Name___________________________________________________________Date____________________________Period______

Ecology Test Review

What is Ecology?
Ecology is the study of relationships of living organisms
All living things are called __Biotic___ factors.
.

All nonliving things are called ___Abiotic___ factors.

Levels of Organization in the Biosphere (fill in blanks and give definitions)

organism __population______ Community _____Ecosystem______ Biome Biosphere
1. Organism one organism
2. Populations two or more of the SAME species
3. Communities more than one species in the same area
4. Ecosystems living things and their abiotic environment
5. Biome Large areas of similar ecosystems with similar climates
6. Biosphere -- EARTH
PRACTICE: Use the terms above in the levels of organization section from above to fill in the following:
What term is used to refer to each of the following?
_____population_______1. A flock of ducks
_____Biome__________2. The Sahara desert
_____Biosphere____3. All livable areas on Earth
community or with abiotic its ecosystem 4. The deer, ducks, shore birds, fish and rabbits living in and
around Lake Houston

ENERGY FLOW THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM

The flow of energy through an ecosystem begins with the__sun_______, and is passed on through various
organisms:
What are Autotrophs ____producers they make their own food through photosynthesis_____________
What are heterotrophs __consumers they must eat something for their energy____________________

1. Herbivores
eats_plants____

2. Carnivores
Eats_meat___

3. OmnivoresEats__plants and animals__

Ex. _deer, cow,

Ex.hawk, lion, cougar

Ex. bears, __

rabbit____________

, shark_

_coyotes, __

____

__

Level of Consumers:
Primary consumer
__deer_______

Use the three types of consumers from above to fill in the following blanks:

Secondary consumer

____hawk______

Decomposers obtain energy from

Tertiary consumer 4th ..

(___bear__) can be a 1st, 2nd or higher level)

breaking down dead material

FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS
Each step in a food chain or web is called a __trophic_______ level, or a feeding relationship between organisms.
FOOD CHAIN __1 organism in each trophic level_____
________________________________________

FOOD WEB __more than one organism _

_in each trophic level, more complex___________

(Label each trophic level below)

nd

Trophic level 5
Trophic level 4
Trophic level 3
Trophic level 2

Trophic Level 1

1. What would happen to this food web if the plants were

removed?_the primary consumers would die__________
2. What type of organism has the greatest available
energy?_autotrophs
3. What organisms are trophic level 2? Primary
consumers___________________________

Pyramid of Energy
A pyramid of energy is used to illustrate the amount of
usable energy at each _trophic__________ level.

Only __10%_ is passed on to the next trophic level

The other 90% is ___lost as heat__________.

Ecological Pyramids:
Level 3

1. Which trophic level contains autotrophic organisms? _TL 1__

2. Which trophic level contains primary consumers? __TL 2________

Level 2

3. Which trophic level contains secondary consumers? _TL 3_____

Level 1

4. Which trophic level contains the most available energy? __TL 1__
5. Which trophic level contains the least available energy? _the top levels__
6. How much energy is transferred to the next trophic level? _10%__

Symbiotic Relationships
1.Parasitism: one organism (parasite) _benefits_______ and the other is _______harmed___ (host).
EX: __lice_____, ____fleas_______, and _tape worms___.
2. Commensalism: One organism _benefits_____, and the other organism is neither _helped___ or __harmed
___.EX: _Spanish moss of trees_________ or birds building nests in trees.
3. Mutualism Both organisms ___benefit_ from the relationship.

EX: _bees and butterflies, sea anemone and

clown fish______________________

Ecological Succession: What is the difference between Primary and Secondary succession? primary starts
with bare rock, secondary has soil
What causes Primary succession to occur? ____volcanoes_____ and ___melting glaciers____________
Which of the following is a pioneer species?

Mushroom

What happens to biodiversity in an ecosystem over time?

lichen

grass

Increases

What is biodiversity? _the number of different species in an areas___________

trees
Decreases

NUTRIENT CYCLES:
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE NUTRIENTS WHEN ORGANISMS DIE?

The Carbon Cycle

Decomposers

Directions: Use the diagrams above to answer the following:

1. Name and discuss the process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere photosynthesis
removes carbon from the atmosphere______
2. Name and discuss the processes in which carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere?
Combustion, burning fossil fuels, and respiration_____
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

The Nitrogen Cycle

by bacteria
and/or
lightning

Nitrogen Facts
Air is 78% nitrogen
Nitrogen is one of the
elements found in plant
fertilizers
Protein contains nitrogen

Directions: Use the diagrams above, diagram on pg. 78, and text to answer the following:

1. Bacteria living in the roots of the plant help the plant by __fixing nitrogen so the plant can absorb it_
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Bacteria living in the soil help plants by _nitrogen fixation____________
________________________________________________________________________________
3. What process transforms nitrogen into usable forms that plants can use? _nitrogen fixation___
4. Where do animals ultimately get their proteins from? __from their food____
________________________________________________________________________________
5. How has farming affected the nitrogen cycle?____adding fertilizer to crops, then thr run off creates
dead zones in ponds, lakes, and oceans_________
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. How has industry affected the nitrogen cycle?___run off and introducing Nitrogen to atmosphere
that causes Acid rain__________