ECOLOGY REVIEW SHEET
Name ___________________________
Matching: Match the following terms with the correct statement. Each statement will be
used only once.
A. One organism benefits without harming the
Heterotroph
1. __F__
other
Secondary Succession 2. __D__ B. Non-Native species that dominates an
Ecology
3. __C__
ecosystem
Prey
4. __N__ C. Study of organisms and their environment
Carnivore
5. __J__ D. Gradual replacement of one community by
Autotroph
6. __H__
another in an area with existing soil
Parasitism
7. __G__ E. A relationship in which both organisms benefit
Commensalism
8. __A__ F. Organism that cannot make their own food
Herbivore
9. __O__ G. A relationship in which one organism benefits
Mutualism
10. __E__
but harms the other
Decomposer
11. __K__ H. Organism that can make their own food
Omnivore
12. __M__ I. An organism that hunts
Predator
13. __I__ J. Organism that eats only meat
Limiting Factor
14. __L__ K. Organism that breaks down dead material
Invasive Species____ 15. _B__ L. Any biotic/abiotic item that restricts growth
distribution of organisms
M. Organism that eats both plant and animals
N. Organism that is hunted
O. An organism that eats only plants
Use the following diagram to answer the following questions.
Grass
Caterpillar
Bird
Mouse
Snake
Grasshopper
Frog
Owl
16. What is the producer in the food web above?
17. Energy flows from the mouse to the Owl
18. The primary consumers are
Grass
and Snake
Caterpillar ,
19. The secondary consumers are Bird ,
Mouse , Grasshopper
Snake
, and
Frog
.
.
20. The owl is a secondary consumer if it eats the
Mouse
, but a tertiary (third
order) consumer if it eats the Bird ,
Snake
, or ___Frog_______
.
21. As matter and energy move from grasses to owl, the amount of available energy
always (increases, decreases) but the population size may increase or decrease.
DECREASES
22. Fill-in the four levels of the energy pyramid diagram below with the following
information: the trophic level, the niche of the organism that occupies each trophic
level, and the amount of energy available at each trophic level.
Tertiary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Primary Producer
Sun
23. What type of organism is capable of using and storing energy from the sun?
Producer/Autotroph
24.Based on the energy pyramid diagram above, the greatest amount of energy (and
biomass) in a healthy ecosystem will be found in the ____primary producers____.
25.Based on the energy pyramid diagram above, there is about 100 times more energy
stored in Trophic Level A than in ____Level C_______.
For the following questions, Use the legend below
E= Exponential Growth
L= Logistic Growth
26. This type of growth tends to level off upon the carrying capacity. __L___
27. This type of growth has a period of steady growth. __L___
28. This type of growth is more realistic and true. __L___
29. This type of growth keeps growing forever if unchecked. __E___
SHORT ANSWER
30.Explain what the carrying capacity is in a logistic growth curve.
Carrying Capacity is the point of leveling off after the period of exponential
growth. It represents the amount of organisms that an ecosystem can sustain.
31.List the 5 levels of biological organization from smallest to largest.
Organism, Population, Community, Ecosystem, and Biosphere
32.List 3 types of symbiotic relationships and give examples of each.
a.
Commensalism
example: Robin (nest) and a tree
b.
Parasitism
example: Flea and a Cat
c.
Mutualism
example: Birds that pick bugs off of Buffalo
33.Compare and contrast a food chain and a food web.
a. Food Chain: single string of feeding movements in a food web; usually 3-5
arrows maximum.
b. Food Web: a bunch of food chains intertwined with each other in an
ecosystem; shows all possible feeding relationships.
34.Explain how Eubacteria and Fungi are important in recycling of nutrients in the
environment.
They are both decomposers and help recycle nutrients by breaking them down.
35.What is the difference between a limiting factor and carrying capacity?
A limiting factor is something affects (limits) population growth whereas
carrying capacity is point where an ecosystem cannot sustain any more
organisms.
36.Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession.
a. Primary: Succession where there is only rock and no soil present,
weathering and erosion break down rock and lichens move in as the
pioneer species. Takes a long, long time.
b. Secondary: Succession after a major disaster such as a forest fire; soil is
present. Pioneer species would be annual wildflowers and takes a much
shorter time than primary succession.
37.What is the first thing to appear AFTER a natural disaster, such as a forest fire, has
devastated an ecosystem?
Pioneer species like annual wildflowers and weeds
38.If all of the mosquito larvae are removed from the food web above, which
populations will decrease?
Dragonfly, Beetles, Fish, and Pelicans
39.If the ecosystem above was contaminated with DDT, a harmful chemical, which
population would contain the highest concentration of DDT?
Pelicans
In the space to the left, write the word or phrase that includes the rest.
