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WorksheetsThe Living World Ecology and Ecosystem
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 5hrs 0mins
Wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. In addition to tracking changes in the wolf population, scientists were interested in how the wolves would affect other parts of the Yellowstone ecosystem. In particular, they were interested in changes to the population of elk, the wolves’ primary prey. The graph below shows the population size of the wolf and elk populations over time.
Which of the following best describes the change in the elk population since the introduction of wolves into Yellowstone in 1995?
The elk population steadily increased in numbers.
The elk population steadily decreased in numbers.
The elk population remained stable, experiencing little changes.
The elk population reached carrying capacity and experienced overshoot.
This biome has the highest net primary productivity, in part because of consistently warm temperatures and abundant sunlight.
Temperate grassland
Taiga
Tropical rainforest
Tundra
The graph shows the relative solar energy received at local noon each day of the year at two different locations.
Location 1 is most likely located in which of the following terrestrial biomes?
Taiga
Tundra
Tropical rain forest
Temperate grassland
Which of the following best illustrates an abiotic component of the environment affecting a biotic component of the environment?
Composted manure is added to agricultural soil during spring tilling.
Coral reefs modify the direction of an ocean current.
Plants release O2 into the atmosphere during photosynthesis.
Low phosphorus content in soil limits the growth of vegetation.
A thick planting of ground cover reduces soil erosion on a hillside.
The major biological source of dissolved oxygen in the ocean comes from
decomposition of organic sediments on the ocean floor
metabolic processes of coral in reefs
oxidation of sulfur by bacteria in ocean vent communities
photosynthesis by phytoplankton
respiration by zooplankton
Phytoplankton are most abundant in the upper few hundred feet of most bodies of water because
they can most readily hide from predators there
sunlight does not penetrate to great depths in water
as primary producers, they must be accessible to many other organisms
they are benthic organisms
they feed on zooplankton, which are found only in the top layers of water
In the nitrogen cycle illustrated above, nitrification occurs in which of the following steps?
step 1
step 2
step 3
step 4
Which of the following diagrams correctly illustrates the nitrogen cycle?
A field is abandoned, and an invasive plant that can live in nutrient-poor soil moves into the field. If the land is later cleared of this invasive species and it is discovered that the soil has an abundance of nitrogen compounds, what conclusion can best be made?
The plants used up all of the phosphorus and potassium and left the nitrogen behind.
Primary succession always produces an abundance of nitrogen.
Bacteria in soil and in root nodules converted free nitrogen into nitrogen compounds.
The plants were able to produce nitrogen in their leaves.
More rock was weathered and broken down to release nitrogen compounds.
Of the following ecosystems, which has the lowest net primary productivity, measured as kilocalories of energy produced per square meter per year?
Taiga (boreal forest)
Open ocean
Temperature grassland
Estuary
Agricultural land
Which of the following best explains why terrestrial trophic pyramids usually do not have levels higher than tertiary consumers?
Tertiary consumers are the largest organisms in an ecosystem and require the most space to survive.
Plants can only perform photosynthesis during the day, so tertiary consumers cannot get enough energy from consuming plants.
A large proportion of energy is lost as heat as it is transferred up the pyramid, so there is not enough energy available to support another level.
Primary producers in a lake ecosystem store approximately 25000 kcal of energy in their biomass. Which of the following identifies the most likely amount of energy available to a tertiary consumer in this ecosystem?
25 kcal
250 kcal
2500 kcal
25000 kcal
Losses of usable energy between successive trophic levels in an ecosystem are best accounted for by which of the following?
The first law of thermodynamics
The second law of thermodynamics
The law of conservation of matter
The process of ecological succession
Limiting factors in the ecosystem
The next questions are based on the following table of organisms in an ecological community. The X in a cell indicates that the organism is eaten by the consumer in the first column. Based on the data in the table, which of the following pairs of organisms has two ecological relationships, both competition and predation?
Spiders and shrews
Hawks and snakes
Spiders and snakes
Spiders and grasshoppers
Based on the diagram, which of the following best describes the most likely direct effect of a decline of the small fish population on the marine food web?
The jellyfish population will experience local extinction because of a lack of food resources.
The jellyfish population will increase because of decreased predation.
The jellyfish population will migrate to an area with more available habitat for eggs.
The jellyfish population will decrease from the increase in the sea turtle and tuna populations.
Which of the following would be most likely to occur in the scenarios that have experienced habitat loss and/or fragmentation in the diagram?
Increase in territory size of large mammalsa
Increase in genetic diversity of native species
Decrease in the number of specialist species
Decrease in the abundance of invasive species
Which of the following statements about levels of biodiversity is correct?
Genetic biodiversity is a measure of the total number of genes in a community.
A narrow distribution of habitats leads to an increase in species diversity.
Global hotspots are areas where species diversity is thriving due to habitat restoration.
A population with high genetic biodiversity is better able to respond to environmental stressors.
Which of the following correctly describes the disruption of an ecosystem service by an anthropogenic activity?
Provisioning services are disrupted by increased combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to an increase in air pollution.
Regulating services are disrupted by flash flooding from a hurricane, which decreases available food resources.
Supporting services are disrupted by an earthquake that causes habitat destruction, which displaces plants and animals.
Cultural services are disrupted by a tornado that causes the loss of acres of forest, which reduces the amount of harvestable timber.
The many finch species of the Galápagos Islands evolved from a single species that immigrated to the islands from the coast of South America. These species differ primarily in beak shape, which is closely related to the type of food each species specializes in eating.
Which of the following best explains why each of the finch species on the Galápagos Islands evolved to be specialists?
Islands have limited food resources, forcing species to feed on a small range of food items.
Climate on islands tends to be less variable than on the mainland, minimizing seasonal absences of food.
Reduced competition from other bird species allows finch species to focus on specific food resources.
Food resources on islands are more plentiful and nutrient rich than on the mainland, leading to specialist behaviors in feeding
A student reads that nanosilver particles are used in cosmetics to allow nutrients to penetrate deeper into the skin. When the cosmetics are washed off, the nanosilver particles can enter freshwater ecosystems. These particles may decrease survival in many aquatic organisms. The student determines that Daphnia magna, a tiny freshwater crustacean widely found in North America, might make a good test subject for an experiment.
Which statement below is the most likely testable hypothesis based on the information provided?
When the concentration of nanosilver particles in water and the temperature of water are both increased, the population of Daphnia magna will decrease.
When the concentration of nanosilver particles in water is increased, the population of Daphnia magna will decrease.
When the concentration of nanosilver particles in water is increased, the population of Daphnia magna will adapt to new conditions and become a new species.
When the concentration of nanosilver particles in water is decreased, the population of aquatic organisms that feed on Daphnia magna will increase.
