Campbell Biology: Concepts and Connections, 8e (Reece et al.)
Chapter 37 Communities and Ecosystems
37.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) A community is composed of
A) potentially interacting populations of different kinds of organisms.
B) one species of organism living in a specific environment on Earth.
C) living organisms and their nonliving environment.
D) the factors that constitute an organism’s niche.
2) One reason it is important to understand community ecology is
A) to understand the life cycle of fish, such as cichlids.
B) for identification of stomach microbes.
C) to aid in conservation of endangered species.
D) to provide an enriched habitat for humans.
3) An owl and a hawk both eat mice. Which of the following describes the relationship between
a hawk and an owl?
A) predation
B) competition
C) mutualism
D) parasitism
4) When two different populations in a community benefit from their relationship with each
other, the result is called
A) herbivory.
B) mutualism.
C) parasitism.
D) competition.
5) When a crocodile eats a fish, the interspecific interaction between the two could be expressed
as ________ for the crocodile and ________ for the fish.
A) –; –
B) +; +
C) +; –
D) -; +
6) Which of the following is an example of predation?
A) a lizard’s camouflage
B) a hawk swooping down quickly to capture, kill, and eat a prairie king snake
C) a goldfinch feeding on the seeds of a thistle plant
D) the vivid colors of the poison-arrow frog in Costa Rica
7) The sum total of a population’s use of the biotic and abiotic resources of its habitat constitutes
its
A) environment.
B) evolution.
C) range.
D) niche.
8) In an ecosystem, you would expect to find interspecific competition between
A) males and females of a species in which both sexes occupy the same niche.
B) populations of two species that occupy the same niche.
C) a prey species and its predator.
D) two wasp species that mimic each other’s appearance.
9) If an overlap develops between the ranges of two closely related species, and if the species
occupy the same niche in the zone of overlap, what will probably happen in the zone of overlap?
A) A new species will arise by hybridization.
B) Both species will coexist, provided the environment in the zone of overlap is different from
that in either individual range.
C) Both species will coexist, provided the environment in the zone of overlap is similar to that of
one of the individual ranges.
D) One species will take over most or all of the zone of overlap.
10) Dinoflagellates are important to coral and coral-dwelling animals because they
A) produce energy that is used by coral animals through photosynthesis.
B) provide shelter for the fast-growing seaweeds associated with coral.
C) produce CO2 and nitrogen for coral.
D) are toxic to species that prey on reef-dwelling fish.
11) Camouflage typically evolves as a result of
A) predation.
B) interspecific competition.
C) mutualism.
D) herbivory.
12) One predator avoidance mechanism that has evolved in prey is
A) chemical defenses.
B) secretion of digestive enzymes that hydrolyze glucose.
C) secretion of enzymes that break down toxic plant compounds.
D) development of a short gestation period.
13) Some herbivore-plant interactions evolved through a series of reciprocal evolutionary
adaptations in both species. This process is called
A) herbivory.
B) coevolution.
C) selection.
D) trophism.
14) Most plants have a variety of chemicals, spines, and thorns because the plants
A) cannot run away from herbivores.
B) feed on the organisms that try to eat them.
C) are camouflaged into their surroundings.
D) must rely on photosynthesis for food.
15) The prokaryotes that cause tooth decay have a ________ relationship with humans.
A) parasitic
B) predatory
C) mutualistic
D) competitive
16) In addition to abiotic factors, community composition of plants can be severely compromised
by
A) parasites and pathogens.
B) introduction of chestnut trees.
C) non-native birds.
D) rapid coevolution.
17) Within an ecosystem, a tree is a
A) secondary consumer.
B) detritivore.
C) primary consumer.
D) producer.
18) The freshwater leech is an organism that feeds off of the blood of other organisms such as
frogs and turtles. Which of the following describes the relationship between freshwater leeches
and frogs or turtles?
A) herbivory
B) predation
C) mutualism
D) parasitism
19) In a hypothetical food chain consisting of grass, grasshoppers, sparrows, and hawks, the
grasshoppers are
A) primary consumers.
B) primary producers.
C) secondary consumers.
D) secondary producers.
