1. Sample Ecology Review Questions
Does not include relationships: symbiosis (those were reviewed in class today) or
Population curves- see ch 5 notes instead

2. Multiple Choice
The natural world that surrounds an organism is called the organism’s:
a. energy
b. Environment/niche
c. symbiosis
d. nutrients

3. Multiple Choice The study of how living things interact is called:
a. ecosystems
b. abiotic factors
c. ecology
d. the energy pyramid

4. Multiple Choice The source of energy for almost all life on Earth is:
a. fungi
b. animals
c. water
d. sunlight

5. Multiple Choice
An example of a biotic factor in a forest ecosystem is:
a. waterfall
b. cliff
c. a tree
d. a rock

6. Multiple Choice An ecosystem is made up of: a. living things only
b. physical environment only
c. living things and the physical environment
d. living things and decaying matter, only

7. Multiple Choice In an energy pyramid, the bottom level represents:
a. consumers
b. producers
c. scavengers
d. decomposers

8. Multiple Choice An example of a consumer in a pond ecosystem is:
a. a water lily
b. algae
c. a cattail
d. a frog

9. Multiple Choice Which of these food chains is in the correct order?
a. caterpillar, cattail, frog, water snake
b. cattail, caterpillar, frog, water snake
c. water snake, frog, caterpillar, cattail
d. cattail, frog, caterpillar, water snake

10. Multiple Choice Ecology is the study of how:
a. the physical environment changes over time
b. biotic factors change over time
c. matter interacts with energy in our environment
d. living things interact with each other and their environment

11. Multiple Choice An example of a biotic factor in a pond ecosystem is:
a. temperature
b. water
c. fish
d. sunlight

12. Multiple Choice An example of a producer is a: a. fungus
b. caterpillar
c. bird
d. moss

13. Multiple Choice Both consumers and producers are a source of food for:
a. scavengers
b. decomposers
c. carnivores
d. herbivores

14. Multiple Choice In an energy pyramid, the lowest level has:
a. less energy than the top level
b. less energy than the second level
c. more energy than the top level
d. the same amount of energy as the second level

15. Multiple Choice A food chains shows:
a. one possible pathway for energy
b. many possible pathways for energy
c. the amount of energy available to a producer
d. the amount of energy available to a consumer

16. Multiple Choice Decomposers are important to ecosystems because they:
a. are at the highest level of the energy pyramid
b. change simple compounds into more complex ones
c. make nutrients available for producers to reuse
d. convert light energy into sugars through photosynthesis

17. Multiple Choice Two abiotic factors that affect an ecosystem are:
a. temperature and animals
b. plants and animals
c. water and bacteria
d. soil and water

18. Multiple Choice Two examples of decomposers are: a. fungi and bacteria
b. algae and marine mammals
c. carnivores and herbivores
d. ferns and mosses

19. Multiple Choice
A caterpillar eats a leaf, and a bird eats the caterpillar. In this interaction, the bird is a:
a. producer
b. herbivore
c. primary consumer
d. secondary consumer

20. Multiple Choice How is a food web model different from a food chain?
a. In a web, energy moves from an organism to only one other.
b. In a web, energy may move to many organisms from one.
c. In a web, an organism gets energy from one source.
d. In a web, an organism receives less energy than in a chain.

21. Multiple Choice
When a rabbit population in a meadow cannot grow any larger, it has reached the:
a. climax community
b. carrying capacity
c. limiting factor
d. minimum size

22. Multiple Choice
Which list of terms is in the correct order, from simplest to most complex?
a. organism, community, population, ecosystem, biome
b. organism, population, community, biome, ecosystem
c. organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome
d. organism, community, ecosystem, population, biome

23. Multiple Choice
A population of rabbits is at its carrying capacity when the population:
a. reproduces
b. becomes extinct
c. stops growing
d. can’t survive

24. Multiple Choice
An unusually cold winter causes the squirrel population to decrease. This is an example of temperature as a:
a. carrying capacity
b. Independent limiting factor
c. climax community
d. Density dependent factor

25. Multiple Choice
Counting all the dandelions in your neighbor’s yard is an example of a:
a. community
b. population
c. ecosystem
d. niche

26. Multiple Choice
A crab lives on a beach where it gets food, shelter, and space to live. The beach is the crab’s:
a. pyramid
b. community
c. niche
d. biosphere

27. Multiple Choice An animal that eats only plants is a:
a. primary consumer
b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
d. primary producer

28. Multiple Choice A snake that eats an insect-eating frog is a:
a. primary consumer
b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
d. primary producer

29. Matching _____ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains
_____Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy into chemical energy
_____Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred up the food chain
_____Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating plants or animals
_____Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships between a producer and several consumers
_____Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants and animals into simpler compounds

30. Matching _____ It surrounds all living things
_____All living organisms need it
_____It gives Earth most of its energy
organism
Energy
The ocean
Environment
The Sun

31. Matching _____ Two organisms try to get the same thing in a relation
_____ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
_____ The role a species fills in a habitat
a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism

32. What do the arrows in the food web represent?
The flow of energy within the food web.

33. List two producers and three consumers in the food web.
Producers = rosebush, oak tree, grass
Consumers = deer, wolf, rabbit, squirrel caterpillar, frog, sparrow, snake, hawk

34. Draw one food chain that includes the sparrow.
rose bush –> caterpillar –> sparrow -> hawk
rose bush -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake
oak tree -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> hawk
oak tree -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake
grass -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> hawk
grass -> caterpillar -> sparrow -> snake

36. Matching __B__ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains
__D__ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy into chemical energy
__F__ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred up the food chain
__E__ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating plants or animals
__A__ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships between a producer and several consumers
__C__ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants and animals into simpler compounds
An energy pyramid shows how energy is lost as it is transferred up the food chain.

37. Matching __D__ It surrounds all living things
__B__All living organisms need it
__E__It gives Earth most of its energy
organism
Energy
The ocean
Environment
The Sun

38. Matching __D__ Two organisms try to get the same thing in a relation
__E__ Two organisms benefit in a relationship
__A__ The role a species fills in a habitat
a. niche
b. habitat
c. parasitism
d. competition
e. mutualism

39. Matching __C__ Something from the environment that humans use
_____ Number of people in a given area
_____ The variety of life in an ecosystem
a. pollution
b. population density
c. natural resource
d. Invasive species
e. biodiversity