Ecosystem Roles and Energy Flow

What is the role of a producer in an ecosystem?

• They eat other organisms for energy.

• They break down dead organic matter.

• They create their own food using energy from the sun or chemicals.

• They compete with other organisms for resources.

If the producers in an ecosystem have 50,000 kilocalories of energy, how much energy would be available to the primary consumers?

• 500 kilocalories

• 5,000 kilocalories

• 10,000 kilocalories

• 50,000 kilocalories

In a food web, if the population of grasshoppers significantly increases, what is a likely immediate effect on the plants they eat?

• The plant population will increase.

• The plant population will decrease.

• The plant population will remain unchanged.

• The plant population will become toxic.

What is the primary role of decomposers in an ecosystem?

• To produce their own food using sunlight.

• To consume living organisms for energy.

• To break down dead organic matter and return nutrients to the soil.

• To compete with predators for prey.

A specific type of bat finds shelter by roosting inside a pitcher plant. In return, the pitcher plant absorbs nitrogen from the bat's droppings. What kind of ecological relationship is this?

• Parasitism

• Commensalism

• Mutualism

• Competition

Which process in the nitrogen cycle involves bacteria converting nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into ammonia and ammonium, making it available for plants?

• Nitrification

• Ammonification

• Denitrification

• Nitrogen Fixation

What is the process where plants and other producers use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to create their own food (glucose)?

• Cellular Respiration

• Decomposition

• Photosynthesis

• Combustion

The burning of fossil fuels releases a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. What is carbon dioxide considered, due to its ability to trap heat?

• An inert gas

• An ozone-depleting substance

• A greenhouse gas

• A noble gas