Answers to case study questions
Answers to case study
questions
Topic 1
1 Because many projects such as wind and solar power require
significant investments that individuals are unlikely to make
without subsidies or being forced to do so.
2 Planting on the roof to provide green space, solar panels
and water recycling. Recycling domestic water, good
insulation and efficient use of water in bathrooms would be
improvements.You may have other ideas and suggestions.
3 Use of fertilisers, mechanisation and regeneration of the
original habitat are areas to consider.
Topic 2
1 No, this is not a primary succession, because the area was
not completely devoid of life after the eruption. Some
species were able to survive because they were protected
from the blast and ash by being covered with snow, buried
in mud or protected in water. At the same time, much
forested land was left surrounding the area of the explosion.
Seeds and animal life could begin to repopulate the
devastated area from the remaining forest.
2 Wind was important in carrying seeds, airborne insects and
spores to the bare new terrain. Moisture in ponds, streams
and from snow not only protected some species but also
carried in new ones. Streams might bring in logs carrying
organisms; snow not only protected some species, but as it
melted also provided water for plants and animals which
were becoming established. As the photographs show, certain
areas recovered more quickly than others. The north-west
area close to Spirit Lake has been slowest, probably due to
the depth of the ash that fell on it and its orientation to
prevailing wind and weather.
3 a The eruption interrupted the natural nitrogen cycle by
covering soil, which contained bacteria involved in the
nitrogen cycle, with ash. It also killed many decomposer
species and destroyed or covered leaves and wood, which
would have been recycled.
b Bacteria found in root nodules of legumes (and red
alder) are able to fix nitrogen gas from the atmosphere
and convert it into nitrates. Nitrates can be taken in by
plants to build proteins they need to grow.
4 a Percentage cover is estimated using quadrats. These are
squares of a fixed size usually divided into 100 smaller
squares. Scientists observe how many squares contain a
plant and record this as percentage cover for the species.
b Percentage frequency is the number of occurrences in
the quadrat divided by the number of smaller squares.
For example, if a species is found in 20 of the 100
squares, its frequency is 20 per cent.
Topic 3
1 Kudzu is so invasive that it is destroying the indigenous
organisms of the USA where it is growing. Only
removing the vine will enable these ecosystems to recover.
Unfortunately, the destruction involved may also affect the
organisms people want to preserve.
2 If one landowner destroys the plant but his or her
neighbours do not, the plant will be able to spread again
from a nearby area. It is important that everyone is educated
in how to remove it and keep it at bay.
3 In the USA, the plant has no effective competitors and
insufficient herbivores to eat it. It outcompetes local plants
in its rate of growth and reproduction.
4 Consider the effect on local ecosystems and food webs,
predators and herbivores.
Topic 4
1 Phytoplankton photosynthesise and absorb carbon dioxide,
and they also produce oxygen that is needed by other
aquatic organisms. They remove carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere so they help to reduce the impact of this
greenhouse gas. They are primary producers and are the
source of food for herbivores in the sea.
2 Stratification prevents mixing of water between upper
and lower layers. Upwelling (mixing) of water from lower
layers brings nutrients from decomposed organic material
to the surface, while agitation and mixing of water causes
an increase in the oxygen content of lower, more stationary
deeper water. Without upwelling, nutrients and oxygen are
not replenished in upper and lower layers respectively.
3 Each type of phytoplankton is adapted to survive in certain
abiotic conditions. In the same way, each species of primary
consumer (plankton, molluscs, fish and other species) will be
adapted to feed on a certain type of phytoplankton in the
1
 Answers to case study questions
region where it lives. If the species of phytoplankton change,
it is likely that species of primary consumers will also
change and be replaced by those that can feed on the new
phytoplankton present. At higher trophic levels, the same
consequences are likely to occur. If fish that are taken for
human consumption live in the area, it is possible that they
may move away or die out if their food chain is affected.
4 Think about features of the natural systems that are visible
from space.
Topic 5
1 Low and unreliable rainfall has combined with a range of
unsustainable farming techniques to degrade soils over a
considerable area during the last two centuries.
2 This involves using the plants grown on a farm to ‘harvest’
carbon from the atmosphere and return it to the soil. It
also involves seeking to reduce emissions in production
processes.
3 Plant leaves absorb carbon dioxide, which makes its way
to the expanding root system. The roots release chemicals
containing carbon molecules into the soil, and these attract
fungi. Fungi grow on the root system, assimilating the
carbon. As the roots decay and break down, the carbon
becomes incorporated into the soil.
4 First, carbon farming improves soil structure, with the soil
retaining more nutrients and being able to hold more water,
allowing the soil to cope better with temperature extremes.
Second, it could become a valuable form of carbon
sequestration.
