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WorksheetsBiology Ecology, Succession, and Symbiosis Review
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 8mins
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is located in Central Texas. Enchanted Rock is a dome of granite. The area contain four easily identifiable communities. The table describes characteristics of each type of community in the area.
A student studying primary succession should focus on which of these communities?
Open oak woodland
Mesquite grassland
Floodplain
Granite rock
A small town in the piney woods of East Texas has a soccer field composed of native grasses. The soccer field is mowed once a week.
What effect does continual mowing have on the ecology of the field?
Mowing increases the likelihood of nonnative species displacing native species.
Mowing increase the number of species found in the field
Mowing cause different types of communities to form across the field
Mowing maintains a low species diversity by inhibiting further succession.
During secondary succession, which of these best describes why decomposing pioneer plants give way to larger, more complex plants species, such as hardwood trees?
Increased amounts of sunlight are able to reach the ground while the pioneer species are decomposing.
Increased soil temperatures from decomposing pioneer species help tree seeds germinate more quickly.
Increased amounts of decomposing pioneer species remove nutrients that tree seedlings need to grow and mature.
Increased amounts of soil from decomposing pioneer species allow plants with more extensive root systems to become established.
The diagram below represents an ecological process.
Which statement is most closely related to the process shown in the diagram?
Succession involves changes in plant species only.
Ecosystems tend to change with time until a stable system is formed.
Insect communities do not grow in aquatic habitats.
Humans have modified the environment with technology and pollution.
The 1988 fires of Yellowstone National Park cleared large areas of vegetation, leaving nothing but soil intact. When life returns to a previously established community such as Yellowstone, this process is –
primary succession
biodiversity
secondary succession
speciation
Hermit crabs live inside shells produced by other organisms. Sea anemones often attach to the top of a hermit crab's shell. When the crab moves, the shell and anemone are carried along. Most predators of hermit crabs avoid sea anemones. Which symbiotic relationship best describes the hermit crab and sea anemone?
parasitism
commensalism
mutualism
competition
Four common relationships between organisms are listed in the box.
Which statements best describe these relationships?
Relationships 1 and 4 are examples of mutualism.
Relationship 2 is an example of commensalism.
Relationship 3 is an example of parasitism
Relationships 1 and 2 are examples of commensalism. Relationships 3 and 4 are examples of mutualism.
Relationship 1 is an example of commensalism.
Relationships 2 and 4 are examples of mutualism.
Relationship 3 is an example of predation.
Relationships 1, 2, and 4 are examples of mutualism. Relationship 3 is an example of parasitism.
Cattle egrets are birds that live near large grazing animals. They feed on insects that are exposed as the grazing animals walk through grass. A scientist theorizes that these species could eventually develop a mutualistic relationship. Which of the following situations, if observed, would support this scientist's theory?
Cattle are not affected by cattle egrets.
Cattle are seen feeding on cattle egrets.
Cattle egrets begin to eat ticks living on cattle.
Cattle egrets begin to draw nutrients from cattle.
In North American forests, two species of birds, nuthatches and brown creepers forage on the same trees for insects. Brown creepers feed on insects found near the bottom of the tree trunk, while nuthatches feed on insects in the top part of the tree.
The difference in foraging behavior most likely affects the nuthatches and brown creepers by
allowing the birds to avoid many types of predators
reducing competition between the birds for resources
preventing the birds from interbreeding with each other
establishing dominance between the birds for nesting sites
Plants ---> Aphids---> Spiders---> Sparrows
In this food chain, the sparrows are –
producers
primary consumers
secondary consumers
tertiary consumers
Part of a hydrothermal vent food web is represented in the diagram.
Which organisms are both secondary and tertiary consumers in the food web?
Chemosynthetic bacteria and amphipods
Zooplankton and mussels
Ratfish and octopuses
Galatheid crabs and zoarcid fish
If this were an energy pyramid and the kilocalories available at Trophic Level 1 is 10,000 Kcal, how many Kcal would be available to the owl?
10,000
1,000
100
10
Roads are often built through forests for industrial purposes or as land is developed for residential and commercial needs. How would road construction through a forest most likely affect the ecosystem?
non-native species would replace native species.
the number of primary consumers would increase
the natural succession of vegetation would change.
all producers would be eliminated from the community.
Food webs such as the one shown were first used in 1927 by the animal ecologist Charles Elton. The food web below represents the feeding relationships among organisms in an Alaskan ecosystem.
An environmental change that removed which of the organisms from the ecosystem would cause the most instability in the ecosystem?
Auklets
Foxes
Salmon
Zooplankton
An agressive strain of algae known as Caulerupa was accidently introduced into the Mediterranean Sea when an aquarium, cleaned out its fish tanks. The Caulerupa contains a toxin that prevents herbivores from consuming it. Caulerupa quickly spread over the sea floor, crowding out many other species including sponges, corals, and lobsters.
Which statement explains the most likely impact Caulerupa has had on the biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea?
The presence of Caulerupa within an ecosystem is an indicator of the ecosystem's health.
The spread of Caulerupa improved the habitat for many species of sea grasses, and increased biodiversity.
Caulerupa interbred with native species with the same adaptations within the ecosystem.
Caulerupa became dominant within the ecosystem and reduced the biodiversity
