ECOLOGY CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS
ACTUAL TEST QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● What are the two fundamental processes that govern ecosystems?
Answer: Energy flow and nutrient cycling.
●● How does energy flow in an ecosystem?
Answer: Energy flows one way, primarily from the sun to producers,
then to consumers, with energy lost as heat at each step.
●● What is the role of producers in a food web?
Answer: Producers (autotrophs) make their own food using sunlight and
form the base of the food web.
●● Define primary consumers.
Answer: Organisms that eat producers; they are typically herbivores.
●● What are secondary consumers?
Answer: Organisms that eat primary consumers; they can be carnivores
or omnivores.
, ●● What are tertiary consumers?
Answer: High-level predators that eat secondary consumers.
●● What is the function of decomposers in an ecosystem?
Answer: Decomposers break down dead organic matter, recycling
nutrients back into the soil for producers.
●● What does the arrow in a food web diagram represent?
Answer: The flow of energy, pointing from the organism being eaten to
the organism doing the eating.
●● What is a micropipette used for?
Answer: A micropipette is used to measure and transfer very small
volumes of liquid, typically in microliters.
●● How do you convert microliters to milliliters?
Answer: Divide the number of microliters by 1,000.
●● What is the purpose of a microcentrifuge?
Answer: A microcentrifuge spins tubes at high speeds to pool liquids at
the bottom of the tube using centrifugal force.
●● What is the Golden Rule of Centrifugation?
ACTUAL TEST QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● What are the two fundamental processes that govern ecosystems?
Answer: Energy flow and nutrient cycling.
●● How does energy flow in an ecosystem?
Answer: Energy flows one way, primarily from the sun to producers,
then to consumers, with energy lost as heat at each step.
●● What is the role of producers in a food web?
Answer: Producers (autotrophs) make their own food using sunlight and
form the base of the food web.
●● Define primary consumers.
Answer: Organisms that eat producers; they are typically herbivores.
●● What are secondary consumers?
Answer: Organisms that eat primary consumers; they can be carnivores
or omnivores.
, ●● What are tertiary consumers?
Answer: High-level predators that eat secondary consumers.
●● What is the function of decomposers in an ecosystem?
Answer: Decomposers break down dead organic matter, recycling
nutrients back into the soil for producers.
●● What does the arrow in a food web diagram represent?
Answer: The flow of energy, pointing from the organism being eaten to
the organism doing the eating.
●● What is a micropipette used for?
Answer: A micropipette is used to measure and transfer very small
volumes of liquid, typically in microliters.
●● How do you convert microliters to milliliters?
Answer: Divide the number of microliters by 1,000.
●● What is the purpose of a microcentrifuge?
Answer: A microcentrifuge spins tubes at high speeds to pool liquids at
the bottom of the tube using centrifugal force.
●● What is the Golden Rule of Centrifugation?