20) A hypothetical community on a barren mid-Atlantic island consists of two fish-eating
seabirds (the booby and the noddy), the fungi and microorganisms that live on the birds’ dung, a
tick that feeds on these two birds, a cactus, a moth that feeds on cast-off feathers, a beetle that
lives on dung organisms, and spiders that eat the other arthropods. There are no other plants and
no lichens. Which of the following choices incorrectly pairs a member of this assemblage with
its position in the trophic structure?
A) fungi—detritivores
B) booby—primary consumer
C) moth—detritivore
D) cactus—producer
21) In a food chain consisting of phytoplankton → zooplankton → fish → fishermen, the
fishermen are
A) secondary consumers.
B) tertiary consumers.
C) quaternary consumers.
D) secondary producers.
22) Organisms that digest molecules in organic material and convert them into inorganic forms
are
A) primary consumers.
B) decomposers.
C) primary producers.
D) detritivores.
23) In a certain ecosystem, field mice are preyed on by snakes and hawks. The entry of wild dogs
into the system adds another predator of the mice. The most likely short-term result of this
addition is
A) an increase in snake population.
B) a tendency for hawks to prey on the dogs.
C) a reduction in numbers of mice.
D) migration of the hawks to another ecosystem.
24) Which of the following statements regarding food webs is true?
A) A consumer eats only one type of producer.
B) Detritivores consume dead organic matter from a specific trophic level.
C) Several species of primary consumers may feed on the same species of producer.
D) energy transfer moves from producer to consumer and back.
25) The number of species in a community is called the
A) species diversity.
B) species richness.
C) species population.
D) species index.
26) A keystone species that is a predator will
A) maintain the species diversity in a community.
B) harvest prey species down to extinction.
C) help many of its prey reproduce.
D) reduce the diversity of the community.
27) During ecological succession, the species composition of a plant community generally
A) changes from a diverse community in which many plants are common to one in which a few
species are numerically dominant.
B) remains stable as long as major environmental factors (climate, human interference) remain
constant.
C) changes gradually because each species responds differently to the changing environment.
D) changes until forest is established and a single species remains.
28) When a New England farm is abandoned, its formerly plowed fields first become weedy
meadows, then shrubby areas, and finally forest. This sequence of plant communities is an
example of
A) evolution.
B) a trophic chain.
C) secondary succession.
D) primary succession.
29) Non-native species that are introduced to new environments, spread far beyond the original
point of introduction, and cause damage are called
A) destructive species.
B) enemy species.
C) invasive species.
D) proprietary species.
30) Biological control is defined as
A) the use of chemicals, such as pesticides, to control pests.
B) the intentional release of a natural enemy of a pest population.
C) the exploitation of coevolutionary principles to produce pesticides.
D) an intentional attempt to increase the numbers of specific prey populations.
31) The flow of ________ into ecosystems occurs in one direction only, while ________ are
recycled within the ecosystem itself.
A) minerals; energy compounds
B) genetic information; genotypes
C) organic compounds; minerals
D) energy; chemicals
32) Which of the following processes does not occur in ecosystems?
A) Energy flows through the system.
B) Carbon is cycled between biotic and abiotic forms.
C) Producers convert light energy to chemical energy.
D) The energy source that powers the system is used by consumers to make organic compounds.
33) A biology teacher takes fish, algae, pond weed, invertebrates, and bottom muck from a local
pond and establishes them in an aquarium. When the system is stable, the teacher seals it into a
large, airtight glass box and leaves the box in a sunny location. After three months, the
organisms in the aquarium appear alive and healthy. Which of the following statements about the
experiment is true?
A) No energy has entered or left the glass box during the three months.
B) Some of the energy in the system has moved from one organism to another during the three
months.
C) The air in the glass box contains no carbon dioxide.
D) During the three months, the biomass of animal life was greater than the biomass of plant life.
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34) For a given area and time period, the amount of solar energy converted to chemical energy in
organic compounds is called
A) primary succession.
B) secondary succession.
C) primary production.
D) secondary production.
35) In an average ecosystem, about how much energy is present in the organisms at a given
trophic level compared to the organisms at the next higher trophic level?
A) a tenth as much
B) half as much
C) twice as much
D) ten times as much
36) About how much of the energy in the producers of an ecosystem will be available to
secondary consumers in this ecosystem?
A) 100%
B) about 50%
C) about 10%
D) about 1%
37) One simple thing that you can do to help safeguard the environment is to eat a diet consisting
only of organisms that are
A) producers.
