Ecology — GK Questions with Answers

1. What is the correct order of ecosystems from highest to lowest productivity?
   1. ocean, lake, grassland, mangrove
   2. mangrove, ocean, grassland, lake
   3. mangrove, grassland, lake, ocean
   4. ocean, mangrove, lake, grassland
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   Answer: (C) mangrove, grassland, lake, ocean

   From highest to lowest productivity: mangrove forest comes first, then grassland and lake at roughly the same level, and the open ocean comes last.

2. Which of these is true about a food chain?
   1. it shows the order in which organisms feed on each other
   2. it only exists within the population of one species
   3. it tells you the exact number of each organism
   4. none of these
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   Answer: (A) it shows the order in which organisms feed on each other

   A food chain shows the order in which organisms feed on one another — that is, the direction energy flows.

3. What term covers both the role an organism plays and the physical space it occupies in its community?
   1. ecotone
   2. ecological niche
   3. habitat
   4. home range
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   Answer: (B) ecological niche

   An ecological niche covers both an organism's role in its community and its physical place, while a habitat refers only to the place.

4. Which organisms mainly play the role of decomposers in a food chain?
   1. viruses
   2. fungi and bacteria
   3. plants
   4. insects
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   Answer: (B) fungi and bacteria

   Fungi and bacteria break down dead and decaying organisms into inorganic substances, which is why they are called decomposers.

5. What is the correct rising order of levels of organisation?
   1. community → population → species → organism
   2. organism → species → population → community
   3. population → species → organism → community
   4. organism → community → population → species
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   Answer: (B) organism → species → population → community

   The correct rising order is: a single organism, then its species, then the population of that species, and finally the community formed by different populations together.

6. What is the total biomass or number of living organisms present in a given area called?
   1. habitat
   2. standing crop
   3. ecotone
   4. none of these
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   Answer: (B) standing crop

   The standing crop refers to the total biomass or number of living organisms present in a given area.

7. Why does ecological succession in a grassland not progress beyond grasses to shrubs?
   1. because of insects and fungi
   2. because of limited sunlight and lack of nutrients
   3. because the grasses soak up the water before it reaches deeper roots
   4. none of these
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   Answer: (C) because the grasses soak up the water before it reaches deeper roots

   The grasses absorb most of the available water before it can reach the roots of shrubs, so succession stalls at the grass stage.

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