Ecology Practice Test

  1. What is meant by trophic level?Feeding level in the food chain
  2. Which organism would be most affected if a pesticide was used to kill the mice? weasel
  3. Where does all the energy for each trophic level originate?The sun
  4. Write out the food chain that results in the fox receiving the LEAST energy.

Shrub → mouse → weasel → fox

  1. Give an example of the following vocabulary words from the picture above:

herbivore=rabbitomnivore= none indicated by food web

carnivore=hawkautotrophic= shrubs top predator = fox

producer=grassheterotrophic= caterpillar decomposer=mushroom

  1. Which of the following includes all the rest?
  2. Species
  3. Community
  4. Population
  5. Ecosystem
  1. Which of the following is an example of a biotic factor?
  2. Rocks
  3. Water
  4. Trees
  5. Temperature
  1. In a food chain with four energy levels, the producers contain 500,000 kcal of energy. How much energy is passed to the highest trophic level?

500 kcal

  1. What happens to the amount of biomass as you move up the pyramid?Only 10% continues on
  2. What happens to the number of individual organisms as you move up the pyramid?Decreases
  3. The unused energy from each trophic level is lost as heat into the environment.
  4. What is the name of the nutrient cycle that adds and removes CO2 from the atmosphere?

Carbon cycle

  1. In the nitrogen cycle, how is nitrogen converted into a usable form?

Nitrogen fixation by lightning or nitrogen fixing bacteria

  1. What is primary succession?

Starts where no soil exists, after volcanic activity or glaciers that melt

  1. What is secondary succession?

Occurs after a disturbance

  1. What is an example of a pioneer species?

Lichens

  1. When one organism benefits and the other is harmed this is a parasiticrelationship.
  1. When two organisms benefit from the relationship this is mutualism.
  1. When one organism benefits and the other is not affected this is a commensalisticrelationship.
  2. Define:
  3. Carrying Capacity – The maximum amount of a species an ecosystem can support
  4. Logistical Growth –Slow steady growth
  5. Exponential Growth – rapid uncontrolled growth
  6. Limiting Factor – factors that limit the size of a population
  7. Biological magnification –the build up of toxins through a food chain
  8. If the producer contains 6,000J of energy, how much energy will the secondary consumer contain?

60J

  1. If the tertiary consumer contains 40J of energy, how much energy did the producer start with?

40,000J

  1. If the primary consumer contains 60,000J of energy, how much energy will the tertiary consumer contain?

600J

  1. 1 1005 100

oak tree caterpillars robins fleas