Name: ___________________________________
Review Guide for Ecology/Community Interactions/Succession/Biomes
MATCHING: Match the terms with the correct definition. Write the CAPITAL letters
in the blank. Some words will not be used. (1 point each)
a. Abiotic factors
g. Habitat
b. Adaptation
h. Natural selection
c. Biotic factors
i. Niche
d. Community
j. Organism
e. Ecosystem
k. Population
f. Evolution
l. Species
1. __G___ The place where something lives.
2. __B___ An inherited trait that may serve as an advantage or disadvantage.
3. __D___ A group of various species that live in the same place and interact.
4. __K___ The number of individuals of one species in a given area.
5. __A___ Non-living factors of the environment.
6. __F___ The change in genetics over a long period of time.
7. __H___ The unequal survival and reproduction due to certain traits.
8. __C___ Living factors in an ecosystem.
9. __L___ A group of organisms that look alike and are able to reproduce.
10. __I___ The role an organism plays in its ecosystem.
11. Based on the relative positions of the sun and earth explain why earth has climate
zones and seasons.
Curvature of earth causes sunlight to strike the surface near the poles at an angle
so solar energy is spread out making it colder. Angles vary from summer to
winter, the variation of these angles is what causes solar energy to be dispersed
differently causing the seasons.
Name: ___________________________________
12. A plant grower has a greenhouse where she grows plants in the winter. The
greenhouse is exposed to direct sunlight and often gets too hot for the plants. She
paints the inside of the glass with a chalky white paint, and the temperature drops to
comfortable levels. Explain why this procedure works.
The white paint reflects the sunlight so that id does not pass into the greenhouse where it
could be trapped as heat.
13. How are predation and parasitism similar? How are they different?
In predation one organism captures, kills and eats another organism. In
parasitism, one organism lives in or on another organism and uses it for food
without killing it. Both are plus minus.
14. Competition for resources in an area is usually more intense within a single species
than between two different species. How would you explain this observation?
Members of the same species are from the same niche so that they are in direct
competition in their areas. Members of two different species are likely to have
somewhat different niches, so they are likely to use resources at different times or
in different ways – competition is not as intense.
15. Explain why secondary succession usually proceeds faster than primary succession.
Secondary succession usually proceeds faster, because soil and a few plants are
already in place when secondary succession starts, whereas primary must start on
rock.
16. A windstorm in a forest blows down the large trees in one part of the forest. Soon,
sun-loving plants sprout in the new clearing. What type of succession is this? What
do you think this area will look like in 5 years? In 50 years?
Secondary succession; in 5 years small trees. In 50 years, the area is likely to like
it did before the windstorm.
Name: ___________________________________
17. Although the amount of precipitation is low, most parts of the tundra are very wet
during the summer. How would you explain this apparent contradiction?
Because of permafrost, only the top few centimeters of the ground will thaw in
summer. Precipitation cannot soak into the permanently frozen soil and it doesn’t
evaporate because it’s so cold.
18. Consider these two biomes: (1) the temperate grassland and (2) the temperate
woodland and shrubland. Coyotes live in both biomes. Describe two adaptations that
might enable coyotes to tolerate conditions in both biomes.
Coyotes might be able to tolerate conditions by being adapted to hunt and eat a
variety of different prey animals and by being able to withstand hot, dry summers
as well as cold winters.
19. Deciduous trees in tropical dry forests lose water though their leaves every day.
During summers with adequate rain, the leaves remain on the trees. During the cold
dry season the trees drop their leaves. In and especially dry summer, how might the
adaption of dropping leaves enable a tree to tolerate the drought?
By dropping leaves during a dry summer a tree loses less water and is more likely
to tolerate a drought.
20. What type of succession takes place after lava from a volcanic eruption covers and
area?
Primary – since the newly cooled lava was molten rock.
21. Describe two major causes of ecological succession.
Ecological succession usually stems from natural or manmade disturbances.
Name: ___________________________________
22. Distinguish between weather and climate.