Terrestrial Food Production Systems & Food Choices (DP IB Environmental Systems & Societies (ESS): SL)

State three ways in which unsustainable agricultural practices may lead to a loss of biodiversity.

State two main differences between commercial farming and subsistence farming.

A group of researchers carried out bird surveys on the same farm over a period of twenty years.

Their results are shown in the table below.

One change in farm management that took place between 2001 and 2020 was that farm hedgerow cutting was switched from a yearly cut to a staggered cut every 3 years (each hedgerow cut every 3 years, but not all cut in the same year).

State how this could lead to the increase in bird diversity shown in the table above.

Suggest what might have caused the decrease in greenfinch numbers between 2001 and 2020, as shown in the table in part (a).

Do not include the effects of humans illegally catching greenfinches to keep as pets.

The research shown in the table in part (a) was funded by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).

The figure below shows how the data from the table in part (a) compares to farm bird data from across England over the same time period.

Use the figure above to suggest why it is so important that the RSPB funds studies such as the one that provided the data for the table in part (a).