Ecology

An organism that eats plants

• Producer

• Consumer

• Carnivore

• Herbivore

Which of the following might be a density-dependent (biotic) limiting factor for a group of perch in a lake?

• water pH

• amount of prey

• surrounding temperature

• soil quality

Answer explanation

Biotic factors are living parts of an ecosystem.

Density is the population of a given species within a certain area

Density dependent factors have a greater impact on survival when the population density increases, i.e. disease

Which group is arranged correctly from lowest trophic level to highest trophic level?

• snake, mouse, grass, hawk

• hawk, snake, mouse, grass

• mouse, snake, hawk, grass

• grass, mouse, snake, hawk

The surrounding where a particular species lives in known as its

• habitat

• abiotic zone

• community

• biomass

Exponential Growth is represented by...

• S-curve

• J-curve

• K-curve

• Y-curve

Because energy is lost as you move from lower to higher trophic levels, there are usually ____ organisms at higher trophic levels

• More

• Less

• the same amount

• all of these are possible

What is carrying capacity

• A measure of how dense a population is

• The amount of biomass a specific biome requires to become stable after a natural disaster.

• Any resource that can run out in an area.

• The maximum number of organisms that can be supported in a given habitat.

An elk eats grass. A grizzly bear eats the elk. This is an example of a simple linear  ________.

• Pyramid of numbers

• Succession

• Food web

• Food chain

Keystone species are

• critical to the functioning of an ecosystem.

• species that decrease the biodiversity of an ecosystem.

• species that have very little impact on other species in a community.

All food chains begin with a ____

• Decomposer

• producer

• consumer

• carnivore