| Date | November 2018 | Marks available | 1 | Reference code | 18N.1.SL.TZ0.10 |
| Level | Standard Level | Paper | Paper 1 | Time zone | Time zone 0 |
| Command term | Outline | Question number | 10 | 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 7(a): Fact file on North American beavers
- 1 family per square km of river.
- Live in family groups, with 2 adults and up to 3 young (kits) born each year between April and June.
- Mortality rates are high due to severe weather, lack of suitable habitats and predation.
- North American beaver population:
- estimated at 250 million before fur trade hunting
- today approximately 9 million.
- Feed off tree bark.
- Construct lodges from wood and mud:
- a safe place for eating, sleeping, and raising young
- remain in lodges during winter
- protect their own lodge from other beavers.
- Beavers are being reintroduced in Europe to help restore wetlands.
[Source: adapted from www.sbaa.ca, www.ecology.info, www.tobyhemenway.com and http://acs7.cortland.edu]
Figure 10(b): Algonquin wolf pack territories and protected areas
With reference to Figure 7(a), outline one reason why there are more beaver remains in wolf faeces during summer.
The number of wolves in Algonquin Provincial Park is estimated to be between 250 and 1000. Outline two reasons why it is so difficult to estimate the number of wolves accurately.
With reference to Figure 10(b), explain the threats to the future existence of a small and sustainable population of wolves as a result of their protection in limited area.
Markscheme
beavers remain in lodges in winter so they are unavailable as a food source / harder for wolves to catch them / easier to spot beavers in summer when they are out of their lodges;
other species (eg moose) are easier to catch in winter;
other prey of wolves like snowshoe hare or foxes may be harder to catch in summer;
young are out in summer and are more vulnerable/easily caught;
density of population higher in summer following breeding.
Do not accept only “beavers breed in the summer” or “beavers remain in lodges in winter”.
This question requires “Resource Booklet - Nov 2018 SL paper 1”, available under the "your tests" tab > supplemental materials.
remote wilderness areas so hard for scientists to spot them easily / densely wooded so not easily visible from the air;
large territorial range (35 km2)/highly mobile so hard to locate;
wolves are nocturnal/hunt at night/sleep during the day and therefore difficult to spot;
look very similar to coyotes so hard to identify accurately;
lack of long-term records to use as baseline data;
camouflaged so hard to see especially in winter;
seasonal fluctuations in numbers.
Do not accept “wolves are dangerous/predators/migrate”.
Do not accept “wolves are mobile so use of quadrat method is not effective” or “use of capture, mark, release, recapture method is not suitable (as it may harm the wolves)”.
Do not accept only “wolves look similar to coyotes / have large territorial range”.
This question requires “Resource Booklet - Nov 2018 SL paper 1”, available under the "your tests" tab > supplemental materials.
if the range overlaps with areas outside of Algonquin Provincial Park, ie not protected, the wolf is at risk of being hunted / may be mistaken as coyotes in the buffer zone and killed by accident;
genetic isolation may occur as there may be no mixing with wolf populations from outside of Algonquin Provincial Park;
restricted gene pool can lead to less resistance to diseases;
high population density increases risk of diseases spreading;
wolves may end up competing for territory/food with each other leading to higher mortality/limiting population growth / increase in intraspecific competition;
concentrated population is more prone to high losses during event of wildfires/natural disasters.
Examiners report
Many candidates gave responses that were too vague to be credited. For example, a common error was not to link beavers remaining in lodges to reduced predation by wolves during the winter.
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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18N.1.SL.TZ0.3b:
Identify two ways that human activity in Algonquin Provincial Park may affect the food web.
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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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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.
