ecosystems Flashcards

Question

describe the temperate biome

Answer 1

- hot summers (25 degrees) - cool winters (5 degrees) - rainfall all year (1000 mm) - deciduous trees

Answer 2

- hot all year (25-35 degrees) - 500 - 1000 mm rainfall all year with a dry season - tall trees and shrubs

Answer 3

- hot all year (27-30 degrees) - wet all year (2000-3000 mm) - lots of vegetation - the greatest variety on earth!

Answer 4

- very hot all year (above 30 degrees) - low rainfall (below 250 mm) - plants that can cope with the dry conditions (e.g. cactus)

Answer 5

the spread of something or where something is found

Answer 6

above the equator the sun is directly overhead so the rays are more intense. as you move away from the equator the temperature decreases as the heat is less concentrated due to the curvature of the earth

Answer 7

as air is forced to rise over high mountains it cools and rains, so there is more rainfall in the mountains and a rain shadow the other side. the temperature also drops as you go higher that the climate changes

Answer 8

in the interior of the worlds continents, the summer temperatures are higher and the winters temperatures are lower than places near the coast, as the sea moderates temperature extremes. this is because the sea heats up more slowly but is able to retain it's heat for longer so adds warmth during the winter

Answer 9

the earth is rotating at a 23 degree angle. the earth orbits the sun every 365 days. this means that in December the UK is experiencing winter, whereas Australia is experiencing summer. this effects the way ecosystems are distributed around the world because they need to adapt to different temperatures and seasons

Answer 10

at the equator, surface temperatures are high all year round. this provides a convection cell of rising air. as the air rises, it cools, the moisture condenses and it rains. at the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, the cool air falls and this creates a high pressure zone of clear skies, high temperatures and low precipitation

Answer 11

the inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is a belt of low pressure which circles the earth, generally near the equator where the trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres come together. it shifts northward in June, following the sun, meaning a wet season occurs in the tropical grasslands of the northern hemisphere, in winter they are dry as the ITCZ has moved south

Answer 12

- very high humidity and rainfall - warm summers - not very cold winters

Answer 13

- near the equator, which is why they're so hot - places like Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Hawaii and others nearby

Answer 14

- sloths, jaguars, lizards, snakes, frigs, macaws, insects and more - the climate, high temperature and high rainfall help these animals survive - the structure of the rainforest also helps to adapt to many species

Answer 15

forest floor - dark - humid - holds insects and giant animals understory layer - holds young herbs, shrubs, bushes canopy layer - thickest layer - holds the most flora and fauna - lots of trees emergent layer - very tall trees - some birds and insects, but no other animals

Answer 16

- a type of 'slash and burn' agriculture - trees are cut down, the undergrowth burned, and then crops are planted

Answer 17

inoculation programmes resulted in a big drop in infant mortality, causing a rapid raise in population. this put pressure on the amount of land that could be used for agriculture

Answer 18

- commercial logging is the second main cuase of Madagascan deforestation - the government sold rainforest timber to get money to pay the interest on international debt - there are strict rules on logging but illegal TRF logging still happens because: - there is high demand for rosewood (dense, pink, fragile rainforest timber - Madagascans are very poor and illegal logging pays well - there is corruption - police and government often allow it in return for money

Answer 19

- it moves to get more sunlight - it shifts itself in the canopy of the rainforest to find more sunlight when taller trees get in the way, so that it can photosynthesise and survive

Answer 20

- modified leaves - contains liquid to trap and kill bugs and small rodents - has a blade on the leaves which start to inflate when it touches the ground, then opens - can contain 2-3 pints of liquid - they extract essential nutrients like nitrogen

Answer 21

- it feeds from the pitcher plant - it links the underside of the pitcher which secretes nectar - the pitcher plant get its fertiliser by collecting the tree shrew's dropping

Answer 22

sloths are half blind, half deaf, only eats leaves - as they only eat leaves, they do less and sleep to save energy - it defecates on the ground once a week (poops) they move really slowly and are really sedentary, so much that they grow algae which helps them camouflage

Answer 23

biomass to litter - living things die and become litter. this is known as littering litter to soil - the litter decomposes and the nutrients go into the soil soil to biomass - this process is called plant uptake, where plants absorb nutrients from the soil going out of the soil - this process is called leaching and the nutrients go too far into the soil, so the tree roots can't reach them going out of the litter - this called surface runoff. this is when the litter gets washed away from high rainfall before it decomposes going into the soil - this is weathering of parent rock, when the rain and wind erode the rocks breaking them down into the soil going into the litter - rainfall

Answer 24

warm temperatures and moist conditions make the transfer of nutrients really fast

Answer 25

the average weather of a place

Answer 26

a change in the average weather

Answer 27

the range of plants and animals that exist on the earth

Answer 28

- trees drop leaves to avoid water loss - no canopy in the dry season - there will be a dry season instead of same climate all year - animals adapt to liv in on stored food and might hibernate - a deep litter layer is created and decomposition will be slower - biomass stores are smaller - plants are forced to adapt quickly

Answer 29

farming - large areas are cleared for farming animals and crops logging - trees are cut down to be used to make things like paper products and furniture mining - trees are chopped down so that they have more access to underground resources roads - trees are cut down to make roads so that farmers, loggers and miners can go around the rainforest hydroelectric power - has resulted in large areas of forest being flooded to create reservoirs and dams to generate power population - population growth has resulted in the loss of tropical rainforest as land is cleared to build houses and infrastructure

Answer 30

WWF - the world wildlife fund is an NGO (non government fund) which worked to support and expand a network of parks covering 154 million acres of forest, to protect and conserve the rainforest. between 2008 and 2020 they prevented 1000 square miles of deforestation so this helping FAM - almerinda malaquis foundation is a charity which focuses on income generation (training people for craftmanship etc.), environmental education, and ecotourism. in 2024 they helped 190 people get into school and 45 families generate income, so this helps but not too much president Lula - he signs decrees to protect Brazilian biomes to reduce deforestation. he said that loggers cannot deforest without planting trees first and old trees cannot be cut down. this helps limit deforestation, but not everyone will support him and presidents can change

Answer 31

in the northern hemisphere, but there are some in the south such as in australia, chile and new zealand

Answer 32

soil - some roots are longer to reach into different layers in the soil ground layer - dark, damp and ideal for plants like moss herb layer - plants flower early, before the larger plants grow leaves and block the light sub canopy layer - grows in the space between the taller trees, where there's more water when it rains and more light canopy - shelter for birds and tall trees

Answer 33

they hibernate, they build up fat stores and energy in the summer so that they have food for the summer

Answer 34

they shed leaves annually to conserve energy during periods of low rainfall in the winter when the tree cannot photosynthesise

Answer 35

- the rainfall is lower in the woodlands -- litter store is smaller - litter store is bigger in the woodlands -- more decomposition, so the soil store is bigger - the nutrient cycle is slower in the woodlands -- the biomass store is smaller in the woodlands

Answer 36

- increased risk of drought - increased risk of forest fires - milder winters -- seed germination cannot happen

Answer 37

economic - timber extraction, agricultural change (farming) social - car ownership ( vehicles needing to pass through forests), urbanisation (moving to the city - needing to deforest to have more space for housing

ecosystems Flashcards

(61 cards)