Keystone Species

What is a keystone species?

• A species that helps to hold an ecosystem together

• A species that lives in or around rocks

• Keys and stones have nothing to do with ecology

• A keystone isn't a living thing, it's just a stone

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The term biodiversity means:

• a wide variety of plants and animals in an ecosystem
• only a few types of plants and animals in an ecosystem
• an ecosystem composed mostly of plants
• an ecosystem composed mostly of animals

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A sea otter and a sea star are examples of...

• invasive species
• keystone species
• native species 
• symbiotic species

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A species that maintain biodiversity by keeping prey populations controlled are called...

• Introduced Species
• Apex Predators
• Invasive Species
• Keystone Species

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Based on the graph shown, what is the effect of removing a keystone species from an ecosystem?

• biodiversity goes up
• biodiversity goes down
• biodiversity stays about the same
• not enough information to tell

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Based on the graph shown, how can you tell sea otters are a keystone species?

• as the sea otter population decreases, biodiversity increases
• as sea otter population increases, biodiversity increases
• changes in the sea otter population have little effect on biodiversity 
• the sea otter population dereases due to the presence of urchins

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a deer population has significantly increased, the best hypothesis is 

• the deer's main predator has been eliminated
• competition increased
• decreased water levels of local ponds
• organisms that rely on similar food sources migrated to the area

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Different species that live in the same area and interact with one another are called....

• Populations
• Communities
• Ecosystem
• Biosphere

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A group of individuals of the same species that live int he area is called....

• Organism
• Population
• Community
• Ecosystem

Plants are...

• producers
• Consumers

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