Higher level data anlysis questions on topic 5
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1.	Foraminifera are small protozoans found in the sediment of all marine ecosystems. Several thousand species of foraminifera live in the Earth’s oceans. Because a large number of individuals can be found in a small amount of sediment and because they exist worldwide, foraminifera are useful in examining the distribution of species. The bar graph below summarizes data gathered from five coastal regions around North America. Those species occurring in all five regions are considered to be ubiquitous and those species occurring in only one area are considered to be endemic. The species of foraminifera were placed into three classes based on the number of times each species occurred at the five coastal regions.

[Source: Buzas and Culver, BioScience (1991), 41, pages 483–489]
 
(a)	Calculate the percentage of endemic species occurring in the Pacific region.
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(1)
 
(b)	Among the five regions, deduce the region where it would be easiest to find most of the ubiquitous species.
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(c)	Compare the occurrence of endemic species in the Pacific and Caribbean regions.
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(d)	Suggest, giving a reason, which of the Pacific, Atlantic or Caribbean regions will have a greater extinction rate.
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(e)	Identify which region has the lowest species diversity.
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(1)
(Total 7 marks)

2.	The Kluane boreal forest ecosystem project was a large scale ten year experimental manipulation of food and predators on arctic ground squirrel population (Spermophilus parryii plesius).
	Three areas were set up:
	·	a food addition area
·	a predator exclusion area
·	a food addition area enclosed within a predator exclusion area.

	The areas were monitored from 1986 to 1996. In spring 1996 all fences were dismantled and food addition was stopped.
	As a further experiment, spring and summer mark-recapture population estimates of the squirrels were conducted from spring 1996 to spring 1998. The results for these two years are shown below. The areas are labelled according to the conditions imposed during the previous ten years.

[Source: Karels et al., Nature, (2000), 408, Pages 460–463)]
 
(a)	State the squirrel population in the food addition plus predator exclusion area in spring 1996.
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(1)
 
(b)	Describe the effect of ending food addition on the squirrel population.
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(c)	Scientists believed that the number of ground squirrels in the boreal forests was limited by an interaction between food and predators that acted primarily through changes in reproduction. Using the data, discuss this hypothesis.
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(Total 6 marks)

3.	The reticulated python (Python reticulatus), a species of snake, consumes rats as part of its diet. The graph shows changes in the proportion of rats in the diet of male and female reticulated pythons from southern Sumatra as the length of the snake increases.

[Source: R Shine, et al., (1998) Functional Ecology, 12, pages 248–258]

(a)	Identify the relationship between the proportion of diet composed of rats and the length of female pythons.
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(1)
 
(b)	Compare the feeding preferences of female and male pythons of lengths between
(i)	100 and 300 cm;
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(1)
(ii)	300 and 400 cm.
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(c)	Suggest two reasons for the differences in feeding preferences of the pythons as length increases.
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(2)

	The snakes were bought at local markets and skinning factories in Sumatra. Therefore, the origin of the individual snakes was not known. Estimations about prey size and species were made from fur and skeletal remains in the gut of the snakes.
(d)	Suggest two factors that could influence the reliability of the results of this investigation.
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(2)
(Total 7 marks)

4.	Sea turtles have existed on Earth for millions of years, but are now threatened by human activities, both at sea and on the sandy beaches where they lay their eggs. All species of sea turtle reproduce in a similar way. During the breeding season, when females have mated at sea they emerge from the ocean at night and drag themselves up a beach. They dig a pit into which they lay fertilized eggs. After covering the eggs with sand the females return to the ocean. The warmth of the sun on the sand incubates the eggs allowing the development of young turtles, called hatchlings. These emerge after about 50 days and move down the beach at night to the ocean.
 
	Ecologists have been keeping records of the nesting activity of sea turtles along the eastern coastline of Florida since the 1950s. The bar chart below shows the mean number of nests per kilometre of beach between 1989 and 1998 for the three species of sea turtle that are commonly found.

[Source: M Salmon, Biologist, (2003), 50, pages 163–168]
 
(a)	State which species of turtle nests in the greatest numbers on Jupiter Island.
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(1)
 
(b)	Compare the distribution of nesting in the three species of turtle along the eastern coastline of Florida.
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(2)

(c)	The parts of the coastline where there was most nesting were those where there was least human activity and therefore least artificial light. Suggest an experiment that could be done to test whether artificial light discourages nesting.
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(2)

	A study was undertaken at the southernmost nesting site, at Boca Raton. Here a beach lies adjacent to a series of apartment buildings that are unoccupied during the nesting season. These buildings therefore shade the beach from artificial light further inland. The location of nest sites along the beach has been accurately recorded, in relation to the position of the apartment buildings. The chart below shows the locations of the nests and apartment buildings and the height of the buildings as seen from the beach.

