Energy Roles in Ecosystems

What is a food web?

• A simple linear sequence of organisms that eat one another.

• A complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

• A diagram that shows the energy flow in a single food chain.

• A type of food chain that only includes herbivores.

What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?

• They produce energy through photosynthesis.

• They break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients back into the soil.

• They compete with plants for sunlight and nutrients.

• They are primary consumers that feed on herbivores.

What energy role do cows have when they eat grass and corn?

• Carnivore

• Herbivore

• Omnivore

• Detritivore

What do you call carnivores that eat freshly dead organisms?

• Predators

• Scavengers

• Herbivores

• Omnivores

What are organisms that break down decaying biotic wastes called?

• Producers

• Consumers

• Decomposers

• Detritivores

What is an omnivore?

• An organism that eats only plants.

• An organism that eats both plants and animals.

• An organism that primarily eats meat.

• An organism that can produce its own food.

What are limiting factors?

• Conditions that promote the growth of an organism.

• Conditions that restrict the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a population.

• Conditions that have no effect on the population dynamics.

• Conditions that only affect the distribution of an organism.

What is a producer in an ecosystem?

• An organism that makes its own food through photosynthesis.

• An organism that consumes other organisms for energy.

• An organism that decomposes dead matter.

• An organism that relies on external sources for food.

What is the role of a carnivore in an ecosystem?

• An organism that eats plants.

• An organism that eats other animals.

• An organism that decomposes organic matter.

• An organism that produces its own food.

What is another word for heterotroph?

• Producer

• Consumer

• Decomposer

• Autotroph