Paper 2

1 The table shows the percentage change in the world total production and percentage change in
area cultivated for 9 crops in the last 30 years.

(a) (i) Rank the three crops with the greatest percentage increase in total production over the
past 30 years from highest to lowest.

(ii) Identify the crop which has the greatest percentage decrease in both total production
and area cultivated.
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(iii) Suggest two reasons why the total production and area of cultivation for a crop might
decrease.
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2 ........................................................................................................................................
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(iv) Give reasons for the significant change in the quantity of rice produced during this
30-year period.
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(b) Some scientists think that the way to meet the predicted demand for more food in the future is
by improving the management of the soil.
One suggestion is to improve the soil characteristics so that the soil provides the ideal
conditions for crop growth.
(i) Complete the table with information that would help achieve this.

(ii) Changing the soil characteristics will only benefit the crops if the soil is properly aerated.
Explain why soils must be aerated for good crop growth.
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(iii) Give two ways in which the aeration of the soil may be damaged.
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(i) Name the process that occurs at A and the process that occurs at B. Choose from these
words.
decay fixation nitrification respiration
A ...................................................................
B ................................................................... [2]
(ii) Nitrogen is found in proteins.
Give one way in which animals obtain protein.
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(iii) Nitrates in the soil are very soluble and easily washed into rivers and lakes.
Describe the impact this nitrate may have on the rivers and lakes.
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(d) The diagram shows part of a food web on a farm.

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(i) State which organism in the diagram is the producer.
....................................................................................................................................... [1]
(ii) The energy transfer between trophic levels is 10%.
Calculate the percentage of energy contained within the grass that will be present in the
farmer.
........................................................% [1]
(iii) Give three ways in which energy may be lost between trophic levels.
1 ........................................................................................................................................
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(iv) Describe the process used by plants to capture and store energy from the Sun.
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(e) A magazine article suggests that the way to meet future food production targets is for the
world population to become vegetarian.

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(i) The article states that laws should be passed to make people vegetarian.
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer.
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(ii) Many people think that forests should not be cleared for food production.
Suggest why some governments decide to allow forests to be cleared.
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2. (a) The map shows the location of coral reefs.

(i) Describe the location of coral reefs as shown on the map.

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(ii) Suggest one reason why coral reefs are not found in the North Atlantic Ocean or the
North Pacific Ocean.
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(b) The graph shows the number of coral species and the number of fish species living on reefs.

Describe the relationship between the number of coral species and the number of fish species
living on reefs.

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(c) The graph shows the percentage of coral reefs at risk from overfishing.

(i) Complete the global column using the following figures.

high risk 27%
medium risk 30%
low risk 43% [2]
(ii) Use the graph to complete the following paragraph.
The area where coral reefs are at least risk from overfishing is ....................................... .
The reefs in Southeast Asia are most at risk from overfishing, with .................... % at
high risk and just 7% at ....................................... risk. [3]
(iii) Suggest why the risk to coral reefs from overfishing is higher in some areas than in
others.
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(iv) Give one reason why the fish catch from the oceans has increased.
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(v) Describe strategies that can be used to reduce overfishing.
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(d) The diagram shows a simplified food web for a coral reef.

(i) State the producer in the food web shown.

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(ii) Complete the food chain diagram.

(iii) Describe the changes to the food chain in (ii) if the number of seals decreased.
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(iv) Crown-of-thorns starfish have few predators because they are covered in spines and
contain a chemical which tastes unpleasant. In one year each starfish can consume 6 m 2
of coral.
Explain why crown-of-thorns starfish can destroy coral reefs.
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(e) The map shows a coastal area.

Explain how each of the following may damage life in the sea.
the oil refinery ...........................................................................................................................
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farming ......................................................................................................................................
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lead mining and processing ......................................................................................................
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(f) Explain why marine pollution is difficult to control.
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3.

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Area of Ecuador: 283 561 km2
Population: 16.7 million (2017)
Children per woman: 2.22
Life expectancy: 76.8 years
Currency: USD
Languages: Spanish, Quechua, other local languages
Climate of Ecuador: tropical along the coast, cooler inland, tropical in the east
Terrain of Ecuador: coastal lowlands, central highlands, lowlands in the east
Main exports of Ecuador: petroleum products, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, wood
and fish
The economy of Ecuador is based on oil extraction and processing, agriculture and fishing. Ecuador
has one of the lowest unemployment rates in South America. However, about 12.5 million people still
have a low standard of living. About 4% of the people live on less than 1.9 USD per day.
1 (a) (i) Calculate the percentage of people with a low standard of living in Ecuador.
.......................................................% [1]
(ii) Calculate the number of people living on less than 1.9 USD a day.
.......................................................... [2]

(b) The production of farmed shrimp from Ecuador for export to Europe has increased in recent
years.

(i) Plot a bar graph of the data.

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(ii) Between which two years was the greatest increase in shrimp production?
between ........................ and ........................ [1]
(iii) In 2017, the mass of shrimp exported increased by 14% from the mass exported in 2016.
Calculate the mass of shrimp exported in 2017.
.............................. thousand tonnes [2]
(c) There are many small villages along the coast of Ecuador.
The photograph shows an area of mangrove swamp near a coastal village.

