Interdependence

A student used this model of a wooly mammoth for a research project on the ecosystems and wanted to find out if elephants are related to Wooly Mammoth’s.

 

WOOLY MAMMOTH

What is a benefit of this model?

• It shows the actual size of a wooly mammoth.   

• It helps the student understand what mammoths ate.  

• It predicts what mammoths will look like in the future.

• It helps the student understand what mammoths looked like.

At one time, fungi, like the mushrooms shown below, were classified in the same kingdom as plants.  Today, fungi are classified in their own kingdom and are described as decomposers in ecosystems. 

 

Which statement best summarizes why fungi and plants are now classified in separate kingdoms?   

• The discovery of new evidence led to a reclassification of fungi.

• Advancements in technology showed that fungi and plants are closely related.

• The plant kingdom was getting two large, so scientists divided it into two kingdoms

• Plants and fungi both contain cell walls and share more characteristics than separate them

 

Dr. Yang conducted a field study of the nesting habits of red cardinals. Why did she choose a field study over other types of investigation?

 

• because she wanted to manipulate variables in the field  

•   because she wanted to observe the birds in their natural habitat   

• because she wanted to simulate the life cycle of the birds in a lab

• because she wanted to observe a simplified version of the environment

  In the diagram, which organism is NOT a consumer?

• Plants, because they get energy from the sun.

•   Caterpillars, because they get energy from the plants.

• Frogs, because they get energy from the caterpillars.

• Snakes, because they get energy from the frogs.

  If a crab were added to this food web, and it ate the scraps left behind by the frog, what would best describe the relationship between the crab and the frog?

 

• Mutualism

• Consumer

• Parasitism

• Commensalism

A food web including five species is shown

Which of the following is most likely to cause the greatest decrease in the population of  species B?

•   increase in species E

   

• decrease in species C

• decrease in species D

• decrease in species A

Which statement is most true for the food web shown?

 

 

 

• The mushrooms and grass are both producers.

• The mushroom and grass are both decomposers.

• The mushroom is a decomposer and the grass is a producer.

• The mushroom is a producer and the grass is a decomposer.

A tiny shrimp lives among the poisonous spines of a sea animal called the fire urchin. The spines provide the shrimp with protection from enemies. The fire urchin gains no benefit from the shrimp, but the shrimp causes it no harm.

 

What term is used to describe this type of relationship?

 

• mutualism

• competition

• predator-prey

• commensalism

Ostriches and gazelles are two animals that live in Africa. They graze for food near each other because they help each other spot predators. The gazelle has excellent eyesight, but poor hearing, and the ostrich has excellent hearing, but poor eyesight. These two animals will alert one another when danger is near. 

 

Which term best describes this relationship?

 

• Competition

• Commensalism

• Parasitism

• Mutualism

Goby fish live in close proximity to many other water animals. They often lay their eggs in burrows built by blind shrimp. The blind shrimp have feelers that sense when the goby fish flee predator fish. Some goby fish eat the parasites of other, larger predator fish.

 

   Based on the information provided, what would be considered a limiting factor in the goby fish’s ecosystem?

•   The length of the predator fish because their parasites infect the goby fish

• The number of blind shrimp because goby fish often lay their eggs in blind shrimp burrows.

• The size of the predators because they eat the goby fish and the blind shrimp.

• The species of seaweed because they could poison the goby fish.