Food Web
40. trophic level, food web, food chain, producer
Symbiosis
41. parasitism, commensalism, mutualism, symbiosis
Ecosystem
42. organism, ecosystem, population, community
Biosphere
43. ecosystems, biotic factors, biosphere, abiotic factors
Consumers 44. omnivores, consumers, carnivores, herbivores
Water Cycle 45. evaporation, precipitation, water cycle, transpiration
46. A stable, mature community with little or no succession taking place is called a
__________Climax Community_______________.
47. True or False: Primary Succession would occur after a flood exposes underlying rock.
48. True or False: Biomagnification affects producers more than consumers.
49. The statements below describe the secondary succession that occurred within an
area of Yellowstone National Park. Number the events in which they occurred.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Grasses, ferns, and pine seedlings inhabited the area.
Annual wildflowers grew from the bare soil.
A fire burned thousands of acres of land.
A climax community of lodge-pole pine developed.
Bare soil covered the area.
_________C, E, B, A, D________________________
50. Considering the time we spent outside for that one assignment, please provide three
biotic factors you seen on our trip.
Anything that you saw that was alive (animals, plants, fungi, etc.)
51. Considering the time we spent outside for that one assignment, please provide three
abiotic factors you seen on our trip.
Anything you saw that was not alive (water, soil, rock, etc.)
52. What are some of the events that might cause an ecosystem to go through secondary
succession?
Forest Fire, Tornado, Flood, Major Disaster, etc.
53. What are some of the factors that would affect the carrying capacity of an environment?
Presence/Absence of Predators, Food and Water Availability, Temperature,
Competition between organisms, habitat availability/loss, etc.
54. A species that is non-native and that usually dominates the ecosystem would be called
a(n) ___Invasive___ species.
55. Examples of a few species mentioned in the previous question would include:
Asian Carp, Snakehead fish, Nutria, Burmese Python, Zebra Mussels, Sea
Lamprey, Emerald Ash Borer, Kudzu Vine, European Starling, etc.
Carrying
Capacity
Graph A
Graph B
56. What type of growth is seen in Graph A? Exponential or Logistical
57. What type of growth is seen in Graph B? Exponential or Logistical
58. Which graph would be an example of an invasive species’ population growth? __A____
59. Which graph shows the most realistic population growth of a forest squirrel? __B____
60. Which graph would show population growth after the extinction of a predator? __A____
61. Draw and label a dotted line on Graph B that would represent carrying capacity.
62.The ultimate/primary source of energy is ____Sun________.
63. A rabbit eats a carrot and a fox eats the rabbit. What level consumer is the rabbit?
The rabbit is a primary consumer because it feeds off a producer.
64. What level consumer is the fox in the previous question?
The fox would be a secondary consumer because it is feeding off of a primary
consumer.
65.If the primary producers stored 1000 units of energy, how many would be stored at the
tertiary consumer level?
1 unit of energy
66.What trophic level in the energy pyramid has the most organisms?
The producer level because it is the base of the food pyramid.
67.What trophic level in the food pyramid has the least number of organisms?
The top of food pyramid (apex predators); can be tertiary or quaternary depending
on food chain
68. What is succession?
It is the orderly, natural change and species replacement in an ecosystem over
time. Can be primary (no soil) or secondary (existing soil)
69. When organisms colonize new areas (that have never had life) it is called ____Primary
succession__.
70. The first species to populate an area which starts succession is called the ___Pioneer
Species___.
71.The mature community that is developed after community becomes stable is the
_Climax Community.
72.When organisms colonize an area that once had life that was wiped out is called
Secondary succession.
73.One of the main differences between succession types is that in secondary succession the
community already has _____Soil_______.
74.Populations growing with no limitations show a ___J____ shaped curve (what letter
does it look like?) called ____Exponential_____ growth.
75.If you had an aquarium, how could you increase the carrying capacity? How could you
decrease it?
Increase – add more food, get a bigger tank, remove predators
Decrease – give them less food, use a smaller tank, add a predator
76.Give an example of a population.
A group of humans only. A herd of buffalo. Populations must be the same species.
77.Give an example of a community.
A pride of lions, a herd of Gnu, and a herd of zebra in an area. Communities are
different species in an area.
78.Carbon is recycled over and over again in nature, we call this the __Carbon Cycle___.
79.What are some of the key processes that contribute to the carbon cycle?
Photosysnthesis, Cellular Respiration, Burning of Fossil Fuels, Methane
excretion from cows, ocean/atmosphere exchange of CO2, decomposition, etc.
80.What is one of the main gases that cause the greenhouse effect? __carbon dioxide,
water vapor, methane____
81.Human activity like burning fossil fuels, variations in climate, and the melting of polar
ice caps may possibly contribute to __Global___ __Warming_____.
82.What is biomagnification?
The process by which pesticides and other toxins have a greater effect as it moves
up through the food chain/food pyramid. The upper levels must consume more
organisms and therefore the toxins accumulate in higher numbers thus causing
disastrous effects on the top predators like hawks, eagles, wolves, etc. DDT caused
the shells of many bird species to become soft.
83.What trophic levels would be most affected by the process of biomagnification?
Usually the top two layers are affected the most (tertiary or quaternary levels); the
apex predators.