Understanding Decomposers in Ecosystems: Key Roles and Functions

1. Chapter 18 Review Ecology

2. How do decomposers help other organisms in an ecosystem? • A. They break down dead organisms and add nutrients back to the soil that plants use. • B. They use sunlight to make their own food that other organisms eat for energy. • C. They help disperse seeds for plant growth. • D. Decomposers do not help other organisms in an ecosystem.

3. Which food chain correctly describes the flow of energy in an ecosystem? • a. Grass  Grasshopper  Frog  Snake • b. Grasshopper  Grass  Snake  Frog • c. Snake  Grass  Frog  Grasshopper • d. Frog  Snake  Grasshopper  Grass

4. Rabbits eat grass and other plants to survive, but they do not eat animals. What kind of animal are rabbits? • a. Decomposers • b. Secondary Consumers/Carnivores • c. Producers • d. Primary Consumers/Herbivores

5. In what order do a hawk, grass, snake and rabbit form a food chain in a meadow? • A. Hawk  Grass  Rabbit  Snake • B. Grass  Hawk  Rabbit  Snake • C. Rabbit  Grass  Hawk  Snake • D. Grass  Rabbit  Snake  Hawk

6. Which of the following lists ONLY consumers? • A. Hawks, lizards, chipmunks, squirrels • B. Flowers, squirrels, rabbits, trees • C. Grass, chipmunks, eagles, fish • D. Mice, squirrels, grass, fish

7. Is this a food chain or food web? Why?

8. Are the leopard seals herbivores or carnivores? Why?

9. On the energy pyramid, animals that are carnivores and feed on plant eaters are no lower than/located on…

10. How much energy is available to the organisms in level three? (Remember that rule!)

11. How much energy is available to the herbivores?