Question 1
How does succession connect to ecology?
A. It shows how communities change and interact with environmental conditions over time B. It only describes individual animal behavior with no link to habitats C. It is unrelated to energy flow, biomass, or nutrient cycling D. It happens only in laboratory experiments
Question 2
Which comparison between primary and secondary succession is most accurate?
A. Primary succession usually proceeds faster because it starts with more soil and more surviving organisms. B. Secondary succession usually proceeds faster because it begins with soil, microbes, and often seeds or roots already present. C. Primary succession and secondary succession always take exactly the same amount of time. D. Secondary succession cannot produce a stable community because the original ecosystem has been disturbed.
Question 3
After a volcanic eruption creates a new lava surface with no soil, which sequence best describes the early stages of succession?
A. Pioneer species colonize first, soil begins to form, and later plants with greater biomass replace them. B. Large trees immediately establish because the area receives abundant sunlight. C. The community returns instantly to its original state because recovery is automatic. D. Decomposers are absent at first and never become important in succession.
Question 4
A field is abandoned after farming, but the soil remains intact and seeds are already present in the ground. What type of succession is most likely occurring?
A. Primary succession, because all succession begins on bare rock. B. Secondary succession, because recovery happens after a disturbance when soil remains. C. Climax succession, because the ecosystem immediately reaches a stable state. D. Tertiary succession, because the land must pass through three stages before recovery.
Question 5
Which statement best explains why biomass generally increases during succession?
A. Later communities usually contain more organisms and larger plants, so more energy is stored in living tissue. B. Biomass increases because decomposers stop breaking down dead material. C. Biomass increases only when sunlight decreases sharply. D. Biomass stays constant because all ecosystems have the same total mass.
