Name ____________________________
Date ____________________
Chapter 2 Test Ecosystems and Biomes STUDY GUIDE
If a kestrel eats a mouse that eats grass, the kestrel is a second-level consumer.
An organism that can make its own food is called a producer.
The best way to represent a large, complex system, such as the water cycle, would be a computer
model.
In photosynthesis producers use carbon from carbon dioxide to produce other carbon-containing
molecules.
If you were to make a physical model of the carbon cycle, the model take on a circular shape
A group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms is
called a biome.
Ponds and rivers are two types of freshwater ecosystems.
Dandelions, horses, and other organisms that were brought by humans from one part of the world
to another are examples of exotic species.
The many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.
Tundra is a biome is extremely cold and dry.
Bacteria and fungi are known as decomposers because they break down the remains of organisms.
The soil that is frozen all year in the tundra is called permafrost.
Water vapor turns into droplets of liquid water in the process of condensation.
Small, light organisms such as baby spiders can be dispersed by wind.
Certain bacteria change nitrogen gas into a usable form in a process called nitrogen fixation.
The grassland biome is typically populated by many grasses, along with a few shrubs and trees.
Organisms that capture the energy of sunlight to make food are called producers.
Second-level consumers may be either carnivores or omnivores.
Producers release the gas oxygen as a product of photosynthesis.
Oak, maple, and beech trees, which lose their leaves each year, are typically found in a deciduous forest.
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in nodules, lumps on the roots of legume plants.
Decomposers are organisms that break down the wastes and remains of other organisms
Be familiar with all of the Key Concepts on p. 76
Lessons 4 & 5 Vocabulary terms: biogeography, continental drift, dispersal, exotic species, es
(Possible essay questions) You should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Briefly describe the steps in the water cycle.
Explain why decomposers are essential to life on Earth.
Explain how water can be a means of dispersal for plants but can limit the dispersal of animals.
Explain why it is mostly the climate in an area that determines its biome.
Name ____________________________ Date ____________________
For homework, complete the following 5 questions in your notebook.
Look at the diagram below and think about the following 4 questions
1. Explain the role of an animal such as the horse in the nitrogen cycle.
2. Describe two roles bacteria play in the nitrogen cycle.
Use the figure below to answer the following questions in the spaces provided.
3. What would happen to the other organisms if all the plants in this ecosystem died?
4. Which organisms shown are producers?
5 . Use the organisms pictured in this ecosystem to construct a food chain.