Principles of Ecology Test Questions
Course Introduction
Principles of Ecology introduces students to the fundamental concepts and processes shaping the interactions between organisms and their environments. The course covers topics such as energy flow, nutrient cycling, population dynamics, community structure, ecosystem function, and biodiversity. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and practical exercises, students explore how ecological principles are applied to address environmental issues, conservation, and natural resource management. Emphasis is placed on understanding the scientific methods used in ecological research and the relevance of ecology to current global challenges.
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Sustaining the Earth 11th Edition by G. Tyler Miller
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14 Chapters
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Environmental science is the same as environmentalism.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Poverty is defined as
A)the inability to live a healthy and productive life.
B)a life focused on gathering enough food and water for survival.
C)the gap between the affluent and poor in underdeveloped countries
D)the inability to live a sustainable life.
E)a condition in which people are unable to fulfill their basic needs for food, water, shelter, health, and education.
Answer: E
Q3) Of the following behaviors, the one that runs counter to the three principles of sustainability is
A)recycling of materials.
B)reusing materials.
C)producing and consuming anything people are willing to buy.
D)initiating a tree planting drive in your community.
E)relying more on renewable sources of energy.
Answer: C
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ecology is the study of how nonliving things interact with one another in the natural world.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) pH is a measure of the comparative amounts of hydrogen and hydroxide ions contained in a particular volume of solution, which influences the uptake natural chemicals in soil by plants.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) A set of organisms that are similar in genetic make up and reproduce sexually to produce fertile offspring are members of the same species.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) The nucleus of an atom consists of one or more _____________________ and in some cases, one or more neutrons.
Answer: protons
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Chapter 3: Biodiversity and Evolution
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Sample Questions
Q1) On the accompanying temperate-zone lake, choose the zone of open water where photosynthesis can occur.
Answer: a
Q2) Scientists use evidence from fossils and ice cores to support the accepted theory for most evolutionary change, referred to as
A)inheritance of acquired characteristics.
B)synthetic selection.
C)natural selection.
D)functional diversity.
E)punctuated equilibrium.
Answer: C
Q3) "Survival of the fittest" refers to an organism's strength in beating out competitors for survival.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) The variety of the earth's species and ecosystems is called ____________________.
Answer: biodiversity
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Chapter 4: Community Ecology, Population Ecology, and the Human Population
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Sample Questions
Q1) Rats are examples of ____________________ because they reproduce and disperse rapidly and produce many offspring to ensure survival of the species.
Q2) Resource partitioning is one solution to the problems associated with ecological succession.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ____________ provides educational and clinical services to help couples choose how many children to have and when to have them.
Q4) Although total fertility rates have decreased, the world's population has still not stabilized.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Populations can decline by increasing death rates. If this decline is gradual, the harmful effects can be mitigated. List three major problems associated with rapid population decline. Can you think of any positive outcomes of rapid population decline?
Q6) ____________________ is the combination of all factors that limit the growth of a population.
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Chapter 5: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach
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Sample Questions
Q1) A 1/1,000,000 species per year extinction rate, which is the estimated average rate of extinction in the history of life on the earth, is called ____ extinction.
A)background
B)local
C)ecological
D)biological
E)total
Q2) The greatest threat to most species is
A)the destruction of habitats.
B)water pollution.
C)parasites.
D)the buildup of toxic substances in food chains.
E)flooding.
Q3) As human populations have spread over the globe, the species extinction rate has
A)increased rapidly.
B)remained equal to the species formation rate.
C)decreased by about one species per year.
D)decreased to historically low levels.
E)remained unchanged.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Sustaining Biodiversity: The Ecosystem Approach
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Q1) Costa Rica has moved from having one of the world's highest deforestation rates to having one of the lowest, in part, due to
A)harvesting of sea turtle eggs.
B)excluding local and indigenous people from conservation efforts.
C)increasing subsidies for converting forests to rangeland.
D)utilizing ecotourism as a major source of income.
E)logging.
Q2) The reintroduction of wolves into the Yellowstone ecosystem has been considered a success because
A)the wolves are thriving.
B)local ranchers fear that wolves will attach cattle.
C)ecotourism has decreased.
D)biodiversity of the ecosystem has been re-established and sustained.
E)global warming has ceased.
Q3) Forests provide habitats for about ____ of U.S. wildlife species.
A)50%
B)60%
C)70%
D)80%
E)90%
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Food, Soil, and Pest Management
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of commercial pesticides and more sustainable pesticides? Which do you think is the best choice for the future?
Q2) Pesticide use has resulted in increased pest resistance and therefore an increased use of pesticides.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Global food supplies can be made more available and affordable by
A)purchasing food from big box stores.
B)consuming more meat.
C)eliminating subsidies.
D)wasting less food.
E)promoting free trade.
Q4) Plantation agriculture is primarily used to reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility. A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain how eating fish or poultry leads to more sustainable agriculture.
Q6) Two problems associated with ____________________ are salination and waterlogging.
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Chapter 8: Water Resources and Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Flowing rivers and streams can recover from degradable and non-degradable waste pollution by natural recovery processes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What percent of the earth's water supply is readily available as liquid freshwater?
