Name _______________________________________
Date of test______________
Ecology Review Worksheet #1
Main Idea: Ecologists study environments at different levels of organization.
Level
Description
1. Organism
Example
2. Population
3. Community
4. Ecosystem
5. Biosphere
Fill in the diagram below with the Levels of Organization studied in Ecology. Use the terms from the
table above.
Specify which level of organization the phrase describes:
6. There were Monarch Butterflies, finches, and bumble bees in the field_______________________
7. A family of raccoons was near the garbage cans last night.____________________________
8. The water at the lake was so clear that perch, bass and pike could be seen.___________________
9. The lonely deer was quietly nibbling grass._______________________
10. There were many types of birds eating berries from the tree.____________________________
11. In the clear water around a coral reef, clownfish could be seen swimming among the stinging
tentacles of the sea anemones.______________________________________
12. A baby bird that must have fallen out of its nest lay on the
ground.____________________________
13. Many black bears could be seen hanging around the camp sight.____________________________
Main Idea: An ecosystem includes both abiotic and biotic factors. Producers provide energy for
other organisms in an ecosystem.
Complete the following sentences with the correct term from the list below
autotrophs
eating
nonliving
abiotic
living
temperature producers
moisture
plants
animals
biotic
consumers
heterotrophs nonliving
14. All ecosystems are made up of ________________ and ___________________ components.
15. ______________ factors are living things, such as _______________ or _______________.
16. ______________factors are nonliving things, such as wind, ______________, or
______________.
17. ____________________ are organisms that get their energy from __________________ resources,
meaning they make their own food. These organisms are also called ______________________.
18. ___________________ are organisms that get their energy by __________________other
organisms. These organisms are also called _________________________.
19. Why are producers so important to an ecosystem?_______________________________________
KEY CONCEPT: Food chains and food webs model the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
Choose the correct term from the box below to fit each description.
carnivore
herbivore
secondary consumer
decomposer
detritivore
omnivore
primary consumer
tertiary consumer
trophic levels
20. I eat only plants. I am a(n) ___________________________.
21. I eat only other animals. I am a(n) _______________________.
22. I eat both plants and animals. I am a(n) _____________________.
23. I eat dead organic matter. I am a(n) _______________________.
24. I break down organic matter into simpler compounds. I am a(n) ______________________.
25. I am the first consumer above the producer level. I am a(n) ____________________.
26. I am a carnivore that eats herbivores. I am a(n) __________________________.
27. I am a carnivore that eats other carnivores. I am a(n) __________________________ .
28. The levels of nourishment in a food chain are called _______________________.
29. How is a food web different from a food chain?
_______________________________________________________________________________
30. Label the four tiers/trophic levels of the energy pyramid with the correct trophic level (producers,
primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers).
31. Pollution in water moves through ecosystems much like
food, except the pollutants remain in the tissues of organisms.
What process is this? _______________________
32. Fill in the pyramids below
____ units
____ hawks
10,000 ppm DDT
____ units
____ snakes
____ ppm DDT
1000 units
____rabbits
____ ppm DDT
____ units
3000 flowers
____ ppm DDT
Energy
Biomass
DDT/pesticide
KEY CONCEPT: Matter such as carbon and nitrogen are recycled in ecosystems.
bacteria
animals
producers
decomposition
photosynthesis (2)
carbon dioxide
nitrogen
oxygen fossil fuels
respiration (2)
recycled
plants
33. Carbon is found in the
atmosphere and is made
usable by the process
of_____________.
________ remove_______
__ _____from the
atmospherein the process of
photosynthesis make it
usable to the rest of the
biotic community.
Carbon is returned back into
the atmosphere as
_______&_______release it
out as a product of
__________. Carbon can
also bereturned into the
atmosphere when humans
burn ____________ which
are the deposition of dead material.
bacteria
animals
producers
decomposition
photosynthesis (2)
34. The Nitrogen cycle is
different in that nitrogen is mostly
found in an unusable form.
________
are the only ones that can break
down nitrogen into a usable form.
Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria make __________gas
available to plants in the _____ by
converting it to nitrates and
nitrites. Plants use this nitrogen to
build structures. Consumers eat
______ then return nitrogen to the
soil with either
_________________ or excretion.
The nitrogen cycle is important
because nitrogen is included in the
base pairs of ______ as they are
called nitrogen bases. Nitrogen
also is important for the
production of
____________which code for
proteins which enzymes are.
soil
nitrogen
oxygen
waste DNA
amino acids
recycled
plants
Ecology: Population size & Human Impact Review Worksheet #2
1. Complete the chart with an example of each and use the terms “Benefits,” or “Harmed”
Symbiotic Relationship
Mutualism
Organism A
Organism B
Parasitism
2. How is parasitism similar to and different from predation?
_____________________________________________________________________________
MAIN IDEA: Changes in a population’s size are determined by immigration, births,emigration,
and deaths.Choose a word from the box below that best completes each sentence.
births
increases
emigration
deaths
immigration
abundant
3. When resources are ___________________ in a particular area, individuals may move into
thepopulation of this area. This movement of individuals into a population from a different population
is called _______________________. A very cold winter has left many deer in a population hungry
and sick. By the end of the winter, this population will likely decrease because of
__________________.
A deer population experiences growth when the rate of reproduction __________________. This
change in population size is due to _____________________.As humans move into their territory,
many members of a deer population move away and join other herds. This movement of individuals
out of a population into a new population is called ___________. How does the availability of
resources affect population growth?______________________________________________________
The population of a predator can be limited by the available prey, and the population of prey can be limited by
being caught for food. Use the information in the graph below to answer the questions that follow.
4. Describe the pattern seen in the graph above. ___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
5. How does the wolf population affect the carrying capacity of the moose population?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
MAIN IDEA: Limiting factors affect the growth of a population.
carrying capacity
growth
density-dependent
logisticexponential
density-independent grow stop growingrapid
6. __________ _______________ limiting
factors matter when a population reaches a
C
certain number of organisms. For example,
when a population reaches a certain size,
there won’t be enough resources (food,
B
shelter, water) for all of the organisms. This
could cause the population to
_________________ when it reaches the
maximum number of organisms that can be
supported, or ___________ ____________.
A
This type of population growth is called
___________________
7. This type of population growth is called ___________ ____________; it represents what occurs as a
population’s numbers get too large for the environment to support it.
8.What is the rabbit population’s carrying capacity? ________
9. Match the letter with the growth:_____ rapid growth _____ slow grow_____ birth rate =death rate
10. Before a population
reaches its carry capacity, it
experiences a period of
______________. This type of
growth is called
_____________. During this
time period, there are plenty of
resources available for all
organisms, so more organisms
are being born than are dying.
11. This type of population growth is called ___________ ____________;
12. This is because there are ___________resources available for all organisms, so more organisms
are being _________ than are dying.
13. Fill in the differences below:
density-independent limiting factor
logistic population growth
density-dependent limiting factor
exponential population growth
14. The human population is currently growing at an exponential rate. Since you have learned that
populations cannot grow forever, what are some things (more than one!) that could happen when the
human population reaches its carrying capacity?___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
MAIN IDEA: Human population growth has had a negative impact on ecosystems. Humans are
the greatest threat to biodiversity
AcidRainCarbon dioxide
Greenhouse effect
CFC’s Deforestation OzoneLayerGlobalWarming
Pollution
15.__________________ is the contamination of the environment by human acts. Pollution is harmful to all living things
and can take many forms including, air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, and water and soil pollution form the
dumping of waste products and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Pollution has caused health problems in
humans including respiratory disease and different forms of cancer.
16. The________________ is the upper portion of the Earth's atmosphere that screens out most of the Sun's harmful
ultraviolet radiation. Industrial air pollutants, such as _______, has damaged the ozone layer by creating a hole in it.
Through this hole, damaging UV radiation penetrates to the Earth's surface. Increased exposure to this radiation can cause
skin cancer in humans, damage crops, and destroy the marine ecology.
17. ___________________ is the widespread destruction of the world's forests. One of the largest areas of destruction are
the tropical rainforests. These forest are cut down for the hardwood lumber, to clear space for farming, for building
settlements, and for grazing animals.
18. The effects of this destruction include a change in weather patterns, continued buildup of _____________________ , a
greenhouse gas, and extinction of plants and animals, which will result in the destruction of entire ecosystems.
19. _____________________ is the rising of the average temperature worldwide. If it continues, it will reach a point where
the arctic glaciers begin to melt, causing worldwide floods. Scientists believe this is caused by the __________________,
which is a build up of warm air in the lower atmosphere. This occurs from the use of CFCs, the burning of fossil fuels, and
deforestation.
20.____________________ happens when rain is polluted by airborne contaminants such as those left by the burning of
fossil fuels and automobile exhaust. Acid rain is damaging to farmland, bodies of water, by altering the pH and destroying
plant tissues.