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Quiz Ecology & Biodiversity: food chains, biomes, climate and extinction

Test your knowledge on ecology: food webs, biomes, biodiversity hotspots, climate change and extinction. Eleven verified questions with explainers.

12 questions~6 minen
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What is the term for all living organisms in an area plus their non-living environment?

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  1. Q1. What is the term for all living organisms in an area plus their non-living environment?

    • Biome
    • Ecosystem
    • Population
    • Community
    An ecosystem combines biotic factors (plants, animals, microbes) with abiotic factors (soil, water, climate). The term was coined by British botanist Arthur Tansley in 1935.

  2. Q2. What occupies the bottom of most terrestrial food chains?

    • Carnivores
    • Decomposers
    • Producers (plants)
    • Herbivores
    Producers, mainly green plants and algae, convert solar energy into biomass via photosynthesis. Only about 10% of energy passes to each successive trophic level (Lindeman's 10% rule, 1942).

  3. Q3. Which biome is characterised by permafrost, low precipitation and dwarf shrubs?

    • Taiga
    • Tundra
    • Savanna
    • Chaparral
    The tundra surrounds the Arctic and is found on high mountains. Annual rainfall is under 250 mm, soils are frozen year-round below the active layer, and dominant plants are mosses, lichens and sedges.

  4. Q4. Which scientist coined the term 'biodiversity hotspot'?

    • E.O. Wilson
    • Rachel Carson
    • Norman Myers
    • Jane Goodall
    British ecologist Norman Myers introduced the concept in 1988. There are now 36 recognised hotspots — regions with at least 1,500 endemic plant species and 70% of their original habitat lost.

  5. Q5. How many mass extinction events have occurred in Earth's history?

    • 1
    • 3
    • 5
    • 10
    The 'Big Five' mass extinctions are Ordovician–Silurian, Late Devonian, Permian–Triassic, Triassic–Jurassic and Cretaceous–Paleogene. Many scientists argue we are entering a sixth, driven by humans.

  6. Q6. What greenhouse gas is most responsible for current anthropogenic warming?

    • Methane
    • Carbon dioxide
    • Nitrous oxide
    • Ozone
    CO₂ contributes about 65% of human-caused radiative forcing. Atmospheric CO₂ rose from 280 ppm pre-industrial to over 420 ppm by 2023 — the highest level in at least 800,000 years.

  7. Q7. What is the term for a species that has an outsized effect on its ecosystem?

    • Indicator species
    • Keystone species
    • Invasive species
    • Endemic species
    Robert Paine coined 'keystone species' in 1969 after removing starfish (Pisaster) from tide pools and watching mussel populations explode, crushing diversity. Sea otters and wolves are classic examples.

  8. Q8. Which book by Rachel Carson launched the modern environmental movement in 1962?

    • The Sea Around Us
    • Silent Spring
    • Walden
    • A Sand County Almanac
    'Silent Spring' (1962) documented how DDT moved up food chains and thinned bird eggshells. It led to a 1972 US ban on DDT and inspired the founding of the EPA in 1970.

  9. Q9. What is the cycle that moves nitrogen between atmosphere, soil and organisms?

    • Carbon cycle
    • Water cycle
    • Nitrogen cycle
    • Sulfur cycle
    The nitrogen cycle includes fixation by Rhizobium bacteria in legume roots, nitrification by Nitrosomonas/Nitrobacter, and denitrification. The Haber-Bosch process now adds more N than all natural sources.

  10. Q10. Which biome contains the greatest biodiversity per square kilometre on land?

    • Temperate forest
    • Tropical rainforest
    • Coral reef
    • Boreal forest
    Tropical rainforests cover about 6% of land but host over half of all terrestrial species. The Amazon alone harbours roughly 16,000 tree species and 2.5 million insect species.

  11. Q11. What is 'ecological succession'?

    • The gradual replacement of species over time after a disturbance
    • The migration of birds in autumn
    • A predator catching its prey
    • Plants competing for sunlight
    Succession is the orderly change in community structure after disturbance — bare rock → lichens → mosses → grasses → shrubs → forest. Frederic Clements formalised primary vs secondary succession in 1916.

  12. Q12. Roughly how many species go extinct each year due to human activities (IUCN estimates)?

    • Around 10
    • Around 100
    • Thousands to tens of thousands
    • Over a million
    Current extinction rates are estimated at 100 to 1,000 times the pre-human background rate. The 2019 IPBES report warned that around 1 million species risk extinction within decades.

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