A)0.024%
B)1.0%
C)2.3%
D)7.8%
E)15%
Q3) What is the most precise and efficient irrigation method?
A)precision application sprinklers
B)flood
C)drip
D)canals
E)center pivot sprinklers
Q4) The main cause of water waste is leakage in water distribution systems.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Nonrenewable Energy Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Although ____________________ seems relatively inexpensive and safe, environmental issues such as long-lived waste make this the most expensive nonrenewable energy source.
Q2) Which of the following are examples of commercial energy?
A)extracting oil, mining coal, and gathering fuelwood
B)using a solar cooker, burning natural gas, and mining coal
C)burning natural gas, gathering fuelwood, and instilling a windmill
D)extracting oil, mining coal, and burning natural gas
E)installing a windmill, extracting oil, and mining coal
Q3) The nonrenewable energy source with the lowest net energy yield is
A)nuclear.
B)oil.
C)natural gas.
D)biomass.
E)coal.
Q4) ____________________ produces radioactive fragments that spontaneously shoot out fast-moving particles such as alpha and beta particles and gamma rays.
Q5) Which type of energy source do you think will grow as a proportion of total commercial energy in the future in the United States?
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Chapter 10: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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Q1) List three (3) actions that governments can use to encourage the shift to more sustainable sources of energy.
Q2) Consider the accompanying diagram. Do you think it is more likely that more renewables will be used proportionally in the future as energy inputs, or that less of the output will be waste? Why or why not?
Q3) What country is the largest producer of liquid biofuels?
A)Brazil
B)Mexico
C)China
D)Uruguay
E)Costa Rica
Q4) ____________________ is based on energy-efficient and money saving building designs.
Q5) ______________________ is an indirect form of ______________________ energy that uses moving water to produce energy.
Q6) Overall, nonrenewable resources have a lower net energy than renewable resources.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Environmental Hazards and Human Health
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Sample Questions
Q1) Reducing the amount of human input can decrease the risks associated with a system's reliability. Why is this so? Why is this not always the best solution?
Q2) DDT is banned in most countries but is still widely used for malaria control.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The system responsible for defense against disease and harmful substances is the
A)circulatory system.
B)endocrine system.
C)immune system.
D)excretory system.
E)reproductive system.
Q4) A threshold dose-response model
A)implies there is a dose below which no detectable harmful effects occur.
B)errs on the side of safety.
C)implies that each dose of a harmful substance carries a risk of causing harm.
D)is useful for assessing chronic toxicity.
E)assumes chemicals vary widely in their toxicity.
Q5) Why is it difficult to estimate chemical toxicity in real life using laboratory experiments?
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Chapter 12: Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Ozone
Depletion
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the face of a warmer climate there are some lifestyle changes that your children and grandchildren will have to learn to make. Providing at least four unavoidable consequences of climate change and discuss some of these changes.
Q2) Which statement is false?
A)CFCs are persistent chemicals.
B)Ozone depletion is worst in Antarctica.
C)CFCs substitutes have been found.
D)Ozone thinning levels remain steady over seasons.
E)CFCs contribute to global warming.
Q3) Acid deposition is properly defined as the ____ deposition of ____ pollutants onto the earth's surface.
A)wet; primary
B)wet; secondary
C)wet and dry; primary
D)wet and dry; secondary
E)dry; primary
Q4) Global warming is causing sea level to rise for two separate reasons. What are they?
Q5) The atmospheric layer closest to earth's surface is the ____________________.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Urbanization and Solid and Hazardous Waste
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hazardous waste is best defined as waste that threatens human health or the environment because it
A)is devoid of any nutrients
B)is poisonous, dangerously chemically reactive, corrosive, or flammable
C)an unwanted or discarded material that is not liquid or gas.
D)is in violation of anti-pollution laws
E)has been disposed of improperly
Q2) Smart growth is a form of urban planning that
A)uses laws and other tools to channel urban growth into less harmful areas
B)relies on current statistics rather than on future population growth trends
C)encourages resource consumption
D)facilitates urban sprawl on a rapid scale
E)focuses on the social consequences of urban land use planning
Q3) What are the four stages of population shift from rural to urban areas in the United States of America over the last 200 years?
Q4) List four smart growth tools and give an example of how each tool may be used in controlling urban sprawl.
Q5) Does the 1992 Basel Convention advance or hinder environmental justice? Explain your reasoning.
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Chapter 14: Economics, Politics, Worldviews, and Sustainability
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Sample Questions
Q1) An international convention is
A)legally binding.
B)created by the judicial branch
C)created by the legislative branch.
D)a non-binding policy declaration.
E)a quick and easy solution to environmental problems.
Q2) National recreation areas are part of
A)the National Park System.
B)the National Wilderness Preservation System.
C)National Wildlife Refuges.
D)National Resource Lands.
E)National Forests.
Q3) Blind technological optimism could be a trait of someone with a neoclassical worldview.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the accompanying figure, how much is the combined expenditure per year needed to eliminate hunger and malnutrition, and restore fisheries? This amount is equal to the sum of which two U.S. expenditures in 2008?
Q5) Why are more companies embracing environmental regulations?
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