| Date | November 2018 | Marks available | 2 | Reference code | 18N.1.SL.TZ0.3 |
| Level | Standard Level | Paper | Paper 1 | Time zone | Time zone 0 |
| Command term | Identify | Question number | 3 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
The resource booklet provides information on Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada. Use the resource booklet and your own studies to answer the following.
Figure 6: Simplified Algonquin Provincial Park food web
With reference to Figure 6, draw a food chain that includes four trophic levels.
Identify two ways that human activity in Algonquin Provincial Park may affect the food web.
Markscheme
This question requires “Resource Booklet - Nov 2018 SL paper 1”, available under the "your tests" tab > supplemental materials.
Award [1] for 4 named species correctly identified as being in the same food chain and [1] for arrows going in the correct direction.
For example:
spruce/maple tree → woodland jumping mouse → red fox → Algonquin wolf
spruce/maple → snowshoe hare → red fox → Algonquin wolf
spruce/maple → fairy moth → grey jay → northern saw whet owl.
Do not accept just “trees/vegetation”.
Do not credit arrows if more than one set of arrows given eg illustrating waste/respiration.
This question requires “Resource Booklet - Nov 2018 SL paper 1”, available under the "your tests" tab > supplemental materials.
hunting/trapping/fishing removes species from the food chain / hunting of beavers/moose reduces food availability to predators such as wolves/bears;
logging (forest management) removes species from food chain;
trampling (from tourist)/development of tourism facilities could reduce food source/first trophic level;
introduced species, eg cats/dogs, add additional predators or prey;
removal of dams may lead to loss of pond species eg bullhead lily/dragonfly/bullfrogs/pearl dace reducing food source for other species;
protection of wolves increases wolf numbers, thereby increasing predation on beaver/moose/hare etc. reducing herbivore numbers.
Note: For credit the human activity must be explicitly linked to effect on the food web.
Do not credit if activity is only linked to habitat loss.
Do not accept “deforestation/agriculture or only “pollution”.
Accept other reasonable responses.
Examiners report
This question was answered well with most candidates correctly identifying 4 species and drawing arrows in the correct direction within the food chain. Drawings/sketches of the species are irrelevant and therefore candidates should not use valuable time in the exam doing this. Marks were most commonly lost for arrows pointing in the wrong direction and a few students confused a food chain with a food web or a trophic pyramid.
The majority of candidates only achieved one mark for this question. A common error was to discuss human activities for which there was no evidence within the resource booklet e.g. deforestation or agriculture. In addition, many answers were too vague and did not link the human activity to the effect on the food chain.
Syllabus sections
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19N.1.SL.TZ0.2a:
Using Figure 6(c), identify a food chain in the St Lawrence River ecosystem that has five trophic levels.
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18N.1.SL.TZ0.3a:
With reference to Figure 6, draw a food chain that includes four trophic levels.
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17N.1.SL.TZ0.7:
To what extent might Iceland be viewed as a role model for sustainability by other countries?
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17N.1.SL.TZ0.5b:
With reference to Figure 8(c) state the impact that an increase in the mackerel population might have on the Atlantic puffin population.
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18M.2.SL.TZ0.5b:
Suggest the procedures needed to collect data for the construction of a pyramid of numbers for the following food chain:
- 18M.2.SL.TZ0.3a: Identify one producer in the system illustrated in Figure 3.
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16N.2.SL.TZ0.4a:
Outline why top carnivores are vulnerable to non-biodegradable toxins.
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19M.2.SL.TZ0.1d:
Outline two ways in which the food web is likely to change as a result of succession.
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19M.1.SL.TZ0.8:
With reference to Figure 5, describe how loss of a coral reef ecosystem could impact a neighbouring seagrass community.
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17N.2.SL.TZ0.4a:
Describe the role of primary producers in ecosystems.
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17N.2.SL.TZ0.7a:
Outline how soil can be viewed as an ecosystem.
- 18N.2.SL.TZ0.4c: Using examples, discuss whether habitat conservation is more successful than a species-based...
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18N.1.SL.TZ0.10a:
With reference to Figure 7(a), outline one reason why there are more beaver remains in wolf faeces during summer.
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19N.1.SL.TZ0.3b:
With reference to Figure 9(a), outline how the round goby both positively and negatively affects the St Lawrence River ecosystem.
- 18N.1.SL.TZ0.1: Identify one ecosystem in Algonquin Provincial Park.
- 17N.1.SL.TZ0.5a.ii: Identify one argument against humans hunting puffins.
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19N.1.SL.TZ0.2e:
Suggest why the St Lawrence River beluga whale population has not recovered despite being given protected status in 1983.
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18M.2.SL.TZ0.4b:
Explain how a community of trees in a woodland may be considered a system.
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17M.2.SL.TZ0.1d:
With reference to the concepts of bioaccumulation and biomagnification, outline how the concentration of DDT has changed along the food chain.
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19N.1.SL.TZ0.1d:
Outline why estuaries are highly productive ecosystems.
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19N.1.SL.TZ0.2d:
With reference to Figure 8, explain why the beluga whale is more at risk from toxic pollutants, such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), than most other organisms in its food web.
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17M.2.SL.TZ0.1b:
State the trophic level labelled X in Figure 1.
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19M.1.SL.TZ0.7:
Explain two ways in which mangroves improve the water quality for primary producers within marine ecosystems.
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16N.1.SL.TZ0.4c:
Describe how the second law of thermodynamics operates in relation to the transfer of energy within the Silver Springs ecosystem.
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16N.1.SL.TZ0.4d:
Distinguish between a pyramid of numbers and a pyramid of productivity.
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17N.1.SL.TZ0.5c:
Identify two reasons why the future size of the Atlantic puffin population is difficult to predict.
- 21N.2.SL.TZ0.1a.iii: Explain how the second law of thermodynamics applies to this food chain.
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21M.1.SL.TZ0.7a:
Outline the impact that a reduction in the tiger population may have on other populations in the food web shown in Figure 8(c).
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20N.1.SL.TZ0.2e:
With reference to Figures 2(a) and 2(b), suggest two reasons why the red-necked amazon population has recovered more quickly than the imperial amazon population following Hurricane David in 1979.
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20N.1.SL.TZ0.1a:
Using Figure 1(c), state one ecosystem found at sea level in Dominica.
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21N.1.SL.TZ0.1a:
With reference to Figures 2(b) and 3, identify an ecosystem found in London.
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21N.2.SL.TZ0.5b:
Explain how models of ecosystems might be used in species conservation.
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22M.2.SL.TZ0.7b:
Explain how negative and positive feedback mechanisms may influence the growth of decomposer populations in the soil.
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21N.2.SL.TZ0.4a:
Identify four factors that make the use of the insecticide DDT controversial.
- 21N.2.SL.TZ0.1a.i: State the trophic level of the zebra.
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21N.1.SL.TZ0.1b:
Outline one factor which limits the primary productivity of an ecosystem in London.