B) primary consumers.
C) secondary consumers.
D) a mix of producers and consumers.
38) Which of the following substances is cycled between organic matter and abiotic reservoirs?
A) fat
B) carbon
C) protein
D) nucleic acid
39) Given that CO2 is produced by cellular respiration, why does the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere remain relatively constant? (When answering this question, exclude the impact of
human activities on atmospheric CO2.)
A) CO2 is converted in photosynthesis to carbohydrates.
B) CO2 is split apart during photosynthesis.
C) CO2 mostly forms carbonate rocks.
D) CO2 is trapped in dead organisms’ bodies.
40) Carbon mainly cycles between the biotic and abiotic worlds through the processes of
A) cellular respiration and transpiration.
B) transpiration and photosynthesis.
C) evaporation and photosynthesis.
D) cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
41) Which of the following statements about the phosphorus cycle is false?
A) The main abiotic reservoir for phosphorus is in the soil.
B) Plants release dissolved phosphate ions into the soil.
C) Phosphates that drain from soils into the sea becomes part of new rock and will cycle back
into living organisms.
D) Guano can be used by farmers to add phosphorus to the soil.
42) Which of the following statements about the nitrogen cycle is true?
A) The nitrogen cycle requires different types of bacteria.
B) Nitrogen gas is converted to nitrates in plant leaves.
C) Nitrogen cannot be cycled through living organisms.
D) When plants and animals die, nitrogen is removed from the nitrogen cycle.
43) Which of the following represents a step in the nitrogen cycle?
A) Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrates.
B) Nitrites bind to soil particles.
C) Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia.
D) Denitrifiers convert ammonium to atmospheric nitrogen.
44) Denitrifying bacteria convert ________ to ________.
A) ammonium; nitrates
B) nitrates; nitrogen gas
C) nitrogen gas; nitrates
D) nitrogen gas; nitrites
45) Which of the following ecological problems might result from fertilizing a golf course with
phosphorus-rich fertilizer?
A) poisoning of the grass caused by excess phosphorus
B) heavy growth of algae and cyanobacteria in lakes and rivers caused by phosphorus runoff
C) accumulation of toxic levels of phosphorus in animals in the vicinity, especially those higher
on the food chain
D) a slowdown in the weathering of rock that releases phosphates into the soil under natural
conditions
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46) Eutrophication of a lake could occur if
A) phosphate-rich detergents were dumped into the lake.
B) fertilizers were applied in an insoluble form.
C) runoff from overfertilized lawns was prevented from reaching the lake.
D) fish were removed.
47) One of the most worrisome results of the large-scale clearing and cultivation of land is
A) erosion and soil degradation.
B) the inability to supply fresh water.
C) the inability to supply enough food for growing populations.
D) hurricanes.
48) Which of the following accurately represents a food chain in the grasslands of Africa?
A) grass, giraffes, lions, vultures, fungi
B) grass, fungi, giraffes, vultures, lions
C) grass, lions, giraffes, fungi, vultures
D) grass, fungi, lions, vultures, giraffes
49) In your backyard you overturn a large rock. In the damp soil underneath the rock, you see
various insects scurrying for cover: one black spider, five black ants, two brown beetles, and
three gray pillbugs. In this community of organisms, species richness is represented by
A) the ants, since there are more of them than any other organism.
B) eleven total organisms.
C) four different species of organisms.
D) the ants and the spider equally, since they have the greatest number of organisms of the same
color.
50) In your backyard you overturn a large rock. In the damp soil underneath the rock, you see
various insects scurrying for cover: two black beetles, five black ants, two brown beetles, and
three pillbugs. In this community of organisms, relative abundance favors
A) pillbugs.
B) ants.
C) beetles.
D) pillbugs and beetles equally.
51) Kudzu is a fast-growing vine that was introduced to the United States in 1876 as a fragrant,
ornamental plant and was later used as a source of erosion control. Kudzu grows especially well
in the warm, humid climate of the Southeastern United States. In fact, it grows so well that it
outgrows and can kill off less successful native plants; it can also kill off areas of forest because
it prevents forest tress from receiving sunlight. Kudzu can best be described as
A) a keystone species.
B) an invasive species.
C) a source of primary production.
D) an abiotic reservoir.
