Environmental Changes

Field mice eat corn. Which would most likely happen if the field mouse population grew?

• There would be more corn to feed the field mice.

• There would be less corn due to the mice eating it.

• The habitat would get overpopulated because the mice would eat too much.

• There would be no change

Humans are part of the ecosystem and therefore impact it. Which of the following events in an ecosystem may produce a negative effect?

• A lumber company clearing a forest

• preventing deer from depleting food resources

• Wildlife ranger minimizing disturbances

• Restoring a natural habitat

How does too much fishing in an area affect its ecosystem?

• The fish will lay many more eggs to replace fish caught.

• Organisms that eat fish could become endangered due to starvation

• There will be no change in organism that eat fish

• People could eat too many fish and become ill

A hurricane sweeps across a small Caribbean island, killing 50% of the herbivore species on the island. Which of the following is the most immediate result?

• A reduction in biodiversity

• An increase in predator populations

• An acceleration of the carbon cycle

• A decline in decomposer populations

An ______________ is a system made up of all the biotic and abiotic factors in an area and all the interactions among them.

• ecosystem
• habitat
• population
• biodiversity

Which organism do the owl and the weasel compete for in the food web?

• Hawk
• Spider
• Grasshopper
• Shrew

In a pond ecosystem, what would happen to frogs if the insect population decreased?

• There would be more frogs in the pond

• There would be more insects in the pond

• There would be less frogs in the pond

• More fish would move to the pond

If the population of prey increases, the population of predators will ________because of the availability of food.

• decrease

• stay the same

• increase

Alligators are the large predators that eat many of the smaller animals in a swamp. How might removing the alligators from a swamp habitat create a decrease in vegetation?

• Meat-eating animals would begin eating plants.

• The plants in the swamp would get more sunlight.

• More plant-eating animals would survive.

• Plants would not be able to spread their seeds.

If humans over-hunted a population of insect-eating birds, what immediate change would likely be seen in the area?

• Increased seedling germination

• Increased populations of insects

• Migration of small mammals

• Severe loss of vegetation