Edexcel IGCSE Biology 5.4 pest control
Practise pest control by interpreting population graphs, weighing biological control against pesticides and planning measured crop-damage investigations.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2019
- Course
- Biology 4BI1
Practise pest control by interpreting population graphs, weighing biological control against pesticides and planning measured crop-damage investigations.
Golden rice is an example of a genetically modified plant.
Golden rice has been given a gene to make a substance called carotene.
This gene was taken from daffodil plants.
Chemical pesticides can be used in rice fields to kill insect pests.
Scientists investigate the effect that spraying pesticides in a rice field has on three types of organism.
The three types of organism investigated are:
- insect pests
- carnivorous beetles (predators of insect pests)
- lizards (higher trophic level predators)
The scientists count the number of each type of organism in the rice field.
The scientists then spray the field with pesticide.
The number of each type of organism in the field are then counted every three months for a year.
The table shows the scientists' results.
These are the scientists' results.

Comment on the effects on the numbers of different organisms of spraying pesticides in a rice field.
An explanation that makes reference to four of the following:
Accept pieced together
Accept biomagnification occurs / bioaccumulation occurs
Ignore immune
Accept food for species being eaten Accept lizards drop / do not recover as less food / fewer beetles to eat
Accept beetles increase when more insects to eat Accept beetles increase when few lizards to eat them
Accept lizards reproduce slowly / lizards produce few offspring Accept insects reproduce quickly / produce many offspring
1. all species decrease / eq
2. insects increase after 3 months / from 6 months / eq
3. beetles increase after 9 months / from 12 months / eq
4. lizard numbers do not recover / stay low / do not increase / level off after 9 months / eq
5. pesticide washes away / breaks
down / eq
6. pesticide passes along food chain to beetles / to lizards / eq
7. insects become resistant / eq
8. insects increase as there are
9. insects have short life cycles /
lizards have long life cycle / eq
State two reasons why using biological control is better for the environment than using chemical pesticide.
1
2
An answer that makes reference to two of the following:
- (biological is) more specific / does not kill other species / eq
- (biological is) not toxic to humans / no residue left on plants / crops / eq
- (biological is) no development of resistance / eq
- (biological) lasts longer / no need to keep reapplying / eq
- no bioaccumulation / no biomagnification / does not pass along food chains / eq
Accept converse for pesticides for all mps
Accept does not kill pollinators
Accept not absorbed by plants
Ignore immune
Accept only need to apply once