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Responses to the external environment · Part 1 of 5
3 exam-style questions with model answers, plus 4 quick multi-choice questions — every question on this part of the standard, grouped by the 1 page of notes they come from.
Write a full answer before you reveal the model one. That comparison is where the learning happens.
Distinguish between an organism's habitat and its ecological niche, and give one example of a biotic and one example of an abiotic factor in the external environment of a forest-floor invertebrate.
A small alpine daisy growing on the Canterbury high country forms a tight, ground-hugging cushion. Explain how this growth response occurs and why it provides a selective advantage in relation to the plant's ecological niche.
The same species of alpine daisy is found growing as a loose, upright plant 30 cm tall in a sheltered gully, and as a tight cushion on an exposed ridge 200 m away. Discuss why one growth response cannot be described as 'better' than the other, linking your answer to selective advantage and ecological niche.