APES Unit 1 Test

AP Environmental Study MCQ Progress Check

Which of the following processes is illustrated by the downward arrows from the atmosphere that show the conversion of nitrogen gas into usable forms available to producers?

Which of the following processes is illustrated by the downward arrows from the atmosphere that show the conversion of nitrogen gas into usable forms available to producers?

Nitrogen fixation

Which of the following types of organisms are required to complete the nitrogen cycle, including the process of denitrification?

Bacteria

The majority of the nitrogen on Earth can be found in which of the following reservoirs?

the atmosphere

Which of the following best identifies a key component of the hydrologic cycle that powers the movement of water and is missing from the diagram?

the sun

Which of the following major reservoirs of freshwater are missing from the diagram?

ice caps

Which of the following best describes what is represented by the arrows in the food web?

flow of energy

Which trophic level has the least available energy in kilojoules in this food web?

killer whale

Based on the second law of thermodynamics, how much biomass of phytoplankton would be needed to produce 1 kilogram (kg) of large fish in this food web?

1000 kg

Six white-tailed deer and six sika deer were enclosed in a pasture for observation during an eight-year study in central Texas. White-tailed deer are a native species to central Texas, while sika deer are a nonnative species to central Texas. White-tailed deer feed on flowering plants and the tips of trees and shrubs but do not eat grass. Sika deer feed on flowering plants, the tips of trees and shrubs, and grass. All other grazing animals were kept out of the pasture during the study. The number of sika deer more than doubled after the eight years, while the population of white-tailed deer decreased by 50 percent.

Which of the following statements best supports the results from the study?

the sika deer out competed the white-wailed deer in consuming flowering plants and shrubs

In reef ecosystems, corals often have microalgae living inside them. The algae supply the corals with nutrients, and the coral give shelter to the algae. Which of the following interactions best describes the relationship between the corals and the algae?

mutualism

Which of the following best describes an example of resource partitioning in an ecosystem?

Two different bird species feed from the same oak tree; one eats acorns, and the other eats insects in the bark.

Which of the following describes the most likely change to terrestrial biomes resulting from warmer average global temperatures?

The global distribution of midlatitude biomes, such as grasslands and temperate rain forests, would increase.

Which of the following terrestrial biomes has the highest net primary productivity?

Tropical rain forest

Which of the following terrestrial biomes has the highest primary productivity per unit area?

Tropical rain forest

This biome contains a nutrient-rich environment created by falling leaves and trapped organic materials from the large trees, and it provides the ecosystem service of filtering pollutants from water.

freshwater wetlands

This biome is found in shallow waters off the coastline and is Earth's most biologically diverse marine biome.

coral reefs

This freshwater biome is characterized by fast-flowing water that can originate from underground springs or runoff, which carries sediment and organic material.

rivers

Which of the following biogeochemical cycles includes the processes of buffering ocean ph and photosynthesis, as shown in the diagram?

carbon cycle

Which of the boxes represents a carbon source?

D: burning of fossil fuels

Which box represents a carbon sink that holds carbon compounds for the shortest period of time?

A: vegetation

The diagram above best illustrates major processes in which of the following biogeochemical cycles?

phosphorus cycle

Which of the following statements is best supported by the diagram of the phosphorus cycle?

The phosphates absorbed by animal tissue through consumption eventually return to the soil.

Farmers in a suburban coastal town started using no-till agriculture, a practice that reduces soil erosion from their farmland. Use the image above to determine which of the following long-term effects no-till agriculture will have on the ecosystem surrounding the farmland.

There will be less algal growth in the nearby ocean.

Based on the diagram, which of the following statements about the hydrologic cycle is true?

Water from the ocean evaporates and condenses in the atmosphere.

The total rate of photosynthesis in a given area.

Gross primary productivity

This rate of reaction can be measured in the dark by determining the amount of oxygen gas consumed in a period of time.

Cellular respiration

The energy available to consumers determined by subtracting the energy used by plants from the total energy transformed by the process of photosynthesis.

Net primary productivity

Which of the following best describes the flow of energy in most terrestrial and near-surface marine ecosystems?

Producers use energy from the sun to make organic matter, such as sugars, from carbon dioxide and water and are then consumed by organisms higher in the food chain.

Which of the following best describes a terrestrial ecosystem that will have the highest net primary productivity?

Warm temperatures, high rainfall, and consistent sunlight

Which of the following trophic levels represents a primary producer in an aquatic food chain?

phytoplankton

A temperate grassland biome has a gross primary productivity of 3,480kilocalories/meter^2/year and a net primary productivity of 2,000kilocalories/meter^2/year. Which of the following is the approximate number of kilocalories/meter2/year available to herbivores in that biome?

200kilocalories/meter^2/year

Energy is transferred along food chains from one stage to the next. Which statement best explains how the energy is transferred?

If a primary producer stores 10,000kcal of energy, then a tertiary consumer will have 10kcal of energy available.

Based on the food web shown above, which of the following correctly describes the flow of energy through the trophic levels from producers to quaternary consumers?

Brittlebrush, grasshopper, grasshopper mouse, rattlesnake, red-tailed hawk

In a given ecosystem, producers convert solar energy into 15,000kcal of chemical energy stored in organic compounds. Which of the following is the most likely amount of energy available to secondary consumers?

150 kcal

Algae in an aquatic food chain convert solar energy into 93,000 kilocalories of plant tissue.
Which of the following values best represents the amount of energy available for primary consumers in the food chain?

9,300 kilocalories

Algae in an aquatic food chain convert solar energy into 93,000 kilocalories of plant tissue.
Which of the following values best represents the amount of energy available for secondary consumers in the food chain?

930 kilocalories

ConsumerOrganisms that are being eaten Shrews Hawks Grasshoppers Snakes Spiders Plants Shrews
X Hawks X X Grasshoppers X SnakesX Spider X
Based on the data in the table, which of the following pairs of organisms has two ecological relationships, both competition and predation?

Hawks and snakes

Based on the data in the table, if the number of snakes were to suddenly decrease, which of the following changes would most likely occur in the food web of this ecosystem?

increase in number of shrews, decrease in number of hawks

Which of the following categories of organisms, which are required for the cycling of matter in an ecosystem, is missing from the table?

Decomposers

Which of the following best describes gross primary productivity in an ecosystem?

Gross primary productivity is the total amount of solar energy captured by producers through photosynthesis over time.

Which of the following best describes the net primary productivity of an ecosystem?

Net primary productivity is the amount of energy lost through respiration by producers subtracted from the gross primary productivity of an ecosystem.

Scientists calculated the net primary productivity at two different forest sites. Both forests have the same gross primary productivity. Forest A has a net primary productivity of 1,650 kcal/m2/year and forest B has a net primary productivity of 1,110 kcal/m2/year.
Which of the following statements is best supported by the data?

Forest A producers have lower rates of cellular respiration than forest B producers.

Which of the following best describes the movement of energy in an ecosystem?

Energy is harnessed by producers, and available energy decreases with each trophic level transfer.

The table above shows the balanced chemical equations that represent three processes that are part of the nitrogen cycle. Which of the following is exemplified by the equations above?

Each biogeochemical cycle demonstrates the conservation of matter.

Which of the following best explains why terrestrial trophic pyramids usually do not have levels higher than tertiary consumers?

A large proportion of energy is lost as heat as it is transferred up the pyramid, so there is not enough energy available to support another level.