______________________ a species that eats prey killed by other animals.

______________________ the introduction of new genes into a population due to immigration.

______________________ the role or function of a species in an environment.

______________________ the formation of an ecosystem in an area in which there is no soil or where the soil is incapable of sustaining life (because of recent lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier).

______________________ a species that has an extremely high impact on its ecosystem by balancing the food chain, and providing niches and habitats to other species.

______________________ return nutrients to the soil by breaking down dead material.

______________________ the shift of genetic traits in a population toward the characteristics most suited for the environment.

______________________ all of the species living in an area.

______________________ small, fast growing species that are the first to colonize an area.

______________________ the regrowth of an ecosystem after a major disturbance—such as a devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, or human activity; results in a climax community.

______________________ a community of biotic and abiotic components interacting as a system; linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

The differences in DNA among individuals within species and populations is called

A species of butterfly that lives in rocky, high-altitude areas and pollinates a specific flower, which in turn is eaten by a certain bird, goes extinct. There is now a vacant in the ecological community.

Populations with more genetic diversity are less able to cope with environmental change.

Two populations of a deer species are separated when a glacier forms. After the glacier melts, the two populations have become different species. This is an example of speciation.

Animals gathering around a water hole in a drought-prone area and establishing hierarchies of access to the water is an example of competition.

Tigers living in warm climates have thinner coats of fur than tigers living in cool climates. This is a result of

A region that includes tigers, eagles, lizards, fish, rabbits, and many other types of organisms would be described as having a high level of

Latitude determines climate. Which of the following explains the natural pattern in which species diversity?

In the years immediately after a fire, a forest will experience a.

High levels of biodiversity tend to

Which of the following best describes a successful individual in evolutionary terms?

When the environment changes too quickly for an organism to adapt, what will occur?

An interaction in which an individual of one species kills and consumes an individual of another is called

A beehive depends on pollen from flowers to survive. Flowers depend on bees to pollinate them. Humans tend bee hives, offering the bees a place to live in exchange for some of their honey. The relationship among these three sets of organisms is

The ultimate source of energy in an ecosystem in which deer eat grass and coyotes eat deer is

In a food web that consists of grass, mice, deer, coyotes, and hawks, which species is likely to have the greatest biomass?

The first level of all food pyramids

A landslide causes part of a mountainside to fall away, leaving bare rock. In the years immediately following the landslide, the area will experience

A reintroduced population of wolves in a national park is 90 percent grey and 10 percent black, consistent with the wolf population in other regions. After several generations in isolation, the national park's wolf population is 60 percent grey and 40 percent black. The wolf population has likely experienced

Based on the diagram above, which list shows the sequence of secondary succession that followed the eruption?

Which most likely causes competition to occur during natural selection?

The correct order of stages in the primary succession of a dry land environment is illustrated by which of the following?

Which environmental concept is best illustrated by the graph?

Based on the graph what type of relationship do the wolves and moose have with one another?

In the western United States, at the southern edge of their range, moose are sometimes so severely infested with ticks that they die. The tick/moose relationship is best described as

What year did the moose likely become infected with the ticks?

What would happen if alligators were removed from the ecosystem? Explain the effects on each level of the food web.

Identify two species in this web that might compete with each other, and explain which resources they compete for.

Scientists don't know exactly how many species live on Earth because:

Explain the advantages to producing more offspring than might survive. How is this relevant to evolution?

Wolves were hunted to extinction in Yellowstone National Park in the early 1900’s. The elk population grew quickly once wolves were gone. Around 1950, a species of willow-nesting bird also disappeared from the park. Wolves were reintroduced in the 1990’s and in 2005, 15 years after the reintroduction of wolves to the park, the willow-nesting bird returned. What does this illustrate about the importance of top predators?

Explain why the U.S Forestry Department and local firefighters will perform controlled burns on forest properties. Be sure to list at least TWO reasons.