Soil Science and Management 6th Edition

Edward Plaster Test Bank

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Chapter 5: Life in the Soil

TRUE/FALSE

1. The most numerous soil microflora are bacteria.

ANS: T PTS: 1

2. An anaerobic organism needs a lot of oxygen.

ANS: F PTS: 1

3. Fungi are soil decomposers and pose no threat to other living organisms.

ANS: F PTS: 1

4. Nematodes are a large, diverse group of microscopic segmented worms and are especially numerous in
soil.

ANS: F PTS: 1

5. Denitrification completes the nitrogen cycle by converting nitrate ions to nitrogen gas, which filters
out of the soil.

ANS: T PTS: 1

6. Conventional tillage and plowing favors bacteria and their predators, protozoa, and nematodes;
conservation tillage leaves less residue on the soil surface and enhances populations of fungi, small
insects, and earthworms.

ANS: F PTS: 1

7. Methanogenesis is a process by which anaerobic organisms break down organic matter in oxygen-free
sites and produce methane, also known as swamp-gas, which is the major component of natural gas
fuel.

ANS: T PTS: 1
MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ____ and actinomycetes are excellent decay organisms and help preserve soil structure.
a. Beetles
b. Fungi
c. Minerals
ANS: B PTS: 1

2. All of the following terms are associated with fungi EXCEPT:

a. Multicellular
b. Spores
c. Hyphae
d. Mycelium
e. Hydra
ANS: E PTS: 1

3. ____ have jointed legs and a hard outside skeleton.

a. Cephalopods
b. Arthropods
c. Protistas
d. Nematodes
ANS: B PTS: 1

4. The ____ is an area of high biological activity that takes place close to the surface of the soil, near
plant roots.
a. atmosphere
b. biosphere
c. rhizosphere
ANS: C PTS: 1

5. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of a Mycorrhizae symbiotic relationship with plant roots?
a. Better root absorption of water and some minerals and elements
b. Resistance to nematodes
c. Glomalin production that enhances aggregating
d. Longer rootlet life
ANS: B PTS: 1

6. Ways to manage soil organisms include all of the following EXCEPT:

a. inoculation
b. improving soil conditions
c. controlling harmful organisms
d. tillage practices
ANS: D PTS: 1

YES/NO

1. Is it true that the decay of organic matter is an important role of microorganisms?

 ANS: Y PTS: 1

2. Does the burrowing of worms, ants, and larger soil mammals mix soil layers and slow the aging of a
mature soil?

ANS: Y PTS: 1

3. Is it true that algae exist in water and soil?

ANS: Y PTS: 1

4. Is nitrogen fixation the process by which certain microorganisms absorb ammonium and convert it to
nitrogen that plants can use?

ANS: N PTS: 1

5. Is it true that soil organisms can improve soil tilth, preserve soil nutrients, and reduce a grower’s
work?

ANS: Y PTS: 1

6. Are protozoa mostly predators, capturing their prey by engulfing them and absorbing them into their
bodies?

ANS: Y PTS: 1

COMPLETION

1. Important bacteria include the symbiotic nitrogen fixers ____________________.

ANS: Rhizobia

PTS: 1

2. Soil organisms that need oxygen are called ____________________.

ANS: aerobic

PTS: 1

3. ____________________ include simple, one-celled organisms that are considered soil microfauna and
are the most abundant inhabitants in soil. They are often rod-shaped and not visible to the naked eye.
They may grow in chains or colonies.

ANS: Bacteria

PTS: 1

4. Actinomycetes resemble fungi but are classified as a(n) ____________________.

ANS: bacteria
 PTS: 1

5. ____________________ refers to dead organisms or their products.

ANS: Detritus

PTS: 1

6. Many actinomycetes species produce chemicals that stop growth of other microorganisms, a
phenomenon called ____________________.

