Ecological Relationships SSA Questions

What type of organisms provide the base for this food web?

• Secondary Consumers

• Primary Consumers

• Producers

• Top Predators

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One relationship between organisms is that of predator-prey. Which of the following is the best description of a predator?

• An organism that eats another organism

• An organism that participates in symbiosis

• An organism that is eaten by another organism

• An organism that benefits at the expense of another organism

Which relationship is most likely to increase the population of one species in an ecosystem without affecting the population of its associated species?

• predation

• mutualism

• parasitism

• commercialism

The graph below shows the population of a group of rabbits in a restricted area studied over a period of 5 years. Which statement might explain why the population levels off as shown in the graph?

• The resources in the area ran out

• Predators were introduced into the area

• The rabbits encountered a new disease

• Competition for resources limits the rabbit population

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Clownfish live among sea anemone's tentacles. The clownfish protect the sea anemone by chasing away organisms that want to attack the sea anemone. The sea anemone's stinging tentacles protect the clownfish from predators that want to attack the fish. What type of relationship exists between the clownfish and the sea anemone?

• parasitism

• commensalism

• mutualism

• non-symbiosis

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While growing on a lawn, some weeds, such as dandelions, struggle to get the nutrients and water that other plants, such as grass, also need to survive. This is an example of which of the following?

• predation

• commensalism

• parasitism

• competition

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Which of the following is an example of parasitism?

• bees and flowers

• a tick on a dog

• barnacles attached to a whale

• a wolf and a rabbit

Sadie knows that bacteria can make people sick. Her teacher told her that bacteria are also necessary in any ecosystem. What positive role do bacteria play in an ecosystem?

• Bacteria help in the transfer of oxygen between cells in multi-cellular organisms

• Bacteria break down organic material and return nutrients to the surrounding environment

• Bacteria use photosynthesis to create a major food source for animals in an ecosystem

• Bacteria release large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere

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Sharks are the apex (top) predator of the marine ecosystem. They maintain the balance of the marine environment by eating many of the smaller fish and other marine animals. If shark populations decrease, many of these animals will reproduce at such a rate that it would cause a great strain on marine resources. Which of the following relationships is most similar to the relationship of the shark to the marine ecosystem?

• A frog eats flies and lizards in a swamp ecosystem

• A grasshopper eats leaves in a grassland ecosystem

• A wolf eats small mammals an in a forest ecosystem

• A scorpion eats insects and arthropods in a desert ecosystem

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A partial grassland food web is shown. Which of the following best describes a relationship in this grassland?

• Badgers are top predators because they eat upland sandpipers and beetles.

• A producer-consumer relationship exists between lupines and ants.

• A predator-prey relationship exists between beetles and ground squirrels.

• Upland sandpipers are primary and secondary consumers because they eat grasses and grasshoppers.

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