AQA Biology 4.7.2.4 · Triple Higher only
The impact of environmental change
Temperature, water and the gases in the air change, and species move, change their timing, or disappear. The skill is judging what given data show, and what they do not.
Start here
An early spring.
Springs in the UK have been arriving earlier than they used to.
If you had to guess, would a warmer spring make garden birds nest earlier, or later?
Three changes, three causes
What changes, and why.
Environmental changes affect the distribution of species in an ecosystem. These changes include temperature, availability of water, and composition of atmospheric gases. The changes may be seasonal, geographic or caused by human interaction. Tap each.
Swallows leave the UK every autumn and return every spring. Which kind of change drives this?
Pick one.
Distribution over time
A range on the move.
A butterfly, the hedge brown, was recorded in grid squares across Great Britain in 1980 and again in 2020 (the records here are made up). Switch between the two surveys.
In 1980 the butterfly was recorded in 11 squares, all in the south.
Mean spring temperature rose by 1.2 °C between the surveys. Which statement is a fair evaluation of the data?
Pick one.
What would make the conclusion stronger?
Pick one.
Evaluate given information
Water, and the air.
Information · made-up data for practice
A river in a dry region, 2000 to 2020. Mean summer flow fell from 40 to 15 cubic metres per second. A fish species that spawns in fast, shallow water fell from about 5000 to 800 adults. Over the same years a new town upstream began taking water from the river.
Which conclusion do the data support?
Pick one.
Information · made-up data for practice
Information: fertiliser from fields washes into a lake. The lake’s algae multiply and cover the surface. Below the surface, water plants die. Bacteria decompose the dead plants, using oxygen in respiration. Oxygen falls and fish die.
Using the information, why does the oxygen fall?
Pick one.
In a question, a fact like “mayfly larvae need water with a high oxygen level” may be given to you. Use what is given; you do not need to remember which species shows what.
Think again · evolved in 50 years?
“The birds evolved to nest earlier.”
Your call
ChooseUK birds now nest about two weeks earlier than 50 years ago. What best explains such a fast change?
Sort
Seasonal, geographic or human?
Place each change.
Tap a card, then tap the box it belongs in. Tap a placed card to take it back.
Command words in this lesson
- Evaluate
- The impact of an environmental change on a distribution, from given information.
- Describe
- How a distribution changed, using the data.
- Suggest
- Another factor that could explain the change.
Key fact
Changes in temperature, water availability and atmospheric gases, whether seasonal, geographic or human-caused, change where species live. Evaluate given data: say what it shows, what else could explain it, and what would strengthen the conclusion.
Key note · AQA 4.7.2.4 (Biology only, Higher tier)
The impact of environmental change
- Environmental changes affect the distribution of species in an ecosystem. These changes include temperature, availability of water, and composition of atmospheric gases.
- The changes may be seasonal, geographic or caused by human interaction.
- Species respond by moving, by changing their timing, or by declining; evolution takes many generations.
- To evaluate: describe the change in the data, link it to the environmental change, suggest other factors, and say what would strengthen the conclusion.
- Use facts given in the question (such as what a species needs) rather than recalling species.
Photograph this card. Tomorrow, cover it and say each line first.
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Jumping from “it changed” to “pollution did it”?
The hedge brown records, the river and all numbers are made up for practice.