8.11B Practice Questions
Name _______________________
Date ________________ Period ___
1. The ___________________ is all of the living organisms on Earth and the places they
live.
2. All of the combined areas of earth with similar climate and vegetation is called a
____________________. An example is a _____________________ or a
_____________________.
3. An _______________________ is a single connected (contiguous) area of one biome
type.
4. All of the living organisms living in a defined area is called the
____________________.
5. A _________________________ is all of the individual living organisms of one species
living in a defined area.
6. A ______________________ is one specific kind of organism that can breed with
others of its kind to produce fertile offspring.
7. A _________________ factor in an ecosystem includes all of the living organisms
found in an area, and the interactions between those organisms.
8. __________________ factors include the defining characteristics of the environment,
such as the climate, water, sunlight, air, rock and soil types.
9. A species’ __________________ is the set of biotic and abiotic conditions in which it
can survive and maintain a stable population, sometimes described as its “role” in the
ecosystem.
10. A species’ __________________ is the place it lives and finds all of the resources
necessary for its survival.
11.An ____________________________ is any inherited physical or behavioral characteristic that helps an
organism to survive and reproduce in its habitat.
12. The process by which species develop adaptations is called
_______________________________________________.
13. Give four examples of adaptations. _____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
14. The maximum population of a species that can live in an area, due to a limited
resource such as food or water, is called its _________________________
________________________.
15. Why do individual organisms of the same species have to compete to survive?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
16. Give three examples of competition between species for abiotic resources, in which
the better adapted species is most likely to survive. ______________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
17. When a predator is out-competed for biotic resources (prey) by other better-adapted
predator species, what three choices can it make? (1) ______________________,
(2) _____________________________________, (3) ___________________________.
18. List 4 examples of abiotic factors. (1) ____________________, (2) ______________,
(3) ___________________________________, and (4) _______________________.
Directions: Look at the graphs below and answer the following questions.
Graphs 1 - Exponential Growth and Carrying Capacity
1. Which of the two curves exhibits a carrying capacity? _______________________________
2. What is the carrying capacity of this graph? _____________________________
3. In what generation does this population reach its carrying capacity? __________________________
Graph 2
4. For what type of organism is the carrying capacity shown? _______________________________
5. Give one possible reason why the population decreased in 1990 after it had reached its carrying
capacity.
___________________________________________________________________________
6. Give one hypothesis to explain why the population exceeded its carrying capacity in 1992.
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. Why did the population decrease in 1994 after it exceeded the carrying capacity? ___________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Graph 3 – Predator-Prey Graph
Isle Royale National Park on a remote island was established in 1940, and designated a wilderness
area in 1976. The only mode of transportation available is by boat or seaplane. Moose first arrived at
Isle Royale around 1900. The moose population tends to increase in years with mild winters, early
spring green-up, abundant winter forage, low wolf numbers and low levels of tick infestation. Wolves
first arrived at the island on an ice bridge from Canada in 1940. Disease has also influenced the wolf
population. Between 1980 and 1982, the wolf population declined from 50 to 14, due to canine
parvovirus.
8. What is the greatest moose population? What year did that occur? What was the wolf population
when the moose population the greatest? _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9. What would happen to the wolf population if the moose population decreases?
__________________________________________________________________________________
10. What would happen to the moose population if the wolves were removed from Isle Royale?
__________________________________________________________________________________
11. Describe the pattern between the wolf (predator) population in relation to the moose (prey)
population.
__________________________________________________________________________________
12. Identify a factor, other than moose population, that has influenced the wolf population in Isle
Royale.
__________________________________________________________________________________
13. Identify two factors, other than the wolf population, that may influence the moose population.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
14. Isle Royale has been undeclared as a national park and has been purchased by a large resort.
Describe one positive and one negative impact on the Isle Royale ecosystem. ________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________