1. What is the primary focus of ecology?
a. Human anatomy
b. Relationships between organisms and their environment
c. Cellular processes
d. Plant classification
Answer: b. Relationships between organisms and their environment
2. Which level of ecological organization involves all the interacting populations in a particular area?
a. Ecosystem
b. Community
c. Biosphere
d. Population
Answer: b. Community
3. What is the term for the study of the movement of energy and nutrients through living communities and ecosystems?
a. Biogeography
b. Trophic dynamics
c. Ecological succession
d. Biogeochemistry
Answer: b. Trophic dynamics
4. Which biome is characterized by cold temperatures, permafrost, and a short growing season with low plant diversity?
a. Tundra
b. Desert
c. Rainforest
d. Savanna
Answer: a. Tundra
5. What is the primary source of energy for most ecosystems?
a. Wind
b. Sunlight
c. Geothermal heat
d. Fossil fuels
Answer: b. Sunlight
6. Which type of symbiotic relationship benefits one organism while having no effect on the other?
a. Mutualism
b. Parasitism
c. Commensalism
d. Competition
Answer: c. Commensalism
7. What is the term for the maximum population size that a particular environment can support sustainably?
a. Carrying capacity
b. Population density
c. Ecological footprint
d. Limiting factor
Answer: a. Carrying capacity
8. Which process in the carbon cycle involves the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic compounds by autotrophic organisms?
a. Respiration
b. Decomposition
c. Photosynthesis
d. Combustion
Answer: c. Photosynthesis
9. In an ecosystem, what is the role of decomposers?
a. Primary producers
b. Consumers
c. Detritivores
d. Nutrient recyclers
Answer: d. Nutrient recyclers
10. What is the term for a group of individuals of the same species living in a particular area?
a. Ecosystem
b. Community
c. Population
d. Biome
Answer: c. Population
11. Which ecological pyramid represents the number of individual organisms at each trophic level in an ecosystem?
a. Pyramid of energy
b. Pyramid of biomass
c. Pyramid of numbers
d. Pyramid of productivity
Answer: c. Pyramid of numbers
12. What is the term for the process by which water is released from the leaves of plants into the atmosphere?
a. Transpiration
b. Respiration
c. Photosynthesis
d. Evaporation
Answer: a. Transpiration
13. In the nitrogen cycle, what is the primary way nitrogen gas (N2) is converted into a form that plants can absorb?
a. Denitrification
b. Nitrogen fixation
c. Nitrification
d. Ammonification
Answer: b. Nitrogen fixation
14. Which of the following is a biotic factor in an ecosystem?
a. Soil composition
b. Temperature
c. Light intensity
d. Predation
Answer: d. Predation
15. What is the term for a relationship between two species in which one species benefits and the other is harmed?
a. Mutualism
b. Commensalism
c. Parasitism
d. Competition
Answer: c. Parasitism
16. Which biome is characterized by grasses, scattered trees, and a pronounced dry season?
a. Tundra
b. Grassland
c. Rainforest
d. Taiga
Answer: b. Grassland
17. What is the main role of the ozone layer in the atmosphere?
a. Absorbing ultraviolet (UV) radiation
b. Trapping carbon dioxide
c. Facilitating photosynthesis
d. Regulating temperature
Answer: a. Absorbing ultraviolet (UV) radiation
18. Which process is responsible for the conversion of ammonia (NH3) into nitrate ions (NO3-) in the nitrogen cycle?
a. Nitrogen fixation
b. Nitrification
c. Denitrification
d. Ammonification
Answer: b. Nitrification
19. What is the term for the gradual, predictable changes in the species composition of a community over time?
a. Ecological succession
b. Habitat destruction
c. Biological magnification
d. Invasive species
Answer: a. Ecological succession
20. In the food web of an ecosystem, what role do decomposers play?
a. Primary producers
b. Primary consumers
c. Secondary consumers
d. Detritivores
Answer: d. Detritivores
21. At the trophic level of consumers, the rate at which food energy is assimilated is called:
1. Secondary productivity
2. Gross primary productivity
3. Net primary productivity
4. None of these
Answer- a, Secondary Productivity
22. Net primary productivity is subtracted from gross primary productivity
1. that which is consumed by herbivores
2. that which is consumed by the producer in metabolism
3. secondary productivity
4. loss due to mortality
Answer- b, that which is consumed by the producer in metabolism
23. In a natural ecosystem, which pyramid can never be inverted?
1. pyramid of numbers
2. pyramid of energy
3. pyramid of biomass
4. all can be inverted
Answer- b, pyramid of energy
24. The diurnal temperature of soil surface varies most in which habitat?
1. Forest
2. Desert
3. Grassland
4. Shrub land
Answer- b, desert
25. If damaging effects cease, an ecosystem that can be damaged easily will be able to recover after some time
1. High stability and low resilience.
2. Low stability and low resilience.
3. High stability and high resilience.
4. Low stability and high resilience.
Answer- d, Low stability and high resilience.
26. Every organism has a natural residence, which is:
1. Biome
2. Niche
3. Habit
4. Habitat
Answer- d, Habitat
27. Interrelationships between two organisms, one in which both benefit from the observations of the other, are called
1. Mutualism
2. Symbiosis
3. Parasitism
4. Food chain
Answer- a, Mutualism
28. Biotic components of an ecosystem include?
1. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
2. Producers and consumers
3. Producers only
4. Consumers only
Answer- a, Producers, consumers, and decomposers
29. According to Shelford’s Law of Tolerance, the organism’s wide environmental factor tolerance limit shows
1. Narrow distribution with low population size
2. Wide distribution with a high population size
3. Narrow distribution with a high population size
4. Wide distribution with low population size
Answer- d, Wide distribution with low population size
30. Plants growing under direct sunlight are known as
1. Heliophytes
2. Sciophytes
3. Psamophytes
4. Dicots
Answer- a, Heliophytes
31. Plants growing under shade are known as
1. Psamophytes
2. Sciophytes
3. Heliophytes
4. Monocots
Answer- b, Sciophytes
32. The bottom area of the pond ecosystem where production is less than respiration is :
1. Profundal zone
2. Tidal zone
3. Benthic zone
4. Limnetic zone
Answer- c, Benthic zone
33. Which of the following is related to the Nagoya Protocol?
1. Pharmaceutical Industry
2. Biodiversity
3. International Finance
4. Organic Farming
Answer- b, Biodiversity
34. ___________is a network project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) that aims to enhance the resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change through strategic research and technology demonstration.
1. ICMSR
2. ICRIST
3. NICRA
4. CDRIS
Answer- b, NICRA
35. Allelopathy is a term used to describe:
1. The generation of toxins by one species inhibits the development of another.
2. The pathogen’s sporulation is inhibited by the host.
3. Changing the reproductive cycle of one organism by changing the reproductive cycle of another.
4. By suppressing reproduction, one species might stifle the expansion of another.
Answer- a, The generation of toxins by one species inhibits the development of another.