Biomes Flashcards
Biosphere
All living things and their waste and their ecosystems
Levels of components
Ecosystem, Community, Population, Organism
Ecosystem categories
Aquatic and terrestrial
Biomes
Very large ecosystem made up of specific fauna and flora and can occur in multiple places
Forest
Abundant in soil, water & heat
Savanna
Between forest and grassland
Grassland
Less soil and water, adequate heat
Desert
Shortage of soil and water, adequate heat
Tundra
Insufficient heat
Humans
Altered many ecosystems and biomes
Food Security
- Enough quality food available
- Food is affordable and accessible
- Food provides necessary nutrients
Over half
World’s population lives in low income, food deficit countries
Challenges
- Population growth
- Climate change
- Land
- Changing consumption patterns
4 spheres of biophysical environment
- Atmosphere
- Biosphere
- Lithosphere
- Hydrosphere
Solar energy
Key to all ecosystems due to photosynthesis
Interactions
Living organisms interact with each other and their abiotic environment
As rainfall increases
Desert to grassland to forest
As temperature increases
Cool to temperate to tropical
Affected by
Temperature, rainfall, latitude and altitude
Producers
Plants, algae, produce energy from the Sun, autotrophs
Deep ocean bacteria, chemosynthesis
Consumers
Herbivorous are primary, carnivorous are secondary, tertiary, etc
Decomposers
Break down living things to leave no waste
Food web vs food chain
Food chain is single line while food web branches out
Energy
Energy is lost by the animal living and therefore less energy is given to the next level consumer
Solar insolation
Amount of sunlight received, more at equator than poles. Ecosystems rely on large amounts of solar insolation
Common types of terrestrial biomes
- Desert
- Tropical savanna
- Coniferous forest
- Polar
- Alpine
GPP
Gross primary production
Total energy produced by producers
NPP
Net primary production
Energy released into the ecosystem by the producers
Highest NPP
Swamps, tropical rainforests and estuaries
98%
Of Terrestrial, vertebrate biomass are human, livestock or pets (estimated)
Staple food
Eaten regularly by a community, main part of diet
Egs: rice, wheat, yam, corn, potato
Grains and Grasses
Annual, main food for most people
Traditional food
Gaining popularity in developed countries
Best biome
Temperate grassland due to rich soil and temperature
Humans alter biomes
Vegetation and habitat clearance, source water supplies, terracing
