AP Biology Unit 8 practice questions: Ecology
8 original multiple-choice questions on AP Bio Unit 8, ecology. Answer each one in your browser and read the explanation, then review the key ideas below.
Question 1 of 8
Producers in an ecosystem capture 10,000 kcal of energy. About how much reaches the secondary consumers?
Question 2 of 8
In logistic population growth, the growth rate slows as the population
Question 3 of 8
When sea otters were removed from a kelp forest, sea urchins multiplied and destroyed the kelp. Sea otters are an example of a
Question 4 of 8
Nitrogen fixation is the process in which
Question 5 of 8
In a relationship where one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed, the interaction is
Question 6 of 8
Which process returns carbon from organisms to the atmosphere?
Question 7 of 8
Primary succession begins
Question 8 of 8
Species that are r-selected tend to
Key ideas in Unit 8
- Only about 10% of energy passes from one trophic level to the next; the rest is mostly lost as heat.
- Populations grow exponentially without limits and logistically up to carrying capacity.
- Community interactions: competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. Keystone species have outsized effects.
- Matter cycles: carbon (photosynthesis takes it in, respiration releases it) and nitrogen (fixation by bacteria).
- Ecological succession is primary on bare rock and secondary where soil remains; biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient.
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