Ecology STAAR Questions

An Insect known as an aphid can be found on many types of plants in Texas.  These plants include flowers, vegetables, shrubs, bushes, and trees.  Aphids eat the sap from the plants on which they live.  Plants need this sap for nourishment.  What type of relationship exists between the aphids and plants in an ecosystem?

• Producer/Consumer
• Prey/Predator
• Consumer/Decomposer
• Parasite/Host

A constant input of energy from the Sun is necessary to maintain any ecosystem.  What contributes to the sustainability of an ecosystem?

• Small population sizes
• Lack of adaptations
• Biodiversity
• Unstable environment

Which human activity has had a negative impact on ocean systems?

• Monitoring
• Over-fishing
• Creation of artificial reefs
• Reduction in coastal developments

Ticks are tiny insects that live in grasses, weeds, and bushes. Ticks are deer parasites.  Look closely at the diagram of a food chain.  How would you modify this diagram to include ticks as part of the food chain?

• Show ticks living in grass
• Include an image of a tick as part of the food chain
• Include an image of a tick and draw an arrow from the tick to the deer
• Include an image of a tick and draw an arrow from the deer to the tick

Which process is responsible for carrying fertilizers that have been applied to crops into bodies of water, such as a river?

• Runoff
• Evaporation
• Ocean Currents
• Tectonic Plate movement

Which of these human activities is most likely to cause the excessive growth of phytoplankton in the world’s oceans?

•  The use of chemical fertilizers that are carried by runoff into rivers
• The logging of old-growth forests, which results in erosion
• The spraying of chemical herbicides that reduce carbon dioxide in the air
• The mining of fossil fuels, which requires digging underground tunnels

Which of these correctly describes a relationship between organisms in the soil food web?

• Protozoa get nutrients from small arthropods
• Mammals are predators of birds
• Nematodes prey on arthropods
• Bacteria get nutrients from organic matter

Based on the model, which consumers would receive the greatest amount of energy capturedby the producers in their food chains?

• Wedge-tailed eagles
• Chuditch
• Ring-tailed opossums
• Eucalyptus trees

Which two types of organisms have a producer-consumer relationship in this African savanna?

• Zebras and hyenas
• Hyenas and cheetahs
• Trees and elephants
• Fungi and dung beetles

A Cross Timbers rancher is concerned about competition between the ranch animals and the deer. Based on the graph, which ranch animals compete for the most food with white-tailed deer?

• Cattle that eat grass and feed
• Goats that eat weeds and shrubs
• Turkeys that eat seeds and fruit
• Hogs that eat fruit, seeds, and feed