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Interactions of Living Things Unit Test

Key Concepts
Choose the letter of the best answer.
1. This mangrove ecosystem represented by the food web below consists of a
grove of trees with an extensive root system and the organisms that use the
grove for food or shelter.

What do the arrows in the food web represent?

A.the relative location of organisms in the ecosystem
B.the flow of energy from one organism in the ecosystem to another
C.the relative sizes of organisms in the ecosystem from smallest to largest
D.the increase in complexity of organisms from producer through consumer

2. During the 1930s, a large region of the Great Plains experienced a drought
that turned grasslands into dust. How did this most likely affect the carrying
capacity for populations of farm animals?
A.The carrying capacity increased at first and then decreased as time went on.
B.The carrying capacity decreased because the environment no longer had
enough resources.
C.The carrying capacity stayed the same because it depends on the animals
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rather than the environment.

D.The carrying capacity increased because there was more room for animals
once the plants were gone from the environment.

3. The image shows various things that make up a pond.

Which things from the image are part of the pond ecosystem?
A.grasses and cattail reeds only
B.water, rocks, clouds, and air only
C.fish, ducks, turtles, frogs, crayfish, and insects only
D.grasses, cattail reeds, water, rocks, clouds, air, fish, ducks, turtles, frogs,
crayfish, and insects

4. Carnivores and herbivores are both consumers. Which statement best

describes how they differ from one another?
A.Carnivores produce all the energy they need.
B.Carnivores eat only animals whereas herbivores eat only plants.
C.Carnivores eat living organisms whereas herbivores eat organisms that
have died.
D.Carnivores obtain energy by eating food whereas herbivores obtain energy
from sunlight.

5. Which of the following best describes the niche of a sunflower plant?

A.It has roots, stems, and leaves.
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B.It produces food through photosynthesis.

C.It requires soil, air, and water in order to survive.
D.It reproduces by making seeds that grow into new plants.

6. The graph below shows the populations of two different animals over a period
of time.

How might the two animals whose populations are represented in the graph
be related?
A.There is no relationship between them.
B.The animals compete over the same resources.
C.One animal depends on the other, but the other animal is unaffected.
D.There is a relationship of dependency between the animals, and both are
affected.

7. A classmate describes the region in which he lives as “a temperate deciduous

forest biome consisting of several different ecosystems, including meadows,
ponds, woods, even rotting logs.” Based on what you know about biomes and
ecosystems, could your classmate’s description be accurate?
A.Yes, because all temperate deciduous forest biomes contain meadows,
ponds, woods, and rotting logs.
B.Yes, because a biome may contain many ecosystems, and an ecosystem
includes all the living and non-living things in a particular area.
C.No, because rotting logs are too small and localized to be considered
ecosystems.
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D.No, because an ecosystem may contain several different biomes, but a biome
does not contain several different ecosystems.

8. Small birds called Egyptian plovers sometimes get their food by picking it off
the hides of crocodiles. For this reason, they are also known as crocodile birds.
Which kind of relationship do crocodiles and Egyptian plovers have?
A.mutualism
B.parasitism
C.predator-prey
D.commensalism

9. Which of the following describes the most likely reason that a group of
predators of the same species would cooperate?
A.to secure a mate
B.to claim a limited resource
C.to kill a larger animal for food
D.to defend each other from attack

10.Which statement describes a difference between decomposers and consumers

in an ecosystem?
A.Decomposers are types of plants, whereas consumers are types of animals.
B.Decomposers remain in one place, but consumers move around within the
ecosystem.
C.Decomposers get energy only from plant materials, and consumers eat both
plants and animals.
D.Decomposers can obtain energy by digesting chemical compounds that
consumers cannot digest.
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11.The figure below shows a food chain that might exist in a field or meadow.

Which organism is the primary consumer in this food chain?

A.owl
B.toad
C.beetle
D.plant leaf

12.Which of the following is not a resource that two birds living in the same tree
would likely compete for?
A.oxygen in the air to breathe
B.other birds with which to mate
C.twigs with which to build a nest
D.seeds growing on the tree to eat

Critical Thinking
Answer the following questions in the space provided.
13.The brown tree snake was accidentally introduced to Guam in the early 1950s.
The snake had abundant prey and no natural predators.
How do prey and predators act as limiting factors in an environment?
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What most likely happened to the brown tree snake population in Guam in
the years after it was introduced?
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Extended Response
Answer the following questions in the space provided.
14.A slug, frog, heron bird, and grass plant are all part of the same food chain.
Through which process does energy get into the food chain?
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Which organism is the primary consumer in this food chain?

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Why would there be fewer herons in the ecosystem than slugs?

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Fungi are decomposers in this ecosystem. Where do they fit into the food
chain? Explain.
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