Deck 10: Cycles and Patterns of the Biosphere

Question 1

Approximately how many species of plants are in existence?

A) 1,500
B) 6,000
C) 150,000
D) 600,000
E) 6,000,000

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Earth has ________ species of animals compared to the number of plant species.

A) many fewer
B) about 100 fewer
C) about 100 more
D) many more
E) about the same number of

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following does NOT belong with the others?

A) plankton
B) nekton
C) terrestrial biota
D) benthos
E) oceanic biota

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The geographic study of living organisms is ________.

A) geomorphology
B) biology
C) phytology
D) biogeography
E) limnology

Question 5

Compared to the others, which of the following is the "hardest to pin down"?

A) atmosphere
B) biosphere
C) lithosphere
D) hydrosphere
E) magnetosphere

Question 6

If the biosphere is to function properly, its components must be ________.

A) replaced from space
B) replaced from the ocean
C) recycled
D) fully used up within biogeochemical cycles
E) arranged so that they don't become "fixed"

Question 7

The Linnaean classification system is based mainly on ________.

A) flower type
B) anatomical similarities
C) root depth
D) edaphic factors
E) speed of growth

Question 8

The Linnaean system of classification is ________.

A) completely objective
B) based on three Latin names for each species
C) hierarchical
D) so successful that it has not had to be modified
E) sadly outdated

Question 9

________ is the term for the total complex of plant and animal life in an area.

A) Ecosystem
B) Flora
C) Ecotone
D) Fauna
E) Biota

Question 10

Which of the following does NOT describe the Linnaean biological taxonomy?

A) formulated in the 1700s
B) hierarchical
C) comprehensive
D) losing acceptance
E) binomial

Question 11

Animals or plants living on the sea bottom are ________.

A) fish
B) benthos
C) nekton
D) xerophytes
E) part of the lithosphere

Question 12

The present binomial system of biological classification was devised by ________.

A) Darwin
B) Wallace
C) Huxley
D) Linnaeus
E) Aristotle

Question 13

________ are floating plants or animals.

A) Benthos
B) Nekton
C) Flora
D) Terrestrial life
E) Plankton

Question 14

Concerning the biosphere, the geographic viewpoint is most often concerned with ________.

A) taxonomy
B) specific plants
C) specific animals
D) distributions and relationships
E) agriculture

Question 15

For about the last ________ years, Earth has had about the same balance of chemical components that now persists.

A) 10,000
B) 100,000
C) 1 million
D) 500 million
E) 1 billion

Question 16

Which of the following terms is the LEAST specific?

A) species
B) flora
C) fauna
D) benthos
E) biota

Question 17

In nutrient cycles in general, minerals tend to be dispersed through ________.

A) plant action
B) surface and subsurface runoff
C) evaporation
D) assimilation
E) conduction

Question 18

Which of the following does not refer to life in the oceans?

A) vadose
B) plankton
C) nekton
D) benthos
E) food chain

Question 19

Planetwide, a balance of chemicals is maintained by ________.

A) negative feedbacks
B) cycles
C) seasonal patterns
D) solar radiation
E) decomposition

Question 20

Why is the Linnaean system of limited interest to geographers?

A) too simple
B) not in English
C) not logical
D) not based on distributions
E) too difficult

Question 21

The driving force behind all life cycles in the entire biosphere is ________.

A) the Sun
B) water
C) nitrogen
D) hydrogen
E) oxygen

Question 22

Net primary productivity is measured in ________ per year.

A) watts
B) watts per square meters
C) kilograms per square meter
D) kilograms
E) centimeters

Question 23

________ is the term for the physical amount of plant material at a location.

A) Biomass
B) Intraspecific composition
C) Biota
D) Biome
E) Biology

Question 24

In terms of biogeochemical cycles, calcium has a(n) ________.

A) mysterious
B) non-repeatable
C) asynchronous
D) cycle very similar to that of nitrogen
E) sedimentary cycle

Question 25

The main energy source for the biosphere is ________.

A) heat from volcanoes
B) reflected energy from the moon
C) radioactivity decay in rocks
D) light from the Sun
E) hot air from Congress

Question 26

Which of the following is made by chemical processing of animal fat or vegetable oil?

A) gasoline
B) alcohol
C) "sugar cane gas"
D) biodiesel
E) ethanol

Question 27

The conversion of recyclable components within the biosphere takes place in all but the following ways:

A) using energy
B) continually
C) sometimes over hundreds of millions of years
D) sometimes in less than a decade
E) equally over Earth's surface

Question 28

Carbon dioxide and water and light combined to create carbohydrates is a vital portion of which cycle?

A) oxygen
B) hydrologic
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) energy

Question 29

Net primary productivity is greatest in the oceans ________.

