Test Bank
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 57: Community Ecology
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. The first phase of decomposition of a vertebrate body is
a. dry decay.
b. autolysis.
c. secondary succession.
d. wet decay.
e. putrefaction.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. Which of the following is an example of an ecological community?
a. All the field mice in a local grassland
b. All the animals in a local grassland
c. All the living organisms in a local grassland
d. All the living organisms in all grasslands
e. All the living organisms and all the abiotic factors in a local grassland
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
3. Which of the following would be most likely to concern a community ecologist?
a. Energy flow through an ecosystem
b. Population growth of a single species
c. Interactions among individuals of the same species living together in a small area
d. Interactions among individuals of different species living together in a small area
e. The cycling of matter through biotic and abiotic components of an area
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
4. Which of the following is a primary producer?
a. Oak tree
b. Earthworm
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,c. Spider
d. Human
e. Fungus
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
5. Chemoautotrophs are primary _______ that obtain energy from _______.
a. producers; the sun
b. producers; inorganic molecules
c. producers; organic molecules
d. consumers; organic molecules
e. consumers; the sun and inorganic molecules
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
6. By definition, autotrophs are
a. primary consumers.
b. primary producers.
c. secondary consumers.
d. secondary producers.
e. decomposers.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
7. Which of the following statements about communities is false?
a. Communities can vary tremendously in size and scope.
b. The amount of energy available is an important factor in determining the species
richness of a community.
c. Energy enters communities through primary consumers.
d. An ecological community comprises a group of species that coexist and interact within
a defined area.
e. The boundaries of a community are not always easy to define.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
8. Which of the following is a primary consumer?
a. A predatory fish
b. A detritus-eating roundworm
c. An oak tree
d. A herbivorous beetle larva
e. A parasitic flea
Answer: d
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
9. In a food web with energy flowing up, a(n) _______ is one trophic level above a
primary consumer.
a. primary producer
b. decomposer
c. herbivore
d. autotroph
e. secondary consumer
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
10. Organisms that receive their energy from several trophic levels are said to be
a. omnivores.
b. herbivores.
c. primary consumers.
d. secondary consumers.
e. detritivores.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
11. Organisms that are _______ acquire their energy from eating primary consumers.
a. primary producers
b. detritivores
c. herbivores
d. autotrophs
e. secondary consumers
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. If secondary consumers are the highest trophic level in a community, how many
trophic levels are in the community (not counting decomposers)?
a. Two
b. Three
c. Four
d. Three if it is an aquatic community, four if it is a terrestrial community
e. Three if it is a terrestrial community, four if it is an aquatic community
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, 13. If gross primary productivity is 120 units per day, and the respiration rate is 30 units
per day, net primary productivity is _______ units per day.
a. 4
b. 30
c. 90
d. 120
e. 150
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
14. If gross primary productivity is 800 calories per hour, and net primary productivity is
100 calories per hour, then the respiration rate is _______ calories per hour.
a. 8
b. 80
c. 100
d. 700
e. 900
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
15. In a community, _______ give off heat.
a. only the autotrophs
b. only the heterotrophs
c. only the animals
d. only the birds and mammals
e. all the organisms
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
16. The number of trophic levels in most communities is limited by
a. the presence of decomposers.
b. loss of prey due to predation.
c. competitive exclusion.
d. changes in which species are present due to succession.
e. the loss of energy between trophic levels.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
17.–18. In a certain community, coyotes eat snakes, which eat frogs, which eat insects,
which eat plants.
17. Which organism in this food chain is a secondary consumer?
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 57: Community Ecology
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Erica Bergquist)
Multiple Choice
1. The first phase of decomposition of a vertebrate body is
a. dry decay.
b. autolysis.
c. secondary succession.
d. wet decay.
e. putrefaction.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.0 Chapter Introduction
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. Which of the following is an example of an ecological community?
a. All the field mice in a local grassland
b. All the animals in a local grassland
c. All the living organisms in a local grassland
d. All the living organisms in all grasslands
e. All the living organisms and all the abiotic factors in a local grassland
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
3. Which of the following would be most likely to concern a community ecologist?
a. Energy flow through an ecosystem
b. Population growth of a single species
c. Interactions among individuals of the same species living together in a small area
d. Interactions among individuals of different species living together in a small area
e. The cycling of matter through biotic and abiotic components of an area
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
4. Which of the following is a primary producer?
a. Oak tree
b. Earthworm
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,c. Spider
d. Human
e. Fungus
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
5. Chemoautotrophs are primary _______ that obtain energy from _______.
a. producers; the sun
b. producers; inorganic molecules
c. producers; organic molecules
d. consumers; organic molecules
e. consumers; the sun and inorganic molecules
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
6. By definition, autotrophs are
a. primary consumers.
b. primary producers.
c. secondary consumers.
d. secondary producers.
e. decomposers.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
7. Which of the following statements about communities is false?
a. Communities can vary tremendously in size and scope.
b. The amount of energy available is an important factor in determining the species
richness of a community.
c. Energy enters communities through primary consumers.
d. An ecological community comprises a group of species that coexist and interact within
a defined area.
e. The boundaries of a community are not always easy to define.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
8. Which of the following is a primary consumer?
a. A predatory fish
b. A detritus-eating roundworm
c. An oak tree
d. A herbivorous beetle larva
e. A parasitic flea
Answer: d
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
9. In a food web with energy flowing up, a(n) _______ is one trophic level above a
primary consumer.
a. primary producer
b. decomposer
c. herbivore
d. autotroph
e. secondary consumer
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
10. Organisms that receive their energy from several trophic levels are said to be
a. omnivores.
b. herbivores.
c. primary consumers.
d. secondary consumers.
e. detritivores.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
11. Organisms that are _______ acquire their energy from eating primary consumers.
a. primary producers
b. detritivores
c. herbivores
d. autotrophs
e. secondary consumers
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. If secondary consumers are the highest trophic level in a community, how many
trophic levels are in the community (not counting decomposers)?
a. Two
b. Three
c. Four
d. Three if it is an aquatic community, four if it is a terrestrial community
e. Three if it is a terrestrial community, four if it is an aquatic community
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, 13. If gross primary productivity is 120 units per day, and the respiration rate is 30 units
per day, net primary productivity is _______ units per day.
a. 4
b. 30
c. 90
d. 120
e. 150
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
14. If gross primary productivity is 800 calories per hour, and net primary productivity is
100 calories per hour, then the respiration rate is _______ calories per hour.
a. 8
b. 80
c. 100
d. 700
e. 900
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
15. In a community, _______ give off heat.
a. only the autotrophs
b. only the heterotrophs
c. only the animals
d. only the birds and mammals
e. all the organisms
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
16. The number of trophic levels in most communities is limited by
a. the presence of decomposers.
b. loss of prey due to predation.
c. competitive exclusion.
d. changes in which species are present due to succession.
e. the loss of energy between trophic levels.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 57.1 What Are Ecological Communities?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
17.–18. In a certain community, coyotes eat snakes, which eat frogs, which eat insects,
which eat plants.
17. Which organism in this food chain is a secondary consumer?
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
