Keystone Biology

What is a keystone species?

• A species that helps to hold an ecosystem together

• A species that lives in or around rocks

• Keys and stones have nothing to do with ecology

• A keystone isn't a living thing, it's just a stone

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The particular role (job) of an organism in its environment including types of food it eats, how it obtains its food and how it interacts with other organisms is called a what?

• niche
• habitat
• home
• ecosystem

The term biodiversity means:

• a wide variety of plants and animals in an ecosystem
• only a few types of plants and animals in an ecosystem
• an ecosystem composed mostly of plants
• an ecosystem composed mostly of animals

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A sea otter and a sea star are examples of...

• invasive species
• keystone species
• native species 
• symbiotic species

A species that maintain biodiversity by keeping prey populations controlled are called...

• Introduced Species
• Apex Predators
• Invasive Species
• Keystone Species

Based on the graph shown, how can you tell sea otters are a keystone species?

• as the sea otter population decreases, biodiversity increases
• as sea otter population increases, biodiversity increases
• changes in the sea otter population have little effect on biodiversity 
• the sea otter population dereases due to the presence of urchins

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Gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere are knowns as:

• Air

• Greenhouse gasses

• Pollution

• Hot gasses

Species that have a large niche, wide variety of food sources, and can recover from disturbances are:

• Keystone speices

• Specialist Species

• Generalist Species

Species that have a hard time recovering from disturbances, live in small niches, and have limited food sources are:

• Keystone speices

• Specialist Species

• Generalist Species

The top predator in a food web is known as:

• Keystone species

• Herbivore

• Apex predator

• Producer