A) where nutrients are greatest
B) in the tropics
C) in the middle latitudes
D) in the polar latitudes
E) where nutrients are least

Question 30

The following DOES NOT have a sedimentary cycle.

A) zinc
B) copper
C) phosphorus
D) sulfur
E) oxygen

Question 31

The response of an organism to the amount of light it receives in a day is termed ________.

A) ecotone
B) photoperiodism
C) edaphic
D) photosynthesis
E) dentrification

Question 32

Considering all major biogeochemical cycles, the human input is ________.

A) making major alternations in most cycles
B) insignificant
C) limited to the carbon cycle
D) never likely to be important
E) several times larger than the natural fluxes of mass and energy

Question 33

The biogeochemical cycles are considered to have been in a planetwide steady-state condition for the last ________ billion years.

A) ten
B) one thousand
C) one million
D) one billion
E) one trillion

Question 34

Which biogeochemical cycle exists largely because of the work of bacteria?

A) oxygen
B) hydrologic
C) nitrogen
D) carbon
E) energy

Question 35

Net primary productivity is greatest on land ________.

A) where nutrients are greatest
B) in the tropics
C) in the middle latitudes
D) in the polar latitudes
E) where nutrients are least

Question 36

The end product(s) of photosynthesis is (are) ________.

A) carbon dioxide
B) water
C) carbohydrates
D) light
E) unknown

Question 37

A problem with the use of biofuels is ________.

A) they have never been successfully produced
B) the United States has outlawed them
C) there is a food versus fuel debate
D) they emit more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels
E) they have never been successfully been used in trucks

Question 38

Photosynthesis is a main means of fixing ________ in the ecosystem.

A) benthos
B) oxygen
C) carbon dioxide
D) nekton
E) nitrogen

Question 39

Which components are necessary for photosynthesis to occur?

A) carbon dioxide and light
B) carbon dioxide, light, and water
C) water, oxygen, and light
D) oxygen and light
E) water and light

Question 40

Of the total solar energy reaching the Earth, ________ percent is fixed by photosynthesis.

A) 80
B) 40
C) 20
D) 10
E) less than 1

Question 41

In the language of the food chain, herbivorous animals are called ________.

A) the apex
B) primary consumers
C) tertiary consumers
D) secondary consumers
E) dominant

Question 42

Over the last century and a half, the main source of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has been ________.

A) volcanoes
B) photosynthesis
C) photoperiodism
D) rock decomposition
E) burning of fossil fuels

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT a source of atmospheric oxygen in the oxygen cycle?

A) the weathering of rocks
B) the burning of fossil fuels
C) water from plant transpiration
D) decomposition of water during photosynthesis
E) decomposition of nirogen by solar energy

Question 44

In the concept of the food chain, the fundamental unit consists of ________.

A) bacteria
B) plants
C) humans
D) secondary consumers
E) predators

Question 45

Of the biogeochemical cycles which have been interfered with by the actions of humans, which is thought to be likely to have the most far-reaching effects on the biosphere?

A) oxygen
B) nitrogen
C) carbon
D) water
E) copper

Question 46

Carbon is fixed in the biosphere through ________ into carbohydrate compounds.

A) bacteria
B) biomes
C) photosynthesis
D) dentrification
E) transit

Question 47

This entity has the greatest percentage of its mass as water.

A) humans
B) tomatoes
C) rock
D) soil
E) earthworm

Question 48

Plant decomposition releases ________ into the atmosphere.

A) sulfur
B) oxygen
C) neon
D) carbon dioxide
E) nitrogen

Question 49

Animal wastes on the ground form a part of the ________ cycle.

A) oxygen
B) carbon
C) phosphorous
D) nitrogen
E) copper

Question 50

The conversion of nitrates into free nitrogen ________.

A) does not happen in nature
B) is called "freeing" of nitrogen
C) is accomplished by bacteria
D) happens in the process of photosynthesis
E) is little impacted by humans

Question 51

Most of the carbon near Earth's surface is held in ________.

A) geologic deposits
B) forests
C) glaciers
D) animals
E) lakes

Question 52

Of the main nutrients in the biosphere, the one that is "fixed" inside nodules in certain plant roots is ________.

A) carbon
B) nitrogen
C) oxygen
D) hydrogen
E) calcium

Question 53

Atmospheric nitrogen which can be assimilated by plants is ________ nitrogen.

A) legume
B) denitrified
C) juvenile
D) fixed
E) liberated

Question 54

Concerning oxygen, which of the following is FALSE?

A) It was scarce in Earth's early atmosphere.
B) It helped produce the first life on Earth.
C) Most life cannot function without oxygen.
D) Most oxygen has a biological origin.
E) Photosynthesis produces oxygen.

Question 55

Most atmospheric free nitrogen is cycled to Earth by means of ________.

