy and nuclear energy?
Select one:
a. Nuclear energy is a type of kinetic energy, and chemical energy is a type of potential energy.
b. Nuclear energy relates to forces within atoms, and chemical energy relates to forces among atoms.
c. Chemical energy is a type of kinetic energy, and nuclear energy is a type of potential energy.
d. Chemical energy relates to forces within atoms, and nuclear energy relates to forces among atoms.
Question 2: Which of the following equations describes the relationship between production and productivity?
Select one:
a. production = productivity Ă— time
b. productivity = production Ă— area
c. productivity = production Ă— time
d. production = productivity Ă— area
Question 3: A spontaneous transformation of energy from one state to another requires which of the following conditions?
Select one:
a. a decrease in total energy
b. an increase in total entropy
c. an increase in total energy
d. a decrease in total entropy
Question 4: Which of the following biomes has high productivity but low global net production?
Select one:
a. coral reefs
b. wetlands
c. open ocean
d. rainforests
Question 5: Which of the following is the most important reason why a savannah ecosystem can support more top-level predators than a tundra ecosystem can?
Select one:
a. The savannah is a more productive ecosystem than the tundra.
b. The savannah has more trophic levels than the tundra.
c. The savannah is larger than the tundra.
d. The savannah has better regulation of hunting than the tundra.
Question 6: Which of the following statements about modern humans gives an important energetic reason why we can now live at higher densities than our ancestors did?
Select one:
a. We need fewer calories.
b. We live longer lives.
c. We eat at more levels on the food web.
d. We have fewer children.
Question 7: Which of the following ecosystems would likely experience the most intense effects of global warming?
Select one:
a. the tropics
b. the arctic
c. the boreal forest
d. the temperate forest
Question 8: Which of the following factors contributes significantly to evening out the distribution of heat in the atmosphere?
Select one:
a. wind
b. melting of snow
c. water currents
d. transpiration
Question 9: Which of the following is the type of energy stored in a compressed gas?
Select one:
a. potential
b. kinetic
c. mechanical
d. thermal
Question 10: Which of the following aquatic biomes has the highest productivity?
Select one:
a. upwelling zones
b. open ocean
c. coral reefs
d. estuaries
Question 11: Which of the following substances is the greenhouse gas that has the greatest effect on global warming?
Select one:
a. H2O
b. CO2
c. CH4
d. N2O
Question 12: Which of the following terrestrial biomes has the highest productivity?
Select one:
a. rainforests
b. wetlands
c. boreal forests
d. grasslands
Question 13: Which of the following is a characteristic of all objects with a surface temperature greater than –273°C?
Select one:
a. They store potential energy.
b. They release compression energy.
c. They radiate electromagnetic energy.
d. They contain chemical energy.
Question 14: Which of the following factors best defines net primary productivity?
Select one:
a. the amount of energy that is stored in biomass per area per year
b. an individual's average annual reproductive success
c. the ecological efficiency of a community
d. the total amount of photosynthesis that occurs in an area of a given size per year
Question 15: Which of the following equations states the correct relationship among the terms R, NPP, and GPP?
Select one:
a. NPP - R = GPP
b. GPP - R = NPP
c. R - GPP = NPP
d. R - NPP = GPP
Question 16: Which of the following mathematical statements describes biomass dynamics during the aggradation phase of succession?
Select one:
a. D < GEP; 0 < NEP
b. D < GEP; 0 > NEP
c. D > GEP; 0 < NEP
d. D > GEP; 0 > NEP
Question 17: Which of the following life-history characteristics is associated with early colonizers of a disturbed site?
Select one:
a. good dispersal ability
b. ability to tolerate harsh conditions
c. longevity
d. a few, large offspring
Question 18: Suppose you examine the shore of a high-latitude marine environment and find that areas of flat rock have relatively few species of seaweed and invertebrates, but crevices and fissures have higher species diversity. Which of the following factors most likely explains this phenomenon?
Select one:
a. ice scour
b. seasonality
c. resource availability
d. temperature differences
Question 19: Which of the following statements describes a difference between primary and secondary succession?
Select one:
a. Species diversity is higher in primary succession than in secondary succession.
b. Primary succession is faster than secondary succession.
c. Primary succession is slower than secondary succession.
d. Species diversity is lower in primary succession than in secondary succession.
Question 20: In the edaphic climax hypothesis, which of the following factors has the greatest influence on community development during succession?
Select one:
a. soil conditions
b. climate
c. disturbance regime
d. topography
Question 21: Which of the following organisms must be present for kelp "forests" to persist in coastal BC waters?
Select one:
a. seagulls
b. sea lions
c. sea otters
d. blue mussels
Question 22: Which of the following mathematical statements describes biomass dynamics during the reorganization phase of succession?
Select one:
a. D < GEP; 0 < NEP
b. D > GEP; 0 < NEP
c. D > GEP; 0 > NEP
d. D < GEP; 0 > NEP
Question 23: Which of the following terms describes the process of community-level recovery following disturbance?
Select one:
a. regeneration
b. resilience
c. succession
d. seral stages
Question 24: Which of the following options describes the effect that devegetation has on the water cycle of a watershed ecosystem?
Select one:
a. transpiration decreases; streamflow decreases
b. transpiration decreases; streamflow increases
c. transpiration increases; streamflow decreases
d. transpiration increases; streamflow increases
Question 25: In the monoclimax hypothesis, which of the following factors has the greatest influence on community development during succession?
Select one:
a. climate
b. topography
c. founder species
d. species interactions
Question 26: Which of the following communities has the greatest structural complexity?
Select one:
a. a mudflat
b. arctic tundra
c. an old-growth forest
d. a prairie grassland
Question 27: Consider a forest in which advanced regeneration is the major means of community recovery. What is most likely to occur in this forest?
Select one:
a. The new community differs markedly in species composition compared to the original community.
b. The rate of recovery is low.
c. The new community has a species composition similar to the original community.
d. The rate of recovery is high.
Question 28: Which of the following features is associated with a high level of ecosystem development?
Select one:
a. moderate level of gross primary productivity
b. high biodiversity
c. high nutrient flow-through
d. low level of biomass storage
Question 29: In which successional process does a plant community start out as small patches that eventually coalesce?
Select one:
a. nucleation
b. fragmentation
c. stepping stone model
d. heterogeneity
Question 30: Which of the following boreal forest communities is most vulnerable to a catastrophic fire?
Select one:
a. a mature forest with high fuel-loading
b. an immature forest with high fuel-loading
c. a mature forest with low fuel-loading
d. an immature forest with low fuel-loading