Download Ecosystems and Populations Unit Test Study Guide - Parkway C-2

Name ________________________________________________________
Period ___________
Date _______________
Ecosystems and Populations Unit Test Study Guide
LT 1: Students will be able to identify the biotic factors (populations of organisms) and abiotic factors that
make up an ecosystem.
1. Label each item with an “a” if it is abiotic and a “b” if it is biotic:
A Oxygen/Other chemicals of life B Earthworm
B Bacteria
A Carbon
B Oak Tree
B Turtle
A Predictable Climate
B Mushroom
A Sunlight
A Soil
2. Choose one abiotic factor above and explain why it must be present in all ecosystems.
Oxygen is needed by animals for body processes to work; A predictable climate is needed by organisms.
Organisms already have adaptations for their climate/region; Carbon is a basic building block of all living things -
Plants need it for photosynthesis; Sunlight is needed for photosynthesis to take place – source of energy
LT 2: Identify populations within a community that are in competition with one another for resources.
3. Using the picture below, list at least 2 consumers in the community are in competition with one another AND
describe what they could be competing for.
Grizzlybear and red-tailed hawk are in competition for a chipmunk or a marmot.
Deer and Grizzly bear are in competition for berries and flowers.
Chipmunk and Grouse are in competition for seeds.
Suppose a Recreation Center is going to be built in the area of the food web in the diagram above. This will
eliminate most of the grasses, berries, and flowers in the area. How would this impact at least 3 other species in the
food web? Be specific and justify your answer.
If the grasses, berries, and flowers are eliminated, the butterflies, chipmunks, and deer would be impacted.
These animals may run out of food and will die of starvation or will have to move to find more food. In
Turn, this could impact carnivores or omnivores that eat the butterflies, chipmunks or deer.
LT 3: Identify the factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support and
predict how they affect the population.
4. (Circle all that apply) Limiting factors:
a. Create competition between animals that fill the same niche
b. Include water, food, shelter, and space
c. Can only be biotic factors
d. Determine the carrying capacity of an ecosystem
e. Includes amount of light and temperature range in the area
LT 4: Describe beneficial and harmful activities of organisms, including humans, and explain how these
activities affect organisms within an ecosystem.
5. Name a negative change in the environment that humans are responsible for:
*climate change/global warming, pollution – air, land, or water, deforestation, overfishing
6. Explain how this change affects a biome or ecosystem: (Be specific)
Climate change/global warming – this causes the biome to experience temperatures out of the ordinary,
which
In turn causes different weather patterns. This may cause death by starvation or temperature.
Pollution – this action can cause organisms to be unhealthy and may cause death or even extinction of a
species.
LT 6: Describe possible solutions to potentially harmful environmental changes within an ecosystem.
7. Suggest a possible solution for this problem:
Climate change/global warming – we can reduce our use of fossil fuels and emissions from factories
Pollution – we can reduce, reuse, and recycle; enforce laws regarding pollution
Deforestation – we could use selective cutting instead of clear cutting, we need to replant
LT5: Predict the impact (beneficial or harmful) of a natural environmental change on the organisms in an
ecosystem.
8. Choose ONE of the environmental changes from below. Circle your choice.
A. Flood
B. Forest Fire
C. Climate change
D. Rising Sea Level
E. Tornado
F. Hurricane
G. Volcano
H. Drought
I. Blizzard
J. Earthquake
9. Describe how the change could impact the biome that you researched during our unit:
Flood – this could add nutrients to the area that is flooded, but could also destroy homes/habitats
Forest Fire – this can help with plant growth/regrowth, but can also destroy homes/habitats
Tornado – this can destroy homes/habitats, organisms may be killed or food sources changed
Volcano – this can provide new nutrients and/or land, but may destroy homes/habitats
LT 7: Diagram and describe the transfer of energy in an aquatic food web and a land food web with
reference to producers, consumers, decomposers, scavengers, and predator/prey relationships.
11. Using the pyramid below, create a food chain with at least 4 organisms from the same ecosystem. Label the
niche of each organism.
Hawk
Mouse
Grasshopper
Plants, grasses
Apex Predator/Tertiary consumer/carnivore
Secondary consumer/omnivore
Primary consumer/herbivore
Producer
12. What do the arrows in a food web represent?
The energy flow in the ecosystem from the producer to the upper level consumer.
LT 8: Classify populations of unicellular and multicellular organisms as producers, consumers, and
decomposers by the role they serve in the ecosystem.
13. Using the food chain below, fill in the niches.
Sun
Sunflower/seeds
chipmunk
Red Fox
Red Tailed Hawk
Earthworms/Bacteria/Fungi
Producers: _____Sunflower/seeds_______
Primary Consumers: __chipmunk_______
Secondary Consumers: ____Red Fox_____
Tertiary Consumers: ____Red Tailed Hawk_______
Predators: ___Red Fox, Red Tailed Hawk______ Prey _____Chipmunk, Red Fox___________
Decomposers: earthworms/bacteria/fungi
Energy Source: __the sun___________
14. Explain how the decrease in decomposer populations would affect this ecosystem?
A decrease could cause dead organisms to pile up and take up space because there are not enough
decomposers to break down the dead organisms fast enough.
Decomposers are responsible for returning nutrients to the soil, so with fewer decomposers, not enough
nutrients are being returned for plant growth.
LT 9: Relate examples of adaptations (specialized structures or behaviors) within a species to its ability to
survive in a specific environment.
15. Give an example of an organism and describe one physical adaptation and one behavioral adaptation of that
organism. Explain how that adaptation gives the organism an advantage to survive in its environment. You may
choose one of these organisms, or come up with your own: bat, wolf, owl, snake, arctic fox.
Animal: ___bat______
Physical:
Large ears, ability to fly, hair, feet have claws for roosting (hanging upside down)
Behavioral:
Echolocation to find prey, nocturnal, good hearing, live in colonies, hibernate in cold winters
LT 10: Predict how certain adaptations, such as behavior, body structure, or coloration, may offer a
survival advantage to an organism in a particular environment.
16. Using the pictures below, decide which animal is better adapted to living in a tree. Give two details that
support your thinking.
1. A squirrel has a long bushy tail that helps it with balance in climbing from tree to tree, where a rabbit
has only a short tail.
2. A squirrel has claws that help it to climb up or down trees, where a rabbit has claws that are meant for
digging burrows.