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Exploring Ecology Worksheet

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Exploring Ecology Worksheet

Aotearoa New Zealand’s native stream ecosystem is changing. Use the evidence in each task to explain how living things interact with one another and with their environment. Answer in complete sentences where asked.

Stream Food Web

Use these feeding relationships to answer Questions 1–4. Arrows point from the food to the organism that eats it: sunlight → algae; algae → aquatic insect larva; algae → snail; aquatic insect larva → small native fish; snail → kōura; small native fish → kingfisher; kōura → kingfisher.

1.Which organism is a producer? Explain what makes it a producer.

2.Which organism in these feeding relationships is a primary consumer that eats algae?

Kingfisher
Mayfly nymph
Small native fish
Kōura

3.Trace one possible food chain from a producer to a predator. Write the organisms in order, using arrows.

4.The stream becomes very cloudy, so less sunlight reaches the algae. Predict one likely effect on a consumer in these feeding relationships and explain the link.

Living and Non-living Evidence

Ecologists study biotic factors (living or once-living parts) and abiotic factors (non-living parts) of an ecosystem.

5.Classify each stream factor as biotic or abiotic: river water, algae, water temperature, kōura, sunlight, dead leaves.

River water
Algae
Water temperature
Kōura
Sunlight
Dead leaves

Biotic
Biotic
Biotic
Abiotic
Abiotic
Abiotic

6.A shaded stream pool is cooler than a nearby sunny pool. Give one reason this abiotic difference could affect the organisms living there.

Nutrients and Interdependence

Fungi and bacteria are examples of decomposers found in stream ecosystems.

7.True or false? Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead organisms, making those nutrients available for use again.

TrueFalse

8.Imagine decomposers became rare in the stream. Describe one change you might expect and explain why it could happen.

9.Using the feeding relationships in the Stream Food Web section, explain how a small native fish and a kingfisher are connected. State what each organism gets from the relationship.

10.Complete the explanation: An ecosystem includes living things, non-living factors, and the way they with one another.