Name: _______________________________________Date: _____________ Period: _____
Chapter 53: Community Ecology
1)
Define the following terms:
a. species diversity
b. species richness
c.
relative abundance
2) What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? Which provides a more “full”
ecological picture and why?
3) How do you characterize a dominant species? How is this different from a keystone species?
4) Compare and contrast the bottom-up model with the top-down model.
5) Define the term “disturbance” and explain the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?
6) Compare and contrast primary and secondary succession.
7) Define “evapotranspiration.”
8) Contrast the integrated hypothesis with the individualistic hypothesis.
Chapter 54: Ecosystems
1) Explain how energy flows in relation to an ecosystem. Why do we care about this?
2) Label the diagram below.
3) Why are detritivores essential to an ecosystem?
4) Define the following terms:
a. Gross primary production
b. Net primary production
5) How do light limitations and nutrient limitations impact primary production?
6) Explain what “eutrophication” is and how it is caused.
7) What environmental factors impact evapotranspiration?
8) Define “secondary production.”
9) Why is the energy transfer between trophic levels limited?
10) Explain the difference between production efficiency and tropic efficiency.
11) Restate the “green world hypothesis” in your own words.
12) Complete the diagram below of the general model of nutrient cycling.
13) What is the difference between nitrification, denitrification, ammonification and nitrogen fixation?
14) Imagine you are at the dinner table and are asked to explain what acid rain is and why it is a
problem. Write your response here.
15) Explain the concept of biological magnification and how it relates to the health warnings given to
pregnant women about the consumption of certain fish?
QUESTIONS
1.
Identify the tropic level described in each of the following. Use the key to indicate your
answers.
A. Detritivores
B. Primary consumers
C. Primary producers
D. Secondary consumers
E. Tertiary consumers
Autotrophs
Convert sun energy into chemical
energy
Plants, photosynthetic protists,
cyanobacteria, chemosynthetic
bacteria
Herbivores
Eat primary producers
Primary carnivores
Eat primary consumers
Secondary carnivores
Eat secondary consumers
Consumers that obtain their energy by
consuming dead plants and animals
Fungi, bacteria, nematodes,
earthworms, insects, scavengers
Letters K, L, and M
Letters G, H, I and J
Letters D, E, and F
Letter A
Letter C
Letter B
2.
Water cycle: What effect does each of the following processes have on the water cycle?
Evaporation
Condensation
Transpiration
Respiration
Precipitation
3.
Carbon Cycle: What is the role of each of the following in the carbon cycle?
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Eating
Burning
4.
Nitrogen Cycle: Match the description with the correct term.
A. Ammonification
B. Assimilation
C. Denitrification
D. Nitrification
E. Nitrogen-fixation
Bacteria in the soil convert nitrogen gas (N2) into usable forms
Bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) into nitrites (NO2-) and nitrates (NO3-)
Decomposers and some nitrogen-fixing bacteria produce ammonium
(NH4+)
Plants absorb nitrates from the soil and animals eat plants or other animals to obtain nitrogencontaining compounds.
Bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas
5.
6.
Phosphorus Cycle: Answer the following questions.
a.
What acts as the reservoirs of phosphorus in the environment?
b.
How do plants obtain (assimilate) phosphorus?
c.
How do animals obtain (assimilate) phosphorus?
d.
What is the role of decomposers in the phosphorus cycle?
List and briefly describe the four major threats to biodiversity. (Ch. 55, pp 1212-1215)
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