Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]
MCQs

1. The diagram shows part of the nitrogen cycle.

Which kind of bacteria are involved in steps 1, 2 and 3?

2. What name is given to all the organisms in an area and their interactions with their environment?
A community
B ecosystem
C niche
D population
3. Which statement explains why two species cannot permanently occupy the same ecological niche?
A The two species could not interbreed.
B The two species may be part of separate food webs.
C The two species would compete for the same resources.
D The two species would have different nutritional requirements.
4. How does denitrification occur in the soil?
A active uptake of nitrate ions by plant roots
B bacterial reduction of nitrate ions to nitrogen gas
C drainage of manured fields
D leaching of nitrate ions
5. What name is given to all the organisms of the same species living in an area?
A community
B ecosystem
C niche
D population

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

6. The diagram shows the energy flow model for all the species in a forest. The width of the arrows is
proportional to the amount of energy transferred. Which circle represents the decomposers?

7. Which group could be a single population?

A all the animals and plants on an isolated island
B all the birds counted in one day in a garden
C all the bacteria in a colony of Bacillus subtilis
D all the insects occupying three hectares of farmland
8. What is the role of decomposers in the nitrogen cycle?
A They convert proteins to ammonium compounds.
B They fix atmospheric nitrogen.
C They oxidise ammonium compounds to nitrites.
D They oxidise nitrites to nitrates.
9. Within an ecosystem, the top consumers in a food chain are few in number.
Which statement explains this?
A Energy losses occur at each trophic level.
B Energy losses occur within the consumers digestive systems.
C Top consumers have a low reproductive rate.
D Top consumers are large in size.
10. A square metre of grassland receives about 1 047 000 kJ of solar light energy each year.
The table shows what happens to this energy.

How much energy is used by the grass in photosynthesis?

A 2000 kJ
B 19 500 kJ
C 21 500 kJ

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

D 23 500 kJ

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

11. Why does the application of nitrate fertilisers cause an increase in crop production?
A Green plants manufacture more protein.
B More nitrogen is fixed in leguminous plants.
C The fertiliser adds energy to the ecosystem.
D The number of denitrifying bacteria decreases.
12. What name is given to all the organisms of different species living in an area?
A community
B ecosystem
C niche
D population
13. Which agricultural practice will not provide an alternative to the use of ammonium nitrate as a
fertiliser to increase the productivity of wheat?
A growing wheat and another cereal crop in the same field in alternate years
B growing wheat and beans in the same field in alternate years
C ploughing animal waste such as dung into the soil
D using synthetic urea as a fertilizer
14. Which stage in the nitrogen cycle is linked to its bacteria?

15. What is the ecological definition of the term community?

A all the food webs in an ecosystem
B all the individuals of one species in an area
C all the organisms in an area
D the living organisms and their non-living environment
16. Which stage of energy transfer has the lowest efficiency?
A sunlight producer
B producer primary consumer
C primary consumer secondary consumer
D secondary consumer tertiary consumer
17. Leguminous plants have root nodules containing bacteria. The diagram shows a transverse section
through part of the root and root nodule of a leguminous plant.

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

What is indicated by the labels 1, 2, 3 and 4?

18. A tree carries out photosynthesis and provides organic compounds for other organisms in a forest. It
takes carbon dioxide from and returns oxygen to the atmosphere. It takes water from the soil into
its roots and its leaves lose water to the atmosphere. Many other organisms live in the tree. Which
of these terms applies to the description of the tree?
A community
B ecosystem
C habitat
D niche
19. Which box contains only the parts of an ecosystem which are classed as a food web?

20. Which process does not make nitrogen-containing compounds available to plants?
A ammonification by decomposers
B denitrification by denitrifying bacteria
C nitrogen fixation in plant root nodules
D nitrogen fixation by soil bacteria

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

21. The diagram shows a food web.

How many trophic levels are represented in the food web?

A3
B4
C5
D6
22. The diagram represents loss of energy from a food chain to decomposers, transfer of energy to the
next trophic level and energy loss through respiration. All figures are in kJ m2y1.

What is illustrated by this diagram?

A Carnivores lose more energy than herbivores.
B Energy loss to decomposers is higher than respiratory loss.
C Energy transfer between trophic levels is about 10 %.
D The energy of the final trophic level is not used.
23. The diagram represents part of the nitrogen cycle.
Which process is carried out by nitrifying bacteria?

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

24. What limits the number of trophic levels in a food chain?

A biomass of the autotrophs
B efficiency of energy conversion between levels
C net productivity of the ecosystem
D species diversity in the ecosystem
25. The following are definitions of three ecological terms.
1 all of the organisms and their environment
2 group of individuals of one species living in an area
3 all of the organisms living in a habitat
What are the correct definitions of a community and a population?

