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NECO SSCE Biology 2016 past questions and answers

This 2016 NECO SSCE Biology set has 40 practice questions. Try these 5 free sample questions, tap a question to reveal the answer and explanation. Then practise the whole 2016 set with instant marking.

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Sample NECO SSCE Biology 2016 questions

1. In an abandoned field, grasses are gradually replaced by shrubs and then by trees; which condition best indicates that succession has approached a climax community?
  1. The soil has disappeared
  2. The community has become relatively stable and self-perpetuating
  3. Only pioneer species remain
  4. All consumers have left the area

Answer: B. The community has become relatively stable and self-perpetuating

A climax community is a relatively stable, mature community that can maintain itself under prevailing conditions.

2. Fertiliser washed from farmland into a lake causes rapid algal growth followed by the death of many fish; what is the main immediate cause of the fish deaths?
  1. A sudden increase in dissolved oxygen
  2. A decrease in water temperature
  3. The algae directly convert fish into nutrients
  4. Decomposers use up dissolved oxygen as they break down dead algae

Answer: D. Decomposers use up dissolved oxygen as they break down dead algae

Decomposition of the large algal biomass consumes dissolved oxygen, leaving too little for many fish.

3. A legume grows well in nitrogen-poor soil because bacteria in its root nodules convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable nitrogen compounds; this process is called
  1. nitrogen fixation
  2. denitrification
  3. transpiration
  4. nitrification

Answer: A. nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds that organisms can use.

4. A student places the same-sized quadrat at many randomly chosen points in a grassland and records the number of a plant species each time; the results are most useful for estimating the species'
  1. age at maturity
  2. rate of mutation
  3. abundance or density in the sampled area
  4. food preference

Answer: C. abundance or density in the sampled area

Repeated quadrat counts provide an estimate of the abundance or density of stationary organisms in an area.

5. A biologist captures and marks 40 grasshoppers, releases them, and later captures 60 grasshoppers, of which 12 are marked; using the mark-recapture estimate N = (first catch x second catch) / marked recaptures, what is the estimated population?
  1. 120
  2. 200
  3. 240
  4. 720

Answer: B. 200

The estimate is (40 x 60) / 12 = 200 grasshoppers.

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