Cardinal Newman College
Name:
Populations PPQs
Q1. Ecologists studied a community of fish in a lake.
(a) Explain what is meant by a community.
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(1)
(b) (i) The ecologists could have used the mark-release-recapture method to estimate the
number of one species of fish in the lake. Describe how.
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(3)
(ii) This species of fish breeds at a certain time of the year. During this fish-breeding season, the
mark-release-recapture technique might not give a reliable estimate.
Suggest one reason why.
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(1)
(c) The ecologists found that each species of fish had adaptations to its niche. One of these
adaptations was the shape of its mouth.
Suggest how the shape of mouth is an adaptation to its niche.
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(2)
Page 1
, Cardinal Newman College
Q2. (a) Blue tits are small birds that live in woods. An ecologist estimated the size of the blue tit
population visiting gardens near a wood in November.
• She trapped 28 blue tits. She marked all of these birds with small metal rings on their
legs.
• Two weeks later, she trapped another sample of blue tits. Of these birds, 18 were
marked and 20 were not marked.
Use the data to estimate the size of the blue tit population. Show your working.
Size of population ....................................
(2)
(b) The diagram shows some features of blue tit behaviour at different times of the year.
Page 2
Name:
Populations PPQs
Q1. Ecologists studied a community of fish in a lake.
(a) Explain what is meant by a community.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
(1)
(b) (i) The ecologists could have used the mark-release-recapture method to estimate the
number of one species of fish in the lake. Describe how.
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
(3)
(ii) This species of fish breeds at a certain time of the year. During this fish-breeding season, the
mark-release-recapture technique might not give a reliable estimate.
Suggest one reason why.
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
(1)
(c) The ecologists found that each species of fish had adaptations to its niche. One of these
adaptations was the shape of its mouth.
Suggest how the shape of mouth is an adaptation to its niche.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
(2)
Page 1
, Cardinal Newman College
Q2. (a) Blue tits are small birds that live in woods. An ecologist estimated the size of the blue tit
population visiting gardens near a wood in November.
• She trapped 28 blue tits. She marked all of these birds with small metal rings on their
legs.
• Two weeks later, she trapped another sample of blue tits. Of these birds, 18 were
marked and 20 were not marked.
Use the data to estimate the size of the blue tit population. Show your working.
Size of population ....................................
(2)
(b) The diagram shows some features of blue tit behaviour at different times of the year.
Page 2
