Ecosystem Pretest/Post Test
Name_____________________________________________
Matching
_____1. Habitat
A. A group of the same type or species of living things
_____2. Community
B. Everything that surrounds and affects a living thing
_____3. Predator
C. An animal that is hunted by other animals for food
_____4. Niche
D. All the living things that live with one another and
interact with each other in a place
_____5. Population
E. An animal that hunts other animals for food
_____6. Prey
F. A specific place in which a plant or animal lives
_____7. Ecosystem
_____8. Environment
G. A group of communities and its nonliving environment (air, water, temperature, soil and light)
H. The role that each living thing plays in its environment
Identify each factor which affects ecosystems as “N” for natural, “MR”
for man related, or “N-MR” if it could be caused by both
_____9. Volcanic eruptions
_____10. Snow storm
_____11. Mining
_____12. Flooding
_____13. Drought
_____14. Livestock grazing
_____15. Human hunting or fishing
_____16. Logging
_____17. Hurricanes
_____18. Tornadoes
_____19. Predation
Circle the correct choice
In a stable ecosystem, an increase in the numbers of prey for a specific predator
would generally result in a decrease / increase in the number of its predators.
In a stable ecosystem, a decrease in the numbers of prey for a specific predator
would usually result in a decrease / increase in the number of its predators.
Write a response
An alien predator has been introduced into the otter’s kelp forest ecosystem. It
preys only on sea urchins. What do you think will happen to the abalone and the sea
urchin populations that live in the kelp forest and the kelp forest itself?
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ECOSYSTEMS VOCABULARY
A group of the same type or
species of living things.
Everything that surrounds and
affects living things.
An animal that is hunted by other
animals for food.
All the living things that live with
one another and interact with each
other for food .
An animal that hunts other
animals for food.
A specific place in which a plant or
animal lives.
A group of communities and its
nonliving environment (air, water,
temperature, soil, and light).
The role that each living thing
plays in the environment.
WINTER STORMS CARRY OTTER PUPS
OUT TO SEA WHERE THEY DROWN.
(LOSE 2 SEA OTTER PUPS)
AN ANGRY ABALONE FISHERMAN
SHOOTS A MOTHER OTTER KILLING IT.
ITS OTTER PUP, UNABLE TO FEND FOR
ITSELF, STARVES TO DEATH.
(LOSE A MOTHER SEA OTTER AND HER PUP)
DISEASE OF AN UNKNOWN CAUSE,
POSSIBLY POLLUTION, KILLS ½ OF YOUR
OTTER POPULATION.
(LOSE ½ OF YOUR SEA OTTER POPULATION)
CALM SEAS AND ABUNDANT FOOD
ALLOW FEMALE OTTERS TO
SUCCESSFULLY CARE FOR THEIR YOUNG.
(ADD 1 SEA OTTER PUP FOR EACH FEMALE SEA OTTER)
HUMAN OVERFISHING HAS REDUCED
FISH STOCKS TO THE POINT THAT THEIR
NATURAL PREDATORS SUCH AS SHARKS
AND KILLER WHALES MUST NOW KILL
SEA OTTERS TO SURVIVE.
(LOSE 2 SEA OTTERS)
TRAWLERS DRAG NETS ACROSS THE
OCEAN BOTTOM TO CATCH FISH AND
SHELL FISH WHICH LIVE ON THE
BOTTOM. DISTURBANCE OF SEA BED
SANDS CAUSE SHELL FISH TO DIE. SEA
OTTERS BEGIN TO STARVE.
( LOSE 2 SEA OTTERS)
THE OTTERS’ KELP FOREST IS SET
ASIDE AS AN ECOLOGICAL PRESERVE
CLOSED TO FISHING AND HUMAN
ACTIVITY.
(OTTER MOTHERS SUCCESSFULLY RAISE 1 PUP EACH)
AN OTTER DIES OF NATURAL CAUSES.
(LOSE 1 SEA OTTER)
SEA OTTER
DESCRIPTION:
* A marine mammal
* Weighs between 45 and100 pounds
* Brown fur
DIET:
* Sea urchins, sea stars, crabs, clams, snails, mussels,
abalone
NATURAL
PREDATORS:
Sharks, killer whales
NICHE:
Maintains stability of the kelp forest by keeping
seaweed predators in check
HABITAT:
Kelp Forest canopy
ABALONE
DESCRIPTION:
* Gastropod mollusc, one shelled animal
* An invertebrate
* Has 1 muscular foot
* Inside of the shell is known as “Mother of Pearl“
* The red abalone can grow up to 12” across
DIET:
Seaweed
NATURAL
PREDATORS:
Fish, eels, crabs, octopi, sea stars, sea otters
NICHE:
Helps control growth of the kelp
HABITAT:
Kelp Forest floor
SEA URCHINS
DESCRIPTION:
Echinoderm
*Is covered with spines that may have poison
glands
*Has many tubelike feet between the spines
* Some types can be 10” across from spine tip to
spine tip
DIET:
* Grazes on seaweed, dead matter and sedentary
animals
* Can take 2 – 3 weeks for 1 sea urchin to eat
a clump of seaweed
NATURAL
PREDATORS:
NICHE:
HABITAT:
Sea stars, sea otters, crabs, fish
* Provides a major food source for otters
* Helps prevent the sea kelp from becoming
overgrown, decomposers
Kelp Forest floor
KELP
DESCRIPTION:
* Brown algae (there are many different kinds)
* Giant kelp can grow to 150’ long
* Air bladders keep leaflike growths afloat so
they can reach toward the sun and
successfully photosynthesize
*Have rootlike “holdfasts” which secure them
to rocks on the ocean floor
NATURAL
PREDATORS:
Sea urchins, abalone, fish
NICHE:
Provides the “backbone” of the Kelp Forest
Ecosystem
HABITAT:
Cold shallow coasts