IB ESS HL 3.2.1 Threats to Biodiversity Questions

Analyse habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, climate change and other threats to biodiversity.

Syllabus
First assessment 2026
Course
ESS HL
Level
HL

Exam points

  • identify biodiversity threats and Red List factors including population decline, habitat loss, fragmentation, pollution, overharvesting and disease
  • explain how human activities alter populations, habitats and food webs and can reduce ecosystem biodiversity
  • analyse ecological consequences of threats by linking species decline to competition, trophic interactions, productivity, resilience and ecosystem change

IB ESS HL 3.2.1 Threats to Biodiversity Questions question 1

[Maximum number: 5]
Global biodiversity extinction-risk categories

Figure:Global biodiversity extinction-risk categories

Changes in species extinction risk from 1980 to 2015

Figure:Changes in species extinction risk from 1980 to 2015

Question (a)

(a)

Outline two reasons why amphibians have the highest approximate percentage of threatened species, as shown in the extinction-risk chart shown above.

[ 2 ]

Question (b)

(b)

Outline three reasons why the trend for corals is different to the other categories shown in the species-extinction trend chart shown above.

[ 3 ]
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