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SSC CGL Ecosystem — practice questions

Explore 60 free Ecosystem questions in SSC CGL General Awareness. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Ecosystem questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 60.

Which British ecologist first used the term ecosystem in 1935?Read the answer and worked solution →Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem link through what?Read the answer and worked solution →On broad geographic scales, which factor most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure?Read the answer and worked solution →Which of these is an internal factor of an ecosystem rather than an external state factor?Read the answer and worked solution →What does the parent material of an ecosystem mainly determine?Read the answer and worked solution →Primary production is the making of organic matter from which kind of carbon source?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the part of gross primary production left after plant respiration called?Read the answer and worked solution →Roughly what share of gross primary production do plants respire to support their own growth and maintenance?Read the answer and worked solution →Herbivores that eat plant tissue are known as which trophic group?Read the answer and worked solution →Carnivores that eat herbivores are classed as what kind of consumer?Read the answer and worked solution →Each feeding step in a food chain, such as producer or herbivore, is called a what?Read the answer and worked solution →Because organisms often feed at more than one level, real ecosystems form what, rather than simple chains?Read the answer and worked solution →Which decomposition process breaks dead organic material into smaller pieces, exposing it to microbes?Read the answer and worked solution →The chemical alteration of dead organic matter is mainly carried out by which organisms?Read the answer and worked solution →Under which conditions are decomposition rates highest?Read the answer and worked solution →What would happen to dead organic matter if decomposition stopped?Read the answer and worked solution →Bare ground left behind by a volcanic eruption or glacier undergoes which kind of succession?Read the answer and worked solution →A forest fire or hurricane, being a less severe disturbance, leads to which process with faster recovery?Read the answer and worked solution →Most nitrogen enters ecosystems through which natural process?Read the answer and worked solution →Which set lists the primary plant macronutrients?Read the answer and worked solution →Which plant family commonly supports nitrogen-fixing symbionts?Read the answer and worked solution →Soil bacteria converting ammonium into nitrite and nitrate carry out which process?Read the answer and worked solution →Through which process does phosphorus mainly enter ecosystems?Read the answer and worked solution →A species whose effect on ecosystem function is out of proportion to its abundance is called what?Read the answer and worked solution →An organism that creates, modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat is known as an what?Read the answer and worked solution →Tropical forests, temperate grasslands and arctic tundra are examples of what?Read the answer and worked solution →Biomes vary around the world mainly because of global variations in what?Read the answer and worked solution →Which of these is an ecosystem service rather than a tangible ecosystem good?Read the answer and worked solution →How does ecosystem collapse differ from species extinction?Read the answer and worked solution →What is a fundamental principle of ecosystem management?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Which British ecologist first used the term ecosystem in 1935?

  1. Arthur Tansley
  2. Charles Elton
  3. Eugene Odum
  4. Raymond Lindeman
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Correct answer: A. Arthur Tansley

Arthur Tansley introduced the word in 1935 to stress transfers of materials between organisms and their environment.

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Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem link through what?

  1. Pollination, dispersal
  2. Nutrient, energy flows
  3. Evaporation, erosion
  4. Competition, predation
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Correct answer: B. Nutrient, energy flows

Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem are tied together by the cycling of nutrients and the flow of energy.

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On broad geographic scales, which factor most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure?

  1. Soil bacteria count
  2. Root competition
  3. Regional climate
  4. Canopy shading
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Correct answer: C. Regional climate

Climate fixes the biome and the rainfall and temperature that set the energy available through photosynthesis.

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More General Awareness topics

Culture of IndiaGeography of IndiaConstitution of IndiaHistory of IndiaScientific Research and Everyday ScienceEconomy of IndiaIndia and Its Neighbouring CountriesIndian Prime Ministers