Biology · Environmental Studies

Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow

1,235 Questions

Ecosystem nutrition and energy flow questions cover trophic levels, food chains, and biodegradable materials. These concepts frequently appear in general science sections of major competitive exams. Review these questions to build a solid understanding of ecological interactions.

Trophic levels conceptFood chain orderAutotrophic nutritionEnergy assimilationScavengers and decomposers

Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow Questions

Multiple choice

Ten percent law of energy transfer at successive trophic levels in food chain was given by:

  1. Elton

  2. Haeckel

  3. Lindman

  4. Shimper
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The 10% law of energy transfer states that only about 10% of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next in a food chain. This ecological principle was proposed by Raymond Lindman in 1942. Elton is famous for the pyramid of numbers concept, Haeckel coined the term ecology, and Shimper contributed to plant geography.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. In a grazing food chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with herbivores as consumers at the last level. b. A detritus food chain is based on the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead matter derived from the grazing food chain. c. In a carnivorous food chain, the first level starts with carnivores as consumers and ends with top carnivores at the last level.

  1. a only

  2. b only

  3. c only

  4. a and c

  5. a, b and c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This statement is correct.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

a. Mineral elements required by organisms occur as salts dissolved in lakes, streams and seas. b. They come directly from the Earth’s crust by weathering, where the soluble salts enter the biogeological cycle. c. After the death of living organisms, the minerals are returned to the soil and water through decomposition and flow.

  1. a only

  2. b only

  3. c only

  4. a and b

  5. a and c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Match the columns ||| |---|---| |a. Acclimatisation|i. Place where a plant or animal lives| |b. Stimulus|ii. Presence of a specific body feature in plants and animals to live in a particular| |c. Habitat|iii. Process of becoming accustomed to different enviorment for short period of time| |d. Adaption|iv. Changes in surroundings to which living things respond|

  1. a - ii, b - iv, c - iii, d - i

  2. a - iii, b - iv, c - i, d - ii

  3. a - iv, b - i, c - ii, d - iii

  4. a - iii, b - ii, c - i, d - iv

  5. -
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is an correct answer. All the options are matched correctly.

Multiple choice

The absorptive heterotrophic mode of nutrition is observed in

  1. cyanobacteria

  2. pteridophytes

  3. fungi

  4. algae

  5. bryophytes
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The true fungi or the eumycetes are special types of achlorophyllous thallophytic organisms living as parasitic or a saprophytic mode of existence. They are always heterophytes and never autophytes. They depend on others for food, but all other groups as algae, bryophytes and pteridophytes are chlorophyll containing green plants that are autotrophic.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is true for parasites?

  1. They utilize the energy of sunlight.

  2. They utilize the energy of inorganic compounds.

  3. They synthesize their own food.

  4. They feed upon other animals.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Parasites are organisms that live on or in another organism (the host) and feed upon it, benefiting at the host's expense. They do not utilize sunlight (that's autotrophs like plants), do not use inorganic compounds for energy (that's chemoautotrophs), and do not synthesize their own food (that's the definition of autotrophy).

Multiple choice

Camel is a desert animal that can live without water for many days, because

  1. It does not need water

  2. Water is formed in the body due to oxidation of fat

  3. It has the water sac I the alls of the lumen of stomach

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Camels can survive without water for many days because metabolic water is produced in their bodies during the oxidation of fat stored in their humps. This fat metabolism releases water as a byproduct. They do need water eventually, and there is no 'water sac' in their stomach.

Multiple choice

From the Autotrophs, the energy goes to the _________ and then finally to the__________.

  1. heterotrophs and producers

  2. carnivores and omnivores

  3. heterotrophs and decomposers

  4. producers and decomposers
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In an ecosystem, energy flows from autotrophs (producers) to heterotrophs (consumers) at various trophic levels. When organisms die, decomposers break down the organic matter and release energy back into the environment, completing the energy flow cycle.