[Source: M Salmon, Biologist, (2003), 50, pages 163–168]
 
(d)	Explain how the distribution of turtle nests provides evidence for female turtles choosing sites that are dark at night.
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(4)
 
	On beaches where there is no human activity, hatchlings move directly towards the ocean after emergence at night. The hatchlings can orientate themselves using one or more external stimuli. An experiment was done at Boca Raton to test the ability of hatchlings to locate the ocean at different levels of artificial light. Four sites were chosen and numbered 1–4, ranging from the darkest site (1), to the site most exposed to artificial lighting (4). At each site a four-metre diameter circle was marked. Hatchlings were released at the centre of each circle and the trails made in the sand by their movements were recorded. The diagrams below show these trails. The arrow head on the outside of the circle shows the mean direction of the tracks.

(e)	Compare the movement of the hatchlings at the different intensities of artificial light.
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(f)	Deduce one external stimulus, and the source of this stimulus, that allows hatchlings to orientate themselves at sites unaffected by human activity.
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(1)
 
(g)	Using the data in this question,
(i)	explain two reasons for artificial light reducing the chances of survival of sea turtles.
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(ii)	suggest one conservation measure, aimed at increasing the chances of survival of sea turtles.
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(Total 15 marks)

5.	The mosquito (Wyeomyia smithii) uses daylength as a guide to either continue development of its larvae or to begin hibernation. This response to daylength is genetically controlled. Longer daylengths maintain development whereas shorter daylengths induce hibernation. In the northern regions of the northern hemisphere, even though daylengths are longer, winter arrives earlier than in regions closer to the equator. The following data is from an experiment to determine if W. smithii has adapted to later onsets of winter as a consequence of global warming. In 1972 and 1996, larvae were collected at various locations in the United States at latitudes 30–50° North. The larvae were examined to determine what daylength induced hibernation. Each circle on the following graph represents one larval population.

[Source: Bradshaw and Holzapfel, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, (2001),
98 (25), pages 14509–14511]
 
(a)	Outline the relationship between daylength and latitude for the larval populations in 1972.
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(b)	Compare the data of 1972 with 1996.
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(c)	Explain how the data illustrates an evolutionary response to a longer growing season due to a later onset of winter.
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(2)
(Total 5 marks)

6.	Phenologists are biologists who study the timing of seasonal activities in animals and plants, such as the opening of tree leaves and the laying of eggs by birds. Data such as these can provide evidence of climate changes, including global warming.
	The date in the spring when new leaves open on horse chestnut trees (Aesculus hippocastaneum) has been recorded in Germany every year since 1951. The graph below shows the difference between each year’s date of leaf opening and the mean date of leaf opening between 1970 and 2000. Negative values indicate that the date of leaf opening was earlier than the mean. The graph also shows the difference between each year’s mean temperature during March and April and the overall mean temperature for these two months. The data for temperature was obtained from the records of thirty-five German climate stations.

[Source: Walther et al., Nature (2002), 416, pages 389–395]
 
(a)	Identify the year in which there was the
(i)	earliest opening of horse chestnut leaves;
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(ii)	lowest mean temperature in March and April.
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(b)	Use the data in the graph to deduce the following.
(i)	The relationship between temperatures in March and April and the date of opening of leaves on horse chestnut trees.
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(ii)	Whether there is evidence of global warming towards the end of the twentieth century.
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	From 1973 onwards phenologists in the Netherlands have been studying a population of great tits (Parus major) in a forest on the Hoge Veluwe. Nest boxes are checked every week to find out when the great tits lay their eggs and how many eggs they lay. Young birds are ringed when they are seven days old, to allow the reproductive success of their parents to be monitored. Great tits feed on arthropods, especially caterpillars. The phenologists found that the date of maximum caterpillar biomass each year in the forest could be estimated accurately using temperature records. The graphs below show the mean date of egg laying and the estimated date of maximum caterpillar biomass for each year from 1973 to 1995.

[Source: Visser, Noordwijk, Tinbergen and Lessells, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London,
(1998), 265, pages 1867–1870]
 
(c)	(i)	Compare the date of egg laying with the date of maximum caterpillar biomass.
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(1)

(ii)	Suggest an advantage to great tits of the difference in dates.
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(d)	State the trend, shown in the graph, for the date of maximum caterpillar biomass.
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	There was no statistically significant change in the date of egg laying between 1973 and 1995, but the phenologists found evidence that natural selection will eventually cause a change in the date of egg laying.
(e)	Explain how natural selection could cause a change in the date of egg laying in the population of great tits in the forest on the Hoge Veluwe.
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(2)
(Total 10 marks)