Chapter 5 Review

Unlike autotrophs, heterotrophs must

get energy from eating food, such as other organisms or their remains.

Which action is least likely to reduce problems associated with the use of fossil fuels?

increasing the use of electricity from coal-powered power plants

ecological succession is

the gradual changes an ecosystem goes through as it develops or regrows.

Which of the following describes the producers in an ecosystem?

the organisms that use sunlight to make their own food

Which of the following cycles is a slow process and does not normally include a stage that involves the atmosphere?

the phosphorus cycle

fossil fuels are made up of

the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago

Which of the following is a tertiary consumer?

A Hawk

In which of the following ways does a food chain differ from a food web?

A food web is a more complex and more realistic representation of the energy pathways in an ecosystem than a food chain is.

Which of the following statements describes in the correct order the events that are likely to take place after a glacier retreats?

Bare rock is exposed, lichens colonize, grasses are established, shrubs appear, and trees appear.

Which of the following statements describes in the correct order the events that may take place after an eastern forest burns down?

Bare soil is exposed, weeds and grasses colonize, perennial plants are established, shrubs appear, trees appear, and forest results.

Which of the following statements best summarizes the process of photosynthesis?

Carbon dioxide, water, and solar energy are used to make sugar molecules.

Nitrogen from living organisms returns to the atmosphere as nitrogen gas via

Decomposers

Which of the following statements about energy pyramids is true?

Energy pyramids show that energy is lost as it passes through a food chain.

Which of the following statements best describes how nitrogen and phosphorus are related to algal blooms?

Fertilizers composed of nitrogen and phosphorus build up in bodies of water, which causes algae to grow rapidly and uncontrollably in algal blooms.

Why do ecosystems usually contain only a few trophic levels?

Not enough energy is available in the higher trophic levels to support more trophic levels.

In which stage of the energy flow does carbon move from the nonliving to the living environment?

Photosynthesis

What is the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration?

Photosynthesis creates sugar molecules and oxygen by using light energy, water, and carbon dioxide; cellular respiration uses the products of photosynthesis for cellular energy.

Which of the following statements about pioneer species is false?

Pioneer species are large

What is the difference between primary succession and secondary succession?

Primary succession occurs on bare rock or sand that has never supported life. Secondary succession occurs on soil that once supported a community.

Ecological succession helps an ecosystem stay balanced by

Providing a way for ecosystems to recover from major disturbances

Which of the following is an example of a pioneer species?

Ragweed

In living systems, almost all of the energy that is needed for vital processes comes from

The sun

How have humans influenced the carbon cycle?

Through Combustion, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Ecologists study the flow of energy through an ecosystem by using the graphic concepts of

Trophic Levels, Food Chains, and Food Webs

Where could you go to observe the process of secondary succession?

an abandoned farm.

Nitrogen fixation is

changing nitrogen from a gas into a form that plants can use.

The nitrogen cycle is important to living things because nitrogen

is needed to build proteins.