Wolves in Yellowstone
How many wolves were released into YNP in 1995?
14
In a food web, where does all of the energy originally come from?
The Sun.
True or False: The amount of matter on Earth is always changing as organisms grow and decompose
False. (Matter is conserved; it simply changes form or moves from one part of the ecosystem to another.)
I am a living thing (an organism) that gets my energy by breaking down dead plants and animals. I help return nutrients to the soil. What word describes my job in the ecosystem?
a Decomposer
the world's tallest land mammal, what consumer is this?
a giraffe
How did the Elk change the population of beavers?
by eating all the aspen and willow
An organism that produces its own food, usually using sunlight, is called this.
a producer or plant
When an animal eats a plant for energy, what happens to the matter from the plant?
It moves into the animal's body (or is released as waste/gas).
I am a type of fungus that you often see growing on a dead log in the forest or a piece of old bread in your kitchen. I don't use sunlight to make food. What am I?
a mushroom (or mold)
Flightless, aquatic bird mainly living in the south pole.
a penguin.
what year were the wolves released?
1995
An animal that hunts and eats other animals is called this, while the animal being hunted is called this.
Predator and prey.
After a log decomposes in a forest, does the matter from the log disappear or move somewhere else?
It moves somewhere else (into the air as gas, or into the soil as nutrients).
I am a common garden creature with a long, segmented body and no legs. I eat dead plants and leave behind nutrient-rich waste called castings. What am I?
an earthworm
a small, independent, yet affectionate feline with a flexible body, keen senses, and quick reflexes
a cat. (kitty/kitten)
What is the current population of wolves in Yellowstone National Park?
around 500 wolves
If a disease wiped out all the grass in an ecosystem, what would likely happen to the population of rabbits and other herbivores?
They would decrease (go down/die out) due to lack of food.
A huge tree grows from a tiny seed in a forest. Where does almost all the mass that makes the tree so big come from?
The air (specifically, the carbon dioxide from the air).
My larvae are called maggots, and my adult form loves to buzz around garbage and dead things. We are insects that help break down matter. What am I?
a fly
a member of the cat family, often called the king of beasts.
a lion.
Describe a ungulate animal.
a hoofed mammal, characterized by walking on the tips of their toes which are encased in hooves
A hawk eats a snake, which ate a mouse, which ate a seed. The hawk is at the very top of this energy path. What is the hawk's role in this specific sequence?
the top (or apex) predator.
If we put a rabbit in a sealed glass box with air, water, and some plants, and gave it sunlight, would the total mass of everything inside the box ever change as the rabbit lives and grows?
No, the total mass would stay the same because matter cannot be created or destroyed, only changed in form.
We are so tiny that billions of us can fit in a single gram of soil, and you need a microscope to see us. We are one of the most important chemical decomposers on Earth. What are we?
Bacteria
eight arms, and two long feeding tentacles, giving it a total length of up to 43 feet (13 meters). It is distinguished by its massive, basketball-sized eyes, which are the largest in the animal kingdom.
A giant squid.