Palm oil is the vegetable oil used most widely. It comes from the African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis. Oil palms are the crop with the greatest yield of vegetable oil, and they need only 10% of the land area that other crops would require to make the same amount of oil.
On Borneo, tropical rainforests are felled and cleared so that oil palm plantations can be established. This has a major impact on biodiversity.
The Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, occurs only on Borneo and is classed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species™.
(a)[4]
Fig. 8.1 shows Bornean orangutans.
Suggest methods by which the Bornean orangutan may be conserved.
(b)[3]
Biodiversity can be examined at different scales.
Outline the main levels at which biodiversity can be assessed.
(c(i))[2]
The biodiversity of a habitat may be measured by working out Simpson’s index of diversity ($D$).
The formula for Simpson’s index of diversity ($D$) is:
$D = 1 - \left(\sum \frac{n}{N}^2\right)$
Key to symbols:
$n$ = number of individuals of each type present in the sample
$N$ = the total number of all individuals of all types present in the sample
A survey of shrubs and trees in a temperate woodland was carried out. The results are shown in Table 8.1.
Complete Table 8.1.
(c(ii))[1]
Calculate the value of Simpson’s index of diversity ($D$).
(c(iii))[2]
Using your value of $D$, comment on biodiversity in this temperate woodland.
Worked solution & mark scheme
This 12-mark question has a full step-by-step worked solution and mark scheme. One marking point: “Specific protected reserves” …