7.2a, b

Question 1

How does the biosphere benefit indigenous people?

Answer 1

• Small circular houses built from wood and leaves
• Wood for cooking fires
• Hunting animals
• Gathering food, berries
• They make traditional herbal medicines

Question 2

How is the biosphere exploited for water?

Answer 2

Huge demand for water, means parts of biospheres are deprived of water
E.g. Hamoun wetlands in Iran
- Drought, population growth and dam-buildings in Afghanistan caused wasteful irrigation and the wetland dries up.

Question 3

How is the biosphere exploited for energy?

Answer 3

Huge demand for energy
Biofuels are renewable, great, but lots of land is being cleared for biofuel crop, not food crop. Decreasing food security
Clearing forests for biofuel growth means indigenous people cannot afford food and fuel, also biodiversity and food chains are affected.

Question 4

How is the biosphere exploited for minerals?

Answer 4

Minerals aren’t part of the biosphere however, demand for minerals has led to mountain top removal to get easy access to coal.

Question 5

How does the biosphere regulate the composition of the atmosphere?

Answer 5

Photosynthesis, respiration

• Biomes are carbon sinks
• Soil stores decomposed animals and plants - store nutrients

Question 6

How does the biosphere regulate soil health?

Answer 6

• Leaf litter enriches soils in the presence of warm wet conditions.
  It can be disrupted by…
• Removing biomass, heavy rain washes litter away, deforestation removes another store

Question 7

How does the biosphere manage water?

Answer 7

Forests increase interception and absorption, if deforestation occurs severe flooding can occur.