Living Systems

Which organism in the food chain is responsible for transforming radiant energy into chemical energy?

grass ----> prairie dog ---->Coyote---->soil bacteria

• soil bacteria

• coyote

• prairie dog

• grass

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

Mushrooms and bacteria serve an important role in an ecosystem, that of the decomposer.

Why are decomposers important to the ecosystem?

• They release stored energy and allow nutrients from dead organisms to be cycled back into the ecosystem.

• They provide a direct food source for producers and consumers in the ecosystem.

• They are not an important component in the ecosystem.

• They eat the dead animals in the ecosystem, cleaning the habitat.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

How does secondary succession help restore equilibrium(make the ecosystem balanced again) to a region destroyed by a flood?

• It increases the number and types of species.

• It brings back species from extinction.

• It stops other floods from occurring.

• It decreases the rate of evolution.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Grasses and weeds are the pioneer species in which situation?

• climax community

• pioneer species

• primary succession

• secondary succession

Which of these types of environments experiences the LEAST change in the total number and type of species over time?

• an ecosystem with only pioneer species

• an ecosystem that is in primary succession

• an ecosystem with a climax community

• an ecosystem that is in secondary succession

After a large volcanic eruption, it may take many years for the ecosystem surrounding the volcano to return to the equilibrium that existed before the eruption. Which of these is a natural process that directly works to return ecosystems to their equilibrium?

• photosynthesis

• succession

• desertification

• homeostasis

Which of these types of environments is MOST LIKELY to experience the arrival of pioneer species?

• an old growth forest

• an established mountain lake

• a newly formed volcanic island

• an undisturbed prairie

The diagrams above show an ecosystem during different stages of ecological succession.

In which order will these stages occur, from earliest to latest?

• 4, 2, 1, 3

• 1, 2, 3, 4

• 3, 1, 4, 2

• 2, 4, 3, 1

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Which of the following sequences MOST likely represents ecological succession on a recently abandoned wheat field?

• grasses - flowering plants - shrubs -native trees

• native trees - shrubs - flowering plants - grasses

• flowering plants - native trees - shrubs - grasses

• shrubs - grasses - native trees - flowering plants

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

During a landslide, many tons of rock slide down a hill in a very short time. A landslide would MOST LIKELY force animals living in the area to —

• move to a new area

• develop new adaptations

• uncover all the buried plants

• develop different types of diets

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4