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2 marksEcological Studies and Factors

CSEC Biology · May/June 2009 · Paper 2 · Question 1(a)(i)

A biology class is on a field trip to study a small coastal ecosystem near a highway. A student's sketch of the area is provided in Figure 1. One group of students uses a 1 m² quadrat to study the area.

The distribution of the different plant and animal species changes from the water's edge to the highway. Name TWO additional pieces of apparatus the students will need to investigate the changing distribution of plant and animal species.

This question uses a figure or table from the paper — you'll see it when you practise.

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Other parts of this question

  1. 1(a)(ii)Describe how EACH piece of apparatus you named in (a) (i) can be used to study the distribution of plant species in this area.[2 marks]
  2. 1(b)(i)State ONE precaution that should be taken when using the quadrat to determine the distribution of the plant species.[1 mark]
  3. 1(b)(ii)Calculate the species density of the small flowering shrub in the area. (Show your working.)[2 marks]
  4. 1(b)(iii)Suggest a reason for such a large number of succulent plants in the area.[2 marks]
  5. 1(c)(i)Using the information in Table 2 construct a food web with TEN organisms.[3 marks]
  6. 1(c)(ii)Explain why there are usually no more than four trophic levels in a food web.[2 marks]
  7. 1(c)(iii)State TWO physical factors that could affect the population of the organisms that live in the pond.[2 marks]
  8. 1(d)(i)Plot a graph to represent the data shown in Table 3, using the grid provided on page 7.[4 marks]
  9. 1(d)(ii)Account for the trend in the frog population before and after the hurricane.[3 marks]
  10. 1(d)(iii)Suggest ONE reason why it is useful to study the distribution of frogs.[2 marks]

More practice: the rest of this paper · more Ecological Studies and Factors questions · all CSEC Biology past papers