ANS: antagonism

PTS: 1

7. Gophers, prairie dogs, and ____________________ are all burrowing animals that interact with and
affect soil.

ANS: woodchucks

PTS: 1

MATCHING

Match the following organisms with the best description.

a. Actinomycetes d. Mycorrhizae
b. Protozoans e. Algae
c. Microbes
1. The soil’s microfauna, regulate soil bacterial populations and release plant-usable nitrogen
2. Generate, absorb, or degrade greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane
3. Some fix nitrogen and some produce antibiotics
4. Fungi that help plants absorb water and nutrients
5. Add organic matter to the soil

1. ANS: B PTS: 1
2. ANS: C PTS: 1
3. ANS: A PTS: 1
4. ANS: D PTS: 1
5. ANS: E PTS: 1

Match the following terms with the best definition.

a. Macrofauna c. Microflora
b. Microfauna d. Mesofauna
6. Involved in the decay process by shredding raw organic matter
7. Organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye
8. Animals large enough to see, such as earthworms and woodchucks
9. Plant life too small to be seen with the naked eye

6. ANS: D PTS: 1
7. ANS: B PTS: 1
 8. ANS: A PTS: 1
9. ANS: C PTS: 1

Match the following terms with the best definition.

a. Autotrophs d. Saprophytes
b. Heterotrophs e. Parasites
c. Predators f. Symbionts
10. Are all responsible for plant diseases
11. Keep parasite populations in check and perform other functions
12. Decomposers that feed on dead organic matter
13. Produce own food from inorganic carbon by photosynthesis or certain reactions with soil chemicals
14. Live with another organism in a partnership helpful to both
15. Get their food from sources outside themselves

10. ANS: E PTS: 1

11. ANS: C PTS: 1
12. ANS: D PTS: 1
13. ANS: A PTS: 1
14. ANS: F PTS: 1
15. ANS: B PTS: 1

Match the following terms with the best definition.

a. Bioremediation e. Mineralization
b. Denitrification f. Nitrogen fixation
c. Immobilization g. Solarization
d. Inoculation
16. The removal of free nutrients from the soil by soil life
17. The process by which immobilized nutrients are changed to simple, inorganic forms by microbial
decomposers
18. Purposely infecting soil with useful organisms
19. Covering soil with a clear plastic sheet for several weeks during hot, sunny weather in order to destroy
undesirable organisms
20. Completes the nitrogen cycle by converting nitrate ions to nitrogen gas
21. The process by which certain bacteria, blue-green algae, and actinomycetes absorb nitrogen and
convert it to ammonium that plants can use
22. Biological cleanup of contaminated soils

16. ANS: C PTS: 1

17. ANS: E PTS: 1
18. ANS: D PTS: 1
19. ANS: G PTS: 1
20. ANS: B PTS: 1
21. ANS: F PTS: 1
22. ANS: A PTS: 1

ESSAY

1. Discuss how the carbon cycle functions.

ANS:
 The carbon cycle encompasses the two food chains on Earth. The regular food chain takes
place above the ground and involves life forms, mainly plants, that manufacture their own food
(primary producers) and form the base of the food chain. Creatures (primary consumers) eat the plants.
Predators are secondary consumers that eat other creatures. Carbon and energy move up the food chain
from plants to animals. However, if the food chain contained only producers and consumers, the chain
would collapse because all the world’s carbon would be fixed in the bodies of dead life.
However, another type of food chain breaks down and recycles dead organisms—the detrital
food chain. Detritus is dead organisms or their products (crop residues, fallen leaves, animal wastes).
When it enters the soil, it is soil organic matter. Decay organisms in the soil (decomposers) consume
organic matter as a food source, returning most of the carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
through respiration and leaving behind a residue called humus. In the process, plant nutrients are
released that were tied up in the bodies of plants and animals.
At the heart of both food chains is a plant process called photosynthesis by which plants take
in carbon dioxide in the air and change it to organic carbon, the building block of living tissue.
Photosynthesis also converts solar energy to chemical energy and stores it in plants as sugars and other
energy-rich compounds.

PTS: 1