IB Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) Practice Exam

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• What are greenhouse gases primarily known for?
• Which of the following represents a characteristic of aesthetic value?
• What is the main focus of arable farming?
• What does the crude death rate indicate?
• In ecological terms, what is the impact of a stable population?
• In which type of system is energy exchanged but matter is not?
• What characterizes indicator species in an ecosystem?
• What does the pyramid of numbers depict?
• What distinguishes non-point source pollution from point-source pollution?
• What does the infant mortality rate measure?
• Which factor contributes to species diversity in an ecosystem?
• What percentage of solar energy reaches the Earth's surface, after accounting for reflection and absorption by the atmosphere?
• Which of the following statements best describes biodiversity in the Arctic Tundra?
• What does maximum sustainable yield represent?
• What does succession refer to in an ecological context?
• What method can help manage pest populations and enhance soil fertility through diversity?
• What is a primary consequence of high biochemical oxygen demand in a water body?
• What is a significant drawback of light soil?
• In which category do organisms that create their own food through autotrophic means fall?
• What does a food chain illustrate?
• Biomass is defined as:
• What is the term for the number of years it would take a population to double its size at its current growth rate?
• What is a key feature of the vegetation structure in the Arctic Tundra?
• What is the term used for the additional energy required to sustain a system, especially in reference to solar energy?
• What is a notable environmental concern associated with beef production?
• What defines a community in ecological terms?
• Which farming type is characterized by a focus on high yield and the use of fertilizers?
• How is stability best defined in an ecological context?
• What agricultural practice is primarily aimed at increasing market production?
• What is the main concept of evolution?
• What is a key feature of the ethical/intrinsic value of biodiversity?
• Which term describes the total gain in energy by consumers through absorption?
• What role do transfers play in ecosystems?
• Which of the following reflects indirect value?
• What substance do decomposers primarily recycle back into the soil?
• What is the relationship between total fertility rate and crude birth rate?
• What role do invertebrates, often categorized as detritivores, play in the ecosystem?
• What is essential for living species and ecosystems to maintain productivity?
• California commercial farming typically involves which of the following?
• Which organization is also known as the World Wide Fund for Nature?
• What organization is recognized as the United Nations Environment Program?
• Which farming method is characterized by high environmental impact due to factors like antibiotic use?
• What is isolation in the context of evolutionary biology?
• What does biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) indicate?
• What is meant by "survival of the fittest"?
• What does the ecological footprint measure?
• What is a major biotic factor associated with the Holocene extinction?
• What is the significance of energy subsidies in ecosystems?
• What does the term 'diversity' refer to in a scientific context?
• What is the result of the process of photosynthesis?
• At what trophic level would you find apex predators?
• Feedback in a system can best be defined as?
• Deserts cover what fraction of the world's surface?
• Which of the following is true about deserts?
• Which of the following best defines a climax community?
• What describes parasitism?
• What defines a species in biological terms?
• What is meant by population momentum?
• What defines an abiotic factor in an ecosystem?
• What is a key factor in understanding demographic transitions in developed countries?
• What does the pyramid of biomass illustrate?
• Which of the following best represents a concept of ecological balance?
• What does Net Primary Productivity (NPP) represent?
• What characterizes 'J curve' growth in populations?
• What does static equilibrium indicate?
• What term describes a community of organisms that is stable and in equilibrium with environmental conditions?
• What is resilience in ecological terms?
• What is eutrophication?
• What characterizes an unstable equilibrium in a system?
• What is the primary focus of sustainable yield?
• Which type of strategist typically invests in a few offspring to enhance survival rates?
• In captive breeding, what is the primary activity performed with the animals?
• What does Gross National Production (GNP) measure?
• What is the primary focus of posting farming?
• How do living species in ecosystems typically contribute to the environment?
• Which factor has the least impact on the amount of solar energy absorbed by the Earth's surface?
• What is a key aspect of transfers in ecosystems?
• Which of the following factors does NOT influence biodiversity?
• Which of the following statements best describes 'carrying capacity'?
• What is the primary focus of conserving habitat diversity?
• How is economic value determined?
• In the carbon cycle, where does carbon originally come from?
• How is the age-specific birth rate defined?
• What initiates the flow of energy through an ecosystem?
• What does a soil profile reveal?
• What is a major environmental goal of green politics regarding forests?
• Net Secondary Productivity (NSP) accounts for what in consumers?
• What does zonation refer to in ecology?
• What is the term for the maximum population size that can be sustained over a long period of time?
