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Scientists have found that although plants require light to carry on photosynthesis, very high levels of sunlight can kill some plants. This illustrates that many biochemical processes may occur*
Wildflowers grow and reproduce during the spring snowmelt in the desert region of Death Valley, California. Which environmental factor would most likely have the greatest influence on these activities?*
The diagram below represents various factors in an area.
The diagram best represents*
Base your answers to questions 4 on the diagram below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagram represents a food web in an ecosystem.
Missing from the diagram of this ecosystem are the*
Base your answers to questions 5 on the graph below and on your knowledge of biology. The graph shows the growth of a population of rabbits in a specific ecosystem.
Which environmental factor could have caused the change indicated at A?*
Scientists have recently discovered a community of bacteria and clams living under an ice shelf in Antarctica. These organisms live under 600 feet of ice, in the absence of sunlight, and in temperatures considered too cold for most living organisms. The location where these organisms live is unusual because*
The chart below shows three ecological terms used to describe levels of organization on Earth.
Which diagram best represents the relationship of these ecological terms?*
The organisms in a pond and the physical factors influencing them best describe*
Base your answers to questions 9 on the diagrams below and on your knowledge of biology. The diagrams represent how various populations interact in a forest environment.
If this forest community experienced a severe lack of rain throughout the spring and summer seasons, state what effect this drought could have on the grouse population. Support your answer. [1]*
Base your answers to questions 10 on the chart below and on your knowledge of biology. The chart shows seasonal changes in an ecosystem and the overall carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
State why the populations decrease between July and December. [1]*
Base your answers to questions 11 on the food web represented below and on your knowledge of biology. The food web contains some of the organisms found in Glacier National Park.
Explain why a major increase in the number of cloudy days that extends over a period of years would be expected to affect the populations of both plants and animals in this ecosystem. [1]*
Recently, the bison population in Yellowstone National Park declined significantly. This was due in part to a particularly harsh winter. State one reason why a harsh winter would have this negative effect on the bison population. [1]*
Base your answers to questions 13 on the information and photograph below and on your knowledge of biology. The photograph shows a grasshopper mouse howling after eating a scorpion.
Grasshopper Mice
In the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States, the grasshopper mouse is active at night, searching for crickets, rodents, tarantulas, and even scorpions. The mouse ignores the venom of the scorpion, kills it, and consumes its flesh. The ability of the mouse to ignore the pain normally associated with the venom of the scorpion is due to the presence of a mutated protein. This protein prevents the pain signal from reaching the brain.
These mice are born killers, capable of taking down prey that are much larger than themselves. They are also aggressive neighbors and take over nests by displacing other desert inhabitants rather than making their own. Under difficult environmental conditions, they may even eat members of their own species.
Identify one advantage to grasshopper mice of being active during the night rather than daylight. [1]*
Base your answers to questions 14 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
Found: A Plant-Eating Spider
Spiders are meat-eaters. Until recently, scientists thought that was true for the roughly 40,000 spider species in the world. Now, researchers have discovered a spider that eats mostly plants.
Bagheera kiplingi, a jumping spider, lives in Central America and Mexico. It nests in the leaves of acacia shrubs. Scientists have long known that ants live in these plants. The ants eat the plants’ little yellow vegetables. But scientists had no idea that the spiders eat the vegetables too.
Christopher Meehan was a college student when he found the plant nibbling spiders. “I thought I was hallucinating,” he told TFK (Time for Kids). “But by the end of the day, I had seen about 100 more spiders eating plants.”
Source: Time for Kids World Report,
Edition 10/23/09 Vol. 15, #7 p.3
Identify one abiotic factor that most likely affects the size of the acacia shrub population. [1]*
Base your answers to questions 15 on the information below and on your knowledge of biology.
Hydrothermal Vent Communities
Scientists discovered a unique hydrothermal ecosystem on the sea floor at hot-water vents thousands of feet below the ocean surface. Organisms in these deep-sea regions have no access to sunlight, so they depend on the heat, methane, and high levels of sulfur-bearing minerals found in the heated fluids in which they live. Scientists were amazed to discover vent communities able to sustain vast amounts of life. The vent organisms depend on bacteria that can use the sulfur-bearing minerals to produce organic materials. These bacteria live on rock surfaces and as free-floating blobs. Some bacteria live within and provide nutrients for an unusual species of giant tubeworms that lacks a digestive system. Snails, shrimp, and clams are among the animals that feed directly on the bacteria. Crabs feed directly on other animals in the vent community.
Identify one abiotic factor that makes the hydrothermal vent ecosystem different from other ocean ecosystems. [1]*
