ESS EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
Outline
two
negative environmental impacts of aquaculture 2b - Answers - Loss/degradation of
natural habitats;
disease spread through farm
Describe
two
strategies for the management of sustainable capture fisheries 2c - Answers -
regulation of quotas/minimum size of fish caught. restriction to fishing seasons
/ to let stocks recover.
Outline the factors that contribute to total biodiversity of an ecosystem 6a - Answers -
biodiversity includes the diversity of species, habitat and gene. species diversity
involves both the variety/number of species/richness and their
relative proportions/evenness;
habitat diversity refers to the range of different habitats in an ecosystem or
biome
Outline how energy drives the hydrological cycle 7a - Answers - primary source of
energy driving hydrological cycle is solar energy;
solar energy causes changes of state in water.
Outline
two
reasons why the species within pioneer communities in
Figure 1
are more
likely to be
r
-strategists than
K
-strategists 1a - Answers - r- strategists produce greater numbers/many offspring/fast
population
growth;
r- strategists distribute themselves more widely/colonize more quickly;
r- strategists mature quickly/reproduce earlier/establish themselves fast
r- strategists better adapted to harsh/low
-nutrient conditions/less specialised niche
Outline
two
reasons why the climax community in
, Figure 1
is more stable than the
intermediate community. 1b - Answers - greater number
of species/habitat/ecological niches/genetic diversity
more complex/diverse energy pathways/food webs
Distinguish between zonation and succession 1c - Answers - succession is the process
of changes in community/ecosystem over time,
whereas zonation is the process of changes over an environmental
gradient
/space
Outline
two
ways in which the food web is likely to change as a result of succession 1d - Answers -
ncreasing numbers of trophic levels / longer food chain
greater gross productivity/energy transferred at each trophic level;
more biomass stored at each trophic level
Outline how climate change may affect the availability of freshwater resources 1b -
Answers - Increased temperatures/evaporation may cause loss/salination of
water supplies
lakes
Outline
two
ecosystem services in a named biome 4a - Answers - Tropical rainforests:
high biodiversity in TRF;
...promotes ecotourism/recreation;
Tundra:
permafrost/glaciers in tundra;
...provides important storage in hydrological cyclE
Explain the causes, and the possible consequences, of the loss of a named critically
endangered species 4b - Answers - Panda: habitat loss / deforestation. small population
size/gene pool / inbreeding;
specialised niche;
slow reproduction rate / specialised reproductive behaviour.
Consequences;
loss of biodiversity. economic costs from loss of ecosy
stem services provided by the
species;
economic costs from loss of tourism opportunities;
Outline
two
negative environmental impacts of aquaculture 2b - Answers - Loss/degradation of
natural habitats;
disease spread through farm
Describe
two
strategies for the management of sustainable capture fisheries 2c - Answers -
regulation of quotas/minimum size of fish caught. restriction to fishing seasons
/ to let stocks recover.
Outline the factors that contribute to total biodiversity of an ecosystem 6a - Answers -
biodiversity includes the diversity of species, habitat and gene. species diversity
involves both the variety/number of species/richness and their
relative proportions/evenness;
habitat diversity refers to the range of different habitats in an ecosystem or
biome
Outline how energy drives the hydrological cycle 7a - Answers - primary source of
energy driving hydrological cycle is solar energy;
solar energy causes changes of state in water.
Outline
two
reasons why the species within pioneer communities in
Figure 1
are more
likely to be
r
-strategists than
K
-strategists 1a - Answers - r- strategists produce greater numbers/many offspring/fast
population
growth;
r- strategists distribute themselves more widely/colonize more quickly;
r- strategists mature quickly/reproduce earlier/establish themselves fast
r- strategists better adapted to harsh/low
-nutrient conditions/less specialised niche
Outline
two
reasons why the climax community in
, Figure 1
is more stable than the
intermediate community. 1b - Answers - greater number
of species/habitat/ecological niches/genetic diversity
more complex/diverse energy pathways/food webs
Distinguish between zonation and succession 1c - Answers - succession is the process
of changes in community/ecosystem over time,
whereas zonation is the process of changes over an environmental
gradient
/space
Outline
two
ways in which the food web is likely to change as a result of succession 1d - Answers -
ncreasing numbers of trophic levels / longer food chain
greater gross productivity/energy transferred at each trophic level;
more biomass stored at each trophic level
Outline how climate change may affect the availability of freshwater resources 1b -
Answers - Increased temperatures/evaporation may cause loss/salination of
water supplies
lakes
Outline
two
ecosystem services in a named biome 4a - Answers - Tropical rainforests:
high biodiversity in TRF;
...promotes ecotourism/recreation;
Tundra:
permafrost/glaciers in tundra;
...provides important storage in hydrological cyclE
Explain the causes, and the possible consequences, of the loss of a named critically
endangered species 4b - Answers - Panda: habitat loss / deforestation. small population
size/gene pool / inbreeding;
specialised niche;
slow reproduction rate / specialised reproductive behaviour.
Consequences;
loss of biodiversity. economic costs from loss of ecosy
stem services provided by the
species;
economic costs from loss of tourism opportunities;
