ECOLOGY

PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY 

1. Arrange the correct sequence of ecological hierarchy starting from lower to higher level.

a) Individual organism → Population àLandscape → Ecosystem

b) Landscape → Ecosystem → Biome → Biosphere

c) community → Ecosystem → Landscape → Biome

d) Population → organism → Biome → Landscape

2. Ecology is the study of an individual species is called

i) Community ecology

ii) Autecology

iii) Species ecology

iv) Synecology

a) i only

b) ii only

c) i and iv only

d) ii and iii only

3. A specific place in an ecosystem, where an organism lives and performs its functions is

a) habitat

b) niche

c) landscape

d) biome

4. Read the given statements and select the correct option.

i) Hydrophytes possess aerenchyma to support themselves in water.

ii) Seeds of Viscum are positively photoblastic as they germinate only in presence of light.

iii) Hygroscopic water is the only soil water available to roots of plant growing in soil as it is present inside the micropores.

iv) High temperature reduces use of water and solute absorption by roots.

a) i, ii, and iii only

b) ii, iii and iv

c) ii and iii only

d) i and ii only

5. Which of the given plant produces cardiac glycosides?

a) Calotropis

b) Acacia

c) Nepenthes

d) Utricularia

6. Read the given statements and select the correct option.

i) Loamy soil is best suited for plant growth as it contains a mixture of silt, sand and clay.

ii) The process of humification is slow in case of organic remains containing a large amount of lignin and cellulose.

iii) Capillary water is the only water available to plant roots as it is present inside the micropores.

iv) Leaves of shade plant have more total chlorophyll per reaction centre, low

ratio of chl a and chl b are usually thinner leaves.

a) i, ii and iii only

b) ii, iii and iv only

c) i, ii and iv only

d) ii and iii only

7. Read the given statements and select the correct option.

Statement A : Cattle do not graze on weeds of Calotropis.

Statement B : Calotropis have thorns and spines, as defense against herbivores.

a) Both statements A and B are incorrect.

b) Statement A is correct but statement B is incorrect.

c) Both statements A and B are correct but statement B is not the correct explanation of statement A.

d) Both statements A and B are correct and statement B is the correct explanation of statement A.

8. In soil water available for plants is

a) gravitational water

b) chemically bound water

c) capillary water

d) hygroscopic water

9. Read the following statements and fill up the blanks with correct option.

i) Total soil water content in soil is called

_________________

ii) Soil water not available to plants is called

_________________

iii) Soil water available to plants is called

_________________

 

	(i)	(ii)	(iii)
a	Holard	Echard	Chresard
b	Echard	Holard	Chresard
c	Chresard	Echard	Holard
d	Holard	Chresard	Echard

10. The plant of this group are adapted to live partly in water and partly above substratum and free from water

a) Xerophytes

b) Mesophytes

c) Hydrophytes

d) Halophytes

11. Ophrys an orchid resembling the female of an insect so as to able to get pollinated is due to phenomenon of

a) Myrmecophily

b) Ecological equivalents

c) Mimicry

d) None of these

12. A free living nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium which can also form symbiotic association with the water fern Azolla

a) Nostoc

b) Anabaena

c) chlorella

d) Rhizobium

13. Pedogenesis refers to

a) Fossils

b) Water

c) Population

d) Soil

14. Mycorrhiza promotes plant growth by

a) Serving as a plant growth regulators

b) Absorbing inorganic ions from soil

c) Helping the plant in utilizing atmospheric nitrogen

d) Protecting the plant from infection

15. Which of the following plant has a nonsucculent xerophytic and thick leathery

leaves with waxy coating

a) Bryophyllum

b) Ruscus

c) Nerium

d) Calotropis

16. In a fresh water environment like pond, rooted autotrophs are

a) Nymphaea and typha

b) Ceratophyllum and Utricularia

c) Wolffia and pistia

d) Azolla and lemna

17. Match the following and choose the correct combination from the options given below:

Column I (Interaction)                                          Column II (Examples)

