Regents Prep: Living Environment
Multiple-Choice Questions
Regents Prep Living Environment: Topical Multiple-Choice Question Archive
Use of Topical Archive Multiple-Choice Questions
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Feel free to copy and paste any of the multiple-choice questions below for use in creating your own Regents-style assessments.

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Organism Relationships: Question 1 of 6
The graph below shows that changes in two populations of herbivores in a grassy field. A possible reason for these changes is that
 

  1. all of the plant populations in this habitat decreased
  2. population B competed more successfully for food than population A did
  3. population A produced more offspring than population B did
  4. population A consumed the members of population B

Correct Answer Number: 2

Explanation: If population B increased while population A decreased, these organisms were probably in competition for the same food (grass) and population B was better adapted.


Organism Relationships: Question 2 of 6
A scorpion stalks, kills, and then eats a spider. Based on its behavior, which ecological terms describe the scorpion?
  1. producer, herbivore, decomposer
  2. producer, carnivore, heterotroph
  3. predator, carnivore, consumer
  4. predator, autotroph, herbivore

Correct Answer Number: 3

Explanation: Because the scorpion stalks, kills and eats its food, it is a predator. Because it eats a spider it is a carnivore. Because it ingests food it is a consumer. A producer is an autotroph which is an organism that makes its own food from inorganic substances. A decomposer breaks down dead matter and a herbivore eats only plants.


Organism Relationships: Question 3 of 6
Which organisms are dependent upon other animals for food?
  1. producers
  2. herbivores
  3. scavengers
  4. primary consumers

Correct Answer Number: 3

Explanation: Scavengers are organisms that eat dead animals. They are important in the ecosystem as they recycle needed nutrients. Producers make their own food, usually by photosynthesis. Herbivores are an example of primary consumers, organisms that eat the producers, usually plants.


Organism Relationships: Question 4 of 6
Certain bacteria living in a human's large intesting help to produce vitamin K. This relationship is an example of
  1. animal parasitism
  2. plant parasitism
  3. commensalism
  4. mutualism

Correct Answer Number: 4

Explanation: Both organisms benefit from this relationship, which is why it is called mutualism. The human gets vitamin K and the bacteria get a place to live. Commensalism is when one organism benefits and the other is not affected. Parasitism is when one organism benefits at the other organisms expense.


Organism Relationships: Question 5 of 6
Base your answer on the diagram below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram illustrates the relationships between the organisms in a certain pond. In addition to sunlight, another factor needed to make this a self-sustaining ecosystem would be the presence of
 

  1. producers
  2. primary consumers
  3. decomposers
  4. higher order consumers

Correct Answer Number: 3

Explanation: For an ecosystem to be self-sustaining there must be a constant source of energy (usually the sun), there must be organisms that can use this energy to produce organic compounds, and there must be a recycling of all materials in the ecosystem. Without decomposers, nutrients remain in the dead organisms and the ecosystem eventually breaks down.


Organism Relationships: Question 6 of 6
Base your answer on the diagram below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram illustrates the relationships between the organisms in a certain pond. In this pond community, which organisms are secondary consumers?
 

  1. aquatic crustaceans and racoons
  2. carnivorous fish and aquatic crustaceans
  3. ducks and minnows
  4. ducks and carnivorous fish

Correct Answer Number: 4

Explanation: Secondary consumers eat primary consumers, which eat producers. In this diagram, algae and floating plants are producers, the primary consumers are the aquatic crustaceans and minnows, and the secondary consumers are the carnivorous fish and ducks. The raccoons are the tertiary consumers.
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