IB Biology SL B4.1 Adaptation to Environment Questions

Practise IB Biology SL B4.1 by linking organism distribution and adaptations to abiotic limits, tolerance ranges, climate and biome conditions.

Exam points

Define habitat and distinguish it from a biome and the biosphere by the ecological scale and environment each describes.
Identify abiotic variables such as water, light, nutrients, salinity or temperature and explain how deficiency or excess limits survival, growth or reproduction.
Use transects and ecological data to relate measured abiotic gradients to organism distribution or abundance.
Interpret tolerance data to identify critical, optimum and stress ranges, compare species and predict effects on survival or distribution.
Relate warm, shallow, clear, sunlit and suitable-pH water to coral-reef formation, and interpret bleaching or coral-cover evidence about temperature thresholds.
Identify terrestrial biomes from temperature, rainfall and climograph patterns.
Compare biome climate, vegetation and productivity, and relate latitude or seasonal temperature and rainfall to global distribution.
Compare desert-plant water-saving features with mangrove salt and waterlogging adaptations, including roots, storage, reduced leaves and pneumatophores.
Relate desert-animal features such as pale colouration and large ears to heat balance, camouflage and survival in hot conditions.
Explain how tropical-rainforest pitcher plants capture insects to supplement mineral nutrients in nutrient-poor soils.

Covered syllabus points

B4.1.1—Habitat definition B4.1.2—Adaptations to abiotic environment B4.1.3—Abiotic variables affecting distribution B4.1.4—Range of tolerance of limiting factor B4.1.5—Coral reef formation conditions B4.1.6—Terrestrial biome distribution B4.1.7—Biomes B4.1.8—Adaptations to hot deserts and tropical rainforest

[Maximum number: 2]

The distribution of native grasses in a temperate arid region of Mendoza, Argentina, was studied in six habitats (I to VI) at different altitudes. The table shows the presence (+) or absence (-) of the species in each habitat.

(a)

Suggest one abiotic factor, other than altitude, that could be affecting the distribution of species in the different habitats.

[ 1 ]

(b)

Define habitat.

[ 1 ]

[Maximum number: 2]

The image shows a cast of the lower surface of a leaf from a busy Lizzie (Impatiens walleriana) plant as seen under a light microscope with a magnification of $600 \times$ .

Explain one feature of tree roots that help trees to survive in mangrove swamps.

[Maximum number: 2]

The tundra ecosystem in Finnish Lapland has a short growing season and a mean temperature of $-2.0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ . It is also naturally grazed by herbivores such as reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). Different quadrats were set up to include and exclude the reindeer in both normal and warmed temperatures. Open-topped warming chambers were used to heat both the soil and air in the warmed quadrats. The graph shows the changes in plant richness over five years.

Identify two abiotic limiting factors on plant growth in a tundra ecosystem.

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Covered syllabus points

Question 1

Question (a)

Question (b)

Question 2

Question 3