Food Webs
This organism makes its own food using sunlight.
What is the main source of energy for all ecosystems?
The Sun
What is the term for the largest population an environment can support?
Carrying capacity
Cutting down large areas of rainforest is an example of this.
Habitat distruction
Both organisms benefit in this relationship
Mutualism
A hawk, snake, and fox all eat mice. What relationship do these organisms have with each other?
Competition
Why is there less energy at the top of an energy pyramid?
Energy is lost between trophic levels.
Name one limiting factor in an ecosystem
Food, water, space, disease, predators, ect.
When humans catch fish faster than they reproduce, this is called:
Overharvesting
Barnacles benefit from attaching to whales, but whales are unaffected. This relationship is:
commensalism
If a disease wipes out many grasshoppers, waht would MOST likely happen to the animals that eat them?
Their population would decrease.
If grass contains 1,000 units of energy, about how much energy would a mouse receive after eating the grass?
About 100 units
Increased predation
Why are invasive species often harmful?
They compete with native species for resources.
What are usually the first organisms to grow on bare rock?
Lichen and moss
What do arrows in a food web represent?
Why are there usually fewer predators than producers in an ecosystem?
There is less energy available higher in the pyramid.
A population grows quickly and then levels off. What has MOST likely happened?
The population reached carrying capacity.
A nonnative plant spreads rapidly and pushes out local plants. What kind of species is it?
An invasive species.
A ticke feeding on a dog is an example of:
parasitism
Name TWO organisms that would likely compete in this situation: Both animals eat berries and live in the same forest.
Answers vary (bears, birds, etc)
A student says decomposers create new energy for ecosystems. Explain why this is incorrect.
Decomposers recycle nutrients, but energy originally comes from the sun.
Why might competition increase in a wolf pack even if the forest size stays the same?
Population increased/ resources became limited
Explain ONE way humans can help protect ecosystems.
Any reasonable answer: reduce population, conservation, protected areas, sustainable harvesting, etc.
An abandoned farm slowly turns into a forest over many years. What process is occurring?
ecological succession (specifically secondary succession)