Ecosystems of the Planet (Congo Basin and GBR) Flashcards
(43 cards)
What is an ecosystem?
A community that consists of living organisms and their habitats.
Where are deserts found?
In a discontinuous band around the tropics at around 15-30 degrees N & S
Where are tropical rainforests found?
In a discontinuous band around the equator at around 0-15 degrees N & S
What are the 5 reasons climate is different in different places?
- Distance from the sea
- Prevailing wind direction
- Latitude (concentration of solar radiation)
- Altitude
- Ocean currents
How much rainfall does temperate forests receive?
750mm to 1500mm per year
How much rainfall does tropical rainforests recieve?
> 2000mm per year
How much rainfall do deserts receive?
<250mm per year
What adaptations do camels have to survive the desert?
- Humps to store fat
- Tough leathery lips to eat plants with spines
- Large feet to not sink into sand
What adaptations does the Saguaro Cactus have to survive the desert?
- Can store 5 tonnes of water
- Long roots to absorb water
What are the adaptations of flora in tropical grasslands?
- Small leaves to reduce transpiration
- Slick, shiny bark to reflect sunlight away
- Deep tap roots
- 10m wide and can store 120,000 litres of water
What threats do the Congo Basin face?
- Illegal logging (87% illegal)
- Central African Elephant poached
- Gorillas poached
What are 3 management strategies to combat threats to the rainforest?
- The Virunga National Park
- Forest Stewardship Council Certification (FSCC)
- World Bank Funding
What are the benefits of Virunga National Park?
- 60,000 new jobs
- Stopping illegal logging and poaching
- Improved drinking water health and education for 4 million people by 2025
What are the negatives of Virunga National Park?
160 rangers killed in the last 2 decades
What are the benefits of FSCC?
- Can certify companies that are legally allowed to log in the Congo Basin rainforest
- 5 million hectares certified
What are the negatives of FSCC?
A relatively small scale project
What are the positives of World Bank Funding?
- $40m funded for 120,000 people
- 100,000ha of land protected
- Improved quality cooking stoves for people in Kinshasa
What are the negatives of World Bank Funding?
- Only focused on Kinshasa people
- Money channelled through the government who has a poor record for corruption
Where are coral reefs located?
In a discontinuous band between 0-30 degrees N and S.
Where is the GBR located?
On the East coast of Australia
How are coral reefs and zooxanthellae interdependent on each other?
- Zooxanthellae photosynthesise for coral for a place to live inside coral
- Coral releases nitrogen which zooxanthellae benefit from
- These products fertilise the algae
How are anemones and clownfish interdependent on each other?
- Clownfish immune from anemone stings
- Brightly coloured clownfish attract predators to anemone
- Anemones ingest predator
- Clownfish then get a place to live
What would happen if there was a sudden increase in nutrients in the water?
- The water would turn cloudy
- Harder for zooxanthellae to photosynthesise
- Formation of large algae sheets on surface of water which block sunlight
- Death of coral
What are some threats to the Great Barrier Reef?
- Temperature rise causing bleaching
- Farming where nutrient rich sediments end up in ocean
- Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish
- Over-Tourism
