Ecology Quiz

Use the food web to determine who receives the least amount of energy:

• Kangaroo Rat & Desert Snake

• Desert Plants & Hawk

• Hawk & Scorpions

• Lizard & Desert Plants

Explain what would happen if the lizards got a disease and most of them died.

• The population of desert plants would decline

• The population of spiders would decline

• The population of desert foxes would increase

• The population of hawks would increase

Explain why biodiversity is important.

• So that animals have enough to eat & the ecosystem is balanced

• So that producers do not get eaten & the ecosystem is unbalanced

• So that the balance of the ecosystem can decrease

• The ecosystem has only carnivores

Why are lichens important?

• They erode rock with their large plant roots

• They weather rock with the acids they secrete

• They deposit rock when they emerge

• They are essential for carnivores to eat

Put these in order of succession:

Lichen, shrubs, grass, bare rock, moss, hardwood forest

• lichen, moss, grass, shrubs, bare rock, hardwood forest

• Bare rock, moss, lichen, grass, shrubs, hardwood forest

• hardwood forest, Bare rock, lichen, moss, grass, shrubs,

• Bare rock, lichen, moss, grass, shrubs, hardwood forest

Explain why each producer is important in succession.

• They provide nutrients for the soil that, in turn, provides nutrients for the next species of plants to grow.

• They provide no benefit

• They lay the groundwork for more producers by taking the nutrients out of the soil

• They are all pioneer species

Predict what your yard would look like in 10-15 years if you stop mowing it.

• It will be a hardwood forest

• The same as today

• It will have lichen and moss only

• It may have small shrubs, flowers and tall grasses

When an area is biodiverse, that means it has ….. Many niches or FEW niches

• Many niches

• few niches

The more biodiversity, the more

or less stability of the ecosystem.

• More stable

• Less stable

Use the following food web to determine which organism has the most energy in the ecosystem

• kangaroo rat

• desert foxes

• scorpions

• desert plants