Student Name: Due Date: 18/11/2010

Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities

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Cite all sources using the CSE method (or ISO 690 Numerical in Word). The first example has been done for you.

Complete the self-assessment rubric before submitting to Moodle. Avoid printing this if possible.

1. Define the following terms:

Species: A group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring. [ CITATION
Ste09 \l 1033 ]

Habitat- The environment in which a species normally lives.

Population- A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time.

Community- A group of populations living and interacting with each other in an area.

Ecosystem- A community and its abiotic environment.

Ecology- The study of relationships between living organisms and between organisms and their
environment.

Niche – The status of an organism within its environment, including its diet, where it lives and
where they are active.

Biodiversity – Is the variation of species within a given ecosystem.

Trophic level - The feeding level of an organism in a food chain.

2. Complete the tree below with definitions and examples of each type of feeding strategy.
Distinguish between the feeding strategies at each level of the diagram.
3. Food chains represent the flow of energy and nutrients in a series of feeding relationships.

Self feeding – organisms that produce Other source feeding – Organisms that derive
their own food from organic molecules. energy from other living organisms.

Deals with light – Deals with chemicals – Ingest organic matter Ingests non-living Lives in or on non-living
Photosynthesis chemosynthesis which is living or organic matter. matter, secreting
e.g. green plants, e.g. Deep-sea, recently killed E.g earthworms digestice enzymes into
it and absorbing
phytoplankton, algae Taylorchemosynthetic bacteria
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digestive products.
Eat producers. E.g. Eats other consumers. E.g.
E.g. bacteria, fungi.
carnivores, omnivores
herbivores.
Student Name: Due Date: 18/11/2010
Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities

Give one example of a marine food chain (min. 4 organisms)

Diatoms, Planktons Krill, amphripods Cod Seal

Give one example of a terrestrial food chain (min. 4 organisms)

Yellow Iris Moth Caterpillar Great Tit Sparrowhawk

4. Describe what is meant by a food web.

A food web shows all of the feeding relationships within a habitat, and is generally more
accurate compared to a food chain because it contains many food chains.

5. The food web below shows some coral reef feeding relationships;

a. Identify species in the following trophic levels:

i. Producers
The producers would be phytoplankton and algae.

ii. Primary consumers

The primary consumers would be: the sea-whip, the parrot fish, turtles and marine
invertebrates (e.g. diadarma)

iii. Secondary consumers

The secondary consumers would be: reef sharks, snappers and groupers.

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Student Name: Due Date: 18/11/2010
Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities

6. On a separate sheet, construct a freshwater food web based on the following information:

Organism Energy sources

Water crowfoot Sunlight
Cased caddisfly larva Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals
Damselfly nymph Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals
Mayfly nymph Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals
Dragonfly Other adult insects and small flies
Duck All nymphs, all plants, snails, tadpoles, young frogs
Freshwater Shrimp Particles of dead plants and animals
Water vole Plants
Algae Sunlight
Otter Fish, frogs and newts
Water starwort Sunlight
Pond snail Microplants, all water plants and algae
Alderfly nymph Micro-plants, algae, particles of dead plants and animals
Pond skater Particles of dead plants and animals
Frog Mayfly, midge larvae, pond skater, caddisfly, small flies
Tadpole Micro-plants, algae
Micro-plants Sunlight
Great diving beetle Water flea, snails, tadpole, all nymphs
Bullhead fish Diving beetle, tadpole, all nymphs, water flea, snail, midge larvae
Adapted from: http://www.cornwallriversproject.org.uk/education/education_pack.htm

7. For the food web created above:

a. Identify organisms in each of the trophic levels.
Producers – micro-plant, algae, water starwart and water crowfoot
Primary consumer – Alderfly, tadpole, Alderfly nymph, pond snail, mayfly nymph, water
vole, damselfly nymph and cased caddisfly larva
Secondary consumers – Bullhead fish, frog, duck, great diving beetle and dragonfly
Tertiary consumers – otter
Decomposers – freshwater shrimp, pond skater

b. Identify organisms that fit more than one trophic level.

One main organism that could fit into more than trophic level would be the duck, this
would be due to the fact that it eats the insects and would be classified as a secondary
consumer but then also eats the frogs so then it could be classified as a tertiary
consumer.

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Student Name: Due Date: 18/11/2010
Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities

c. Identify those which could be classed as detritivores

The organisms that could be classed as detritivores would be the freshwater shrimp and
the pond skater because they both feed off of dead animals and a detritivore is an
organism that feeds off of dead matter.

8. Suggest why it is sometimes difficult to classify organisms into trophic levels.

It is sometimes difficult to classify organisms into trophic levels because you can sometimes be
unsure as to which trophic level an organisms belongs in, but there are some organisms that can
belong to more than one trophic level which can confuse things.

9. Outline why numbers of organisms are smaller at higher trophic levels.

Numbers of organisms are smaller at higher trophic levels because there are less prey for them
because they are higher in the food chain meaning that they have a lot more predators than
prey that they can eat.

10. State the original source of energy for almost all communities.
The original source of energy for almost all communities is the sun.

11. Explain how energy flows through a community, including why energy transfers are never 100%
efficient.
Energy flows through a community by the sun giving energy to the producers which then allows
the producers to pass on nutrients to the consumers and death to the decomposers, heat is
given off of all the organisms which then allows them to burn their energy that they have
received from either other organisms or the sun. Basically the energy flows through the
different trophic levels and exchanges its energy over time. Energy transfers are never 100%
efficient because when energy is transferred about 90% of energy is lost between trophic levels.

12. State the function of a pyramid of energy.

The function of a pyramid of energy is to show the flow of energy between trophic levels.

13. Give an example of a unit of measurement used in a pyramid of energy, giving a description of
each component.
An example of a unit of measurement used in a pyramid of energy is, KJ m^-2 y^-1 and a

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Student Name: Due Date: 18/11/2010
Essential Biology 5.1: Ecosystems & Communities

description of each of the components is: KJ is the units of energy, m^-2 is the unit per area and
the y^-1 is the per unit time.

14. “Energy flows through an ecosystem, nutrients are recycled.”

Explain this statement with the aid of a flow chart. Include the roles of saprotrophic bacteria and fungi.

15. Outline three examples of cycles of inorganic nutrients. For each, outline the uses of the
nutrients in living organisms, its method of transfer into and through the food chain and how it
is returned to the inorganic nutrient pool.
a. Carbon
b. Nitrogen
c. Calcium

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