26. The diagram shows the circulation of nitrogen in nature.

What is correct?

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

27. Which statement explains why two species cannot permanently occupy the same ecological niche?
A The two species could not interbreed.
B The two species may be part of separate food webs.
C The two species would compete for the same resources.
D The two species would have different nutritional requirements.
28. Following an environmental disaster of a major volcanic eruption, the atmosphere contains greatly
increased amounts of dust. How does this affect the following organisms?

29. The diagram shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem. Photosynthesis is the gross
productivity. Producers lose some energy in respiration and the energy left is the net productivity.
This can also be expressed as an equation:
Net Productivity (NP) = Gross Productivity (GP) Respiration (R)
Some of the net productivity passes to herbivores.

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

Which calculation gives the proportion of net productivity passing to herbivores?

30. The diagram shows some chemical conversions during the nitrogen cycle.

Which conversions involve microorganisms?

31. What is the correct match of example to ecological term?

32. The diagram shows a simplified nitrogen cycle. During which stage does nitrification take place?

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

33. Grasshoppers eat only the leaves of grass. Grasshoppers are eaten by carnivorous beetles.
What does this description of grasshoppers give us sufficient information to define?
1 habitat
2 niche
3 trophic level
A 2 only
B 3 only
C 2 and 3 only
D 1, 2 and 3
34. Of the prey consumed by the lion, into which box does the largest amount of energy go?

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

KEY:
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B
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D
B
B
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C
C
B
D
D
C
B
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B
A
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B
C

For Any Error in typing, contact:

Waleed Ahmad Khan
0347 4443879

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

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Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

Theory
1. Fig. 2.1 shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem. All the figures are in kJ m2 year1.

(a) Calculate how much energy is available to the primary consumers in this ecosystem.
......................................................................................................................................[1]

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

11

Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

(b) The efficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels is calculated by comparing the energy
available to a trophic level with the energy available to the next trophic level. Between secondary and
tertiary consumers, this is calculated as follows.

Use the formula above to calculate the efficiency of energy transfer between the secondary consumers
and the tertiary consumers in this ecosystem.
.............................................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................................[1]
(c) In some food webs, individual consumer species feed at different trophic levels. With reference to
Fig. 2.1, explain an advantage of this for these consumer species.
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........................................................................................................................................[2]
(d) Explain the role of decomposers in the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in ecosystems.
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.......................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................[4]

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

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Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

2. Food webs in hot deserts are much simpler than those of other areas, such as temperate woodlands
or coral reefs. The physical conditions in deserts are so extreme that few organisms can survive.
However, there are plants and animals that have special adaptations to withstand big changes in
temperature and lack of rainfall. Desert plants provide shade and food for herbivorous animals, such
as insects, lizards and rodents. Snakes, scorpions and spiders feed on the herbivores. Animals such
as the fennec fox and hawks feed as top carnivores.
(a) State the term that best describes each of the following.
(i) Organisms, such as desert plants, that form the first trophic level in a food web.
term ......................................................................................................................[1]
(ii) All the fennec foxes living in one area at the same time.
term ......................................................................................................................[1]
(iii) All the different species that inhabit a desert at the same time.
term ......................................................................................................................[1]
(iv) A natural unit, such as a desert, consisting of all the living organisms and the physical
environment interacting together to give a stable system.
term ......................................................................................................................[1]
(v) Herbivorous animals, such as lizards and rodents, which are prey for carnivores.
term ......................................................................................................................[1]
(b) Using information from the passage, explain the term habitat.
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...................................................................................................................................................................[2]
(c) Explain how the leaves of desert plants may be adapted for survival in areas with little rainfall.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................... [3]

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

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Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

3. Complete the table below by describing one role in living organisms for each of the ions listed.

4. (a) An ecosystem may be as small as a pond or as large as a forest. Some scientists consider that the
whole biosphere is an ecosystem. Give a detailed definition of the term ecosystem. You may use
another example in your answer.
........................................................................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................................................................
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....................................................................................................................................................................[3]
(b) In 1978, the American ecologist Paul Colinvaux published a book of essays with the title Why Big
Fierce Animals are Rare. Explain why big, fierce animals are rare in ecosystems.
........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................[3]

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

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Cambridge AS level Biology

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

(c) Many tropical islands have nitrogen-deficient soils. Leguminous trees, such as Royal Poinciana,
Delonix regia, grow well in such conditions. Explain why leguminous plants grow well in these
conditions.
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........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................[3]
5. The element nitrogen is present in many biological molecules, such as amino acids, proteins and
nucleotides. Fig. 6.1 shows part of the nitrogen cycle.

Waleed Ahmad Khan

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

15

Cambridge AS level Biology

Waleed Ahmad Khan

[SECTION: K ECOLOGY]

(ECP 2013 2015)

Phone: 0347 4443879 |

16