BIOMES & ECOSYSTEMS

Complete the following questions by selecting the corresponding letter which matches
the correct answer.

1. Which vegetation would be the most effective interceptor?

a) broad-leafed trees
b) pine plantation
c) desert cactus
d) rainforest
e) grasslands

*2. A plant that is halophytic is specifically adapted to:

a) salty conditions
b) snowy conditions
c) cold conditions
d) windy conditions
e) dry conditions

3. Which of the following is not an example of an Australian ecosystem?

a) mulga shrub
b) tropical rainforest
c) desert
d) rocky platform
e) boreal forest

4. Arid or desert regions are defined as areas that receive:

a) less than 50mm of rain annually

b) less than 500mm of rain annually
c) less than 100mm of rain annually
d) less than 250mm of rain annually

*5. Permafrost is commonly associated with which type of biome?

a) deciduous forest
b) coniferous forest
c) tundra
d) chaparral

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6. A plant that is deciduous is one that:

a) experiences a loss of leaves for part of the year

b) is green all year round
c) flowers only once every two years
d) experiences a loss of leaves in summer

*7. Which of the following is not an example of a conifer?

a) willow
b) pine
c) fir
d) spruce

*8. In relation to the term boreal, this would refer to:

a) evergreen
b) southern
c) tree-living
d) northern

*9. Savanna may best be described as:

a) regularly burnt grassland

b) deciduous woodlands
c) evergreen needle-leafed
d) a treeless barren land

*10. The mid latitudes of South America is associated with the Pampas grasslands.
Which of the its counterparts is incorrectly matched with its world location?

a) Veld of South Africa

b) Steppes of Russia
c) Praires of United States
d) Veld of New Zealand

*11. Besides low annual rainfall, what other characteristics are typical of a desert
climate?

1. extreme drought
2. very hot summers
3. little or no cloud cover
4. low humidity levels during the day
5. high humidity levels during the day

a) 1,2,3&4
b) 2,3&5
c) 2,3&4
d) 1,2,3&5
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12. Which of the following is not an example of the abiotic component of an
ecosystem?

a) rocks
b) soil
c) atmosphere
d) nitrogen
e) plants and animals

13. The nonliving portion of any given biome may also be called:

a) inorganic or biotic
b) organic or abiotic
c) biotic
d) abiotic

14. The term sclerophyll means:

a) a clear covering
b) the outer covering
c) a leaf that possesses a waxy cuticle
d) hard leafed

*15. Which of the terms in list one is correctly matched with its definition in list 2?

LIST 1 LIST 2

i) hydrophyte a plant that can tolerate salty conditions

ii) mesophyte a plant that requires a moderately humid
environment to grow in
iii) xerophyte a plant that can survive in extremely wet
conditions
iv) halophyte a plant that is tolerant to dry conditions

a) ii
b) ii & iii
c) iv
d) i

16. The process through which water is lost to the atmosphere by plants is called
evapo-transpiration. This occurs through a plants:

a) leaves
b) stomatas
c) pores
d) holes

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17. The partly decayed remains of plants and animals is called:

a) humus
b) leaf litter
c) soil
d) decomposition

18. Which description best describes a lignotuber?

a) new growth from dormant buds that lie beneath the bark on trunks and
branches
b) a below ground woody swelling that produces new shoots
c) dormant buds that lie outside the bark on trunks and new branches
d) a woody capsule that releases a valve to enable the dispersion of seeds

19. The process of soluble minerals being removed by percolating water through
the soil is called:

a) leaching
b) eluviation
c) infiltration
d) mineralisation
e) solution

*20. A soil of ph 6-7 would be classified as:

a) very acidic
b) akaline
c) slightly acidic
d) slightly alkaline

21. Animals that consume only plant foods are called:

a) herbivores
b) carnivores
c) omnivores
d) detrivores

22. This is known as a set of interrelated food chains:

a) ecological pyramid
b) biomass
c) food web
d) habitat
e) niche

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23. The green pigment that plants contain essential for photosynthesis
is referred to as:

a) chlorophyll
b) starch
c) glucose
d) cellulose

24. An example of a detrivore is:

a) grass
b) a fox
c) an earthworm
d) a bird

25. A nocturnal animal would:

a) avoid the heat of the day by venturing out at night when temperatures are
cooler than those received throughout the day
b) survives hostile conditions through the process of hibernation
c) best be suited to a water environment
d) be most active throughout daylight hours

