Basic Biology Practice Test: Community Ecology | Practice Test / Quiz / MCQs

1. Why do tropical communities tend to have greater species diversity than temperate or polar communities?

They are less likely to be affected by human disturbance.There are fewer parasites to negatively affect the health of tropical communities.Tropical communities are low in altitude, whereas temperate and polar communities are high in altitude.More competitive dominant species have evolved in temperate and polar communities.Tropical communities are generally older than temperate and polar communities.

2. Which of the following studies would a community ecologist undertake to learn about competitive interactions?

selectivity of nest sites among cavity-nesting songbirds, the grass species preferred by grazing pronghorn antelope and bison, nitrate and phosphate uptake by various hardwood forest tree species, and stomach analysis of brown trout and brook trout in streams where they coexistthe grass species preferred by grazing pronghorn antelope and bisonnitrate and phosphate uptake by various hardwood forest tree speciesselectivity of nest sites among cavity-nesting songbirdsstomach analysis of brown trout and brook trout in streams where they coexist

3. Keystone predators can maintain species diversity in a community if they

prey only on the least abundant species in the community.competitively exclude other predators.reduce the number of disruptions in the community.allow immigration of other predators.prey on the community's dominant species.

4. In a particular case of secondary succession, three species of wild grass all invaded a field. By the second season, a single species dominated the field. A possible factor in this secondary succession was

inhibition.equilibrium.facilitation.parasitism.immigration.

5. The principle of competitive exclusion states that

two species that have exactly the same niche cannot coexist in a community.competition in a population promotes survival of the best-adapted individuals.competition between two species always causes extinction or emigration of one species.two species will stop reproducing until one species leaves the habitat.two species cannot coexist in the same habitat.

6. Food chains are sometimes short because

predator species tend to be less diverse and less abundant than prey species.only a single species of herbivore feeds on each plant species.local extinction of a species causes extinction of the other species in its food chain.most of the energy in a trophic level is lost as it passes to the next higher level.most producers are inedible.

8. Which of the following would be most significant in understanding the structure of an ecological community?

determining the kinds of interactions that occur among organisms of different speciesdetermining how many species are present overalldetermining the relative abundance of speciesdetermining which particular species are presentdetermining how many species are present overall, which particular species are present, the kinds of interactions that occur among organisms of different species, and the relative abundance of species

9. According to the nonequilibrium model,

communities will remain in a climax state if there are no human disturbances.communities are constantly changing after being influenced by disturbances.community structure remains stable in the absence of interspecific competition.interspecific interactions induce changes in community composition over time.communities are assemblages of closely linked species that are irreparably changed by disturbance.

10. Resource partitioning would be most likely to occur between

sympatric populations of a flowering plant and its specialized insect pollinator.sympatric populations of a predator and its prey.allopatric populations of species with similar ecological niches.sympatric populations of species with similar ecological niches.allopatric populations of the same animal species.

11. Which of the following is a correct statement about the McArthur/Wilson Island Equilibrium Model?

Islands closer to the mainland have higher extinction rates.Competitive exclusion is less likely on an island that has large numbers of species.Small islands receive few new immigrant species.The more species that inhabit an island, the lower the extinction rate.As the number of species on an island increases, the emigration rate decreases.

12. Why are food chains relatively short?

Top-level feeders tend to be small but are capable of conserving more energy.There are only so many organisms that are adapted to feed on other types of organisms.Top-level feeders tend to be more numerous than lower-trophic-level species.Food chain length is ultimately determined by the photosynthetic efficiency of producers.Longer chains are less stable and energy transfer between levels is inefficient.

13. According to bottom-up and top-down control models of community organization, which of the following expressions would imply that an increase in the size of a carnivore (C) population would negatively impact on its prey (P) population, but not vice versa?

C ← P →C ↔ PP ← C → PP → CP ← C

14. Elephants are not the most dominant species in African grasslands, yet they influence community structure. The grasslands contain scattered woody plants, but they are kept in check by the uprooting activities of the elephants. Take away the elephants, and the grasslands convert to forests or to shrublands. The newly growing forests support fewer species than the previous grasslands. Which of the following describes why elephants are the keystone species in this scenario?

