Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management | Edexcel GCSE Geography A (1GA0)

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

140 questions
11 subtopics
Paper 1
Paper 1

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management is examined in Paper 1, The Physical Environment.

It covers the world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution, the biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation, UK terrestrial and marine ecosystems, tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle, rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation, sustainable management of a named rainforest, deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle, woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestation and sustainable management of a named deciduous woodland.

Sample questions from Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution

What climate produces tropical grassland, and what vegetation results?

Show the answer
A clear wet season and a long dry season on either side of the rainforest belt, giving tall grasses with scattered drought-resistant trees.
The biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation

What fuels do people take from the biosphere?

Show the answer
Fuelwood and charcoal for cooking and heating, animal dung and crop residues, and biofuels such as ethanol grown from crops.
UK terrestrial and marine ecosystems

Where is coniferous woodland most common in the UK?

Show the answer
In upland and northern areas such as Scotland and Wales, mostly as planted forestry on poor soils and steep slopes.
Tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle

How do indigenous people traditionally use the rainforest?

Show the answer
By shifting cultivation, hunting and gathering in small groups, taking only what will grow back so the forest recovers after they move on.
Rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations

Why do rainforest trees grow tall straight trunks with branches only at the top?

Show the answer
Because light is only available above the shade of their neighbours, so they invest in height and put out leaves where the sunlight actually is.
Rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation

Which services do rainforests perform for the wider planet?

Show the answer
They store enormous amounts of carbon, release water vapour that generates rainfall far beyond the forest, and hold soil in place against erosion.
Sustainable management of a named rainforest

Why can weak governance undermine a well-designed protection scheme?

Show the answer
Because with too few rangers, poor monitoring or corruption, illegal logging and burning simply continue despite the rules on the statute book.
Deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle

Name typical animals of a British deciduous woodland.

Show the answer
Deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels and woodmice at ground level, with woodpeckers, owls, bats and great numbers of insects among the trees.

The 11 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution	Where rainforests, hot deserts, boreal forest, temperate forest, tropical and temperate grassland and tundra are found and what defines them, how latitude, circulation, soil and altitude control their distribution, and how climate graphs for different biomes are read and compared.	17
The biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation	The biosphere as a source of food, medicine, building materials, fuel and water, subsistence against commercial use, the damage done by mineral extraction and rising demand, and how graphs of projected world population compare with the resources ecosystems can supply.	13
UK terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Where moorland, heathland, deciduous and coniferous woodland and wetlands occur in the UK, why moorland and heath are partly the work of people, the economic value of UK seas, and how overfishing, pollution, coastal building, dredging, plastics and oil spills degrade them.	10
Tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle	The climate, soil and water movement of the tropical rainforest, its vegetation layers, animals and indigenous uses, how climate, plants and soil depend on one another, the stores, transfers, inputs and losses of the Gersmehl nutrient cycle, and how food webs link producers and consumers.	15
Rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations	Why rainforests hold so many species, stratification and the niches it creates, tall trunks, buttress roots, drip tips, lianas and epiphytes, and how strong limbs, specialised wings and beaks and camouflage adapt rainforest animals.	10
Rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation	Goods and services from rainforests including food, medicines, timber, recreation and carbon storage, how a hotter, drier climate threatens forest structure, fire risk, biodiversity and nutrient cycling, and how farming, resource extraction, population pressure and government policy drive deforestation.	16
Sustainable management of a named rainforest	What sustainable rainforest management means, governance and why weak enforcement undermines it, government action and international agreements, commodity value and the pull of beef, soya and palm oil prices, certification and carbon payments, and the benefits and risks of ecotourism.	10
Deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle	The climate, brown earth soil and seasonal water movement of a deciduous woodland, its layers and animals, how people have shaped it, the link between leaf fall and fertility, the spring ground flora, how its nutrient stores and transfers differ from a rainforest's, and a woodland food chain.	13
Woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations	Why deciduous woodland biodiversity is only moderate, how broad thin leaves, leaf fall and dormancy suit the trees, when ground plants flower, and how migration, hibernation and food storage carry animals through winter.	10
Woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestation	Hardwood timber, fuel and coppicing, conservation and recreation value, how milder winters, pests, drier summers and storms threaten woodland, and how urban growth, population, timber extraction and farming clear it.	16
Sustainable management of a named deciduous woodland	The aims of sustainable woodland management, selective felling, coppicing, pollarding and replanting, deer control, managing visitors, legal designation, community involvement and timber certification.	10

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management is 140 of the 1,385 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.