APES 9/29 Test

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.

Photosynthesis

Based on the diagram above, which of the following processes reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

B

Which letter correctly identifies a process of the hydrologic cycle in which the phase of water is changed from a liquid to a gas?

This biome contains plants that are adapted to prevent water loss due to the low average rainfall and high temperatures year-round.

Desert

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.

Which of the following statements is true of aquatic biomes?

Freshwater biomes are a vital source of drinking water.

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.

Where is the majority of fresh water found on Earth?

Ice caps and glaciers

The diagrams above show an area that was once a pasture that has since undergone changes to the vegetation over time. Which of the following changes in the hydrologic cycle is most likely to occur as a result of the change in vegetation in the area?

Increased infiltration

Which of the following biomes is best characterized as an area that forms the narrow band along the coast that experiences a range of environmental conditions (including daily changes in sunlight, temperature, and water) ?

Intertidal zones

Which of the following best describes a symbiotic relationship?

Intestinal bacteria inhabit the gut of humans.

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.

Five different species of warblers, seed-eating birds, live in the same species of conifer trees. All of the birds migrate to coniferous forests during the summer, and different species reside in different areas in the same tree. They feed on the seeds of the conifer trees, but the different species do not mate with each other. Which of the following best explains why the different warbler species can all have habitats in the same conifer trees?

Resource partitioning of the seeds reduces competition, and the five different species can live in the same tree.

This biome is characterized by long dry seasons and is dominated by grasses, shrubs, and grazing animals.

Savanna

In a fish species, the number of eggs that hatch and survive for one year varies depending on the number of eggs that were produced. As the number of eggs produced increases past a threshold number, the survival rate of the offspring decreases. Which of the following statements best explains why only a limited number of offspring can survive in a fish population?

The chance of survival decreases when there is intraspecific competition for resources among surviving yearlings.

Sediments

The diagram shows the amount of phosphorus measured in teragrams (1 teragram = 1×1012 grams), in the various reservoirs of the phosphorus cycle. Based on the diagram, which of the following reservoirs contains the most phosphorus?

Which of the following is the best explanation for why there is such a small amount of phosphorus that moves into aquatic systems?

There is not a gaseous phase of the phosphorus cycle, and therefore the movement of phosphorus into oceanic reservoirs is very slow.

This biome is warm and wet, with little seasonal variation in temperature and frequent precipitation.

Tropical rain forest

D

Which letter correctly identifies the part of the hydrologic cycle that is most directly affected by impervious building materials, such as concrete and asphalt?

The ocean

Which of the following major storage reservoirs of carbon, stored in the form of carbon dioxide, is not represented in this diagram?

Denitrifying bacteria and volcanic activity

Which of the following pathways indicate how nitrogen is added to the largest nitrogen reservoir?