19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
1 Woodlice are small, invertebrate crustaceans that prefer damp conditions.
They are common in uncultivated land, where they feed on dead plant matter.
An ecologist investigated the population of woodlice in a field that had not been
cultivated for 10 years. She used the mark-release-recapture technique.
a Suggest how she could have marked the woodlice that she caught.
(2 marks)
The woodlice were caught using five pitfall traps. These traps were sunk into the
soil at 2 m intervals so the woodlice could walk by and fall into the traps.
Results are given in the table.
Number of woodlice per trap
1 2 3 4 5 Total
Woodlice marked and released near trap 2 0 15 4 12 33
Marked woodlice captured after 24 h 0 0 4 1 5 10
Unmarked woodlice captured after 24 h 4 2 12 5 14 37
b i Estimate the size of the woodlouse population in the field. Show your
working.
(2 marks)
ii Give two reasons why this estimate of the population may be unreliable.
(2 marks)
iii The traps caught different numbers of woodlice. Suggest one reason
why.
(1 mark)
2 Pleurococcus is a single celled alga which is found growing on the bark of trees.
A student investigated the distribution of Pleurococcus on 20 trees. She
measured the percentage cover of Pleurococcus using a quadrat measuring
10 cm 10 cm, divided into 100 small squares.
This quadrat was placed at eight points around the trunk of each tree. Each point
on the tree faced a different direction. At each point, light intensity and moisture
content were measured, at midday, using an electronic probe.
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
The mean results are shown in the table below.
Mean Mean light Mean moisture
Point Direction percentage intensity/ content/
cover arbitrary units arbitrary units
1 North 89 6.6 8.8
2 North-east 86 6.4 8.6
3 East 84 6.9 8.7
4 South-east 67 7.3 7.5
5 South 46 8.7 5.2
6 South-west 51 8.4 5.1
7 West 60 8.1 7.0
8 North-west 78 7.6 8.2
a Describe how the 10 cm × 10 cm quadrat was used to obtain percentage
cover of Pleurococcus at each point.
(2 marks)
b The measurements of light intensity and moisture content were taken at
midday. Suggest why.
(1 mark)
c The student said the data showed that the growth of Pleurococcus was
affected more by light intensity than moisture. She could use a statistical test
to see if the data support her idea. Explain how.
(3 marks)
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
3 The diagram shows some of the components of a pond ecosystem.
a i What is an ecosystem?
(1 mark)
ii List the letters that represent those components that are part of the pond
community.
(1 mark)
b New Zealand pygmy weed has been introduced into many garden ponds and
has spread to some natural ponds. Here it competes with naturally occurring
plants.
i What type of competition is being described?
(1 mark)
ii Suggest how the introduction of pygmy weed may lead to reduction in the
diversity of the community in a natural pond.
(3 marks)
AQA Biology, 2006, Unit 5 (Question 4)
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
4 An area of wet meadow was flooded to create a shallow (20 cm deep) artificial
lake with an area of 35 ha. Each year ecologists recorded the number of plant
species present.
They divided the lake into two zones:
Shore zone – within 50 m of shore
Centre zone – more than 50 m from shore.
The data show the number of large plant species per quadrat in each of the
zones between five and eight years after the flooding.
Error bars show standard deviation.
a i Describe the changes in the number of species between five and eight
years in the two zones.
(3 marks)
ii Describe the information the standard deviation provides about the
number of species in the two zones.
(1 mark)
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
b Describe how succession is likely to proceed in this shallow lake over the
next 100 year period.
(5 marks)
5 Isle Royale is an island about 56 km long and 11 km wide in the middle of Lake
Superior. The moose is a type of deer. It is the largest herbivore on the island.
The wolf is the only carnivore on the island capable of killing a moose.
The graph shows the numbers of moose and wolves on Isle Royale for 1959 to
2006.
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
a Describe and explain the relationship between the number of moose and the
number of wolves from 1965 to 1976.
(3 marks)
b The mark-release-recapture method would not be suitable for estimating the
size of the wolf population on Isle Royale between 1988 and 1992. Use
information from the graph to suggest why.
(3 marks)
c If a disease killed all the wolves on the island, predict the effect on the
number of moose over the next 15 years. Explain your answer.
(2 marks)
AQA Biology, 2009, Unit 5 (Question 5)
6 An ecologist investigated three large sites in a city. The sites were a park, a
canal bank and a site where a factory had been demolished.
At each site the ecologist recorded the number of species of plants and
invertebrate animals. He also determined the biodiversity at each site and how
much the plants at each site were managed by people.
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19 Populations in ecosystems
AQA Biology Exam-style questions
a Biodiversity is measured using data on the number of species present at a
site and the number of individuals of each species present. Describe how you
could estimate the number of individuals of a particular plant species present
at each site.
(3 marks)
b Calculate the ratio of invertebrate to plant species in the park.
Show your working.
(2 marks)
c The ecologist concluded that management affects biodiversity.
Evaluate this conclusion.
(3 marks)
AQA Biology, 2010, Unit 5 (Question 7)
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