A) assimilation
B) weathering
C) rain
D) mining
E) bacteria

Question 56

Amongst the biogeochemical cycles, which one can be said to operate rapidly?

A) nitrogen
B) carbon dioxide
C) oxygen
D) helium
E) rock

Question 57

The availability of moisture to plants is largely determined by ________.

A) precipitation
B) evaporation
C) precipitation versus evaporation
D) light
E) chlorofluorocarbons

Question 58

Which of the following does NOT correctly describe water in plants?

A) Water dissolves nutrients.
B) Chemical reactions take place in water.
C) Water carries away waste products.
D) Water carries nutrients to all parts of plants.
E) Water is created through the process of photosynthesis.

Question 59

Which of the following is cycled in minor amounts compared to the other substances on the list?

A) water
B) phosphorous
C) nitrogen
D) oxygen
E) carbon dioxide

Question 60

Which cycle has been significantly altered by humans and is of great concern because of its implications for global warming?

A) argon
B) oxygen
C) nutrient
D) nitrogen
E) carbon

Question 61

Humans fit into the food pyramid as ________.

A) primary consumers
B) primary producers
C) secondary producers
D) herbivores
E) the apex of the pyramid

Question 62

In the food chain, a(n) ________ is another term for a consumer.

A) autotroph
B) heterotroph
C) bryophyte
D) photosynthetic plant
E) producer

Question 63

Which of the following does NOT belong with the others?

A) topographic influences
B) light
C) edaphic influences
D) oxygen cycle
E) wind

Question 64

Animals which eat plants are also known as ________.

A) predators
B) carnivores
C) secondary consumers
D) herbivores
E) final consumers

Question 65

In studying environmental relationships, which of the following is true?

A) Interspecific relationships need to be considered.
B) Intraspecific relationships need to be considered.
C) Neither interspecific nor intraspecific relationships need to be considered.
D) Neither interspecific nor intraspecific relationships study is at the scale of the biome.
E) Both interspecific and intraspecific relationships need to be considered.

Question 66

What was learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

A) Never drill in the Arctic Ocean again.
B) Keep tourists from touching controls.
C) It was unclear if anything was learned.
D) The environmental effects were actually negligible.
E) Whole new technologies of offshore drilling were developed.

Question 67

Biomagnification is most closely associated with ________.

A) elephants
B) ozone
C) carbon dioxide
D) DDT
E) loud birds

Question 68

The effect of winds on life is ________.

A) almost always negative
B) almost always positive
C) mostly negative
D) mostly positive
E) a mix of positive and negative

Question 69

The effects of soil on flora and fauna are called ________.

A) topographic
B) ecotonal
C) edaphic
D) biotic
E) transitory

Question 70

According to the food chain concept, it takes ________ kilograms of plankton to make one kilogram of weight gain for a human.

A) 1
B) 10
C) 100
D) 1,000
E) 1,000,000

Question 71

The coconut palm is now widely dispersed in the world because of ________.

A) the ability of its coconut to float long distances
B) its ability to survive in the Tundra
C) rapid evolution
D) humans who have transplanted it
E) continental drift

Question 72

In which type of environment does the number of species tend to be the greatest?

A) very cold places
B) very warm places
C) places with moderate temperatures
D) places where cellular water occasionally freezes
E) species number is unrelated to temperature

Question 73

A(n) ________ is another way in which a food chain can be conceptualized.

A) sedimentary cycle
B) open system
C) food pyramid
D) final link at the apex
E) way of gaining energy at every step

Question 74

The relationship between climates and fauna is ________.

A) non-existent
B) important and obvious
C) unknown
D) important
E) just as distinct as with their floral counterparts

Question 75

Seasonal behavior in plants and animals is stimulated by ________.

A) photoperiodism
B) photosynthesis
C) temperature
D) edaphic influences
E) wildfire

Question 76

Plants are eaten by ________.

A) herbivores
B) the most plentiful animals in the food chain
C) carnivores
D) secondary consumers
E) primary producers

Question 77

The Deepwater Horizon event was ________.

A) a volcanic eruption
B) an explosion on an offshore drilling platform
C) an underwater earthquake
D) a large wildfire in Montana
E) eventually shown not to have serious ecological consequences

Question 78

Of the sum total of environmental relationships affecting plant distributions, ________ is the least predictable.

A) topography
B) temperature
C) wildfire
D) edaphic influences
E) succession

Question 79

Of the climatic factors, ________ is usually the most limited in its impact on biotic distributions.

A) light
B) moisture
C) temperature
D) photoperiodism
E) wind

Question 80

The 2010 Deepwater Oil Spill ________.

A) happened because of government interference
B) was the worst maritime spill in U.S. history
C) will actually decrease the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
D) has not left any lasting effects
E) was not an accident