Name _______________________________ Date ___________________ Period ____
Chapters 3 & 4 – Ecology – Guided Reading
Section 3.1 What is Ecology?
Define the following:
1. Ecology
2. Biosphere
3. Species
4. Population
5. Community
6. Ecosystem
7. Biome
8. Distinguish between a biotic and an abiotic factor. Give an example of each.
Section 4.2 NICHES and Community Interactions
Define the following:
9. Niche
10. Symbiosis
11. Habitat
12. Succession
13. How do you think tolerance helps to determine an organism’s habitat? Be specific/Give an example
14. Choose an organism. Describe at least 2 biological aspects (biotic factors) and 2 physical aspects
(abiotic factors) of its niche. Do NOT use examples provided in the text.
15. State the competitive exclusion principle.
16. Explain how the competitive exclusion principle works or why it exists.
17. What do you think a limiting factor/resource is? Give an example. Explain how it might lead to
competition.
Section 3.2 & 3.3 Energy Flow in Ecosystems
18. Classify each of the following as an herbivore, a carnivore, an omnivore, or a detritivore:
Earthworm
bear
cow
snail
owl
human
______________ ______________ ______________ _______________ _______________ _______________
19. People who explore caves where there is running water but no sunlight often find them populated
with unique types of fish and insects. Explain how this type of community could exist independent of
the sun.
20. What is the difference between phytoplankton and zooplankton?
21. What is a trophic level?
22. Why don’t you find food chains with more than 3rd level consumers?
23. Describe the 10% Rule.
24. If the energy is not stored in the tissues and transferred to the next trophic level, it is lost as
______________ energy.
25. Describe what is meant by the biomass pyramid.
26. Create a food chain that could be found in Washington Township. Label which organisms are the
producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Section 4.2 Niches and Community INTERACTIONS
27. Indicate whether the following community interactions are (+,+), (+,-), or (+,0)
a. predation
b. herbivory
c. parasitism
d. mutualism
e. commensalism
28. Give an example of mutualism.
29. Give an example of commensalism.
Section 3.4 Cycles of Matter
30. What are the four types of processes in which cycle matter through the biosphere? Give an example
of each.
31. Distinguish between evaporation and transpiration.
32. Explain how carbon that was once part of carbon dioxide in the air can become part of the carbon
making up your muscle tissue.
33. List three sources of carbon dioxide in the air.
34. Why does your body need nitrogen?
35. What typical forms of nitrogen found on this planet?
36. There are 3 different types of bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle. Describe the role of each:
a.
Nitrogen fixing bacteria
b. Nitrifying bacteria
c. Denitrifying bacteria
39. Where is phosphorus needed in living organisms?
40. Where is most of the phosphorus stored in the biosphere?
a. In what form?
41. Ecologists discovered that trout were dying in a stream that ran through some farmland where nitrogen
fertilizer was used on the crops. How might you explain what happened?
42. How is primary productivity related to limiting nutrients?
43. All of life on Earth exists in
a. An ecosystem
b. A biome
c. The biosphere
d. Ecology
44. Which term describes a group of different species that live together in a defined area?
a. A population
b. A community
c. An ecosystem
d. A biosphere
45. Primary producers are organisms that
a. Rely on other organisms for their energy and food supply
b. Consume plant and animal remains and other dead matter
c. Use energy they take in from the environment to convert inorganic molecules into complex organic
molecules
d. Obtain energy by eating only plants
46. Which of the following organisms is a decomposer?
47. Which of the following describes how ALL consumers get their energy?
a. Directly from the sun
b. From eating primary producers
c. From inorganic chemicals like hydrogen sulfide
d. From eating organisms that are living or were once living
48. Nutrients move through an ecosystem in
a. Biogeochemical cycles
c. Energy pyramids
b. Water cycles
d. Ecological pyramids
49. Which biogeochemical cycle does NOT include a major path in which the substance cycles through the
atmosphere?
a. Water cycle
c. Nitrogen cycle
b. Carbon cycle
d. Phosphorus cycle
Section 4.1 Climate
Define:
50. Weather
51. Climate
52. Temperate zone
53. What gases in our atmosphere trap heat?
54. What is the greenhouse effect?
55. What factors determine the earth’s climate?
56. What climate zone gets the least acute angle of sun’s rays?
57. True or False: Warm air is more dense than cold air. EXPLAIN
58. True or False: Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air. EXPLAIN
Section 4.3 Succession
59. Distinguish between primary and secondary succession.
60. If succession is allowed to continue for a long time, a ________________________community will result.
61. An increase in the greenhouse effect causes an increase in
a. Carbon dioxide
c. Oxygen
b. Temperature
d. Water
62. A small valley where the average temperature is usually higher than that of the surrounding countryside
has its own
e. Weather
g. Rainfall
f. Climate
h. Microclimate
63. A relationship in which one organism is helped and another organism is neither helped nor hurt is called
i. Parasitism
k. Competition
j. Mutualism
l. Commensalism
64. The relationship between a tick and its host is an example of
m. Mutualism
o. Commensalism
n. Parasitism
p. Succession
65. Fires, hurricanes, and other natural disturbances can result in
q. Commensalism
s. Parasitism
r. Competition
t. Succession
66. The first organisms to repopulate an area affected by a volcanic eruption are called
u. Keystone species
w. Primary producers
v. Climax species
x. Pioneer species