52) What are the consequences if decomposers are removed from the carbon cycle?
A) Fewer carbon compounds are broken down; therefore, less CO2 is released into the
atmosphere.
B) Loss of decomposers causes an increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
C) Primary consumers are not able to consume as many producers.
D) An increase in the burning of wood and fossil fuels will occur.
37.2 Art Questions
1) Which trophic level in this food chain represents the secondary consumer?
A) trophic level A
B) trophic level B
C) trophic level C
D) trophic level D
2) Which arrow shows CO2 released as a product of cellular respiration?
A) arrow A
B) arrow B
C) arrow C
D) arrow D
3) Which arrow shows nitrogen fixation?
A) arrow A
B) arrow B
C) arrow C
D) arrow D
37.3 Scenario Questions
After reading the paragraphs below, answer the questions that follow.
Biosphere II is a huge dome-covered self-contained structure located outside Tucson, Arizona. It
was built to try to duplicate Earth’s biosphere and ecosystems in miniature and to use the
information gained from the experiment to help design similar habitats on the Moon and Mars.
The habitat contained small versions of many of Earth’s ecosystems, including an ocean with a
coral reef, mangrove wetlands, a grassland, a desert, an agricultural system, and a human habitat.
Eight men and women were sealed inside the habitat for a proposed two-year stay. The air,
water, and food for the “biospherians” all came from inside the sealed habitat, and their only
contact with the outside was through computers and telephones.
Before the two years were up, however, the experiment failed. Supplemental oxygen was
pumped into the facility, and food supplies were provided through the airlocks. What caused the
failure of the experiment? It was traced to nutrient pollution. The soil in some of the biosphere
ecosystems was unusually rich in nutrients. These excess nutrients caused a huge population
explosion in decomposer bacteria, which led to oxygen depletion.
1) How could a population explosion of bacteria lead to oxygen depletion?
A) The excess consumers used the oxygen for cellular respiration.
B) The excess producers used the oxygen to complete photosynthesis.
C) The excess decomposers removed all the nutrients from the habitat.
D) The excess decomposers prevented plants from performing photosynthesis.
2) To stabilize the environment in the habitat and enable it to become self-sufficient again, it
would be helpful to
A) add nitrates and phosphates to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
B) add producers to absorb excess carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
C) add consumers to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
D) add decomposers to recycle nutrients in the soil and water.
After reading the paragraph below, answer the questions that follow.
Consider the following marine community: Sea otters prey on sea urchins and therefore help
maintain a healthy sea urchin population. Sea urchins prey on kelp. By helping to maintain
viable sea urchin populations, the sea otters are also allowing enough kelp to grow and act as a
habitat for other organisms.
3) In this marine community, the sea otter is
A) a primary consumer.
B) a producer.
C) a keystone species.
D) a scavenger.
4) Suppose that a bacterial infection swept across a sea otter population and killed most sea otters
before they could reproduce. How would the marine community be affected?
A) For a period of time, there would be overpopulations of sea urchins and therefore a decline in
kelp populations.
B) For a period of time, there would be an overpopulation of kelp and therefore a decline in sea
urchins.
C) Sea otters would continue to decline until they reached extinction.
D) Kelp would become a primary predator of sea urchins.
After reading the paragraph below, answer the question that follows.
A stonefly is an aquatic insect that has an incomplete life cycle. It spends its growing period
(nymph life stage) on the bottom of streams, camouflaged by the rocky bottom. When it has
finished growing, it crawls to the edges of streambeds to molt and emerges as a winged adult.
Fish often eat the juvenile nymphs as they make their way to the edge of the streambeds.
5) Suppose that scientists who study predator-prey relationships notice that over a 50-year span,
new color patterns evolve in the stonefly nymphs such that they are better able to blend into the
colors of a streambed. What would be a logical and reasonable question that the scientists could
investigate in relation to their observations and their knowledge of predator-prey relationships?
A) As the color pattern changes in nymphs developed, was there also a change in the color of the
sand of the streambeds on which the nymphs molted?
B) As the color pattern changes in nymphs developed, was there an increase in the fish
population size?
C) As the color pattern changes in nymphs developed, was there a decrease in the phosphorus
concentration in the stream water?
D) As the color pattern changes in nymphs developed, did the fish eat a greater number of
nymphs?