Farming and conservationAQA A-Level Biology: Mind map

Exam questions on Farming and conservation

1. A farmer removes the hedgerows that divide several small fields, creating one large field. The whole field is sown with wheat every year, and the farmer sprays it with a herbicide and an insecticide.
   Explain how spraying the field with a herbicide and an insecticide would reduce the biodiversity of the farmland.2 marks
2. A hill farmer increased the number of sheep on a grassland from 2 to 12 per hectare. The farmer also began applying inorganic nitrate fertiliser every spring to increase grass growth.
   Suggest why a fall in the number of plant species on the hill could lead to a fall in the number of insect species.2 marks
3. A farm manager joins a government scheme that pays farmers to leave uncultivated margins around the edges of their fields, to replant hedgerows and to stop spraying insecticide near the hedges. The margins will take up 5% of the farm's cropland.
   Explain how the measures in the scheme would increase biodiversity on the farm.3 marks