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Responses to the external environment · Part 4 of 5
9 exam-style questions with model answers, plus 12 quick multi-choice questions — every question on this part of the standard, grouped by the 3 pages of notes they come from.
Write a full answer before you reveal the model one. That comparison is where the learning happens.
Describe what is meant by interspecific competition, and describe the difference between a species' fundamental and realised niche.
Common wasps in South Island beech forest consume most of the honeydew produced by scale insects during late summer. Tūī, korimako and kākā feed on the same honeydew. Explain how this competition affects the native birds, and why the birds' responses to it provide a selective advantage.
Two species that compete for the same resource may end in competitive exclusion or in resource partitioning. Discuss what determines which outcome occurs, and evaluate what this predicts about the impact of introduced species in New Zealand.
Describe what is meant by mutualism, and describe one nutritional and one transport mutualism, stating what each partner gains.
The short-tailed bat (pekapeka) pollinates Dactylanthus, a parasitic plant whose flowers sit at ground level and produce strong scent and large amounts of nectar. Explain how this mutualism works and why it provides a selective advantage to each partner.
Many New Zealand plants depend on native birds for pollination or seed dispersal, and several of those birds are now rare or locally extinct. Discuss the consequences for the plants, and evaluate why obligate mutualisms make both partners more vulnerable than facultative ones.
Describe the three forms of exploitation named in this standard, and describe one adaptation of the exploiting organism and one of the exploited organism in any one of them.
Explain how an evolutionary arms race between a predator and its prey occurs, and explain why it does not result in one species eliminating the other.
Introduced mammalian predators have devastated New Zealand's native birds, while predator–prey relationships that evolved together generally remain stable. Discuss why, and evaluate what this implies for conservation strategy.