Paper 1: The living world Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is an area that includes all the biotic (living organisms) parts such as plants and animals and the abiotic (non-living) such as soil, rocks and climate sharing an environment.
Identify three biotic elements of an ecosystem.
Any three living organisms.
Identify three abiotic elements of an ecosystem.
Soil, rock and climate.
What is a producer?
A producer is an organism that produces its own food, usually by photosynthesis such as trees.
What is the difference between a primary and secondary consumer?
A primary consumer is a herbivore that consumes producers. Secondary consumers are carnivores that consume primary producers.
What is a carnivore?
A carnivore is a consumer of herbivores (animals).
What is a herbivore?
A herbivore is a consumer of primary producers (plants).
What is an omnivore?
An omnivore consumes both producers (plants) and animals.
What is a decomposer?
A decomposer is an organism that decomposes and breaks down dead plants and animals.
Identify one example of a decomposer in an ecosystem
Bacteria or fungi.
Why are decomposers so important for ecosystems?
If they were not in the ecosystem, plants would not get essential nutrients and dead matter would gather.
Why is photosynthesis so important in ecosystems?
Without photosynthesis there would be no primary consumers which would lead to the break-down of ecosystems as primary consumers would have no source of energy. Likewise, there would be no food for secondary consumers.
What is a food chain?
A food chain shows the flow of energy from producer to tertiary consumer.
What is a food web?
A food web shows a collection of food chains.
What is the nutrient cycle?
The nutrient cycle shows the transfer of nutrients through an ecosystem.
Give an example of a small-scale ecosystem.
Pond, hedgerow or woods (or any other small scale ecosystem)
Identify a small-scale ecosystem you have studied.
Moseley Bog
Explain how the removal of a primary producer can have an impact on an ecosystem.
The removal of a primary producer can lead to the collapse of an ecosystem. By removing a primary producer, the food source of primary consumers is also removed which can lead to these organisms dying. In turn this removes the food source of secondary consumers leading to large scale devastation across the ecosystem.
What is a biome?
Large ecological areas on the surface of earth with plants and animals adapting to their environment
Identify three of the major biomes.
Any from tropical rainforest, hot desert, taiga, savannah, polar, deciduous forest etc.
Describe the distribution of the tropical rainforest biome.
Between 10 degrees North and 10 degrees South of the Equator where temperatures stay near 28 degrees Celcius throughout the year. Rainforests typically receive over 2000mm of rain each year. The largest rainforests are in the Amazon in Brazil (South America), Demographic Republic of Congo (Africa) and Indonesia (South East Asia). Tropical rainforests are also found in Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean.
Explain the distribution of the tropical rainforest biome.
Tropical rainforests are found near the equator. Most tropical rainforests fall between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. These areas receive more sunlight.. The high temperatures means that evaporation happens at a fast rate, resulting in frequent rainfall. Also, air is rising due to the Hadley cell resulting in convectional rainfall.
Identify the main layers of found in the tropical rainforest ecosystem.
Emergent, canopy, under canopy, shrub and ground layer.
Describe the characteristics of the emergent layer.
The tallest trees which are usually over 50m tall.
Describe the characteristics of the canopy layer.
The sea of leaves blocking out the sun from the lower layers is called the canopy. It contains over 50 percent of the rainforest wildlife including birds, snakes and monkeys.
Describe the characteristics of the under canopy layer.
Theunder canopymainly contains bare tree trunks and lianas. Lianas are vines that climb the vegetation in a bid to reach sunlight.
Describe the characteristics of the shrub layer.
Theshrub layerhas the densest plant growth. It contains shrubs and ferns and other plants needing less light. Saplings of emergent and canopy trees can also be found here.
Describe the characteristics of the forest floor.
Theforest flooris usually dark and damp. It contains a layer of rotting leaves and dead animals called litter. This decomposes rapidly (within 6 weeks) to form a thin humus, rich in nutrients. Below the rich top soil, the soil lacks nutrients. This is because nutrients are rapidly absorbed by vegetation.
Describe the typical climate of a tropical rainforest ecosystem.
Very wet with over 2,000 mm of rainfall per year, very warm with an average daily temperature of 28 degrees Celcius. The temperature never drops below 20 degrees Celcius and rarely exceeds 35 degrees Celcius. The atmosphere is hot andhumid. The climate is consistent all year round. There are no seasons.
Describe three characteristics of soil in the tropical rainforest ecosystem.
Most of the soil is not veryfertile. A thin layer of fertile soil is found at the surface where the dead leaves decompose. It is red in colour because it is rich in iron. Due to heavy rainfall the nutrients are quickly washed out of the soil.
Why does the tropical rainforest have the greatest biodiversity of all ecosystems?
The warm and very wet climate provides perfect conditions for plant growth. The wide range of plantspeciessupports many different animals, birds and insects. Species haveadaptedto the conditions of the rainforest, e.g. trees and plants have shallow-reaching roots to absorb nutrients from the thin fertile layer in the soil.
Identify 4 interdependent features of the tropical rainforest
Climate, water, soils, plants, animals and people.
Identify 3 ways vegetation has adapted to the rainforest environment.
Emergents, Drip tips, Waxy leaves, Epiphytes, Wide buttress roots
Explain 3 ways vegetation has adapted to the rainforest environment.
Most trees in the rainforest have wide buttress roots which support them as they grow incredibly tall to reach sunlight. Roots grow wide rather than deep because nutrients are found in the top layer of soil. Lianas (vines) grow around trees as they climb to reach sunlight. Leaves have pointed drip-tips which cause water to run off – so the weight of the water doesn’t damage the plant.
Identify 3 ways animals have adapted to the rainforest environment.
Prehensile tail, Bright colour, Nocturnal, Sharp claws, Sticky foot pads, Camouflage
Explain 3 ways animals has adapted to the rainforest environment.
Sloths: Move slowly so predators don’t spot them. Also camouflaged by letting green moss grow in their fur. Curved feet help them grip tree branches. Spider monkey: The prehensile tail acts as an extra limb, allowing the spider monkey to be able to grasp the branches of trees.
