DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Discuss the effect of hurricanes on the social and ecological development of Dominica.

With reference to Figure 1(d), explain how the environmental conditions on Dominica result in high gross primary productivity.

Distinguish between two named biomes and the factors that cause their distribution.

Discuss the role of feedback mechanisms in maintaining the stability and promoting the restoration of plant communities threatened by human impacts.

Explain how the level of primary productivity of different biomes influences their resilience.

With reference to Figures 2(b) and 3, identify an ecosystem found in London.

Outline how species diversity and population size influence the resilience of an ecosystem.

Outline the role of the atmospheric system in the distribution of biomes.

Discuss the role of humans in the destabilization of ecological systems.

Outline two ecosystem services in a named biome.

With reference to Figures 6(a), 6(b), 6(c) and 7(b) identify two ways in which vegetation cover has changed over time in Iceland.

Outline how four different factors influence the resilience of an ecosystem.

With reference to Figures 9(a) and 9(b), explain the impacts of beaver dams on biodiversity within Algonquin Provincial Park.

With reference to Figures 1(b) and 1(c), identify the biome found at the highest altitude in Madagascar.

With reference to Figure 2 identify three factors that could explain the high biodiversity in Ecuador.

Explain one factor that may make a species less prone to extinction.

Explain how regional differences in the hydrological cycle influence the formation of different biomes.

State the ecological processes illustrated by the data in Figure 3.

State the biome for the area shown in Figure 1(b).

Distinguish between zonation and succession.

Suggest a range of practical procedures that could be carried out to measure the abiotic and biotic impacts of an oil spill in an aquatic ecosystem.

Outline two reasons why the climax community in Figure 1 is more stable than the intermediate community.

Outline two ways in which the food web is likely to change as a result of succession.

Outline two ways in which the soil quality in the pioneer stages of the succession model shown in Figure 1 will differ from that in the climax ecosystem.

Outline two reasons why the species within pioneer communities in Figure 1 are more likely to be r-strategists than K-strategists.

Outline whether an invasive species such as Mesquite is likely to be r-strategist or K-strategist.

Outline one climatic and one edaphic (soil) factor which affect the final climax community in an ecosystem.

Suggest two reasons why there are differences in the number of plant species found on Krakatau and Tarawera.

Suggest one reason for the zonation seen in Figure 5(b).

Suggest why the St Lawrence River beluga whale population has not recovered despite being given protected status in 1983.

Using Figures 9(a) and 9(b), identify one feature of the round goby that shows it is an r-selected species.

Outline why estuaries are highly productive ecosystems.

Outline the factors that contribute to total biodiversity of an ecosystem.