AQA GCSE Biology Foundation (8461), Foundation tier · Ecology › Biodiversity and human interaction
Practise Maintaining biodiversity. 8 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
What people are doing to reduce the damage humans cause to ecosystems and biodiversity, and why this can conflict with other needs. Expect to explain how each programme helps and to evaluate given information, often in a 4 to 6 mark question.
Key facts
Breeding programmes for endangered species
Protection and regeneration of rare habitats
Reintroduce field margins and hedgerows where only one crop is grown
Reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions (governments)
Recycle resources rather than dump waste in landfill
Conflicting pressures: cost, land for food and homes, jobs and income
Notes
Programmes to protect biodiversity
diagram
Scientists and members of the public have set up programmes to limit the harm humans do to ecosystems and biodiversity.
Breeding programmes for endangered species: animals are bred in captivity, e.g. in zoos, to increase their numbers, and some can be released back into the wild.
Protection and regeneration of rare habitats: e.g. protecting areas as nature reserves and restoring damaged peat bogs or wetlands, so the species that live there can survive.
Reintroducing field margins and hedgerows where farmers grow only one type of crop: these provide food, shelter and breeding sites for many wild plants, insects, birds and mammals, and link habitats together.
Hedgerows and field margins give wildlife food, shelter and places to breed on farmland.
Reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions (by some governments): this protects forest habitats and slows global warming.
Recycling resources rather than dumping waste in landfill: less land is used for landfill and fewer new resources need to be extracted.
Positive and negative interactions
Negative: pollution, destroying habitats, deforestation, removing hedgerows, and introducing species that outcompete native ones.
Positive: the programmes above, plus actions such as using peat-free compost and cleaning up polluted rivers.
Conflicting pressures
Protecting biodiversity can conflict with other needs, so decisions involve trade-offs.
Cost: breeding programmes and habitat protection are expensive, and the money is also needed for other things.
Land and food: hedgerows and field margins take up land that could grow crops, and a growing population needs food and homes.
Income and jobs: people may depend on activities that damage habitats, such as logging, quarrying or farming.
Limits of the methods: animals bred in captivity may have little genetic variation, may not survive in the wild, and cannot be released if their habitat has gone.
How to answer each type of question
Name ways to maintain biodiversity
2 marksGrade 3
Choose from the five programmes in the specification.
Be specific: 'breeding programmes for endangered species', not just 'zoos'.
Example. Give two ways in which people are trying to reduce the negative effects of humans on biodiversity.
Show the model answerHide the model answer
Any two from: breeding programmes for endangered species (1); protecting or regenerating rare habitats (1); reintroducing hedgerows and field margins (1); reducing deforestation or carbon dioxide emissions (1); recycling rather than landfill (1)
Explain how a method increases biodiversity
2 to 3 marksGrade 5
Say what the method provides: habitat, food, shelter, breeding sites or more individuals.
Say which organisms benefit.
Link to more species surviving, so higher biodiversity.
Example. A farmer grows only wheat. Explain how planting hedgerows around the fields could increase biodiversity on the farm. (3 marks)
Show the model answerHide the model answer
Hedgerows contain many different plant species (1). They provide food, shelter and nesting sites for insects, birds and small mammals (1). So more species can live on the farm, increasing biodiversity (1). Also credit: hedgerows link habitats, so animals can move between them.
Don’t lose marks
Saying breeding programmes 'make more species'. They increase the number of individuals of an endangered species.
Naming a method without explaining how it helps biodiversity.
Ignoring the human side in 'conflicting pressures' questions: cost, food, land and jobs all matter.
Writing a one-sided answer to an 'evaluate' question.
More tips
Memory tricks
Five programmes: Breed, Protect, Hedge, Cut (deforestation and carbon dioxide), Recycle.
Evaluate = for, against, conclusion. No conclusion, no top level.
Hedgerows are wildlife corridors: food, shelter and a safe route between habitats.
Exam technique
Quote data from the question when judging whether a programme worked.
Use connectives such as 'however', 'on the other hand' and 'therefore'.
End an evaluation with a clear judgement and the main reason for it.
What each grade needs
What you need to be able to do, from the first marks up to the top grade.
Grade 3
Name programmes that protect biodiversityBreeding programmes, protecting rare habitats, hedgerows and field margins, reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions, and recycling.
Grade 5
Explain how each programme helps biodiversitySay what the programme does and which species or habitats it protects.
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy5 marks
Scientists and concerned citizens have set up programmes to reduce the negative effects of humans on ecosystems and biodiversity.
(a) Which two of these programmes help to maintain biodiversity? Tick (✓) two boxes.[2]
Breeding programmes for endangered species
Increasing the use of landfill
Removing hedgerows to make larger fields
Protecting and regenerating rare habitats
(b) Give one other programme that reduces the negative effects of humans on biodiversity.[1]
(c) Farmers who grow only one type of crop are encouraged to plant hedgerows. Explain how this increases biodiversity.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: Breeding programmes for endangered species; Protecting and regenerating rare habitats
(b)
reintroducing field margins and hedgerows
reducing deforestation
reducing carbon dioxide emissions
recycling resources rather than dumping waste in landfill
(c)
hedgerows provide habitats (food and shelter) for many species
so more different species can live on the farm
Question 2Medium6 marks
A farmer planted strips of wild flowers along the edges of some fields (field margins). Ecologists counted insects in fields with and without these margins. {table} shows the results.
[object Object]
(a) Calculate how many times more bumblebees were counted per hour in fields with margins than in fields without margins.[1]
(b) Explain why the wildflower margins increase the number of insect species.[2]
(c) Suggest how the wildflower margins could benefit the farmer’s crops.[2]
(d) Suggest one reason why some farmers do not plant field margins.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: 5.75
46 ÷ 8 = 5.75
(b)
the margins provide food (nectar / pollen) and shelter / habitats
for many different species of insect
(c)
more pollinating insects, so more crop flowers are pollinated / higher yield
more predators of pests (e.g. ladybirds) live in the margins, so fewer pests
less need for pesticides
(d)
less land for crops, so a lower yield / less income