Ecological niches connect species roles, nutrition modes, adaptations and competition to how organisms use resources and interact within communities over time.
Syllabus
First assessment 2025
Topic
B4.2
Level
HL
What you’ll learn
13 learning objectives
Choose one objective for a focused lesson, or study the complete topic.
Exam analysis
An aggregate view of how the complete B4.2 Ecological niches appears across past papers.
Chance of appearing14%of analysed past papers
Latest appearanceNovember 2025
Most common paperPaper3
Most tested objectives
B4.2.12—Fundamental vs. realized niche6 questions
B4.2.7—Diversity in archaea3 questions
B4.2.9—Herbivore and plant adaptations3 questions
Common question formats
Comparison
Structured response
Process explanation
Data analysis
Definition or recall
Exam question appearances
SessionPaperQuestionMarksFocus
November 2025Paper2 ["HL"] · TZ16(c)[ 1 ]B4.2.9—Herbivore and plant adaptations
November 2025Paper1A ["HL"] · TZ335[ 1 ]B4.2.5—Mixotrophic nutrition
May 2025Paper2 ["HL"] · TZ28(b)[ 4 ]B4.2.9—Herbivore and plant adaptations
May 2025Paper1B ["HL"] · TZ11(c)[ 1 ]B4.2.9—Herbivore and plant adaptations
May 2024Paper3 ["HL"] · TZ215(b)[ 2 ]B4.2.12—Fundamental vs. realized niche
Practice this topic
3 original exam-style questions based on the patterns above.
