A student investigates the wildflowers growing in a field next to a tall, dense hedge.
She lays out a tape measure on the ground starting at the base of the hedge, placing a quadrat at 1 m intervals. At each point, she estimates the percentage of ground inside the quadrat covered by wildflowers.
The table shows her results:
| Distance from the hedge (m) | Percentage of ground covered by wildflowers (%) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 16 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 38 |
| 6 | 46 |
| 7 | 52 |
| 8 | 54 |
Describe the relationship between the distance from the hedge and the percentage of ground covered by wildflowers.
Explain, in detail, how the student's results show that shade from the tall hedge is affecting the growth of the wildflowers.
67 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Biology 4.1 Ecosystems, covering 4.1.1 Cycling of materials in ecosystems, 4.1.2 Microorganisms in cycling materials, 4.1.3 The carbon and water cycles, 4.1.4 Factors affecting decomposition, 4.1.5 Levels of organisation in an ecosystem, 4.1.6 Abiotic and biotic factors affecting communities, 4.1.7 Interdependence and competition, 4.1.8 Trophic levels, 4.1.9 Pyramids of biomass, and 4.1.10 Efficiency of biomass transfers. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.