Elephants prevent drought in African grasslands.Essentially all of the other species depend on the presence of the elephants to maintain the community.Grazing animals depend upon the elephants to convert forests to grassland.Elephants are the biggest herbivore in this community.Elephants help other populations survive by keeping out many of the large African predators.

15. Which of the following best describes the consequences of white-band disease in Caribbean coral reefs?

Staghorn coral has been decimated by the pathogen, and Elkhorn coral has taken its place.Algal species take the place of the dead coral, and the fish community is dominated by herbivores.Key habitat for lobsters, snappers, and other reef fishes has improved.Other coral species take the place of the affected Staghorn and Elkhorn species.Algal species take over and the overall reef diversity increases due to increases in primary productivity.

16. Which of the following is an example of Batesian mimicry?

a snapping turtle that uses its tongue to mimic a worm, thus attracting fisha fawn with fur coloring that camouflages it in the forest environmenta butterfly that resembles a leafa nonvenomous snake that looks like a venomous snakean insect that resembles a twig

17. Which of the following is an example of cryptic coloration?

brown or gray color of tree barka 'walking stick' insect that resembles a twigmarkings of a viceroy butterfly's wingsbands on a coral snakecolors of an insect-pollinated flower's petals

18. How did Eugene Odum describe an ecological niche?

an organism's 'profession' in the communitythe interactions of the organism with other members of the communityan entity that is synonymous with an organism's specific trophic levelthe 'address' of an organismthe organism's role in recycling nutrients in its habitat

21. Zoonotic disease

can only be spread from animals to humans through direct contact.is caused by suborganismal pathogens such as viruses, viroids, and prions only.is caused by pathogens that are transferred from other animals to humans by direct contact or by means of a vector.is too specific to study at the community level, and studies of zoonotic pathogens are relegated to organismal biology.can only be transferred from animals to humans by means of an intermediate host.

22. In terms of community ecology, why are pathogens more virulent now than ever before?

Host organisms have become more susceptible because of weakened immune systems.More new pathogens have recently evolved.Human activities are transporting pathogens globally at an unprecedented rate.Sequencing of genes in pathogenic organisms is particularly difficult.Medicines for treating pathogenic disease are in short supply.

23. In a tide pool, 15 species of invertebrates were reduced to eight after one species was removed. The species removed was likely a(n)

keystone species.resource partitioner.herbivore.pathogen.mutualistic organism.

24. The most plausible hypothesis to explain why species richness is higher in tropical than in temperate regions is that

tropical regions have very high rates of immigration and very low rates of extinction.tropical regions generally have more available water and higher levels of solar radiation.higher temperatures cause more rapid speciation.tropical communities are younger.diversity increases as evapotranspiration decreases.

25. The energetic hypothesis and dynamic stability hypothesis are ideas that attempt to explain

plant defenses against herbivores.the evolution of mutualism.the length of food chains.competitive exclusion.resource partitioning.

25 Questions

❤ If you liked Fatskills, consider supporting us by checking out The Life Manuals You Never Got.

About | Explore | User Guide | Topics | Subjects | Doubt Solver | Career Aptitude Test | Answers | Free Tools | OSHA Basics Quiz | What Should We Know?
Privacy | Terms |

Without work one finishes nothing. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
© 2026 Fatskills.com

All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, trademarks and brands does not imply endorsement.

25 Questions

❤ If you liked Fatskills, consider supporting us by checking out The Life Manuals You Never Got.

About | Explore | User Guide | Topics | Subjects | Doubt Solver | Career Aptitude Test | Answers | Free Tools | OSHA Basics Quiz | What Should We Know? Privacy | Terms |

Without work one finishes nothing. - Ralph Waldo Emerson© 2026 Fatskills.com

All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, trademarks and brands does not imply endorsement.

About | Explore | User Guide | Topics | Subjects | Doubt Solver | Career Aptitude Test | Answers | Free Tools | OSHA Basics Quiz | What Should We Know?
Privacy | Terms |

Without work one finishes nothing. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
© 2026 Fatskills.com