STAAR Biology Ecology

Leaf-cutter ants harvest leaves and carry them to fungi that convert plant material into a usable form for the ants to digest. The fungi depend on the leaves for nutrients. The ants also produce an antibiotic on their bodies that helps protect the fungi from harmful bacteria. Which of these explains the relationship between the leaf-cutter ants and the fungi?

• Predation, because the ants feed on the fungi 

• Mutualism, because both the ants and the fungi benefit from each other 

• Competition, because both organisms consume the same resource for energy

• Commensalism, because the ants receive energy from the fungi and the fungi are unaffected

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The energy pyramid below shows the energy made available by producers.

Based on the energy flow between trophic levels in an energy pyramid, how much energy would be expected to be found at the secondary consumer level in this pyramid?

• 100 Joules

• 500 Joules

• 1,000 Joules

• 50 Joules

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Which statement provides the best explanation for the difference in biomass of organisms found at each trophic level?

• Organisms at higher trophic level have less energy available to them than organism at lower trophic levels.

• Organisms at higher trophic levels require smaller habitats that organisms at lower trophic levels.

• Organisms at lower trophic levels provide less energy than organisms at higher trophic levels.

• Organisms at lower trophic levels outcompete organisms at higher trophic levels.

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A remora is a fish that has an adhesive disk on the back of its head that it uses to attach to a large shark. When food floats away from the shark's mouth as it feeds. Drawings of a shark with a remora attached and a remora's adhesive disk are shown. The relationship of the remora and the shark is........

• Predation

• Parasitism

• Commensalism

• Competition

Which sphere of the Earth includes all living organisms?

• Atmosphere

• Hydrosphere

• Biosphere

• Geosphere

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The following statement is a hypothesis formed about marsh grass: 
If the amount of nitrogen marsh grass receives is increased, then the height of the grass will increase, because nitrogen is an essential nutrient needed for marsh grass to grow.
What is the independent variable of the statement above? 

• Height of grass

• Amount of nitrogen

• Essential nutrient

• Amount of growth

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What is the role of decomposers in an Ecosystem? 

• They recycle matter and nutrients to form fossil fuels

• They are burn and release as carbon dioxide

• Decomposers are responsible to turn oxygen into carbon dioxide

• They recycle energy back to the sun

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