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Syllabus

C.2 Communities and ecosystems

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Option C: Ecology and conservation » Option C: Ecology and conservation (Core topics) » C.2 Communities and ecosystems

Description

Nature of science:
Use models as representations of the real world—pyramids of energy model the energy flow through ecosystems. (1.10)

Understandings:

Most species occupy different trophic levels in multiple food chains.
A food web shows all the possible food chains in a community.
The percentage of ingested energy converted to biomass is dependent on the respiration rate.
The type of stable ecosystem that will emerge in an area is predictable based on climate.
In closed ecosystems energy but not matter is exchanged with the surroundings.
Disturbance influences the structure and rate of change within ecosystems.

Applications and skills:

Application: Conversion ratio in sustainable food production practices.
Application: Consideration of one example of how humans interfere with nutrient cycling.
Skill: Comparison of pyramids of energy from different ecosystems.
Skill: Analysis of a climograph showing the relationship between temperature, rainfall and the type of ecosystem.
Skill: Construction of Gersmehl diagrams to show the inter-relationships between nutrient stores and flows between taiga, desert and tropical rainforest.
Skill: Analysis of data showing primary succession.
Skill: Investigation into the effect of an environmental disturbance on an ecosystem.

Guidance:

Examples of aspects to investigate in the ecosystem could be species diversity, nutrient cycling, water movement, erosion, leaf area index, among others.

Theory of knowledge:

Do the entities in scientists’ models, for example trophic levels or Gersmehl diagrams, actually exist, or are they primarily useful inventions for predicting and explaining the natural world?

Utilization:

Poikilotherms (animals that have a variable body temperature) are more effective producers of protein than homeotherms (animals that maintain a regulated body temperature) as they have a higher rate of conversion of food to biomass.

Syllabus and cross-curricular links:
Biology
Topic 4.2 Energy flow

Directly related questions

16N.3.SL.TZ0.14a: Outline the trend in the number of people with malaria during the period when the use of...
16N.3.SL.TZ0.12a:
Identify the ecosystem with the appropriate numeral from the climograph.
16N.3.SL.TZ0.12b: Referring to the climograph, explain reasons that the nutrient store in the litter layer of the...
17M.3.HL.TZ1.13c: Distinguish between mutualism and parasitism, providing another example of mutualism and another...
17M.3.SL.TZ2.17b: Discuss whether S. geminata might play a positive role in corn production.
17M.3.SL.TZ2.16a: Estimate the approximate amount of biomass represented by parasites in this ecosystem.
17M.3.SL.TZ2.16c: Outline the reason that parasite biomass occurs in both tertiary consumers and secondary consumers.
17M.3.SL.TZ2.17a: State the impact of S. geminata on insect species diversity.
17M.3.HL.TZ1.14e: Determine whether islands are open or closed ecosystems.
17M.3.SL.TZ1.14: The Gersmehl diagram below shows the movement and storage of nutrients in a taiga...
17M.3.SL.TZ2.16b: Compare and contrast the biomass in the different trophic levels.
17M.3.HL.TZ2.17: Distinguish between tropical rainforest and taiga in terms of nutrient stores, nutrient flows and...
17M.3.HL.TZ2.15b: State the trophic level of Zooxanthellae.
20N.3.SL.TZ0.15:
Explain what information a pyramid of energy provides about an ecological community.
20N.3.HL.TZ0.15a:
Outline a method that could have been used in this study to measure the numbers of sea urchins per 0.25 m².
20N.3.HL.TZ0.17d: A type of ecosystem in Brazil is tropical rainforest. Construct a Gersmehl diagram on the outline...
17N.3.SL.TZ0.13b:
The sea star also eats the sea snails. Construct a food web to show the feeding relationships between these five organisms in the ecosystem.
17N.3.SL.TZ0.12a: Calculate the energy loss due to respiration in primary consumers in kJ m–2 y–1.
17N.3.SL.TZ0.12b: Outline why a year is more suitable than a month for the measurement of energy flow.
18N.3.HL.TZ0.14c: Outline top-down effects on the bacteria in the four mesocosms.
18N.3.HL.TZ0.14a: Each of the mesocosms is an open ecosystem. State the property that makes the mesocosms open...
18N.3.HL.TZ0.14b: Assuming that the populations of bacteria are under bottom-up control, identify the mesocosms in...
18N.3.HL.TZ0.14d: Suggest advantages of undertaking this experiment in the sea rather than in the laboratory.
18N.3.SL.TZ0.12a: Calculate the increase in mass of a cow given 6 kg of food
18N.3.SL.TZ0.12c: With reference to the data, discuss the farming of salmon for sustainable food production.
18N.3.SL.TZ0.12b: Calculate how much food would be required to produce 20 kg of boar meat.
18M.3.HL.TZ1.15b:
A retreating glacier leaves an environment of lifeless glacial deposits, including sands and gravels. Retreating glaciers often offer suitable sites for primary succession.

