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 botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Plants which synthesize their food themselves are called saprotrophs.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Plants which synthesise their food themselves are called autotrophs. That is, it doesn't depend on other organisms for food, using sunlight and water the plants makes their own food. They are considered as the producers in a food chain. Saprotrophs are the plants which feeds from the dead and decayed organic matters knows as detritius. Major saprotroph group includes fungi, bacteria and water molds.

So, the correct answer is option B.

Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Heterotrophic and absorptive mode of nutrition is found in

  1. Algae

  2. Fungi

  3. Bryophytes

  4. Euglenoides
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
Heterotrophic nutrition is achieve by digesting organic compounds. There are three main types of heterotrophic nutrition.
Holozoic nutrition: Complex food is taken into a digestive system and broken down into small pieces to be absorbed. This process consists of 5 stages, ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion.
Saprotrophic: Organisms feed on dead organic remains of other organisms.
Parasitism: Organisms getting food from other living organisms (the host), with the host receiving some kind of illness from the parasite. As Fungi shows all the three patterns of nutrition they are perfect example of heterotrophic nutrition.
Therefore, the correct answer is option B.
Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Which of the following feed upon dead plant and animal tissues?

  1. Spirogyra

  2. Mushroom

  3. Chlamydomonas

  4. Chlorella
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
Spirogyra contains chlorophyll and obtains nutrition through the process of photosynthesis.
Chlamydomonas in the similar way, has photosynthetic mode of nutrition and it makes its own food by the process of photosynthesis.
Mushrooms are included in Kingdom fungi. They have no chlorophyll of their own. So they cannot perform the process of photosynthesis. As a result, they possess saprophytic mode of nutrition. this means that they derive nutrition from decaying dead plants and animals. They convert the complex organic substances in their body to simple inorganic substances and thus obtain the necessary nutrition.
So, option B "Mushroom' is the correct answer.
Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Parasites are 

  1. Organisms which prepare food on their own.

  2. Organisms which break glucose into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

  3. Organisms which draw nutrition from living tissues of plants and animals.

  4. Plants which kill insects for their food.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

  • A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food or nutrition from its host (plants and animals). There are three main classes of parasites that can cause disease in humans: protozoa, helminths, and ectoparasites.
  • Parasites come in many shapes and sizes and include viruses and bacteria, various worms, plants, fungi, insects, and even birds and mammals.
So, the correct answer is 'Organisms which draw nutrition from living tissues of plants and animals'.

Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Lichens are 

  1. Symbiotic algae and fungi

  2. Carnivorous plants

  3. Animals which can perform photosynthesis

  4. Interdependent algae
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

  • A lichen is a symbiotic association between one or two fungus species and an alga or cyanobacterium (blue-green algae). Lichens were once classified as single organisms, until the advent of microscopy, when the association of fungi with algae or cyanobacteria became evident.
  • Lichens may have powdery masses on their surface. These are the tiny bits of the lichen body which will be shed to form new lichens.
So, the correct answer is 'Symbiotic algae and fungi'.

Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Aldrovanda is

  1. Primary producer

  2. Secondary consumer

  3. Carnivorous plant

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Aldrovanda is a free-floating and rootless aquatic plant. It functions as a snap-trap carnivore under water. A common name for it is the waterwheel plant, because a single whorl of leaves, cut from a stem, is wheel-like. Snap traps are only found in one other carnivorous plant genus, Dionaea, which comprises the commonly known Venus flytrap. 

Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Nepenthes (Insectivorous pitcher plant) is 

  1. Producer

  2. Consumer

  3. Both A and B

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Like all green plants, pitcher plants use their leaves to harness energy from the sun and make their own food; they use carbon dioxide (CO$ _{2}$) to make energy-rich carbohydrates. So, they are producers. 

However, it tends to grow on very wet soils that are very poor in nitrogen, an important element in the processes of life. Their leaves serve as traps that capture insects, secrete digestive enzymes that break down their prey, and absorb this juice into their tissues. These carnivorous traps are adaptations that allow these plants to survive and prosper in their harsh, nitrogen-poor environment. 
Hence, it is both a producer and a carnivore. 

