A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden - Edexcel - GCSE Biology - Question 2 - 2019 - Paper 1
Question 2
A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden.
Figure 2 shows the estimates of the number and biomass of some of the organisms in the garden.
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Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student was investigating the populations of organisms in a garden - Edexcel - GCSE Biology - Question 2 - 2019 - Paper 1
Step 1
i) Calculate the biomass of the population of earthworms in the garden.
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Answer
To calculate the biomass of the population of earthworms, we can use the formula:
Thus, the biomass of the earthworm population in the garden is 2108 grams.
Step 2
ii) Explain how killing the slugs would affect the population of earthworms in this garden.
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Answer
Killing the slugs would affect the population of earthworms in the garden in the following ways:
The population of earthworms is likely to decrease because more earthworms will be eaten by hedgehogs, as slugs are no longer available as a food source.
With the removal of slugs, hedgehogs will have to rely on a single food source (earthworms), leading to increased predation on the earthworm population.
This could destabilize the ecological balance, as the availability of food for hedgehogs has decreased, which might lead to a decrease in their population over time if they rely solely on earthworms.