*26. Some desert animals practice estivation in order to survive their harsh
environment. This practice involves:

a) extended periods of inactivity throughout hot dry spells

b) panting or sweating to keep body temperature low
c) migrating to cooler areas to avoid summer droughts
d) the decrease of excreta in order to reduce moisture loss

27. Perennials are plants:

a) whose normal life cycle is completed within one year

b) that die each year
c) that have a life cycle of two or more years
d) require a humid environment to survive

28. The fungal disease, Phytopthora Cinnamomi, also known as dieback thrives
best in:

a) wet and moist conditions

b) hot and dry condition
c) cool and wet condition
d) any conditions

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29. Dieback disease often results in the death of a plant as the fungi:

a) kills the roots of a tree preventing nutrient uptake

b) killsthe leaves, reducing the ability to photosynthesize
c) lives in and block the stomatas, preventing evaportranspiration
d) all of the above

30. Organisms live in which one of the following sphere?

a) atmosphere
b) lithosphere
c) hydrosphere
d) biosphere

31. Lateritic soils are easily recognised by their distinctive colour of:

a) red and orange

b) deep black
c) white
d) yellow

32. The C horizon of a soil profile:

a) is the top soil

b) is a zone of mineral accumulation
c) provides the parent material for the soil
d) is rich in organic matter
e) is a layer of unweathered rock

33. The darker the soil, the:

a) greater the iron and aluminium oxides

b) the greater the humus content
c) the lesser the humus content
d) the greater the eluviation process

*34. Soils that are rich in calcium are referred to as:

a) pedalfers
b) pedocals
c) caterias
d) calcites
e) podzols

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35. Parent material affects the soil properties of:

a) colour
b) texture
c) chemical composition
d) all of the above

*36. Which of the soil particles is smallest in size?

a) silt
b) sand
c) gravel
d) clay

37. The specific adaptation of the Jarrah tree to ensure survival throughout the dry
summer season is its:

a) long sinker root system

b) thick and fibrous bark
c) extensive horizontal root system
d) broad and succulent leaves

38. The densely interwoven and unbroken mat of trees of the tropical
rainforest is called the:
a) canopy
b) understorey
c) tree mat
d) ceiling

39. Which of the following is not an example of rainforest vegetation?

a) liana
b) strangler
c) emergent
d) epiphyte
e) ephemeral

40. Characteristic of a strangler is:

a) their parasitic nature

b) their deep root system
c) their non-parasitic nature
d) the absence of chlorophyll

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41. An example of a saprophyte is:

a) a mushroom
b) a staghorn
c) moss
d) lichen

42. The climate that is formed beneath the understorey of a rainforest as a result of
sunlight not be able to easily penetrate the canopy:

a) a micro-climate
b) a mini-climate
c) temperate climate
d) all of the above

43. Shade tolerant plants:

a) are well suited to low sunlight levels

b) grow only in completely shaded areas
c) do not photosynthesize
d) do not tolerate shaded areas

44. An example of a plant that is content to grow in the low light levels of the
rainforest floor is a:

a) lichen
b) liana
c) epiphyte
d) humus

45. Equatorial rainforests tend to have an absence of this due to the lack of
penetrating sunlight:

a) emergents;
b) continuous canopy
c) undergrowth
d) understorey

46. Tree living refers to which type of animal?

a) aboreal
b) nocturnal
c) parasitic
d) terestrial

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47. Tropical rainforests fall between the latitudes of:

a) 0 and 5 degrees north and south of the equator

b) 0 and 10 degrees north and south of the equator
c) 10 and 20 degrees north and south of the equator
d) 0 and 30 degrees north and south of the equator

48. The Tuart, Jarrah and Wandoo trees are all examples of which biome?

a) dry sclerophyll
b) tropical rainforest
c) equatorial rainforest
d) wet sclerophyll

*49. Which equation correctly illustrates the carbon cycle?

a) C6H12O6 + 6O2  6CO2 + 6H2O + energy

b) C6H12O6  6CO2 + 6O2 + 6H2O + energy
c) C6H12O6 + energy  6O2 + 6CO2 + 6H2O
d) C6H12O6 + 6H2O  6O2 + 6CO2 + energy

*50. The following equation represents:

6CO2 + 6H20 + sunlight + C6H12O6

a) sugar production
b) photosynthesis
c) the water cycle
d) the nitrogen cycle

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