I. Mutualism                                                  i). Trichoderma and Penicillium

II. Commensalism                                        ii). Balanophora, Orobanche

III. Parasitism                                                iii). Orchids and Ferns

IV. Predation                                                 iv). Lichen and Mycorrhiza

V. Amensalism                                              v). Nepenthes and Diaonaea

(d) iv, iii, ii, v and i

18. Strong, sharp spines that get attached to animal’s feet are found in the fruits of

a) Argemone

b) Ecballium

c) Heritier

d) Crossandra

19. Sticky glands of Boerhaavia and Cleome support

a) Anemochory

b) Zoochory

c) Autochory

d) Hydrochory

20. Plants which produce characteristic pneumatophores and show vivipary belong to

a) Halophytes

b) psammophytes

c) hydrophytes

d) mesophytes

21. Mycorrhizae are the example of

a) amensalism

b) antibiosis

c) mutualism

d) fungistatis

22. If ‘+’ sign is assigned to beneficial interaction, ‘-’ sign to detrimental and ‘0’ sign to neutral interaction, then the population interaction represented by ‘+’ ‘-’ refers to

a) mutualism

b) amensalism

c) commensalism

d) parasitism

23. Which of the following is correctly matched? 

a) Aerenchyma - Opuntia

b) Age pyramid - Biome

c) Parthenium - Threat to hysterophorus biodiversity

d) Stratification - Population

24. An association of individuals of different species living in the same habitat and having functional interactions is

a) Population

b) Ecological niche

c) Biotic community

d) Ecosystem

25. Roots play in significant role in absorption of water in

a) Wheat

b) Sunflower

c) Pistia

d) Pea

26. If we uncover half of the forest covering the earth, what crisis will be produced at most and the first?

a. Some species will be extinct

b. Population and ecological imbalance will rise up

c. Energy crisis will occur

d. Rest half forests will maintain this imbalance.

27. Most animals are tree dwellers in a

a) Tropical rain forest

b)Coniferous forest

c) Thorn woodland

d) Temperate deciduous forest

28. Cuscuta is an example of

a) Ectoparasitism

b) Brood parasitism

c) Predation

d) Endoparasitism

29. Large woody vines are more commonly found in

a) Alphine forests

b) Temperate forests

c) Mangroves

d) Tropical rain forests

30. Niche overlap indicates

a) Active co-operation between two species

b) Two different parasites on the same host

c) Sharing of one or more resources between the two species

d) Mutualism between two species

31. Which one of the following pairs is mismatched?

a) Savanna – Acacia trees

b) Prairie – Epiphytes

c) Tundra – Permafrost

d) Coniferous forest – Evergreen trees

32. Which ecosystem has the maximum biomass?

a) Grassland ecosystem

b) Pond ecosystem

c) Lake ecosystem

d) Forest ecosystem

33. Which of the following would appear as the pioneer organisms on bare rocks?

a) Mosses

b) Green algae

c) Lichens

d) Liverworts

34. Secondary succession takes place on / in

a) newly created pond

b) newly cooled lava

c) bare rock

d) degraded forest

35. In an ecosystem the rate of production of organic matter during photosynthesis is termed as

a) Secondary productivity

b) net productivity

c) Net primary productivity

d) gross primary productivity

36. Natural reservoir of phosphorous is

a) rock

b) fossils

c) sea water

d) animal bones

37. Secondary productivity is rate of formation

of new organic matter by

a) consumers

b) decomposers

c) producers

d) parasites

38. Which one of the following processes during decomposition is correctly described?

a) Catabolism – Last step in the decomposition under fully anaerobic condition

b) Leaching – Water soluble inorganic nutrient rise to the top layers of soil

c) Fragmentation – Carried out by organisms such as earthworms.

d) Humification – Leads to the accumulative of a dark coloured substance humus which undergoes microbial action in a very fast rate.

39. Which one of the following is not a functional unit of an ecosystem?

a) Energy flow

b) decomposition

c) Productivity

d) stratification

40. The upright pyramid of number is absent in

a) Pond

b) forest

c) lake

d) grassland

41. The rate of formation of new organic matter by rabbit in a grassland is called

a) net productivity

b) secondary productivity

c) net primary productivity

d) gross primary productivity

42. The second stage of hydrosere is occupied by plants like

a) Azolla

b) Typha

c) Salix

d) Vallisneria

43. Which one of the following is a characteristic feature of cropland ecosystem?

a) Ecological succession

b) Absence of soil organisms

c) Least genetic diversity

d) Absence of weeds

44. Most animals that live in deep oceanic waters are

a) Detritivores

b) Primary consumers

c) Secondary consumers

d) Tertiary consumers

45. During ecological succession

a) The changes lead to a community that is in near equilibrium with the environment and is called pioneer community.

b) The gradual and predictable change in species composition occurs in a given area.

c) The establishment of a new biotic community is very fast in its primary phase.

d) The number and types of animals remain constant.

