UNIT-4 : ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

1. The term “Ecology” was coined in 1869 by

A) Ernst Haeckel
B) Charles Elton
C) A.G.Transley
D) None
ANSWER: A
2. The word ecology is derived from
A) French
B) Greek
C) Latin
D) Spanish
ANSWER: B
3. “Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and
abundance of organisms” defined by
A) Krebs, 1985
B) Odum, 1963
C) Transley, 1935
D) Smith, 1972
ANSWER: A
4. In ecology, the study of an individual species is known as
A) Synecology
B) Radiation ecology
C) Autecology
D) All
ANSWER: C
5. In ecology, the study of group of species in a community is known as
A) Synecology
B) Radiation ecology
C) Autecology
D) None
ANSWER: A
6. Desert ecosystem is an example for
A) Aquatic ecosystem
B) Terrestrial ecosystem
C) Community ecosystem
D) Aerial ecosystem
ANSWER: B
7. The transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem is known as
A) Marine ecosystem
B) Terrestrial ecosystem
C) Community ecosystem
D) Wetland ecosystem
ANSWER: D
8. The term ecosystem was proposed by
A) Ernst Haeckel
B) Charles Elton
C) A.G.Transley
D) None
ANSWER: C
9. The annual rainfall mostly required for the temperate grassland biome is
A) 5 to 25 cm
B) 25 to 150 cm
C) 25 to 75 cm
D) 100 to 175 cm
ANSWER: C

10. The coldest of all the biomes in the world is

A) Tundra biome
B) Coniferous biome
C) Deciduous biome
D) Rainforest biome
ANSWER: A
11. The word ‘Tundra’ originated from the word ‘tunturi’ of ____________ language.
A) Spanish
B) Chinese
C) Irish
D) Finnish
ANSWER: D
12. Plants can take up nitrogen in two forms ……….
A) NH4+& NO3-
B) NH3& N2
C) NO3 & NO
D) NO2 & N2O
ANSWER: A
13. Flowing water in the aquatic ecosystem is also referred as
A) Stagnant water
B) Lentic water
C) Lotic water
D) None
ANSWER: C
14. Tropical Savanna biome exist mainly in which part of the world
A) Africa
B) India
C) South America
D) Australia
ANSWER: A
15. Which among the following biome requires the annual rainfall around 200 to 225 cm,
A) Tundra biome
B) Temperate deciduous biome
C) Tropical rainforest biome
D) Tropical Savanna biome.
ANSWER: C
16. Plants that requires high level light intensity for their growth is called,
A) Halophytes
B) Heliophytes
C) Sciophytes
D) Mesophytes
ANSWER: B
17. Plants that requires low level light intensity for their growth is called,
A) Halophytes
B) Heliophytes
C) Sciophytes
D) Mesophytes
ANSWER: C
18. Plants that survive long periods of droughts are known as
A) Xerophytes
B) Mesophytes
C) Hydrophytes
D) Halophytes
ANSWER: A

