Ecosystem Vocabulary

One way to decrease the number of flying insects on your property is to increase bat populations by building bat houses. In this case, which is most likely the limiting factor for the bat population?

• food
• space
• water
• shelter

Which limiting factor most affects the population growth of plants in a garden?  

• space between plants  
• number of seeds planted
• types of tools used in planting  
• number of people tending the plants  

Which best describes an abiotic limiting factor in a population?

• animals

• plants

• water

Which is an example of parasitism?  

• cat and mouse
• tadpole and frog  
• human and tapeworm  
• caterpillar and butterfly  

Carolina wrens and painted buntings are two bird species that live in overlapping territories. They have different requirements for food and nesting. Which term best describes the relationship between the two species?

• parasitism  
• symbiosis  
• coexistence  
• mutualism  

What is true of mutualistic relationships among organisms?  

• The organisms ignore each other.  
• The organisms cooperate with each other
• The organisms prey on each other
• The organisms compete with each other

Which best describes the relationship between decomposers and producers?

• Decomposers provide producers with water.
• Decomposers absorb nutrients produced in the soil.  
• Producers release energy from the sun through decomposers.  
• Producers absorb nutrients from decomposed material in the soil

Which best describes the effect on an ecosystem when populations of white-tailed deer are overhunted by people in an area?

• It decreases the amount of producers.  
• It directly increases the population of decomposers.  
• It disrupts the balance between predators and prey.  
• It decreases competition for food among carnivores.  

Which organisms recycle carbon in decaying matter back into atmospheric carbon dioxide?   

• fish
• fungi
• plants
• animals

Which activity of the gopher transfers energy from one trophic level to another in its ecosystem?

• reproducing with other gopher species
• storing food underground  
• digging burrows to live in  
• eating the roots of many plants