Spring Benchmark Ecology

Which of the following would most likely happen if grasses and shrubs were removed from a rural Massachusetts ecosystem?

• There would be an increase in consumers in the ecosystem.

• There would be an increase of photosynthesis in the ecosystem.

• There would be a decrease in energy produced by the ecosystem.

• There would be a decrease of carbon dioxide available to the ecosystem.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

A food web is shown below.

In this food web, the trophic level with the least energy includes which of the following organisms?

• grasses

• mice

• snakes

• hawks

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

When succession occurs in areas where previous growth has occurred, it is called

• primary succession

• secondary succession

• natural selection

• pioneer succession

Which of the following is the best example of primary succession?

• flood 🡪 mosses 🡪 shrubs 🡪 hemlock trees

• abandoned farm 🡪 grasses 🡪 exposed rock 🡪 high-order carnivores

• exposed rock 🡪 mosses 🡪 grasses 🡪 herbivores

• forest fire 🡪 lichens 🡪 bushes 🡪 deer

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Some organisms cause decay by breaking down dead matter into raw nutrients. These organisms are best described as:

• consumers

• decomposers

• producers

• carnivores

a food web can be best described as:

• a diagram that shows all different types of relationships animals can have with one another.

• a chart showing how much energy is at the different trophic levels within an ecosystem.

• an interconnected web of food chains

• a map containing different biomes

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Which of the following describes the relationship between the sedge and the arctic hare?

• competition

• host-parasite

• mutualism

• producer-consumer

Scientists are investigating the cause of the large increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration since about 1800. Which of the following provides the best explanation for the increase?

• eruptions of large volcanoes

• use of fossil fuels by humans

• natural fluctuations of the climate

• photosynthesis

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS2-6

NGSS.HS-ESS3-1

NGSS.HS-ESS3-5

The population size that an environment can sustain is known as its

• density

• carrying capacity

• exponential growth

• dispersion

In 1999 a Canadian moose population had 12 members. Later that year, a new hunting camp was opened four miles from their habitat. In the spring of 2000, 3 babies were born, but 6 moose total had died that year. What was the rate (r) of population growth for 2000?

• 9

• +3

• -3

• 0