Ecosystem

Which of the following represents commensalism?

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Barnacles are often found attached to a whale's skin, causing no harm to the whale. If the barnacle and whale are communalists, which of the best describes the barnacle?

The barnacle benefits from its attachment to the whale.

Suppose an ecosystem suddenly loses all of its consumers to a disease. Which of the following scenarios would most likely happen?

The ecosystem would become overgrown with plants.

What would most likely happen to the fish living in a freshwater pond if it became contaminated by salt water?

The fish would die from the change in salinity.

How do parasitism and predation differ?

The goal of predation is to kill the prey, while a parasite does not benefit from killing its host.

How could a community of green butterflies and brown beetles change during a dry season?

The green butterflies would be more visible to predators.

Species A and species B live in a mutualistic relationship. What would most likely happen to species B if a disease suddenly attacked and killed species A?

The population of species B would decrease.

In a predator-prey relationship, which organism benefits?

The predator

A certain predator species experiences a boom in birth rate, increasing its population. what long-term effects will likely result?

The prey population will drop, then the predator population will also drop.

Which of these organisms has the greatest amount of available energy through its food source?

The rabbit

A population is made up of individual members of the same?

Species

Only about 10 percent of the available energy is passed on at each trophic level. If a producer has 10,000 units of energy available, how much will be passed on to the tertiary consumer?

10 units.

Which of the following is an example of commensalism?

A bird builds a nest in a tree.

How does a predator differ from a parasite?

A predator hunts its prey, A parasite does not.

Which of the following is NOT true regarding carnivores?

All carnivores are also omnivores.

Detritivores obtain energy from which of the following?

All of the above.

From where does a carnivore obtain the energy necessary to fulfill its life processes?

Animal tissue

Which of the following is an example of a pioneer species?

Bacteria

How do abiotic factors and biotic factors differ?

Biotic factors are living, Abiotic factors are non-living.

During the dry season, the hyena population gathers in herds close to the sources of water. What type of population distribution does this exemplify?

Clumped

A particular area contains snakes, lizards, hawks, and squirrels. Together these animals make up the area's?

Community

Why can two organisms that live in different areas not compete?

Competition is an interaction between species that share the same resources.

Which of the following best describes all pioneer species?

Species that colonize new surfaces.

Bacteria in terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in ecosystem as?

Decomposers

What is the correct order of a food chain containing the following organisms: Quail, Desert shrub, Coyote, and Snake?

Desert shrub, Quail, Snake, Coyote

Which of the following are specialized decomposers?

Detritivores

What would NOT be included in an omnivores diet?

Detritus

This relationship is considered parasitic because once the wasp pupae hatch they will?

Eat the caterpillar.

What will most likely happen if two species compete for the exact same resources in the same ecosystem at the same time?

Eventually one species will overcome the other into extinction or emigration.

Which of the following is an example of parasitism?

Fleas living on a dog.

Which of the following organisms is part of the trophic level that has the least available energy?

Great blue heron

An animal eats only plants is a?

Herbivore

Food chains end with a species that?

Is consumed by detritivores only.

A food chain is an inaccurate model of energy flow through an ecosystem because?

It does not depict all trophic relationships in the ecosystem.

Phytoplankton are organisms that grow best within a narrow temperature range. How would the increase in water temperature above this range most likely affect this food web?

It will affect organisms at all trophic levels, possibly causing the entire food web to collapse over time.

Tiger sharks could be considered a keystone species because they?

Keep turtle populations under control, which protects sea grass.

When sea otters disappear from a marine ecosystem, the population of sea urchins grow uncontrollably, in this case, the sea otters are an example of

Keystone species

Which of the following best explains why a lion is NOT an herbivore?

Lions obtain energy from other animals.

Glacier Bay National Park has allowed scientists to study different stages of ecological succession as the glacier recedes. In which of the following stages of succession will scientists most likely observe the greatest species diversity?

Mature, shade-tolerant trees dominate the ecosystem.

In an ecosystem where there are very few producers, you would expect to see?

Mostly primary consumers.

Microscopic mites live in human eyelashes, feeding tiny bits of dead skin that they clear away from the human's eye. What type of species interaction is this?

Mutualism

Why are pioneer species usually autotrophs?

Newly established ecosystems do not usually have per-existing food sources.

What contributes to biodiversity in an ecosystem?

Organisms adapting to changes in the environment.

An el nino event results in unusually warm ocean temperatures on the west coast of the Americans. These warm ocean temperatures can cause massive fish die-offs. Which of the following is NOT a result of an el nino event?

Other marine organisms are unaffected by the temperature change.

The diagram below shows the life cycle of the whip worm. It does not kill people but it causes gastrointestinal problems. The relationship shown is an example of the following?

Parasitism

Based on the diagram, which of the following is a producer?

Phytoplankton

A forest is heavily logged, but years later, plant and animal populations rebound. Why is this a example of secondary succession and not primary succession?

Plants and animals previously lived in the forest.

What is the benefit to an ecosystem caused by predation?

Population sizes are controlled.

How does a primary consumer differ from other consumers?

Primary consumers eat only producers.

A volcanic eruption on the coast creates a new landmass. Soon, plants begin to sprout on top of the lava. This is an example of?

Primary succession

A certain strand of bacteria found deep within the Earth uses energy from the hydrogen sulfide gas to produce its own food. How should these bacteria be classified?

Producers

Which of the following would be included in an ecosystem but not a community?

River rocks

Which of the following is NOT part of a marine community?

Salt water

In a food chain consisting of toads, snakes, grasshoppers, and swamp plants, which organisms is a tertiary consumer?

Snakes

Salmon are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and eventually return to freshwater to mate and die. What characteristics allows the salmon to survive this lifestyle?

The salmon are able to withstand drastic changes in salinity.

Which of the following is NOT an example of an exotic species negatively impacting the environment?

The species fills a niche that had not previously been filled.

Why might you find fewer photosynthetic organisms at deeper levels of an ocean?

The sun's rays cannot reach the deep ocean.

An exotic insect is introduced to a forest ecosystem. It is resistant to the toxins the trees produce to protect them from being eaten by insects. How would this most likely affect the forest ecosystem?

The trees will begin to die off as the exotic insects begin to feed on them.

A saltwater inlet is blocked from the ocean by shifting sands. Water in the inlet evaporates more quickly than it is replaced. What will most likely be the result of this evaporation?

The water will become more salty.

Which statement best explains why producers are located at the bottom of the energy pyramid?

They are the source of energy for every other living thing.

How do earthworms help cycle matter through the ecosystem?

They break down dead material, releasing nutrients for use again.

Consumers are also classified as heterotrophs because?

They cannot make their own food.

How do producers differ from all other organisms?

They grow using food they make themselves

Why might omnivores be particularly adapted to changes in an environment?

They have a more varied diet that can adapt to the loss of one food source.

Why are keystone species important in an ecosystem?

They shape community structure and play important roles in the ecosystem.

Barnacles have a tolerance for drastic changes in salinity and temperature. In which marine ecosystem would you expect to see them living?

Tide pool

The cottontail rabbit is an herbivore. What does its diet consist of?

Vegetables and berries..

Which of the following is NOT a nutrient recycled through decomposition?

Water

What is the simplest level of biological organization being represented by the relationship shown on the graph?

community