IB Biology Topic D4.2: Sustainability and Change Questionbank

Which agricultural scenario would be most unsustainable in the long term?

What is a reliable indicator that a resource is being harvested sustainably?

Why might deforestation of the Amazon reach an ecological tipping point?

Higher incoming vapour kept net moisture recycling unchanged.

Clearing increased moisture recycling but reduced conversion to rainfall.

Clearing reduced moisture recycling despite wetter incoming air.

Rainfall fell because incoming air became drier after clearing.

Crop rotation using legumes and cereals

Application of compost and drip irrigation

Intensive monoculture with high fertilizer runoff

Use of cover crops to prevent erosion

Declining population of the harvested species

Increased yield each season

Regeneration rate equals or exceeds harvest rate

Use of synthetic fertilizers nearby

The forest loses its ability to fix nitrogen

Too many native species are introduced

Loss of transpiration disrupts rainfall and atmospheric cooling

Carbon dioxide becomes a limiting factor for trees