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Section D: Ecology and the Environment
Chapter 14: Ecosystems
1 community all of the living organisms that share a habitat
habitat the place in an ecosystem where an organism lives
ecosystem a distinct self-supporting system of organisms interacting with each other and with
their physical environment
population a group of organisms of the same species living in an area
2 Plants producers animals consumers primary consumers secondary consumers
3 energy photosynthesis animals food chains producer
4 a) primrose rabbit stoat
b) tiny water plants water fleas stickleback pike
c) grass zebra lion
d) tiny sea plants fish seal polar bear
e) rose bush aphid ladybird blue tit
5 a) A food web
b) Arctic moss and plants, because they use energy from the sun to make food
c) Insects, fish and tundra birds
d) Marine birds, seals, polar bears and arctic foxes
e) Any three appropriate food chains
f) Polar bears and arctic foxes would be in greater competition for food, but numbers of fish would
be greater as there would be no seals to eat them !he fish would be eaten more by polar bears in
the absence of the seals Plant numbers might fall due to the increase in fish !he numbers of the
organisms would fluctuate until a new balance is reached
6 a)
b) !he mass of biological material
c) A pyramid in which the blocks represent the mass of the organisms at each level in the food
chain
d) !he numbers don"t always give a pyramid shape, eg one rosebush supports many aphids
Measuring biomass always gives a pyramid, as the mass always decreases along the chain
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e) #or numbers you simply have to count the organisms !o measure biomass, you have to uproot
plants, or capture and possibly kill animals to find their dry mass, which is much more
complicated and destructive
7 a) It is released during respiration to be used in movement, warmth, growth of new cells and
reproduction
b) Much is lost as heat energy$ some is passed out as waste
8 a) i% &'(
ii% &'(
iii% )*'(
b) )+&(
c) !he mass of the producers has to support the whole pyramid, and relatively little energy is
transferred from producers to primary consumers, as they are difficult to digest
d) ,elatively little energy is passed up the chain, so there is not enough energy at the top of the
chain to support many carnivores
9
10 a) -itrogen is needed to make proteins
b) !hese plants always have enough nitrates regardless of how well the soil is fertilised
c)
3
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11 a) !hree-.uarters of the /arth"s surface is covered with water, so it is a very important habitat for
living organisms All living organisms rely on water as a ma0or constituent of their cells
b) 1eat from the 2un evaporates water from the surface of the oceans, lakes and rivers Plant
transpiration and respiration from all living organisms release water vapour into the air As air
rises it cools, and water vapour forms tiny droplets of water as clouds As clouds rise over
mountains and high ground they cool more and water condenses further to form rain and3or
snow !his precipitation falls on the /arth, where it 0oins the water or is taken into the bodies of
living organisms to start the cycle again
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4
Chapter 15: Human influences on the environment
1 a) It provides exactly the right balance of mineral ions needed by plants for maximum growth, and
ensures plenty of nitrates for protein formation
b) It ensures the best possible conditions for photosynthesis to be achieved 4 plenty of light,
warmth, high levels of carbon dioxide, etc
2 Pests crops yield '+( stored pesticides biological
3 a)
Type of pesticide What does it control
hericide !lant !ests"weeds
insecticide #ills insect !ests
fungicide #ills fungi
b) Advantages5 kill specific pests$ increase yields and so increase income
6isadvantages5 pests may become resistant to a pesticide, so need to find substitutes$ pesticides
can be expensive and so reduce profits$ can cause environmental damage
4 a) A method of pest control that uses another organism to reduce the numbers of a pest organism
b) 2mall numbers of pests do not have any noticeable effect on yields Problems arise when pest
numbers get too large 7iological pest control uses another organism 4 for example a natural
predator 4 to reduce pest numbers to a level that does not have a negative impact on the crop It
does not completely eradicate the pest
c) Any three methods chosen from5 introducing a natural predator$ introducing a herbivore$
introducing a parasite$ introducing a disease-causing micro- organism$ introducing sterile males$
using pheromones #or each method an appropriate description should be given of the general
principle
5 a) Any sensible suggestion, eg salmon, trout, tuna, sea bream, tilapia and 8increasingly% cod
b) #ish are kept in large tanks3enclosures so that water .uality can be monitored !heir diet is
carefully controlled, the fish are protected against predators, and pesticides are used to kill
parasites In some fish farms the water temperature and oxygen levels are controlled 7reeding
is selective to encourage fast growth
c) 6isease may spread more easily than in the natural environment !here may be excessive use of
antibiotics and pollution from fish waste Pesticides used to control parasites can affect other
fish #armed fish may escape and cross- breed with wild stock, and they are often fed on fish-
meal made from wild fish
6 organisms damaging human local population pollution
7 a) 7urning petrol and diesel in car engines in low oxygen levels
5
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b) It is poisonous It 0oins with the haemoglobin in the blood and stops it carrying oxygen to the
tissues 7reathing in too much carbon monoxide can kill you
8
9 a) Any three from carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, nitrous oxide and 9#9s
b) 2hort-wave radiation from the 2un strikes the surface of the /arth 2ome is absorbed by the
surface and some is re-emitted as longer-wave radiation !he greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere absorb and then re-emit some of this longer-wave radiation towards the /arth,
which warms the surface !his keeps the temperature at the surface of the /arth warm enough
for life to exist
c) 9arbon dioxide and water vapour are increasing in the atmosphere as the burning of fossil fuels
increases Methane is also increasing as rubbish in landfill sites decomposes, as rice is grown
and as cattle are farmed -itrous oxides are generated from soil management and the treatment
of sewage and waste water #ortunately 9#9s, which are entirely man-made chemicals, are no
longer used as refrigerants, etc, and their levels are falling !he more greenhouse gases there are
in the atmosphere, the more heat is reflected back to the surface of the /arth and the warmer the
temperature at the surface becomes
d) :lobal warming is the gradual increase of the average temperature at the surface of the /arth
2erious effects include melting of the polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and changes in ocean
currents, rainfall patterns, ecosystems 8causing extinctions%, farming practices and disease
patterns$ any other sensible points
10 a) 9apable of being broken down and used as food by microorganisms
b) !he human population is growing, making more waste to be dumped in the water
c) !here is plenty of organic matter in the water, which the microorganisms can use as food so they
can grow and reproduce
d) ,eduction of the level of oxygen as it is used up Increasing numbers of bacteria breaking down
the sewage use up more oxygen from the water, so the level of oxygen dissolved in the water
falls
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e) As the sewage pollution leads to oxygen depletion by microorganisms, the other organisms,
such as fish, die from lack of oxygen in the water
11 a) Plant roots bind the soil together and the tree canopy protects the soil from the worst of the wind
and rain ;nce the trees have gone, the soil is easily broken down and removed by erosion from
wind and rain
b) ;nce the soil is exposed, more water falls directly onto it and minerals are leached 8washed%
away into rivers and the sea Also, leaves from the trees fall and rot, restoring minerals to the
soil, but after deforestation this no longer happens
c) !rees take up large amounts of water from the soil and release the water into the atmosphere in
the transpiration stream as part of the water cycle <hen the trees are lost, far less water returns
to the atmosphere
d) !rees in leaf remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for photosynthesis !hey also produce
oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis !hey don"t use all they produce, so they add
oxygen to the atmosphere and remove carbon dioxide as they make sugars !his carbon dioxide
is then tied up in plant material for many years ;nce the trees are cut down, less carbon dioxide
is removed, so there is more in the atmosphere, and less oxygen is produced