Multiple choice botany know the plant world closely diversity in plants types of nutrition in plants different modes of nutrition in plants

Small herbaceous plants that grow on higher plants but do not obtain their nourishment from them are called 

  1. Insectivorous

  2. Epiphytes

  3. Saprophytes

  4. Mycorrhiza
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
A.Insectivorous plants - Plants, trap, kill and digest insects are called insectivourous plants. They grow in nitrogen
B.Epiphytic - Plants which grow on the branches of big trees for light and shelter. These plants are not connected to soil directly.
 deficient soils. So, to get nitrogen the kill and digest the insects.
C.Saprophytic - Organisms, grow on the dead bodies to get food.
D. Mycorrhiza - association of fungi with roots of higher plants
So the correct option is 'epiphytes'.
Multiple choice evs life in water aquatic plant adaptations pollination through water aquatic adaptation extreme adaptations

What are examples of detrivores?

  1. Bacteria, Soilmites, worms and fungi

  2. Planktons

  3. Plants Animals

  4. Omnivores
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Detritivores are organisms that feed on detritus, which is decomposing organic matter. Bacteria, soil mites, worms, and fungi are classic examples of organisms involved in the decomposition process.

Multiple choice evs life in water aquatic plant adaptations pollination through water aquatic adaptation extreme adaptations

Algae $\rightarrow$ .......... $\rightarrow$ Small fish $\rightarrow$ Big fish $\rightarrow$Bird

  1. Small animals

  2. Big animals

  3. Bacteria

  4. Sunlight
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In a freshwater aquatic ecosystem like a pond, the organisms in the food chain include algae, small animals, insects and their larvae, small fish, big fish and a fish-eating bird or animal.

So, the correct answer is 'small animals'

Multiple choice botany energy flow in an ecosystem biogeochemical cycle nutrient cycles species, communities and ecosystems

Which of the following is a sedimentary cycle?

  1. Carbon

  2. Hydrogen

  3. Nitrogen

  4. Phosphorus
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The abiotic components which are recycled without any involvement of the gaseous form are known as the sedimentary cycle. The element is present in the form of salts as rocks in the geosphere which is taken up by the plants and then transferred to the animals. The phosphate is generally transferred and used in the form of ATP by the living cells. 

Thus, the correct answer is option D. 

Multiple choice botany energy flow in an ecosystem biogeochemical cycle nutrient cycles species, communities and ecosystems

Plant maintains the balance of ......... in the atmosphere.

  1. Oxygen

  2. Carbon dioxide

  3. Oxygen and Carbon dioxide

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Photosynthesis is the process in which autotrophs such as green plants use carbon dioxide and water in presence of sunlight to synthesize nutrients such carbohydrates in the form of glucose and release oxygen. Hence oxygen is returned to the atmosphere by photosynthesis. This oxygen from the atmosphere is taken in by animals for carrying out the process of respiration and carbon dioxide is evolved. This carbon dioxide is used by plants and the same cycle continues. Hence plants maintain the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thus the correct answer is option C.

Multiple choice botany energy flow in an ecosystem biogeochemical cycle nutrient cycles species, communities and ecosystems

Which one of the following pairs is a sedimentary type of biogeochemical cycle __________.

  1. Phosphorus and carbon dioxide

  2. Oxygen and nitrogen

  3. phosphorus and nitrogen

  4. phosphorus and sulphur
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

In sedimentary cycles of matter, materials involved in circulation between biotic and abiotic components of biosphere are non gaseous and the reservoir pool is lithosphere e.g., phosphorus, calcium, magnesium.
Sulphur has both sedimentary and gaseous phases.

So, the correct answer is 'phosphorus and sulphur'

Multiple choice botany energy flow in an ecosystem biogeochemical cycle nutrient cycles species, communities and ecosystems

Sedimentary cycle having a small gaseous component is found in

  1. Phosphorus

  2. Nitrogen

  3. Carbon

  4. Sulphur
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Sedimentary cycle consists of weathering of an existing rock followed by the erosion of minerals, transport and deposition. It has earth's crust as the reservoir pool. Sedimentary cycle having a small gaseous component is found in sulphur. Other sedimentary cycles include iron cycle, calcium cycle.

Thus, the correct answer is 'Sulphur.'