This is a complete study guide for paper 3 option C. It contains questions and answers for every syllabus point. It is all I used to study for my final IB exam and I got a 7.
WHAT IS A LIMITING FACTOR? WHAT DO
THEY CONTROL? Temperature Broccoli grows fastest
at 15 degrees
1. Any factor that puts an upper limit on the size of a Maize grows fastest at
population. 25 degrees
2. Abundance, growth and distribution of an Water Oak tree needs to draw
organism in an ecosystem. excessive amounts of
water a day (200 L)
Light Tropical vines grow
away from light helping
them locate at tree trunk.
Soil type Legumes grow best in
loam soil.
pH Blackberries grow best
in pH of 5-6.
Chinese cabbage 6-7.5
Salinity Mangroves can thrive in
sea water.
Nutrients and minerals All plants need
potassium, nitrogen and
phosphorus.
WHAT ARE LIMITING FACTORS THAT
WHAT 3 FACTORS HAVE THE GREATEST
EFFECT ANIMALS AND GIVE AN EXAMPLE
EFFECT ON TROPICAL RAINFORESTS?
FOR EACH.
Insolation, precipitation and temperature.
WHAT ARE LIMITING FACTORS THAT Temperature Penguins Warm
blooded and can survive
EFFECT PLANTS AND GIVE AN EXAMPLE temperatures below -40
FOR EACH. degrees.
1
, Boa constrictor have a It survives with little organic material making it
narrow tolerance for suited for sandy conditions.
temperature between 24- Its pH tolerance is from 4.5 9.1
30 degrees. However, its salt tolerance for living by the coast
Water Elephant requires up to is quite low.
300 L a day
HOW DOES THE GIANT PANDA LIVE WITHIN
Breeding sites Natal homing some LIMITING FACTORS?
animals must go back to The giant panda only eats bamboo. It is expected that a
their birth place to rise in temperatures will mean that the growth of
reproduce. E.g. Pacific bamboo will hinder, affecting its survival rate.
Salmon.
Food supply Giant anteater only WHAT ARE 3 WAYS FOR TRANSECTS TO BE
eats ants and has a very
CARRIED OUT?
specialized diet.
1. Point sampling: when points are marked at
Territory A leopard occupies a
regular intervals along the transect to gather data
territory that is much
at each of those points. This allows for a basic
smaller than lions.
representation of either abiotic or biotic factors.
Salinity Freshwater crocodiles Samples can easily be missed.
can tolerate high salinity. 2. Continuous belt transect: made of belt
squares/ quadrats that lie in a row. They can be
HOW DOES THE MARRAM GRASS LIVE analyzed for biotic and abiotic data. E.g. relative
WITHIN LIMITING FACTORS? abundance of plants and animals can be recorded
It grows within coastal sand dunes. on the DAFOR scale.
Contains roots that are several meters long that 3. Interrupted belt transect: it is a combination of
allow them to search for moisture. point and continuous belt transects. It allows for
The horizontal roots let them stabilize during sand areas along the transect to be studied.
dunes.
It has a high temperature tolerance from 0-40 WHAT IS THE DAFOR SCALE?
degrees. Dominant, Abundant, Frequent, Occasional, Rare.
It has features to reduce water loss allowing it to
survive arid areas.
WHY ARE MODELS USED IN ECOLOGY?
2
, 1. To understand how a concept/object/system 1. The broadest possible niche a species could
works. potentially live in within the boundaries of its
2. To predict how it will respond to change. limiting factors or zones of intolerance with no
external pressures such as competitors or
3. To simplify reality.
interactions with other species.
2. It represents the actual mode of existence in
WHAT MAKES MODELS UNRELIABLE? which the species is really found it takes into
account the zone of intolerance as well as all
1. They rely on expertise to make them (as with interactions with other species.
NetLogo).
2. They can be interpreted in different ways. WHAT IS COMPETATIVE EXCLUSION?
3. They may not be accurate.
4. Different models may show different effects with
WHO’S EXPERIMENT DEMONSTRATED THAT
the same data. NO TWO SPECIES CAN OCCUPY THE SAME
5. It can be oversimplified this is bad when it HABITAT?
comes to climate change.
1. When two species occupy fully overlapping
WHAT 3 COMPONENTS IS A NICHE MADE niches, the one with the greater selective
advantage will out-compete the other, leading to
OF?
its extinction from that environment.
1. Spatial habitat: where it resides. 2. Russian ecological Georgii Frantsevich Gause
2. Nutrition: how the species obtain its food, its focused on two species of paramecium that were
feeding activities. cultured separately and thrived, levelling off at a
3. Relationships: the interaction with other species maximum population (carrying capacity).
in the ecosystem. However, when cultured together one species was
driven to extinction.
WHAT IS AN ECOLOGICAL NICHE?
GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF COEXISTANCE.
The sum total of species use of the biotic and abiotic
resources in its environment. There is a significant commonality of bill depth with the
Galapagos finches when they are not on the same
WHAT IS A FUNDAMENTAL NICHE? island representing the fundamental niche. When the
birds occupy the same island there is a shift in the
REALIZED NICHE? normal distribution of bill depth for each species; this
3
, represents the realised niche. The type of food WHAT IS MUTUALISM? GIVE AN EXAMPLE.
available favours a certain bill depth, which is enforced
through natural selection. This results in each species 1. The interaction of two species where both benefit.
of bird limiting its population more than it limits the 2. Flies live on a cow’s back. They feed off of their
population of the other and hence co-existence occurs. roughage. This way the cow does not have to and
the flies get their source of food.
WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF
COMPETITION? WHAT IS COMMENSUALISM? GIVE AN
1. Intraspecific: organisms compete with others of
EXAMPLE.
the same species for things such as food or a
1. The interaction between two organisms when one
mate.
benefits and the other neither benefitsor is
2. Interspecific: when individuals of one species
harmed.
compete with those of a different species.
2. The remora fish attach to sharks as a lift but are
also protected by predators from doing so.
WHAT IS HERBIVORY? GIVE AN EXAMPLE.
1. The interaction between a primary consumer and
WHAT IS PREDATOR PREY? GIVE AN
a producer. EXAMPLE?
2. The Colorado beetle is a folivore (eats leaves) that
feeds on the leaves of potato plants and causes 1. The interaction between two living organisms
widespread crop failure by killing the plant. where one catches, kills and eats the other.
2. A fox and a rabbit.
WHAT IS PARISITISM? GIVE AN EXAMPLE.
HOW DOES A CORAL REEF DEMONSTRATE
1. The interaction of two species where one (the A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP?
parasite) feeds on and derives benefits from the
other (the host). 1. Corals provide a protective environment and the
2. A tape worm attaches itself to the intestines of necessary compounds for photosynthesis which
animals. They feed by eating the partially are the metabolic waste products of coral
digested food of the host, depriving the host of metabolism.
nutrients. 2. The oxygen produced by zooxanthellae algea
removes the metabolic waste of coral cells.
4
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