Name: 9.

Decomposers are important to ecosystems because they:

a. are at the highest level of the energy pyramid
______________________ b. change simple compounds into more complex ones
c. make nutrients available for producers to reuse
d. convert light energy into sugars through
1. Many individuals of the same species living together in a photosynthesis
defined area form a/an
a . community 10. Two examples of decomposers are:
b . genus a. fungi and bacteria
c . population b. algae and marine mammals
d . ecosystem c. carnivores and herbivores
e . variety d. ferns and mosses

2. Nitrogen gas returns to the atmosphere by the action of 11. A caterpillar eats a leaf, and a bird eats the caterpillar.
a . nitrogen fixing bacteria. In this interaction, the bird is a:
b . denitrifying bacteria. a. producer
c . nitrifying bacteria. b. herbivore
d . nitrate fertilizers. c. primary consumer
e . ammonia. d. secondary consumer

3. The sequence of energy flow through a food chain is 12. Which list of terms is in the correct order, from simplest
a . primary consumers‑ producers‑ higher order to most complex?
consumers. a. organism, community, population, ecosystem, biome
b . producers‑ higher order consumers‑ primary b. organism, population, community, biome, ecosystem
consumers. c. organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome
c . higher order consumers‑ primary consumers‑ d. organism, community, ecosystem, population, biome
producers.
d . primary consumers‑ higher order consumers‑ 13. All the living things in a meadow and the physical
producers. environment around them make up the meadow’s:
e . producers‑ primary consumers‑ higher order a. community
consumers. b. population
c. ecosystem
4. The source of energy for almost all life on Earth is: d. biome
a. fungi
b. animals 14. An animal that eats only plants is a:
c. water a. primary consumer
d. sunlight b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
5. In an energy pyramid, the bottom level represents: d. primary producer
a. consumers
b. producers 15. A snake that eats an insect-eating frog is a:
c. scavengers a. primary consumer
d. decomposers b. secondary consumer
c. tertiary consumer
6. An example of a producer is a: d. primary producer
a. fungus
b. caterpillar 16. Deforestation is a major cause of increased atmospheric
c. bird concentrations of
d. moss a. sulfate
b. ozone
7. Both consumers and producers are a source of food for: c. oxygen
a. scavengers d. chlorofluorocarbons
b. decomposers e. carbon dioxide
c. carnivores
d. herbivores 17. Only ___ percent of the energy stored as biomass in
agiven trophic level is converted to biomass at the next-
8. In an energy pyramid, the lowest level has: higher trophic level.
a. less energy than the top level a. 1%
b. less energy than the second level b. 5%
c. more energy than the top level c. 10%
d. the same amount of energy as the second level d. 20%
e. 30%
 a. humans
18. The largest pool of nitrogen is b. plants
a. the atmosphere c. bacteria
b. the oceans d. consumers
c. living organisms
d. dead organisms 24. The symbiotic relationship between a flower and the
e. nitrate insect that feeds on its nectar is an example of
a. mutualism because the flower provides the insect
19. Which of the following cycles is thought to be most with food, and the insect pollinates the flower
under biological control? b. parasitism because the insect lives off the nectar
a. phosphorus from the flower
b. oxygen c. commensalism because the insect does not harm the
c. sulfur flower and the flower does not benefit from the
d. water relationship
d. predation because the insect feeds on the flower
20. All of the members of a particular species that live in
one area are called a(an) 25. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by all of
a. biome the following EXCEPT the
b. population a. burning of fossil fuels.
c. community b. depletion of the ozone layer.
d. ecosystem c. burning of trees and forests.
d. none of the above
21. Carbon cycles through the biosphere in all of the
following processes EXCEPT 26. Which is the possible path of the movements of
a. photosynthesis nitrogen in the nitrogen cycle?
b. transpiration a. air-soil-plants-animal-soil-air
c. burning of fossil fuels b. air-animals-soil-plants-air
d. decomposition of plants and animals c. soil-air-plants-air-animal-soil
d. soil-animals-plants-air-soil
22. How is carbon stored in the biosphere?
a. in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide 27. Carbon is used to make sugars in which step of the
b. underground as fossil fuels and calcium carbonate carbon cycle?
rock a. transpiration
c. in the oceans as dissolved carbon dioxide b. digestion
d. all of the above c. respiration
d. photosynthesis
23. Nitrogen fixation is carried out primarily by

Matching

____ Producer a. made up of many overlapping food chains

____ Consumer b. organism that converts heat or light energy into chemical energy
____ Decomposer c. shows how energy is lost as it is transferred up the food chain
____ Food Chain d. organism that gets its energy by eating plants or animals
____ Food Web e. shows one set of feeding relationships between a producer and several consumers
____ Energy Pyramid f. organism that breaks down dead plants and animals into simpler compounds