46. The mass of living material at a trophic level at a particular time is called

a) Standing crop

b) Gross primary productivity

c) Standing state

d) Net primary productivity

29. Match the following and select the correct option

Column I                                  Column II

(I) Earthworm                  (i) pioneer species

(II) Succession                (ii) Detritivore

(III) Ecosystem service (iii) Natality

(IV) Population growth     (iv) Pollination

    I II III IV

a) i ii iii iv

b) iv i iii ii

c) iii ii iv i

d) ii i iv iii

47. If 20 J of energy is trapped at producer level, then how much energy will be available to peacock as food in the following chain?

Plant → Mice → Snake → Peacock

a) 0.02 J

b) 0.002 J

c) 0.2 J

d) 0.0002 J

48. Which one of the following statements for pyramid of energy is incorrect, whereas the remaining three are correct?

a) It is upright in shape

b) Its base is broad

c) It shows energy content of different trophic level organisms

d) It is inverted in shape

49. Which one of the following animals may occupy more than one trophic levels in the same ecosystem at the same time?

a) Goat

b) Frog

c) Sparrow

d) Lion

50. Both hydrarch and xerarch successions lead to

a) Highly dry conditions

b) Excessive wet conditions

c) Medium water conditions

d) Xeric conditions

51. Of the total incident solar radiation the proportion of PAR is

a) More than 80%

b) About 70%

c) About 60%

d) Less than 50%

52. The breakdown of detritus into smaller particles by earthworm is a process called

a) Mineralisation

b) Catabolism

c) Humification

d) Fragmentation

53. The biomass available for consumption by the herbivores and the decomposers is called

a) Gross primary productivity

b) Net primary productivity

c) Secondary productivity

d) Standing crop

54. The correct sequence of plants in a hydrosere is

a) Volvox → Hydrilla → Pistia → Scirpus → Lantana → Oak

b) Pistia→Volvox→Scirpus→Hydrilla→Oak → Lantana

c) Oak→Lantana→Volvox→Hydrilla→Pistia →Scirpus

d) Oak→Lantana→Scirpus→Pistia→Hydrilla →Volvox

55. About 70% of the total global carbon is found in

a) Forests

b) Grasslands

c) Agro ecosystems

d) Oceans

56. Consider the following statements concerning food chains

i) Removal of 80% tigers from an area resulted in greatly increased growth of vegetation.

ii) Removal of most of the carnivores resulted in an increased population of deers.

iii) The length of food chains is generally limited to 3 – 4 trophic levels due to energy loss.

iv) The length of food chains may vary from 2 to 8 trophic levels.

Which two of the above statements are correct?

a) i and ii

b) ii and iii

c) iii and iv

d) i and iv

57. Which one of the following is not used for construction of ecological pyramids?

a) Dry weight

2) Number of individuals

c) Rate of energy flow

4) Fresh weight

58. Which of the following are most suitable indicators of SO2 pollution in the environment?

a. Algae

b. Fungi

c. Lichens

d. Conifers

59. Which of the following is not one of the prime health risks associated with greater UV radiations through the atmosphere due to depletion of stratospheric ozone?

a. Damage to eyes

b. Increased liver cancer

c. Increased skin cancer d.

d. Reduced Immune system

60. A location with luxuriant growth of lichens on the trees indicates that the

a. trees are very healthy

b. trees are heavily infested

c. location is highly polluted

d. location is not polluted.

61. The ozone of atmosphere in which the ozone layer is present is called

a. ionosphere

b. mesosphere

c. stratosphere

d. troposphere

62. Which one of the following is a wrong statement?

a. Most of the forests have been lost in tropical areas.

b. Ozone in upper part of atmosphere is harmful to animals.

c. Greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon.

d. Eutrophication is a natural phenomenon in freshwater bodies.

63. Good ozone is found in the

a. mesosphere

b.troposphere

c. stratosphere

d. ionosphere

64. Chipko movement was launched for the protection of

a. forests

b. livestock

c.wetlands

d.grasslands

65. Identify the correctly matched pair.

a. Basal convention - B i o d i v e r s i t y conservation

b.Kyoto protocol -Climatic change

c. Montreal protocol -Global warming

d. Ramsar convention -Ground water pollution

66. Common indicator organism of water pollution is

a. Lemna pancicostata

b. Eichhornia crassipes

c. Escherichia coli

d. Entamoeba histolytica

67. Which country has the greatest contribution for the hole formation in ozone layer?

a. Russia

b. Japan

c. USA

d Germany