Ecology Revision Questions

1. Define what is meant by the term habitat. Explain why

two or more species can co-exist in the same habitat,
but NOT in the same niche.
2. Discuss the different types of adaptations that allow an
organism to survive in its niche. You should use named
examples in your answer.
3. Communities that develop as a result of secondary
succession, do so at a much faster rate than those which
develop from primary succession. Discuss the processes
of both primary and secondary succession, and how
these two types of succession lead to a difference in the
rate of community development.
4. The following graph shows the growth rate of a
population over time. Explain how natality and mortality
interact to influence the growth rate of a population. You
should refer to points A and B in your answer.

5. Discuss how the ecological pattern of succession is

different from the patterns of zonation and stratification.
In your answer you should include:
a description and example of each pattern
an explanation of how each pattern occurs.
6. Describe what is meant by the following terms, and
identify an example of each.
Producer:

Example:
Primary Consumer:
Example:
Secondary Consumer:
Example:
7. Explain why food chains are usually limited to only four
or five steps.
8. Discuss the importance of decomposers in an ecosystem.
Include what would happen if decomposers were
unavailable or inactive.
9. In some forests, the populations of some native bird
species decrease as numbers of introduced species
increase.
(a) Define a population.
(b) Draw a pyramid of numbers to show the age structure
of a new bird species establishing in an area.
10.Energy and nutrients are important materials in a
community. Compare and contrast the movement of
energy and nutrients in communities. You may use
diagrams in your answer.
11.The sand scarab beetle lives in amongst
pngao and marram grass and eats the
roots. The scarab beetle is active during
the night and during the day it burrows
deep into the sand. The female deposits
large numbers of eggs singly amongst the
roots of marram grass and pngao.
a) Describe THREE aspects of the ecological niche of
the sand scarab beetle
b) Describe one behavioural adaptation of the scarab
beetle and explain how this enables the sand scarab
beetle to survive in the dune environment.
12.Revegetation consisted of planting native trees,
particularly nectar-producing and berry-producing

species, in and around existing forest remnants to

gradually replace grassland and bracken fern with forest.
(a) What is the trophic level of nectar-feeding and berryfeeding birds?
(b) Discuss how the revegetation process alters the
environmental conditions to cause the slow replacement
of the grasslands and bracken fern with a forest
containing nectar-producing and berry-producing plants.