Human Impact: Biodiversity, Pollution & Conservation (CIE IGCSE Biology: Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award))

The chimpanzee lives in forests in central and western Africa. The chimpanzee is classified as an endangered species because its population has decreased greatly. 

Suggest why the chimpanzee population has decreased.

[2]

Describe how a captive breeding programme can help to conserve chimpanzees in the wild.

[2]

State two methods, other than captive breeding, of conserving endangered species.

There are many threats to species such as the marine iguana.

Describe ways endangered plant and animal species can be conserved.

Extended Tier Only

Deforestation can cause an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

State two other undesirable effects of deforestation.

[2]

State two uses for land that has been cleared of trees.

The forests in Brazil contain many endangered species.

Table 1 shows the area of forest that was removed in Brazil each year between 2006–2010.

Table 1

Give your answer in km². Show your working.

[2]

Describe the trend in the data shown in Table 1.

Suggest two reasons for the trend you have described in part (ii).

Fig. 1 shows a photograph of an area where the trees have been cut down.

Fig. 1

State the name of the type of habitat destruction shown in Fig. 1.

[1]

State three human activities, other than cutting down large areas of trees, that can cause habitat destruction.

Describe how endangered species can be conserved.

The graph in Fig. 1 shows the area of forest land lost in Ecuador in the years 2014 - 2019 inclusive. 

Fig. 1

Calculate the total area of land lost to deforestation in Ecuador from the beginning of 2014 to the end of 2019. 

Identify in Table 1 below the possible reasons for the change in the area of forest lost per year between 2014 and 2017.

Place a tick (✔) in the boxes below that apply.

Table 1

Suggest two explanations for the reductions in loss of forest land in Ecuador in the years 2018 and 2019.

Conservationists looking at the data in Fig. 1 would not be fully satisfied with the 2018 - 2019 trend shown in the data.

Explain why. 

The oil palm is a tree that grows in tropical areas, whose oil has many uses in cooking, food preparation and as a detergent. It is also used in the manufacture of biofuels.

Fig. 1 shows the annual production of palm oil in Colombia (South America) since 2010. 

Fig. 1

Calculate the mean increase in palm oil production per year for the three year period 2014 to 2017.

Show your working and give your answer in thousands of metric tonnes per year.

When palm oil plantations are created, native forest is cut down and the biodiversity in the forest reduces dramatically. Even when demand for palm oil is low, there is still a benefit to the palm oil manufacturers in cutting down the native forest.

Suggest what that benefit is.