CPES 2015-16
NAME____________________________________________
Unit 2A Homework Set
1) Which factors of an ecosystem are not parts of a community?
a. Abiotic
b. Keystone
c. Native
d. Biotic
2) Why would it be incorrect to describe ecosystems as being isolated from each other?
a. All ecosystems have different species
b. Things can move from one ecosystem onto another because ecosystems do not have clear boundaries
c. Ecosystems have biotic and abiotic factors
d. Both ecosystems and communities have biotic and abiotic factors
3) List three biotic factors and three abiotic factors found in the ecosystem surrounding Livingston High
School.
Biotic Factors
Abiotic Factors
4) How do producers and consumers get their food energy? (be specific and name the process when
appropriate)
5) Describe how energy is transferred from one organism to another? What happens to the energy when it
transfers?
6) Describe how each of the following type of organism obtains their food. Decide where it is an autotroph or a
heterotroph. Give an example for each.
Describe how it obtains food
Autotroph or
Example(s)
Heterotroph
Producer
Herbivore
Omnivore
Carnivore
Scavenger
Detritivore
Decomposer
7) Identify natural processes and human processes in the carbon cycle.
Natural
Human
8) Explain how the excessive use of fertilizers affects the nitrogen cycle.
9) How is secondary succession different from primary succession?
10) Describe the role a pioneer species plays during the process of ecological succession.
11) Which of the following is correctly arranged from the lowest trophic level to the highest trophic level?
a. Bacteria, Frog, Eagle, Raccoon
b. Algae, deer, wolf, hawk
c. Grass, Mouse, Snake, Eagle
d. grass, bass, minnow, snake
12) The energy lost between trophic levels
a. can be captured only by parasitic organisms
b. cools the surrounding environment
c. is used in the course of normal living
d. evaporates in the atmosphere
13) Which of the following statements about the nitrogen cycle is NOT true?
a. animals get their nitrogen by eating plants or other animals
b. plants generate nitrogen in their roots
c. nitrogen moves back and forth between the atmosphere and living things
d. decomposers break down waste to yield ammonia
14) Math Practice: Consider the following food chain: Grass  Grasshopper Lizard  Owl. If 100 calories is
available to the grasshopper from eating grass, how many calories are available to the owl? (Hint- remember, only
10% of energy available is passed up each level of the food chain).