Food Webs Quiz

An organism that uses energy to produce its own food supply from inorganic compounds is called a(an)

• heterotroph

• consumer

• detritivore

• autotroph

A snake eats a frog that has eaten an insect that fed on a plant is a

• primary producer

• primary consumer

• secondary consumer

• tertiary consumer

Only __________ percent of the energy stored in an organism can be passed onto the next trophic level.  Of the remaining energy some is used for the organism’s life processes, and the rest is eliminated as heat.

• 100%

• 90%

• 10%

• It depends on the organism being eaten.

What is the original source of almost all energy in most ecosystems?

• carbohydrates

• sunlight

• water

• proteins

Organisms that obtain nutrients by breaking down dead and decaying plants and animals are called

• decomposers

• omnivores

• autotrophs

• producers

The arrows in a food web represents

• the flow of carbon

• the flow of water

• the flow of phosphorus

• the flow of energy

There are more tertiary consumers than there are

• quaternary consumers

• secondary consumers

• primary consumers

• primary producers

As the number of carnivores in a community increases, they eat more and more of the herbivores, decreasing the herbivore population.  It then becomes harder and harder for the carnivores to find herbivores to eat, and the population of carnivores decreases.  In this way, the carnivores and herbivores stay in a ___________________, each limiting the other’s population. 

• never ending cycle

• mutualistic relationship

•  prey and predator relationship

• relatively stable equilibrium

If the plants in the above pyramid had 5000 calories, how many calories are available to the eagle?

• 500 Calories

• 5000 Calories

• 5 Calories

• 50 Calories

Which of the following organism/s completes the energy cycle by absorbing nutrients from dead organisms and making these nutrients available to producers?

• Autotrophs

• Top predator

• Decomposers

• Producers