| Question | Answer | % Correct |
|---|---|---|
| the doubling in cereal yield that was achieved from 1960 to 2000 can be attributed solely to genetic improvement. | False | 90%
|
| tropical rainforest trees generally have deep roots for support and to capture nutrients that are leached downwards by the high rainfall. | False | 87%
|
| the passage of water from the root hairs to the xylem involves both the symplastic (within cells) and apoplastic (between cells) pathways. | True | 84%
|
| deforestation can potentially alter climate by changing surface albedo. | True | 84%
|
| a pioneer plant species is one that can colonise bare rock. | True | 84%
|
| plant species richness is generally higher in cold deserts as opposed to hot deserts. | False | 81%
|
| the endosymbiosis of photosynthetic bacteria is believed to have given rise to the first photosynthetic eukaryotes. | True | 81%
|
| water flows from regions with higher (nearer to 0) water potential to regions with lower water potential (more negative). | True | 81%
|
| in general, annual plants avoid rather than resist, low temperature stress. | True | 81%
|
| herbaceous woodland species such as bluebell tend to produce relatively large numbers of small seeds. | True | 81%
|
| even in lakes in which the phytoplankton are limited by nutrients, the marginal reed beds may have high productivity. | True | 81%
|
| in general, dehydrated leaves are less prone to freezing injury than fully turgid leaves. | True | 81%
|
| nitrogen fixation occurs symbiotically in root nodules of peas, beans and some woody plants. | True | 81%
|
| plants in the tundra can maximise their photosynthetic rate by reducing their low temperature optima. | True | 81%
|
| a reduction in transpiration surface helps plants adapt to arid conditions. | True | 81%
|
| ruderal planets such as dandelions are adapted to high disturbance, low stress habitats. | True | 81%
|
| the first vascular plants appeared on land about 600 million years ago. | False | 77%
|
| dissolved solutes increase water potential. | False | 77%
|
| a stomatal density tends to increase in plants grown at elevated CO2 concentrations. | False | 77%
|
| perennial species allocate more resources to reproduction than annual species. | False | 77%
|
| dormancy can only be overcome by the passage of time. | False | 77%
|
| selenium is an essential element for plants, but not for animals. | False | 77%
|
| water moves from the root to the shoot through a pipeline (the xylem) made up from dead lignified cells. | True | 77%
|
| domesticated plants were thought to have arisen in 'Vavilov centres' during 9000-1500BC. | True | 77%
|
| the state of stability found at the end of a secondary succession is called a climax community. | True | 77%
|
| in the tundra, annual herbs and large shrubs tend to dominate the vegetation. | False | 74%
|
| the rate of CO2 diffusion in water is considerably higher than that in the air. | False | 74%
|
| SO2 remains the dominant air pollutant affecting air pollution across Europe. | False | 74%
|
| in general plants resistant to chilling injury have a lower proportion of saturated: unsaturated fatty acids in membrane lipids compared to chill sensitive plants. | True | 74%
|
| plant cell expansion is driven by an increase in turgor. | True | 74%
|
| high silica content can protect grasses from mammalian herbivory. | True | 74%
|
| carbon in forest ecosystems is concentrated above ground while in grassland ecosystems it is generally concentrated below ground. | True | 74%
|
| ecological succession is the process of plant communities replacing one another through time. | True | 74%
|
| the plant cuticle is freely permeable to both water and CO2. | False | 71%
|
| carnivorous plants tend to be found in nutrient rich habitats. | False | 71%
|
| their is evidence to suggest that terpenes released from coniferous trees in warm weather act as a natural form of cloud seeding which can affect climate. | True | 71%
|
| as a forest ecosystem ages, the stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate of the tree species tends to decrease. | True | 71%
|
| denitrification rarely occurs in anaerobic, waterlogged soils. | False | 68%
|
| photosystems I and II are located on the chloroplast boundary membrane. | False | 68%
|
| 'Kranz' anatomy is not essential for C4 photosynthesis. | False | 68%
|
| if a mature, fully expanded leaf becomes shaded, the chloroplast will re-orientate to maximise light absorption. | True | 68%
|
| mycorrhiza fungi can take up heavy metal ions from the soil and concentrate them in the root tissue of the host plant. | False | 65%
|
| plant chlorosis caused by mineral nutrient deficiency is always most evident on the youngest leaves. | False | 65%
|
| in the middle of the 19th century most CO2 emissions could be attributed to non tropical deforestation. | True | 65%
|
| stomata open because K+ ions are actively transported out of the guard cells. | False | 61%
|
| oligotrophic lakes show limited plant productivity. | True | 61%
|
| the impact of climate change on agricultural yield reduction is likely to impact the tropics rather than the northern hemisphere. | True | 61%
|
| the starch content of Panicum increases six-fold when grown under 900ppm CO2 compared with ambient CO2. | True | 58%
|
| the monarch butterfly sequesters cyanide from plant tissue then emits small quantities to deter predators. | False | 55%
|
| plants from wet habitats generally exhibit lower maximum stomatal conductance than those from dry habitats. | False | 42%
|