Ecology Unit

The figure shows a food chain that might exist in a field or meadow. What is the primary consumer in this food chain?

• plant leaf

• beetle

• toad

• owl

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Rainfall is an abiotic factor. If rainfall in an ecosystem decreases, what happens to the amount of vegetation?

• The amount of vegetation increases.

• The amount of vegetation decreases.

• The amount of vegetation stays the same.

• The amount of vegetation first decreases and then increases.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Southern Florida has many tropical hardwood hammocks—forest habitats that are warm, wet, and populated with many broad-leaved evergreen trees. Which reasoning explains why a plant native to an ecosystem with a cooler climate might do well if introduced to a tropical hardwood hammock?

• The trees in the tropical hardwood hammock are better at competing for native resources than the introduced species are.

• The wet conditions in the tropical hardwood hammock disrupt the life cycle and limit reproduction of the introduced species.

• Freezing temperatures that normally limit the population in the cooler climate are lacking in the tropical hardwood hammock.

• Pollinators and seed carriers that normally increase the population in the cooler climate are lacking in the tropical hardwood hammock.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

A desert is an ecosystem that has relatively high temperatures and low amounts of rainfall. Which of these is a nonliving factor that can limit the size of a population in a desert?

• food sources

• parasites

• predators

• water

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Green plants use energy from the sun to produce food during the process of photosynthesis. This food provides energy to an entire food chain. What starting materials do the plants use to make this food?

• soil and water

• water and oxygen

• carbon dioxide and water

• water, phosphorus, and nitrogen

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-6

Elinor found the picture in a book about Florida ecosystems.

Which ecosystem is shown in the picture?

• coral reef

• dunes

• mangrove forest

• wetland

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

A pond ecosystem is affected by both biotic and abiotic factors. Which abiotic factor is missing from the following list: air, water, temperature, rocks?

• algae

• trout

• light

• reeds

The diagram shows feeding relationships among some organisms in an ecosystem.

According to the evidence, which resource are some of the organisms competing over?

• food

• hosts

• water

• habitat

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Which claim explains why an introduced species might be successful in a new ecosystem?

• The new ecosystem may have fewer important resources than the old ecosystem.

• The new ecosystem may have predators or parasites that were not present in the old ecosystem.

• The new ecosystem may have competitors that are better able to compete for limited resources.

• The new ecosystem may lack predators or parasites that kept populations under control in the old ecosystem.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Scientists studied predator-prey relationships in a habitat.

The diagram shows the feeding relationships among organisms that a scientist might find in a certain environment. Which animal is both a predator and prey?

• owl

• plant

• snake

• cricket

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2