IB ESS HL 3.003.7 Rewilding Question Bank
Explain rewilding and evaluate its ecological and social consequences.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Course
- ESS HL
- Level
- HL
Exam points
- identify the conservation issue or strategy
- apply the relevant ecological, ethical or management framework
- evaluate evidence, trade-offs and likely outcomes
3.3.7—Rewilding question 1
Figure:Beaver-dam succession sequence — panel A
Figure: Beaver-dam succession sequence — panel B
Figure: Beaver-dam succession sequence — panel C
Figure: Beaver-dam succession sequence — panel D
Figure: Fact file on North American beavers — North American beavers
• Beavers live in family groups; kits are born between April and June.
• Mortality is high because of severe weather, lack of suitable habitat and predation.
• They feed on tree bark and construct lodges from wood and mud; they remain in lodges during winter.
• Beavers are being reintroduced in Europe to help restore wetlands.
Figure: Dossier sobre la función de los castores en el ecosistema — Role of beavers in the ecosystem
• Beavers build dams from sticks, creating ponds and slowing river flow.
• Beaver ponds provide new habitats for aquatic plants, dragonfly larvae, bullfrogs and other fish, but are less suitable for river fish such as brook trout.
• Flooding may kill riverside trees and create nesting sites for birds.
• Marshy areas form at pond edges; grasses and sedges colonize nutrient-rich silt to form beaver meadow.
• Beaver meadows have more light, higher soil moisture, more nitrogen and different vegetation from adjacent river-edge forest.
Question (a)
(a)
Identify one benefit of the reintroduction of beavers in Europe.
[ 1 ]
Question (b)
(b)
Identify one potential problem with the reintroduction of beavers in Europe.
[ 1 ]
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