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WorksheetsFood Webs & Chains
Total questions: 35
Worksheet time: 18mins
Producers are generally found at the beginning of a food chain. Which statement best explains why this is true?
Producers are usually smaller in size than consumers.
Producers do not rely on other organisms for food.
There are always more consumers than producers in food chains.
Consumers are always more complex organisms than producers.
The diagram below represents a marine food web. The organisms represented by X are
decomposers
producers
carnivores
scavengers
The diagram below represents an energy pyramid. Which organisms would most likely be found at level A?
birds
worms
mammals
algae
For a producer to maintain itself, which factor must be present in its environment?
carnivores
herbivores
sunlight
parasites
Most of the food and oxygen in the environment is produced by the action of
saprophytic bacteria
heterotrophic organisms
aerobic protozoans
autotrophic organisms
The diagram below represents a food web. Two of the herbivores represented in this food web are
toads and snakes
deer and mice
wolves and raccoons
grasshoppers and toads
Because turkey vultures feed mainly on animals that they have not killed, they are known as
predators
scavengers
omnivores
autotrophs
Which nutritional relationship described below contains an organism that can be classified as a heterotroph, secondary consumer, and scavenger?
A field mouse eats an ear of corn.
Certain bacteria live in nodules on clover roots.
A crow eats a portion of a dead rabbit.
A peregrine falcon kills and eats a pigeon.
A fruit fly is classified as a consumer rather than a producer because it is unable to
reproduce asexually
synthesize its own food
release energy stored in organic molecules
remove wastes from its body
Horses are herbivores and, as a result, can be classified as
omnivores
primary consumers
secondary consumers
decomposers
Which row in the chart best describes decomposers?
1
2
3
4
The diagram below represents a food web. Which organisms are primary consumers?
grass, mice, and hawks
owls, snakes, and hawks
seeds, grass, and shrubs
songbirds, mice, and rabbits
Young rabbits that eat grass are sometimes eaten by raccoons, which also eat seeds and berries. Bacteria help to decompose the excretions of the raccoon. Which statement about these nutritional relationships is accurate?
Bacteria are scavengers.
Rabbits and secondary consumers.
Rabbits are carnivores.
Raccoons are both primary and secondary consumers.
Which food chain relationship illustrates the nutritional pattern of a primary consumer?
seeds and fruits eaten by a mouse
an earthworm eaten by a mole
a mosquito eaten by a bat
a mold growing on a dead frog
Species of animals that obtain food by consuming only autotrophic organisms are usually classified as
herbivores
decomposers
scavengers
omnivores
Which process occurs at each link in a food chain?
All the energy is stored in a newly made structure
Some energy is released into the environment as heat
Chemical energy is recycled
Atoms cycle among living organisms, producing energy
The first organism in most natural food chains is
an herbivore
a decomposer
photosynthetic
carnivorous
A food chain is represented below:
Grass --> cricket --> frog --> owl
Structures within the rabbit are formed using
solar energy from the grass
heat energy lost to the environment
chemical energy from the hawk
chemical energy from the grass
Which group would most likely be represented in a food chain?
biotic factors
abiotic factors
inorganic compounds
finite resources
Which statement represents a characteristic of an ecosystem that is not likely to sustain itself?
The sun provides the needed energy.
Energy is transferred from plants to animals.
There are more consumers than producers.
There are interactions between biotic and abiotic factors.
This food chain contains
grass --> cricket --> frog --> owl
4 consumers and no producers
1 predator, 1 parasite, and 2 producers
2 carnivores and 2 herbivores
2 predators, 1 herbivore, and 1 producer
The removal of nearly all the predators from an ecosystem would most likely result in
an increase in the number of carnivore species
a decrease in new predators migrating into the ecosystem
a decrease in the size of decomposers
an increase in the number of herbivores
Which sequence shows a correct pathway for the flow of energy in a food chain?
bacteria --> grass --> fox --> owl
grass --> grasshopper --> frog --> snake
fungi --> beetle --> algae --> mouse
algae --> snake --> duck --> deer
A factor not shown in the diagram that provides energy for living organisms is
carbon dioxide
water
the sun
oxygen
The diagram below represents an energy pyramid. Which type of organism could occupy levels B, C, and D of this energy pyramid?
consumer
producer
autotroph
carnivore
The final consumers in may food webs are
autotrophs
hosts
herbivores
carnivores
Which factor would have the greatest effect on the flow of energy into an ecosystem?
a large decrease in the amount of sunlight available
a large increase in the number of carnivores
a small increase in the number of decomposers
a small decrease in the amount of minerals available
The diagram below represents a food pyramid in an ecosystem. The best explanation for the decrease in the amount of energy transferred to each succeeding level is that much of the energy is
consumed by predators
released as heat
stored within inorganic materials
used in photosynthesis
The diagram below represents different feeding levels in an energy pyramid. The most likely explanation for showing fewer organisms at each feeding level going up the pyramid is that
some energy is lost to the environment as heat
the larger the organism, the less energy it requires
some energy is recycled within each level and remains there
decomposers convert most of the energy into inorganic compounds
The diagram below represents a food web. What do the arrows in the diagram represent?
an increase in population
the evolution of organisms
the flow of energy
ecological succession
A diagram frequently used in ecological studies is shown below. This diagram can be used to represent the
dependency of animal survival on physical conditions in an ecosystem
loss of energy from various groups of organisms in an ecosystem
competition among species in an ecosystem
mechanisms that maintain homeostasis in the plants in an ecosystem
Which statement best describes the flow of energy and the movement of chemical compounds in an ecosystem?
Energy flows into living organisms and remains there, while chemical compounds are transferred from organism to organism.
Chemical compounds flow in one direction in a food chain and energy is produced.
Energy is transferred from organism to organism in a food chain and chemical compounds are recycled.
Energy flows out of living organisms and is lost, while chemical compounds remain permanently inside organisms.
The food web below contains some of the organisms found in Glacier National Park. Which group of organisms in this food web would contain the greatest amount of stored energy?
spiders
red foxes
plants, seeds, needles, and leaf litter
shrews
The food web below contains some of the organisms found in Glacier National Park. What organisms are missing from this diagram?
Carnivores
Decomposers
Producers
Herbivores
The diagram below represents an energy pyramid constructed from data collected from an aquatic ecosystem. Which statement best describes this ecosystem?
The ecosystem is most likely unstable.
Long-term stability of this ecosystem will continue.
The herbivore populations will continue to increase in size for many years.
The producer organisms outnumber the consumer organisms.
