The Living World Flashcards
(43 cards)
What does biotic mean?
What does abiotic mean?
The living parts of an area
The non-living parts of an area
What is a producer?
What is a consumer?
What is a decomposer?
Uses sunlight to produce food
Gets its energy by eating other organisms
Gets its energy by breaking down dead material (e.g bacteria and fungi)
What is an ecosystem?
A community of plants and animals (biotic) interacting with each other and their environment (abiotic)
Describe the nutrient cycle
Plants take up nutrients from the soil
Some plants die or are eating by consumers
When plants or consumers die they are broken down by decomposers that return the nutrients to the soil
What is a food chain?
What is a food web?
A linear sequence that shows what eats what
Shows how lots of food chains overlap and interact
What are the characteristics of a tundra ecosystem?
What are the characteristics of a polar ecosystem?
Found in high latitudes, cold winters, brief summers, little rainfall, almost no trees, have permafrost (permanently frozen ground)
Found in the poles, cold, icy, dry, not much grows, dark for several months so growing season is short
What are the characteristics of a boreal forest (taiga)?
What are the characteristics of a temperate deciduous forest?
Found between 50-60 degrees N, winters cold + dry, summers mild + moist, trees are coniferous with needles
Found in mid-latitudes, four seasons, warm summers, mild winters, rainfall all year, deciduous trees (lose leaves)
What are the characteristics of a grassland?
Savannah - found between tropics, dry and wet seasons, rainfall low, most vegetation is grass, some trees
Temperate grasslands - higher latitudes, more variation in temp, less rainfall, no trees just grass
What is the climate like in a tropical rainforest?
What is the soil like in a tropical rainforest?
No seasons, hot (20-28 degrees C) as they are between the tropics so sun’s energy is intense. Wet (2000mm) as it rains every day
Not very fertile as heavy rain washes nutrients away. Thin layer of surface nutrients due to decayed leaf fall
What are the plants like in a tropical rainforest?
Most trees are evergreen (continual growing season), tall trees and dense vegetation. Lots of epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants to take nutrients)
What are the animals like in a tropical rainforest?
What are the people like in a tropical rainforest?
Rainforests have more animal species than any other ecosystem, very varied
Many indigenous people live there, they hunt, fish, gather nuts and berries and grow vegetables.
Describe the biodiversity and productivity in a tropical rainforest
Very high biodiversity, contain about half of all life on earth. Deforestation + uncontrolled development will lead to extinction and loss of biodiversity
Rainforests are stable + productive environments as climate is constant
Describe the interdependency in a tropical rainforest ecosystem.
Climate helps decomposers add nutrients to soil so plants grow easily, dense vegetation provides food so animal populations are high. Many species form symbiotic relationships (depend on each other for survival)
How have plants adapted to the tropical rainforest?
- Trees are tall to compete for sunlight
- Plants have waxy leaves with drip tips to repel water, so weight of water doesn’t damage plant
- Climbing plants (lianas) use trees to reach sunlight
- Smooth, thin bark as don’t need to protect from cold
- Buttress roots are large + stable to support tree trunks
- Plants drop leaves all year so they can always grow
How have animals adapted to the tropical rainforest?
- Animals in the canopy have strong limbs to move
- Some animals camouflaged to hide from predators
- Birds have short, pointed wings to manoeuvre easily
- Animals adapted to dark forest floor e.g sharp sense of smell to detect predators
- Many animals nocturnal to save energy (night = cool)
- Suction cups help animals climb trees
- Many animals can swim to cross river channels
Why are tropical rainforests valuable?
Many products come from rainforests e.g rubber, coffee, chocolate
Many medicines come from rainforests, plant extinction can affect healthcare
Rainforests regulate climate and the water cycle, deforestation can increase drought and flooding
Can reduce the greenhouse effect by absorbing CO2
Sustainable development can benefit the economy
Name seven ways that rainforests can be sustainably managed
Replanting
Selective logging
Ecotourism
Education
Conservation
Reducing debt
International hardwood agreements
Explain how replanting in rainforests is sustainable management
Explain how selective logging is sustainable management
New trees replace ones that are felled, they must be the same species, in some countries this is law
Only some trees are felled, not clearing a whole area so the forest can regenerate as the overall structure is kept
Explain how ecotourism in rainforests is sustainable management
Explain how education is sustainable management
Minimises environmental damage + provides income for locals, limited numbers of tourists allowed, raises awareness of conservation, it’s an incentive to preserve the environment
Encourages people to buy from sustainable sources, locals learn the long-term effects of their actions, teaching alternatives reduces dependency on unsustainable practices
Explain how conservation in rainforests is sustainable management
National parks prohibit damaging practices but lack of funds make it difficult to uphold, sometimes overseas governments can invest, money promotes sustainability
Explain how reducing debt is sustainable management for rainforests
Many rainforests are in LICs that must pay back debt with interest, so they log/farm/mine in rainforests to pay it back
Debt can be cancelled but there is no guarantee that it’ll go to conservation.
Conservation swap is where part of debt is paid off in return for a guarantee that money goes towards conservation
Explain how international hardwood agreements are sustainable management in rainforests
Hardwood is often used for furniture, high demand in HICs means hardwood is becoming more rare. International agreements ensure that wood comes from sustainable sources and prevents illegal logging
What is the climate like in a hot desert?
Very little rainfall (less than 250mm annually) with varied rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures (up to 45 degrees C in the day but below freezing at night)
What is the soil like in a hot desert?
Not very fertile due to lack of leaf fall, little rainfall makes it dry, soil is often shallow with a gravelly texture