19. Plants that require moderate water conditions are known as

A) Xerophytes
B) Mesophytes
C) Hydrophytes
D) Halophytes
ANSWER: B
20. Plants which grows in saline water conditions are known as
A) Xerophytes
B) Mesophytes
C) Hydrophytes
D) Halophytes
ANSWER: D
21. The optimum range of soil pH for most of the plants on earth is between
A) 5.5 to 7.5
B) 6.0 to 9.0
C) 3.0 to 7.0
D) 4.5 to 8.5
ANSWER: A
22. Herbivores are also referred as
A) Primary consumers
B) Secondary consumers
C) Tertiary consumers
D) Quaternary consumers.
ANSWER: A
23. Microorganisms like Bacteria and Fungi are also called as
A) Autotrophs
B) Saprophytes
C) Heterotrophs
D) All of these.
ANSWER: B
24. The amount of chemical energy as biomass that primary producers can create in a given
length of time is called as,
A) Ecological Succession
B) Ecosystem resilience
C) Gross primary production
D) Gross secondary production
ANSWER: C
25. The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time is called
as
A) Ecological Succession
B) Ecosystem resilience
C) Gross primary production
D) Biological diversity.
ANSWER: A
26. The concept of resilience in ecological systems was first introduced by the Canadian ecologist
______________.
A) Ernst Haeckel
B) A.G.Transley
C) Charles Darwin
D) C.S. Holling
ANSWER: D
27. The time required for an ecosystem to return to an equilibrium or steady-state following a
perturbation is known as
A) Ecological Succession
B) Ecosystem resilience
C) Ecosystem duration
D) Ecological average
ANSWER: B
28. The term __________________means ‘the ability of the nature to remain unchanged,
readjusting with small disturbances’.
A) Ecological Succession
B) Ecological ecosystem
C) Ecosystem disturbance
D) Ecological balance
ANSWER: D
29. Biological diversity or biodiversity involves which among the following;
A) Genetic diversity and ecological diversity
B) Genetic diversity and ecosystem
C) Ecological diversity and ecosystem
D) Ecological balance and ecological succession
ANSWER: A
30. The living species which can produce their own food for their growth is called as;
A) Saprophytes
B) Heterotrophs
C) Mesotrophs
D) Autotrophs
ANSWER: D
31. The dynamic relations that exist between the living forms and their physical environment,
which involve in continuous circulation of the essential elements and compounds required for life
is known as
A) Material cycle
B) Natural cycle
C) Bio-geo chemical cycle
D) All the above
ANSWER: D
32. Example for sedimentary cycle is
A) Phosphorous cycle
B) Nitrogen cycle
C) Carbon cycle
D) All the above
ANSWER: A
33. The water reservoir that exists in the rocky area is known as
A) Rockifers
B) Aquifers
C) Rocketeers
D) None
ANSWER: B
34. Which among the following does not belongs to hydrological cycle?
A) Infiltration
B) Transpiration
C) Perspiration
D) Evaporation
ANSWER: C
35. The high amount of energy required for the physical process of nitrogen cycle is provided by,
A) Lightning process
B) Cosmic radiations
C) Lava flow and forest fire
D) All
ANSWER: D
36. The step which involves conversion of nitrogen compound into ammonia is called as
A) Ammonification
B) Mineralization
C) Both A & B
D) None
ANSWER: C
37. The step which involves the conversion of ammonium salts into nitrites/nitrates is called as
A) Ammonification
B) Mineralization
C) Nitrification
D) Denitrification
ANSWER: C
38. The step which involves in conversion of nitrates into atmospheric nitrogen is called as
A) Ammonification
B) Mineralization
C) Nitrification
D) Denitrification
ANSWER: D
39. The process of conversion of molecular nitrogen in the air into nitrogenous compounds in soil
is called as
A) Ammonification
B) Nitrogen fixation
C) Nitrification
D) Denitrification
ANSWER: B
40. Which among the following ecosystem consists inverted pyramid of biomass?
A) Tree ecosystem
B) Cropland ecosystem
C) Pond ecosystem
D) None of these.
ANSWER: C
41. Which among the following bacteria helps in oxidizing nitrites into nitrates in soil and marine
system?
A) Rhizobium
B) Cyanobacteria
C) Nitrobacter
D) Nitrosomonas eutropha
ANSWER: C
42. Which among the following is an ammonia oxidizing, gram-negative bacteria?
A) Rhizobium
B) Cyanobacteria
C) Azospirillum
D) Nitrosomonas eutropha
ANSWER: D
43. Which among the following is a denitrifying bacteria?
A) Thiobacillus denitrificans
B) Micrococcus denitrificans
C) Pseudomonas aeruginosa
D) All
ANSWER: D
44. The major reservoir of the carbon among the following;
A) Atmosphere
B) Plants
C) Oceans
D) Geosphere
ANSWER: C
45. The study of energy transfer between different trophic levels in an ecosystem is known as
A) Energy flow
B) Bioenergetics
C) Biogenetics
D) Bioinformatics
ANSWER: B
46. In an ecosystem, the flow of energy is always _____________
A) Unidirectional
B) Bidirectional
C) Multidirectional
D) All the above.
ANSWER: A
47. Green plants use only upto ___________ of the total solar radiation.
A) 10 to 15 %
B) 20 to 25 %
C) 1 to 15 %
D) 1 to 5 %
ANSWER: D
48. Energy actually used by the herbivores is only _____ of the gross productivity of producers.
A) 10%
B) 25 %
C) 5 %
D) 15 %
ANSWER: A
49. The transfer of energy and nutrients from one feeding group of organisms to another in a
series is called as
A) Food chain
B) Food web
C) Food circulation
D) None
ANSWER: A
50. The food chain that starts from dead organic matter is known as
A) Aquatic food chain
B) Terrestrial food chain
C) Grazing food chain
D) Detritus food chain
ANSWER: D
51. The food chain that starts from primary producers is known as
A) Aquatic food chain
B) Terrestrial food chain
C) Grazing food chain
D) Detritus food chain
ANSWER: C
52. The network of food chains where different types of organisms are connected at different
levels is referred as
A) Food chain
B) Food web
C) Food circulation
D) Energy flow
ANSWER: B
53. The concept of Ecological pyramid was introduced in 1927 by
A) Charles Elton
B) Charles Chamberland
C) Charles Darwin
D) Charles Milton
ANSWER: A
54. An ecosystem contains lesser number of producers than those of consumers. Pyramid of this
type is called as
A) Inverted pyramid
B) Upright pyramid
C) Positive pyramid
D) Negative pyramid
ANSWER: A
55. An ecosystem contains lesser number of consumers than those of producers. Pyramid of this
type is called as
A) Inverted pyramid
B) Upright pyramid
C) Positive pyramid
D) Negative pyramid
ANSWER: B
56. The Ten percent energy Transfer Law was proposed by
A) Till Lindemann
B) Peter Lindemann
C) Ray Lindemann
D) Raymond Lindemann
ANSWER: D

57. The pyramid which has the relationship between different trophic levels in terms of weight of
organisms is known as,
A) Inverted pyramid
B) Pyramid of number
C) Pyramid of biomass
D) Pyramid of energy
ANSWER: C
58. In an ecosystem, the pyramid of energy is always
A) Upright
B) Inverted
C) Circular
D) Rectangular
ANSWER: A

59. The Ten percent energy Transfer Law was proposed in the year
A) 1912
B) 1922
C) 1932
D) 1942
ANSWER: D

60. According to which ecologist, an ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals
and micro-organisms in an area functioning with all of the non-living things
A) Sir Arthur Transley
B) George Jackson
C) Ernst Haeckel
D) George Williams.
ANSWER: B

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