• 50 questions

Environmental Science DSST Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the four areas of the DSST Environmental Science outline, each answer with its source.

In which biome do frigid temperatures and short growing seasons hinder the growth of trees?

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Exam mode: 50 questions, 60 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with Prometric, which owns the DSST program. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

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All 50 questions

Ecological concepts 15

  • A fire destroys the community of a forest. Which kind of ecological succession follows? Wikipedia, "Ecological succession". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), i. Ecological succession
  • According to the EPA, how is carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere as part of the biological carbon cycle? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Overview of Greenhouse Gases". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), e. Energy flows and cycles
  • An ecosystem is made up of organisms that interact with their environment. Through what are its living and nonliving components linked? Wikipedia, "Ecosystem". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), a. Ecosystems
  • In the exponential equation of population growth, what is the constant r called? Nature Education Knowledge, "How Populations Grow: The Exponential and Logistic Equations" (J. Vandermeer, 2010). DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), g. Population biology
  • In which biome do frigid temperatures and short growing seasons hinder the growth of trees? Wikipedia, "Tundra". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), f. Biomes
  • One species gains shelter from a long-term association with another, and the host is neither helped nor harmed. Which relationship is this? Wikipedia, "Commensalism". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), b. Organism relationships
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Ecological concepts, continued

  • Primary producers such as plants sit at trophic level 1, where a food web begins. Which organisms are at level 2? Wikipedia, "Trophic level". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), d. Trophic relationships (e.g. food chain; food web)
  • Primary production occurs mainly through photosynthesis, which uses light. Which process carries it out with energy from inorganic chemical compounds? Wikipedia, "Primary production". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), e. Energy flows and cycles
  • To count as a biodiversity hotspot a region must hold at least 1,500 endemic species of vascular plants. What is the second criterion? Wikipedia, "Biodiversity hotspot". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), c. Biodiversity
  • Vascular plants and mycorrhizal fungi exchange nutrients, and each has a net benefit. Which kind of interaction is this? Wikipedia, "Mutualism (biology)". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), b. Organism relationships
  • What does the competitive exclusion principle, sometimes called Gause's law, state? Wikipedia, "Competitive exclusion principle". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), b. Organism relationships
  • Which mechanism of evolution is individuals surviving and reproducing at different rates because of differences in their traits? Wikipedia, "Natural selection". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), h. Evolution
  • Which organisms can grow on bare rock and are often among the earliest pioneer species, turning the rock into soil? Wikipedia, "Pioneer species". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), i. Ecological succession
  • Which organisms obtain their nutrients by consuming decomposing plant and animal parts and feces? Wikipedia, "Detritivore". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), d. Trophic relationships (e.g. food chain; food web)
  • Why do food chains rarely extend for more than five or six trophic levels? Wikipedia, "Trophic level". DSST outline: I. Ecological Concepts (30%), e. Energy flows and cycles

Environmental impacts 13

  • Burning fossil fuels sends sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air, where they react with water and oxygen. Which two acids do they form? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "What is Acid Rain?". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), e. Industrial
  • Desertification is fertile land gradually degrading into arid desert. What is its immediate cause? Wikipedia, "Desertification". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), g. Land degradation
  • The formula I = PAT describes how human activity affects the environment. Which three factors does it multiply? Wikipedia, "I = PAT". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), a. Human population dynamics
  • The Green Revolution raised yields with new varieties of cereals. What did the new seeds require far more of than traditional varieties? Wikipedia, "Green Revolution". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), d. Agricultural
  • Inside a city some areas are hotter than others. To what does the EPA trace this heat island effect? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "What Are Heat Islands?". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), c. Pollution: physical, chemical, and biological aspects
  • Land conversion breaks a patch of habitat into several smaller, isolated patches. What is this process called? Wikipedia, "Habitat fragmentation". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), f. Habitat destruction
  • Methane is emitted when coal, natural gas and oil are produced and moved. Which other source of methane does the EPA name? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Overview of Greenhouse Gases". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), b. Global climate change
  • NOAA says that "dead zone" is a more common term for hypoxia. What is hypoxia? National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, "What is a dead zone?". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), c. Pollution: physical, chemical, and biological aspects
  • Nonpoint source pollution comes from many diffuse sources. What causes it? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Basic Information about Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), c. Pollution: physical, chemical, and biological aspects
  • Too high a concentration of nutrients in a body of water causes eutrophication. Which nutrients are most commonly to blame? Wikipedia, "Eutrophication". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), d. Agricultural
  • What do ozone-depleting substances release when intense ultraviolet light reaches them in the stratosphere? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Basic Ozone Layer Science". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), c. Pollution: physical, chemical, and biological aspects
  • What does the ecological footprint measure? Wikipedia, "Ecological footprint". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), a. Human population dynamics
  • Which greenhouse gases are synthetic and are sometimes used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Overview of Greenhouse Gases". DSST outline: II. Environmental Impacts (25%), b. Global climate change