Planned grazing involves moving cattle from paddock to
paddock on a careful rotational basis to avoid overgrazing.
This ensures a higher root volume on planned grazing land
compared with overgrazed land, allowing greater carbon
sequestration. The idea is that, when a plant is grazed, it
needs adequate time to recover. If this does not happen, the
plant will be weakened for the next season.
Annual crops die off once harvested, and new seeds have to
be planted before the cycle of production can begin again.
The soil is most vulnerable to erosion in the period between
harvesting and the next planting. Perennial crops protect the
soil from erosion and also tend to retain more nutrients than
annual crops, and so require less fertiliser.
Topic 6
1 Transboundary pollution is pollution originating in one
country that causes damage to the environment in at least
one other country by crossing borders through pathways
which are mainly air or water currents.
2 From west to east.
2
3 Wind currents (air masses); rivers and ocean currents; the
‘grasshopper movement’ of persistent organic pollutants
(POPs); seabirds.
4 Arctic haze is composed of a complex mix of microscopic
particles and acidifying pollutants such as soot, hydrocarbons
and sulfates. The haze often appears in the form of distinct
bands or layers. In terms of scale, bands of Arctic haze can
range from tens of metres to a kilometre thick, and they can
extend from 20 km to 200 km in distance. Within the bands,
visibility can sometimes be as low as a few kilometres, due
to the way light particles are scattered and absorbed by the
haze.
5 Southeast Asian haze has been occurring since the mid
1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its massive
forests by burning them on a huge scale in order to develop
lucrative palm-oil plantations.
6 The widespread fires may signal a positive feedback between
forest fragmentation and fires. As dense road networks and
partially cleared forests are coupled with high temperatures
and numerous human ignitions, we could be in a cycle
where burning increases fragmentation, and fragmentation
increases burning.
Topic 7
1 Kiribati is an island country in the central Pacific Ocean. Its
33 atolls and reef islands stretch nearly 4000 km from east to
west and more than 2000 km from north to south, and they
straddle the Equator.
2 Annual and seasonal maximum temperatures have increased
in Kiribati since 1950 at a rate of 0.18 °C per decade. This is
consistent with the global pattern of temperature increase.
3 The islands are experiencing increased wave heights and
frequency; storm surges occur far more often than in the
past; tropical cyclones occur more frequently in the central
Pacific Ocean, generating waves that damage the atolls;
sea levels in Kiribati have risen by an average of 3.7 mm a
year since 1992; increased flooding has forced some of the
population to move inland and arable land has been lost.
4 The security of drinking water has become increasingly
fragile. Groundwater wells are polluted and increasingly
salinated by rising seawater. The government supplies treated
water to some communities, but the amount of water
brought in is well below demand and soon runs out.
5 The country’s agriculture will be put under increasing
pressure through: saltwater intrusion; loss of coastal land in
a country where land is in short supply; changes in rainfall,
particularly during La Niña years, when droughts are most
likely to occur. Copra, the main cash crop for over half of
Kiribati’s population, is sensitive to rainfall, with an annual
requirement of at least 1000–1500 mm.

6 Table 1: In terms of annual average air temperature increase,
the range becomes wider over the three time periods at
0.2–1.3 °C for 2030, 0.7–2.3 °C for 2055, and 1.0–3.8 °C
for 2090. Within each individual year, the range increases
with time.
Table 2: The projections for the rise in sea level follow a
similar pattern to that for air temperature, with 4–14 cm
for 2030, 9–28 cm for 2055, and 16–58 cm for 2090. Again,
within each individual year, the range increases with time.
Topic 8
1 1740, 1875, 1930.
2 We can be much more sure about the accuracy of
demographic data from the beginning of the 19th century,
because the first census of England and Wales was taken in
1801 and then there was a census every ten years thereafter.
Also, from 1836 the registration of births and deaths was
introduced on a voluntary basis, but this became compulsory
in 1874.
3 a The period of drinking cheap gin.
b The rise in the death rate in this period was most
marked among infants and in large towns, due to food
shortages, bad housing and insanitary conditions.
Answers to case study questions
4 The beginning of the decline in fertility coincided with, and
was partly the result of, much more widespread knowledge
of contraception. However, perhaps the most important
factor was the desire for smaller families because people
could be sure that the decline in mortality was permanent
and because the monetary cost of children was higher in
urban than in rural areas. During the 19th century, Britain
had moved from being a country where the majority of
people lived in rural areas to one where more people lived
in urban areas.
5 From 1992 natural increase declined, with some variation,
until 2002–2003. Net migration, which was negligible
in the first two years illustrated by the graph, increased
significantly. From 2002–2003, both net migration and
natural increase increased. Demographers have linked the
two trends, pointing to the increasing number of births each
year to mothers born outside the country.