Keystone Ecology

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

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Based on the graph shown, what is the effect of removing a keystone species from an ecosystem?

• biodiversity goes up
• biodiversity goes down
• biodiversity stays about the same
• not enough information to tell

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Study the graph. Based on the data shown, rainbow smelt are a/an _____________.

• invasive species
• keystone species
• symbiotic species
• not enough information to tell

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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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