Predict the process of succession that takes place on exposed bare ground as the glacier retreats.
18M.3.SL.TZ1.14a:
A retreating glacier leaves an environment of lifeless glacial deposits, including sands and gravels. Retreating glaciers often offer suitable sites for primary succession.

[Source: climatica.org.uk]

Predict the process of succession that takes place on exposed bare ground as the glacier retreats.
18M.3.SL.TZ2.13b: Deduce, with a reason, which ecosystem is representative of a tropical rainforest.
18M.3.HL.TZ1.15c:
Compare and contrast food chains and food webs.
18M.3.SL.TZ2.13a: Identify the processes represented by the arrows labelled A and B in both diagrams.
18M.3.SL.TZ1.14b: Suggest how human activities could impact the development of an ecosystem on exposed bare ground.
18M.3.HL.TZ1.15a:
A retreating glacier leaves an environment of lifeless glacial deposits, including sands and gravels. Retreating glaciers often offer suitable sites for primary succession.

State one abiotic factor that will determine the type of ecosystem in a succession.
19M.3.SL.TZ1.10a: State the trophic level of the sea urchin.
19M.3.SL.TZ1.10b: Compare and contrast the community structure within and outside the marine protected area.
19M.3.HL.TZ1.15b: Explain how the amount of litter in a tropical rainforest would differ from the taiga’s and how...
19M.3.HL.TZ1.15a: Outline what is represented by the arrows in the Gersmehl diagram.
19M.3.SL.TZ2.15: Explain how food conversion ratios in livestock affect the amount of food for human consumption.
19M.3.HL.TZ2.15a.ii: Using the climograph, identify the relationship between maximum temperature and rainfall.
19M.3.HL.TZ2.15a.i: Using the climograph, calculate the range of temperature.
19M.3.HL.TZ2.15b: Natural forests in the area around Mangalore contain hardwood trees such as teak, Tectona...
19M.3.HL.TZ2.15c:
The image shows a Gersmehl diagram of tropical rainforest.

[Source: © International Baccalaureate Organization 2019]

Explain what this diagram indicates about nutrients in this type of ecosystem.
19M.3.HL.TZ2.15a.iii: Using the climograph, outline the pattern of rainfall.
19N.3.HL.TZ0.14b:
Models are used as representations of the real world. Evaluate the use of food webs to represent ecological communities.
19N.3.SL.TZ0.12c:
A pyramid of energy represents the amount of energy taken in by each trophic level per unit time and per unit area. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the use of pyramids of energy as models of energy flow in an ecosystem.
19N.3.SL.TZ0.12b: Distinguish between the transfer of matter and energy in closed ecosystems.
19N.3.HL.TZ0.14a:
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is the mass of animal feed in kilograms required for farmed animals to produce one kilogram of edible mass. For example, the FCR for salmon is 1.2 and for chicken is 2.2. Deduce the implication of these ratios for sustainability.
19N.3.HL.TZ0.16d: Explain how the shape and size of a protected area may influence its success in protecting the...

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DP Biology Questionbank

C.2 Communities and ecosystems

Description

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Sub sections and their related questions