OpenSciEd 7.5 Ecosystem Dynamics Practice Test

Healthy ecosystems provide benefits that people rely on, known as ecosystem services. These include provisioning services like food and clean water, regulating services such as pollination of crops and climate regulation, and supporting processes that keep ecosystems functioning. The statement that lists food and water provision, crop pollination, and climate regulation captures these direct benefits—food and water we use, pollination that helps crop yields, and climate regulation through carbon storage and moderation of climate effects. Predator–prey dynamics describe how species interact within ecosystems and maintain balance, not a direct service delivered to people. Decomposers refer to the organisms that drive decomposition and nutrient cycling, which are part of ecosystem functioning rather than a named service themselves. Soil erosion is a negative outcome that occurs when ecosystems are degraded, not a beneficial service.