Food Webs
The arrows in a food web/chain represent....
the flow of energy
When one organism is harmed and the other is benefited is called....
parasitism
All organisms must obtain energy from their environment. Every organism needs this energy in order to grow and reproduce. How do producers obtain energy?
Photosynthesis...capture light energy to make own food
Is new predators moving into the ecosystem an example of a biotic or abiotic limiting factor?
biotic limiting factor
Which of the following is a resource for which two trees growing next to each other in a forest would most likely compete?
nutrients in the soil or
sunlight
______________ are the base of all food webs.
producers
What is the relationship between a hermit crab and the mollusk that previously lived in the hermit crab's shell?
commensalism
In a food web, what is the relationship between hawks and coyotes?
coyotes and hawks compete for the same food
What do scientists consider when they study ecology?
the interactions of organisms with one another and their environment
Why do trees in a forest not grow very close to one another?
trees compete for resources directly around them
What is the difference between a carnivore and an herbivore?
carnivore eats meat, herbivore eats plants
List the 5 energy levels in a food web in order starting with producers.
producers-->primary consumer--> secondary consumer--> tertiary consumer-->decomposer
Two types of global food webs show the feeding relationships of organisms. What distinguishes one type of global web from another?
whether the producers are located on land or in water
Which item(s) would be considered to be abiotic factors: sunlight, air, water, mushrooms, flowers, skunk.
sunlight, air, water
What is the relationship between predator and prey populations?
More prey= more predators
less prey= less predators
What is one way that cooperation helps lions to survive?
they hunt in groups
What 2 ways increase a population?
immigration and birth
How is an organism's niche different from its habitat?
its niche is the organism's role within the habitat, habitat is where organism lives
What is the relationship between biomes and ecosystems?
a biome may contain many ecosystems
What is a community?
all populations that live in the same area and interact
What is the primary role of decomposers in an ecosystem?
to recycle energy and materials from dead producers and consumers
Small birds called Egyptian plovers sometimes get their food by picking it off the hides of crocodiles. For this reason, they are also known as crocodile birds. What kind of relationship do crocodiles and Egyptian plovers have?
mutualism
Some consumers, such as many flying insects, need large amounts of energy to grow and move from one place to another. How do consumers get energy to function?
consumers obtain all of their energy by eating other organisms
During the 1930s, a large region of the Great Plains experienced a drought that turned grasslands into dust. How did this change most likely affect populations of insects living among the grasslands?
they decreased because the resources they needed were not available
What causes competition to occur in the environment?
organisms struggle for limited resources