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One villager said,

(i) Suggest why villagers making charcoal is a sustainable activity.

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(ii) Increasing shrimp production has meant that large areas of mangrove swamp have been
cleared to make ponds for shrimp farms.
Another villager said,

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Suggest how shrimp farming could have caused changes in the quality of the village
water supply.
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(d) Shrimp feed on algae and small invertebrate animals. The diagram shows this feeding
relationship.

Suggest how shrimp farming could have caused changes in the quality of the village
water supply.
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(d) Shrimp feed on algae and small invertebrate animals. The diagram shows this feeding
relationship.

(i) State the primary consumer shown in the diagram.

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(ii) Define the term population.
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(iii) Name two abiotic components that could affect the shrimp population.
1 ........................................................................................................................................
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[2]
(iv) Many shrimp farmers buy fishmeal to feed their shrimp. Fishmeal is made from fish
caught at sea, which are then dried.
Suggest reasons why shrimp grow quickly when given fishmeal.
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(e) A student visited a shrimp farm near the village where shrimp are harvested.

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Most of the harvested shrimp are exported.
They are either exported:
• whole
• have their head removed or
• have their head and all the shell removed.
The student did the following investigation:
• collected a sample of harvested shrimp
• weighed and measured each shrimp whole
• removed the head of each shrimp and weighed the head
• removed all of the shell
• weighed the edible flesh of each shrimp.
The results are shown in the table.

(i) Complete the table by calculating the average mass of a shrimp head. [1]
(ii) Calculate the average percentage of a whole shrimp that is edible flesh.
.......................................................% [1]
(iii) Suggest one way of using the shrimp heads.
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..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(f) A fisherman from the village said,

(i) A fisherman catches the dorado fish shown in the drawing.

The drawing is not the actual length of the dorado fish.

The actual length of the dorado fish can be determined using the formula:
actual length = length measured from drawing
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magnification
Calculate the actual length of the dorado fish.
..................................................... cm [2]
(ii) Can the fisherman legally sell this dorado fish?
Give a reason for your answer.
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(iii) Suggest how controlling the length of dorado fish that can be caught and sold will help to
conserve this fish stock.
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(iv) The fisherman decides to build a fish aggregating device (FAD).
fish aggregating device (FAD)

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The dorado fish are attracted to feed under the raft of logs. The fisherman uses a net to
catch the fish.
Discuss the possible problems in maintaining a sustainable source of fish if many
fishermen use FADs.
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(v) Larger boats with different types of fishing gear have started to catch dorado fish.
The dorado fishing season has been changed from December to May to between
November and February to control fishing activity.
Describe three other ways of controlling fishing activity.
1 ........................................................................................................................................
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(g) When an El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon occurs dorado fish populations
are affected.
Describe the ENSO phenomenon.
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[Total: 40]

2 Ecuador is an oil exporting country. Oil provides about half the total export income of the country.

(a) The oil fields are in the Amazon basin in the east of the country. Some crude oil is exported
and some is processed in an oil refinery.
Estimate the shortest distance between the oil fields and the oil refinery.
..................................................... km [1]

(b) The oil is moved through tropical rainforest to the coast using pipelines.
The photograph shows two pipelines in the tropical rainforest.

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(i) Describe the environmental impacts of building pipelines in tropical rainforest, as shown
in the photograph.
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(ii) Suggest reasons why the vegetation around the pipeline is not allowed to grow tall.
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(iii) The section of pipeline shown in the photograph is running from west to east.
Describe a method you could use to record changes in plant biodiversity between the
pipeline and the tropical rainforest.
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(c) The table shows an estimate of the biodiversity in the Yasuni National Park.

(i) Suggest why the estimated number of species of insects is much greater than the other
animal types.
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(ii) Suggest why the numbers of species are only estimates.
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(d) There are large reserves of oil in the Yasuni National Park.
In 2010, the government proposed to the global community that it would not develop these
reserves if other countries would pay towards keeping the oil in the ground.
(i) Discuss the benefits of this proposal to Ecuador and other countries.
benefits to Ecuador ...........................................................................................................
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benefits to other countries .................................................................................................
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(ii) The government did not get enough support from other countries so oil extraction has
now started on the edge of the Yasuni National Park.
Suggest reasons why the government of Ecuador continues to invest in oil extraction.
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(e) A questionnaire was used to collect people’s opinions about the oil extraction on the edge
of the Yasuni National Park. People living in the capital city of Ecuador were asked four
questions.
The table shows the results.

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(i) Discuss the results of the questionnaire.
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(ii) Suggest one other question that could be asked to find out people’s opinions about the
oil extraction.
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(iii) Describe a method to select the people to be interviewed for the questionnaire.
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(f) Large offshore oil fields are being developed close to the south of Ecuador.
(i) Explain why there is a risk of oil pollution reaching the coast of Ecuador.
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(ii) Describe the possible impacts of an oil pollution event on the coastal ecosystems of
Ecuador.
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(g) Wind power and solar energy are renewable resources. Some people in Ecuador want to
invest in these renewable resources to generate electricity rather than using oil.
Explain why these renewable resources may not be able to provide all of the energy needed
to generate electricity for Ecuador.
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[Total: 40]

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