• What is the total fertility rate?
• What does a high diversity index typically indicate?
• What role do limiting factors play in population growth?
• What characterizes a tropical rainforest?
• How does positive feedback influence a system's behavior?
• Which of the following is an example of replenishable natural capital?
• What does the term habitat refer to?
• How does primary succession typically begin?
• What is meant by Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)?
• Which trophic level is suited for carnivores?
• What does the general fertility rate indicate?
• What agricultural practice involves planting different crops successively to improve soil conditions?
• In the context of population growth, what typically follows after an increase in resources availability?
• What is the main environmental factor that can influence zonation?
• What are organic fertilizers primarily made from?
• What is the primary role of an umbrella species?
• What is the primary focus of UNESCO?
• What characteristic defines biodegradable substances?
• During energy transfer in an ecosystem, what happens to the majority of energy passed through trophic levels?
• Why is understanding food webs important in environmental science?
• Which process involves the energy transfer from glucose in living organisms?
• Which of the following describes an open system?
• Which of the following best describes the structure of a pyramid of productivity?
• Which type of succession occurs on newly created land?
• What type of competition occurs between members of the same species?
• What is the study of plate tectonics primarily concerned with?
• Stratification in a rainforest refers to:
• What is the primary role of producers in an ecosystem?
• What does an anthropocentric view emphasize regarding the role of humans in the environment?
• What is the main focus of ecological value?
• What is a detritus in an ecosystem?
• How do decomposers contribute to the carbon cycle?
• What do eluvial layers primarily lose?
• How is the age-specific mortality rate calculated?
• What is the primary purpose of cash cropping?
• What best describes the term "replenishable" in environmental contexts?
• What limitation significantly impacts the growth and reproduction season in the Arctic Tundra?
• What does entropy measure in a system?
• Which of the following best describes commercial farming?
• Which organisms are classified as producers in an ecosystem?
• What type of succession occurs on already developed soils?
• What is the composition of soil?
• Which type of species has a significant impact on its ecosystem due to its role?
• An EIA ideally should be independent from which entity while being funded by them?
• How does bioaccumulation affect higher trophic levels?
• What does the baseline study in an EIA measure?
• Which of the following aspects relates to direct value?
• Which of the following exemplifies a transformation process?
• What does the Demographic Transition Model primarily describe?
• Which type of competition can occur between different species?
• What is one way carbon returns to the atmosphere?
• What characterizes non-renewable natural capital?
• In a food chain, what do secondary consumers primarily feed on?
• How is total fertility typically measured?
• What does genetic diversity refer to?
• According to the 1st law of thermodynamics, what can be said about energy?
• Which term refers to the average number of years that a person can be expected to live?
• What is the main goal of mixed farming?
• Which of the following is NOT a component of biodiversity?
• Which type of soil is often considered the most challenging for cultivation?
• A primary consumer, such as an herbivore, occupies which trophic level?
• Which farming approach incorporates both crop cultivation and animal husbandry?
• Which group of organisms includes species that do not possess a backbone?
• What role do feedback mechanisms play in the Gaia hypothesis?
• What is the function of the IUCN?
• What type of climate characterizes the Arctic Tundra?
• If a population has a natural increase rate of 1%, how long will it take to double in size?
• What does existence value refer to?
• Which of the following best describes a resilient ecosystem?
• What is biomagnification?
• Field capacity refers to what aspect of soil?
• How does the rate of natural increase typically affect population growth?
• Which of the following reflects anti-natalist policies?
• What best defines the relationship between the population of predator and prey?
• What happens to population levels when limiting factors increase in an environment?
• Subsistence farming can be described as what?
• Which concept defines development that meets current needs without compromising future generations?
• Which value recognizes the right of each species to exist, regardless of human needs?
• Biodiversity refers to what aspect of ecosystems?
• What is a disadvantage of the pyramid of numbers?
• What is depicted by the pyramid of productivity?
• What is a diversity index used for?
• What does the term "trophic level" refer to?
• What characterizes extensive farming?
• Which description fits an isolated system?
• Positive feedback primarily leads to which of the following?
• Which type of organism is classified at trophic level 1?
• What is the primary function of decomposers in an ecosystem?
• Which type of farming typically requires less labor and focuses on maximizing outputs?
• Which type of feedback promotes stability in an ecosystem?
• Which concept excludes human influence from ecological considerations?
• What does speciation refer to?
• What characterizes stable equilibrium?
• What can both organic and inorganic materials cause when they enter water bodies?
