Assessment #4
(20 points)
I want you to copy down each question on a sheet of paper and hand write the answers legibly. For multiple choice questions, write
out the question and the correct answer.
---()--Question 1: Abiotic Environment (Points: 2)
What are two examples of resources that ecosystems require from the abiotic environment?
A. Biosphere and atmosphere.
B. Living space and sunlight.
C. Vegetation and clean air.
D. Soil and organic nourishment.
E. Mineral nourishment and primary producers.
Question 2: Chain, chain, chain... of foods. (Points: 2)
Why is the concept of a food web generally preferred over that of a food chain?
A. It isn't. A food chain is preferred as a simpler model to explain energy exchange between different
organisms with established roles: producers --> primary consumers --> secondary consumers -->
tertiary consumers --> decomposers.
B. A food chain implies we can become separated at the weakest link causing a breakdown of natural
order. A food web suggests we are all inexorably linked in a myriad of consumption-related
connections.
C. Chain implies linearity suggesting that each organism only eats just one thing. This is unrealistic as
nature is probably many interlocking food chains; hence, it is a web.
D. A food chain does a perfect job for simple systems but a food web is more correct for complex
systems.
Question 3: Balance in Ecosystems (Points: 6)
A) Could you construct a balanced ecosystem that contained only producers and consumers?
B) Could you construct a balanced ecosystem that contained only consumers and decomposers?
C) Could you construct a balanced ecosystem that contained only producers and decomposers?
Explain the reasons for your answers.
Question 4: Examples of Life (Points: 2)
Which of the following is, in order, an example of a producer, a primary consumer, and a top carnivore?
A. Grass, cow, mountain lion.
B. Fungus, caterpillar, human.
C. Grass, raccoon, human.
D. Grass, cow, krill.
Question 5: Of Rabbits and Men (Points: 4)
Is a rabbit an example of a closed system or an open system? Why?
Question 6: Pyramids and Laws (Points: 4)
Relate the pyramid of energy to the second law of thermodynamics.