Environmental management and conservation 12

  • A farmer grows different types of crops, one after another, in the same field over successive growing seasons. Which practice is this? Wikipedia, "Crop rotation". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), b. Agricultural practices
  • A human health risk assessment by the EPA has four steps. Hazard identification, dose-response assessment and exposure assessment are three. Which is the last? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Conducting a Human Health Risk Assessment". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), i. Environmental risk assessment and hazards
  • A typical septic system consists of a septic tank and a drainfield. What does the septic tank do? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "How Septic Systems Work". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), g. Wastewater treatment
  • A waste can be hazardous because it shows a characteristic property. Which four properties does the EPA name? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Defining Hazardous Waste: Listed, Characteristic and Mixed Radiological Wastes". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), h. Solid and hazardous waste
  • According to the EPA, why do farmers maintain strips of vegetation around their fields and along streams? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Nonpoint Source: Agriculture". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), d. Soil conservation and land use practices
  • For six commonly found air pollutants, known as criteria air pollutants, what does the Clean Air Act require the EPA to set? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Criteria Air Pollutants". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), e. Air pollution control
  • How does an electrostatic precipitator remove particles from a stream of gas? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Monitoring by Control Technique - Electrostatic Precipitators". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), e. Air pollution control
  • In the drinking water regulations, what is a Maximum Contaminant Level? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "National Primary Drinking Water Regulations". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), f. Water quality and supply
  • Which 1980 law, informally called Superfund, lets the EPA clean up contaminated sites and makes the responsible parties clean up or pay? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "What is Superfund?". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), h. Solid and hazardous waste
  • Which method of pest control relies on other organisms, such as predators, parasitoids and pathogens? Wikipedia, "Biological pest control". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), c. Pesticides and pest control
  • Which of these does the Energy Information Administration list as a type of biomass, a renewable energy source? U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Renewable energy explained". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), a. Renewable and nonrenewable resources
  • Which of these does the U.S. Geological Survey list as an effect of pumping groundwater faster than it is recharged? U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Groundwater Decline and Depletion". DSST outline: III. Environmental Management and Conservation (25%), f. Water quality and supply

Social processes and the environment 10

  • The 1987 report Our Common Future defined "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." What is it called? Wikipedia, "Sustainable development". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), b. Policy, planning and decision making
  • The 1992 Rio Declaration sets out the precautionary approach. Where serious or irreversible damage threatens, what may a lack of full scientific certainty not be used for? Wikipedia, "Precautionary principle". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), b. Policy, planning and decision making
  • Environmental justice is broadly defined as fair treatment of everyone, whatever their race, color, national origin or income, and what else? Wikipedia, "Environmental justice". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), a. Environmental justice
  • From which community did much of the thinking, language and strategy of the environmental justice movement emerge? Wikipedia, "Environmental justice". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), a. Environmental justice
  • Residents oppose a waste facility planned for their area, although they would tolerate it if it were built farther away. What is this attitude called? Wikipedia, "NIMBY". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), d. Differing culture and societal values
  • Sustainable development seeks a balance among the needs of three things, an idea known as the triple bottom line. Which three? Wikipedia, "Sustainable development". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), d. Differing culture and societal values
  • The treaty known as CITES protects endangered plants and animals from which threat? Wikipedia, "CITES". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), c. Global environmental governance
  • Under the National Environmental Policy Act, which documents assess the likely impacts of alternative courses of action before a major federal action? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Summary of the National Environmental Policy Act". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), b. Policy, planning and decision making
  • What is the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement? Wikipedia, "Paris Agreement". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), c. Global environmental governance
  • Which treaty, adopted in 1997, extended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and committed its parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Wikipedia, "Kyoto Protocol". DSST outline: IV. Social Processes and the Environment (20%), c. Global environmental governance

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the content outline of the DSST Environmental Science fact sheet (Prometric, Rev 11/2021, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/DSST_EnvironmentalScience.pdf, read 2026-10-12): ecological concepts 30%, environmental impacts 25%, environmental management and conservation 25%, social processes and the environment 20%. The bank holds 15, 13, 12 and 10 questions, the same shares of 50 to the nearest question. Every answer was read on 2026-10-12 in the public page its question names: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Nature Education and Wikipedia. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This Environmental Science DSST practice test has 50 questions of our own in the fact sheet's four areas, each with its source. It is unofficial and not affiliated with Prometric, which owns the DSST program.

Read the full guide

Four areas and their weights

The fact sheet (Rev 11/2021, read October 12, 2026) weights them: ecological concepts 30%, environmental impacts 25%, environmental management and conservation 25%, social processes and the environment 20%. The bank holds 15, 13, 12 and 10 questions.

100 questions, 2 hours

That is the real exam. A timed run here is 50 questions in 60 minutes, the same pace.

Where the answers come from

Each explanation names its page: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Geological Survey, NOAA, the Energy Information Administration, Nature Education or Wikipedia.

  • Ecological concepts is the largest area: ecosystems, relationships between organisms, food webs, energy flow, biomes, populations, evolution and succession.
  • Know each law by what it does: the Clean Air Act sets air quality standards, CERCLA cleans up contaminated sites, NEPA asks for impact statements.
  • Social processes is a fifth of the exam. The questions here cover environmental justice, the precautionary approach, and the Kyoto, Paris and CITES treaties.

Questions and answers

Is there a DSST Environment and Humanity exam?

Not under that name today. Older lists of DSST exams show Environment and Humanity: The Race to Save the Planet among the physical sciences. Prometric's list now has Environmental Science there, and this practice test follows its outline.

Is the DSST Environmental Science exam different for military test takers?

No. DSST exams are open to civilians and service members alike, and this exam has one fact sheet. DANTES, a Defense Department office, funds a first attempt for eligible military members and spouses.

Is there a DANTES study guide for Environmental Science?

The free one is Prometric's fact sheet: the content outline and five reference textbooks. Here the questions are grouped by the outline's four areas, and each explanation names a public page to read.

What score do you need on the DSST Environmental Science exam?

There is no percent to aim for. The American Council on Education recommends 3 semester hours of lower-level baccalaureate credit at a score of 400. The DSST site says to ask an advisor whether your school accepts the exam.

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