Ecosystem Biodiversity Quiz

The location marked on the map indicates a biodiversity hotspot. What would scientists expect to find at this location?

• An ecosystem with very few plants and animals living in it.

• An ecosystem that has experienced a disturbance that it cannot recover from.

• An ecosystem with a large variety of plants and animals living in it that is threatened.

Answer explanation

This spot marked with an x is near the equator, so it likely has a high biodiversity of both plants and animals. The word hotspot indicates that it is an area where the biodiversity is under threat of being lessened or distroyed.

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Coral reefs are found in coastal ecosystems. Coral reefs have a high biodiversity. Which statement is true about coral reefs?

• Coral reefs usually contain only a few different types of fish and coral.

• There are many different species of plants and animals found in a coral reef.

• Matter and energy are not easily passed throughout a coral reef.

Answer explanation

Since the question states that coral reefs have a high biodiversity, this would indicate that there are many different species of both plants and animals.

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Which of these characteristics is often used as a measure of an ecosystem’s health?

• the variety of species that live there

• the number of people who live there

• the types of activities that can be done there

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Which ecosystem most likely has the greatest biological diversity?

• a tank that includes several goldfish

• a tundra region that has many penguins

• a rainforest that has many different types of plants and animals

Answer explanation

Remember, tundra are found toward the poles where it is very cold. These cold areas typically have less biodiversity.

Remember rainforest are found toward the equator where it is warmer. These warmer areas typically have more biodiversity.

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How does the biodiversity in an ecosystem relate to how quickly an ecosystem can recover from a disturbance?

• The number of species increases the ability of the ecosystem to recover from disturbance.

• The number of species decreases the ability of an ecosystem to recover from the disturbance.

• The number of species present in an ecosystem remains constant before and after a disturbance.

Answer explanation

The greater the biodiversity in an ecosystem, the greater chance that ecosystem has of surviving after a disturbance.

A disturbance may affect one or a few of the species, but will likely not affect enough of them to destroy the ecosystem in an ecosystem with high biodiversity.

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Which statement best describes ecosystems?

• They can never change once they are established.

• They constantly change in different ways over time.

• Ecosystems always revert back to their original state.

Answer explanation

Ecosystems have many interacting abiotic and biotic factors and are constantly changing over time.

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The table lists the number and variety of organisms in four different ecosystems.

Predict what would happen to Ecosystem 3 immediately after a volcanic eruption.

•      Its biodiversity would decrease.

• Its biodiversity would not change.

• The number and variety of organisms in the ecosystem would be greater than those in Ecosystem 2.

Answer explanation

A volcanic eruption in an ecosystem would likely kill off many of the species and would change both biotic and abiotic factors in the ecosystem creating an ecosystem with far fewer plants and animals.

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How is secondary succession different from primary succession?

• Secondary succession occurs over a longer period of time than primary succession.

• Secondary succession occurs after a disturbance in an area that was previously uninhabited.

• Secondary succession occurs after a disturbance in an area in which the soil has remained intact.

Answer explanation

Succession is a series of progressive changes in the composition of an ecological community over time. It is a process that allows a barren or disturbed ecosystem to populate with species and become a diverse ecosystem.

Primary succession is the process in which plants and animals first colonize a barren habitat. On a newly created volcanic island, for example, after the rock cools, seeds blown by the wind may lodge in crevices. This happens at a slower pace than secondary succession.

Secondary succession differs from primary succession in that it begins after a major disturbance—such as a devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, or human activity (farming, road or building construction, or the like)—wipes away part of a landscape, but some of the soil and seeds remain and can regrow. This happens at a faster pace than primary succession.

The table lists the number and variety of organisms in four different ecosystems.

Based on the table, which ecosystem is most likely to recover from a disturbance?

• Ecosystem 1

• Ecosystem 2

• Ecosystem 3

• Ecosystem 4

Answer explanation

Remember greater biodiversity increases an ecosystems chance of recovering from disturbance.

Biodiversity is the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Ecosystem 2 has the greatest variety of species.

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Which of these describes an example of a keystone species that scientists should make efforts to protect?

• More than 1,000 newly hatched wood frog eggs in a forest ecosystem

• A gopher tortoise that provides a home to more than 300 different species of animals in its burrow

• A population of mistletoe plants that are parasitic because they depend on other trees and plants in the ecosystem in order to get what they need to survive

Answer explanation

Remember a keystone species is a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.

Like the example we watch about the coral dying out and the rest of the species also died out because they all depended on the coral for resources.