Environmental Science Practice Test

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is A community of organisms interacting with one another and with nonliving factors in an environment.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Ecosystems include biotic communities and abiotic conditions, plus the interactions that connect them.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is Energy is transferred with losses as organisms use it for metabolism and life processes.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Only part of the energy in one trophic level becomes biomass available to the next level.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: C

The correct answer is The largest population a particular environment can sustain over time under given conditions.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Carrying capacity depends on resources, limiting factors, interactions, and environmental conditions.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: D

The correct answer is A species whose effect on an ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Removing a keystone species can cause major changes in community structure and interactions.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is A community develops on a surface where soil is initially absent or very limited.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Primary succession begins on newly exposed surfaces and often proceeds through soil formation and colonization.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is It may compete with, prey on, or introduce disease to native species that lack effective defenses.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Invasive species can alter resources and interactions, leading to population declines or ecosystem changes.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: C

The correct answer is Multiple feeding relationships and pathways of energy and matter through a community.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Food webs represent connected chains and show that organisms can have several consumers or food sources.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: D

The correct answer is A condition or resource that restricts population growth or distribution.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Food, water, space, predation, disease, and temperature can limit populations.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is It increases the range of traits that may help some individuals survive changing conditions.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Variation can support resilience when environments, diseases, or climate conditions change.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is Repeated surveys show declines in species richness or abundance using consistent methods.

1. Identify the environmental system: Determine whether the prompt concerns ecosystems, resources, pollution, climate, human impacts, policy, or environmental data.
2. Connect the evidence: Reliable biodiversity claims require comparable observations, defined measures, and attention to sampling limits.
3. Check the tradeoff or relationship: Compare the answer with the stated data, system boundary, cause, effect, or solution constraint before choosing.