Biodiversity, Evolution and Disease Exam Questions Flashcards
Which of the following changes of lifestyle is/are likely to reduce the spread of a disease that is
transmitted by droplets of moisture?
1 Clean drinking water
2 Fewer people living together in the same house
3 Housing with improved ventilation
A 1, 2 and 3
B Only 1 and 2
C Only 2 and 3
D Only 1
C
Ash trees are an important part of the British landscape.
In 2012, a fungal disease known as ash dieback arrived in the UK from mainland Europe.
Which of the following could explain how ash dieback could have reached the UK from mainland
Europe?
1 Spores carried on the wind
2 Young diseased trees imported from Europe and planted in the UK
3 Contaminated soil from a previously infected crop
A 1, 2 and 3
B Only 1 and 2
C Only 2 and 3
D Only 1
B
What chemical is produced by plants in response to attack by pathogens?
A Amylopectin
B Amylose
C Callose
D Cellulose
C
Different types of microorganism can act as pathogens.
Which of the diseases is caused by a pathogen without mitochondria in its cells?
A Black sigatoka in bananas
B Late blight in potatoes
C Ring rot in potatoes
D Ringworm in cattle
C
On a biology field trip, a student calculated that an area of ancient woodland had a Simpson’s
Index of Diversity of 0.85.
Which interpretation of a Simpson’s Index of Diversity of 0.85 is correct?
A Biodiversity is high.
B Biodiversity is low.
C Interspecific variation is high.
D Intraspecific variation is low.
A
Maintaining biodiversity in the Maasai Mara is important.
The following are some statements about biodiversity in the Maasai Mara:
A People visit the Maasai Mara to see animals such as lions, giraffes and rhinoceros.
B Wild animals are sometimes killed for food by local people.
C Large herbivores such as wildebeest are the main source of food for large predators
such as lions.
D Part of the area is used by farmers for grazing livestock.
E Soil erosion has occurred where trees have been removed by humans for fuel or to
clear land for grazing.
F In and around the Maasai Mara there is accommodation for over 7000 tourists.
The reasons for maintaining biodiversity can be grouped into three categories: ecological,
economic and aesthetic.
Which of the statements, A to F, could be used as an example of the
importance of each of the three categories?
You may use each letter once, more than once, or not at all
Ecological: C
Economic: A, D and F
Asthetic: A
t is important that commercial fishing is done in a sustainable way.
Fish farms are one potential solution to declining fish stocks.
(i) List three other strategies that governments could use to increase the sustainability of
commercial fishing. (3 marks)
- quotas/limiting the mass of fish caught
- use nets with larger mesh
- limit fishing to certain times of year
- areas where fishing is banned
- allow catching of certain non-endangered species
only - strict enforcement of any one of the above
International agreements are an important approach to sustainability.
Suggest why international agreements are particularly important in the case of
sustainable fishing. (1 mark)
- fish swim between countries
- much of ocean does not belong to any one country
- people catch fish in countries other than their own
The abundance and distribution of plants can be surveyed in different ways.
Some students wanted to survey abundance and distribution of plants on a small area of grass
outside the school. The area was roughly 20 m × 20 m in size.
They used the following method:
1 Lay two 20 m tape measures at right angles starting in the south east corner of the grass
area.
2 Use a random number generator to select x and y coordinates.
3 While facing north, place the left-hand corner of a quadrat on the point where the
coordinates meet.
4 Identify the species present in the quadrat using a key.
5 Count the number of each species present.
6 Record the information in a table.
7 Generate a new set of coordinates and repeat steps 2 to 6 until 10 quadrats have been
sampled.
(a) The teacher said that this method would not allow the students to measure the distribution of
plant species.
(i) Suggest an improvement to the method that would allow the distribution of plants to be
measured. (1 mark)
(ii) Identify a limitation with step 3 of the students’ method and explain why this limitation
might affect the data collected. (2 marks)
i) Using systematic sampling/a transect
ii) - placement could be not accurate/biased
- position of coordinates difficult to judge
- method does not specify top left or bottom left
The students found grass species difficult to distinguish from one another so they
decided to record any grass species as ‘grass’.
Explain how the students’ decision might have affected the calculated value for Simpson’s Index of Diversity. (2 marks)
- calculated diversity/index would be lower
- Σ(n/N)2 is higher as (26/N)2 will be bigger than the sum of (n/N)2
for
individual grass species
On a biology field trip, the same students surveyed a large area of heather moorland.
On this occasion they did not use quadrats.
Pairs of students were each assigned a large area of moorland. They rated the abundance
of plant species using the following scale:
A = Abundant
C = Common
F = Frequent
O = Occasional
R = Rare
One reason the use of quadrats was inappropriate was that many moorland plants are too
large to fit in the quadrat.
(i) Suggest one other advantage of using an ACFOR rating scale for the students’ survey. (1 mark)(ii) Suggest one limitation of using an ACFOR rating scale, instead of quadrat sampling, to
rate the abundance of plant species. (1 mark)
i) - Quicker
- A wider area can be surveyed
ii) - It is a subjective method
- Smaller, non-flowering plants can be missed
Antibodies form part of the immune response.
Which of the following types of antibody bind to antigens on the surface of pathogens?
1 opsonins
2 agglutinins
3 anti-toxins
A 1, 2 and 3
B only 1 and 2
C only 2 and 3
D only 1
B
The primary immune response involves differentiation and clonal expansion of certain white blood
cells.
Which of the following cells result from clonal expansion during the primary immune response?
1 plasma cells
2 B-memory cells
3 T-memory cells
A 1, 2 and 3
B only 1 and 2
C only 2 and 3
D only 1
A
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects the skin, joints and internal organs.
Which of the following is likely to be an effective treatment for lupus?
A immunosuppressant drugs
B injection of antibodies from someone who does not suffer from lupus
C somatic gene therapy
D vaccination
A
Lupus is a rare condition affecting approximately 0.025% of the population. However, 9 out of 10
sufferers are women.
The population of England and Wales in 2019 was approximately 64 million.
Which of the following estimates shows the number of men in England and Wales suffering from
lupus?
A 160
B 1600
C 16 000
D 160 000
B
