Ecology Trivia

1. What is the most common way that non-native species are introduced to new countries?

From Quiz The Changing Environment

Answer: On ships

There have been numerous accidental introductions over the centuries. Small creatures and seeds in ship cargoes is the obvious way. When British ships sailed to the American colonies, soil was used as the ships ballast, to be dumped on arrival to make way for the return cargo. This was how the earthworm arrived in America. The change to steel-hulled ships saw seawater becoming the ballast of choice. It is estimated that 7 billion tonnes of seawater ballast are carried around the world each year. At any one time, an estimated 7,000 different species are travelling this way.

From Quiz We're the Planeteers

Answer: Linka, from Europe

Ernst Haeckel was born in Potsdam, Germany in 1834, when it was still known as Prussia. Haeckel, a biologist, philosopher and naturalist, to name a few of his occupations, published the book "Generelle Morphologie der Organismen" in 1866, where he defined ecology as "the whole science of the relations of the organism to the environment including, in the broad sense, all the 'conditions of existence.'" The word "ecology" derives from the Greek words "house" and "study", which would literally define ecology as the study of our house, Earth.

From Quiz The Polluters

Answer: Donora, Pennsylvania

In 1949, few people knew or cared much about air pollution or its effects. It was mostly in the realm of politicians, conservationists and industrialists. Due to a combination of topography and weather conditions, polluted air from local industry got trapped in the valley where Donora, 30 miles out of Pittsburgh, was situated. Twenty people died during this disaster, 50 more in the weeks following (including Lukas Musial, father of baseball great, Stan Musial) while many others suffered for a long time after from the effects of that week. Some call this event one of the most pivotal in raising public awareness to the dangers of air polltuion.

From Quiz Hopping through the Sonoran Desert

Answer: Creosote bush

Creosote bush is one of the most common plants in the Sonoran Desert. It is extremely drought-tolerant; in severe droughts, it will drop all of its leaves and go dormant until rain arrives. Its ability to pull all available moisture out of the ground can prevent other plants from prospering near it. It also has a long life span; a bush can live a hundred years, and it will produce offshoots called clones which will create a ring around the area of the original bush. These clones can regenerate for many generations. The oldest known clone is the "King Clone" in southern California -- estimated to be 11,700 years old, it is considered to be one of the oldest living things on earth. Incidentally, the turpentine bush also has a unique scent, but its leaves must be crushed to release it, while the leaves of the creosote bush naturally emit a scent.

From Quiz Ecology 102

Answer: Carrying capacity

(K-N)divided by K. N is the population size. As N gets close to K, the growth rate slows to zero.

From Quiz Wetlands

Answer: bog

Cranberries are grown in bogs.

From Quiz Ecoquiz

Answer: Commensalism

An interaction in which one organism adversely affects a second organism, but the second has no effect on the first is known as a amensalism. Parasitism describes an interaction in which one organism obtains nutrients from a host causing harm but not causing death immediately.

From Quiz The Yucatan Peninsula

Answer: Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche

Most of the familiar vacation spots, like Cancun and Cozumel, are in Quintana Roo.

From Quiz Native to the USA or Not?

Answer: Not & Not native

They were brought from China. Game departments spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year raising and releasing them to be shot by hunters.

From Quiz The Polluters

Answer: EPA

All of these are in fact govenment agencies: EPA - Environmental Protection Agency - established in 1970 during the Nixon presidency. PMB -Office of Policy, Management and Budget FDA - Food and Drug Administraion GPO - Government Printing Office

From Quiz Hopping through the Sonoran Desert

Answer: Northern jaguar

Jaguars are mainly associated with South America, but the northern jaguar once roamed throughout the lower southwest United States. The Sonoran Desert jaguar population is estimated by The Nature Conservancy to be around 100 cats, and although they reside in northern Mexico, they have been captured crossing into Arizona by border cameras.

From Quiz Ecology 102

Answer: Taiga (Coniferous forests)

There are two types of taiga. High latitudes receive little precipitation, where as in the Pacific Northwest they can receive up to 40 cm.

From Quiz Wetlands

Answer: swamp

Pocosins and heaths are two examples of swamps.

From Quiz Ecoquiz

Answer: Niche

A territory refers to an area established by an animal from which other individuals are partially or totally excluded.

From Quiz The Yucatan Peninsula

Answer: Mostly flat, with some hills in the south.

The further south you go, the more mountainous it gets.

From Quiz Native to the USA or Not?

Answer: Native

Many species of rhododendrons are found on both coasts.

From Quiz The Polluters

Answer: Earth Day

The idea, first documented during the Kennedy administration, took a while to gather some steam. By the end of the decade though, it was already recognized in the UN and was celebrated in 1970 in many locales across the U.S. - notably in San Francisco where Saint Francis (San Francisco) was recognized as the patron saint of the environment. By 1990, 141 countries were observing Earth Day.

From Quiz Symbiosis in Nature

Answer: pollen

Insects like butterflies and bees are attracted to flowers because of the bright colour of their petals and their scent. In this example of mutualism, the insects drink the flower's nectar, and in the process, pollen grains get stuck to their bodies. They carry these pollen grains to flowers of plants that could be quite far away, fertilising the ovules in those flowers with the pollen grains, in a process called cross-pollination. In this way, both the plants and the insects benefit.

From Quiz Ecology 102

Answer: Population

They use common resources and are regulated by the same natural occurrences.

From Quiz Wetlands

Answer: salt marsh

A common salt marsh plant is cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). It really thrives in this salty wetland. It deals with the salt by taking it up into its tissues and then excreting it through leaf pores. You can actually see the salt crystals on the Spartina grass !

From Quiz Ecoquiz

Answer: Poikilotherm

Poikilotherms are usually cold blooded organisms whose activity declines with ambient temperature.

From Quiz The Yucatan Peninsula

Answer: It is primarily composed of limestone

The peninsula is basically a limestone rock covered wth plantlife! This leads to little water aboveground, despite the lush plant growth.

From Quiz Native to the USA or Not?

Answer: Native

Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the turkey the national bird!

From Quiz The Polluters

Answer: Pollution Degree

It measures the amount of pollution, usually from an electrical appliance with the amount of moisture in the air that can conduct electricity. For instance, Degree 1 means that there is little or no pollution and the air contains only dry air or non-conductive pollution. It has no effect on the environment. An example of this would be a clean room environment or sealed electrical components. The higher the degree, the more dangerous it will be.

From Quiz Principles of Ecology

Answer: Pioneering Species

Pioneering species are usually microorganisms that colonise in extreme conditions in which most species would not be able to survive. Due to the lack of nutrients in the area the microorganisms (pioneering species), such as phytoplankton, often have to create their own food by photosynthesising. The succeeding species are all created using the foundations of the pioneers and environmental stability is generally the end result.

From Quiz Ecology 102

Answer: change

Those that are better able to avoid change have a better chance of surviving.

From Quiz Wetlands

Answer: prairie pothole

Many birds use the prairie potholes as breeding grounds, and resting places during winter migrations.

From Quiz Ecoquiz

Answer: Masting

A tactic used by some species to escape seed predation by starving predators with small seed crops and capitalising in later years by producing large crops when predator numbers are low.

From Quiz The Yucatan Peninsula

Answer: Cenotes

The cenotes were often a part of Mayan rituals. Sacrificial objects (and people!) were tossed into them.

From Quiz Native to the USA or Not?

Answer: Not & Not native

Really called the 'Russian thistle', the tumbleweed was probably introduced in grain shipments from Asia.

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Last Updated Nov 01 2025 5:44 AM

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