• What defines a system in the context of environmental science?
• What is the sustainable yield?
• What is an ecosystem?
• What is the primary cause of pollution as defined in environmental science?
• What does fertility primarily measure in human populations?
• What type of organisms are heterotrophs?
• Which equation represents the process of respiration?
• Which term describes a balanced state among components of a system?
• What is a common consequence of intensive farming methods in beef production?
• What is the primary focus of research involving population dynamics?
• Which of the following is an example of a density-dependent limiting factor?
• Which term describes services provided by ecosystems, like trees converting CO2 to O2?
• Which farming practice is noted for being high labor and low technology?
• Intensive farming is defined by which of the following?
• Which of the following is an example of a macronutrient?
• What does aquaculture primarily involve?
• What is a characteristic of hotspots in ecology?
• What is the rate of natural increase?
• What constitutes species diversity?
• What does a species' ecological niche encompass?
• What role do halocarbons play in environmental science?
• What is half the carrying capacity referred to as?
• Which farming type involves both crops and animals as a self-sustaining system?
• What is a characteristic feature of captive breeding programs?
• What does the term 'population density' refer to?
• Which of the following aspects does the Demographic Transition Model NOT focus on?
• Which practice can significantly benefit soil health by breaking pest cycles?
• Which theorist proposed that a larger population has a greater ability to feed itself?
• In what form must macronutrients be for plants to absorb them?
• What does bioaccumulation refer to?
• What does sustainability refer to in environmental terms?
• How is energy primarily stored in the Arctic Tundra ecosystem?
• What does the term "smog" refer to in environmental science?
• What do internal density-dependent limiting factors affect?
• How do ecological services benefit humans?
• What type of farming generally targets profit maximization per area cultivated?
• What is a food web?
• How is habitat diversity defined?
• What does the 'S curve' in population dynamics represent?
• What defines a biome?
• Which organisms are specifically associated with breaking down dead organic material?
• What concept suggests that as the human population increases, it would lead to challenges in feeding itself?
• Why is it important for humans to consume a large amount of food?
• What does the crude birth rate measure?
• Which of the following describes intraspecific competition?
• Which relationship is defined as mutualism?
• Which of the following is an example of a biotic factor?
• What is the purpose of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?
• Which aspect does an ecological footprint take into account?
• What is an advantage of using a pyramid of numbers?
• Why is recovery often difficult in tropical rainforests?
• Which legal framework regulates international trade in endangered species?
• What term is used for the group of organisms of the same species living in the same area?
• Which of the following is an example of point-source pollution?
• What role does photosynthesis play in renewable natural capital?
• What is meant by the term "carrying capacity"?
• What type of succession begins on dry land?
• In a predatory-prey relationship, what happens when the population of prey increases?
• Which term describes succession that occurs in aquatic environments?
• Competition in ecology refers to which of the following?
• What does a buffer zone refer to in environmental protection?
• What characterizes micronutrients?
• How can a population become a new species?
• What is the main purpose of the CITES agreement?
• Which aspect of diversity is crucial for ecosystem resilience?
• Which factor significantly impacts biomass accumulation in tropical rainforests?
• Which type of value is not typically associated with a formal market price?
• What type of emissions are notably high in California commercial farming?
• Why is understanding the crude death rate important for demographic studies?
• What does the term 'natural capital' refer to?
• Which phenomenon is primarily explained by plate tectonics?
• Which of the following describes transformation related to energy?
• Which of the following best describes 'Green Politics'?
• What distinguishes renewable natural capital?
• What impact does global warming have on the Earth's temperature?
• What is an effect of an increase in greenhouse gases?
• Which type of value refers to direct benefits derived from natural resources?
• What is the primary role of carnivores in an ecosystem?
• Which biome has the lowest net primary productivity (NPP)?
• What do illuvial layers in soil signify?
• What type of value refers to benefits obtained indirectly from ecosystems?
• What is a feedback loop?
• What is the primary trait of r-strategists?
• What distinguishes commercial farming from other types of farming?
• Which statement describes a characteristic of negative feedback?
• What environmental issue can arise from the characteristics of tropical rainforest soil?
• What does the 2nd law of thermodynamics state about energy conversions?
• Which of the following is NOT considered renewable natural capital?
• Which of the following describes a 'plagiosere'?
• In the ecological context, what is a 'prisere'?
• What is the goal of pro-natalist policies?
• Which of the following factors is involved in natural selection?
• In the Gaia hypothesis, the Earth is compared to which of the following?