Eco-systems Flashcards
What is an ecosystem
A living community of plants and animals
What are the three major components of an ecosystem
Animals, vegetation, physical natural environment
What are the attributes of a physical natural environment
Rainfall, soil, sunlight
What would happen if an attribute of the physical natural environment was taken away
It wouldn’t be an eco-system and it would disappear
What does biotic mean
Living, breathing
What does abiotic mean
Natural, not breathing
What depends upon and influences each other in an ecosystem
Each element, whether living or natural as they are all interrelated
What’s a producer
An plant organism that uses sunlight to produce food
What’s the foundation of an ecosystem
Producers
What’s a consumer
An organism that’s gets its energy by eating other organisms
What do consumers
Producers or other consumers
Name the 2 types of consumers
Carnivores and herbivores
What does a predator have to be at the top of the food chain
A carnivore
What’s a decomposer
An organism that gets its energy by breaking down dead material such as dead consumers and producers
Name some decomposers
Bacteria or fungi
What’s the nutrient cycle
The movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter.
Where do plants get their nutrients from
The ground and sun
Where are rainforests found
Around the equator
What is the best example of a rainforest
South America
How many of the living species live in the amazon
96%
Where are first contact tribes on the economy scale
They are economically bottom of the developed world
What do animals in the rainforest posses
High levels of adaption
What is the climate like in a rainforest
Warm wet and humid
Name all layers of a rainforest
Ground layer, buttress roots, shrub layer, under canopy, lianas, upper canopy, emergents
Define adaption
Adaption is where a plant or animal that lives in an ecosystem has certain characteristics that help it to survive within a given climate
What are the major factors in a rainforest
Temps, rainfall and sunlight
What is there a lot of competition for in rainforests
Sunlight
What adaptions do leaves have in the rainforest
Drip tips and thick waxy leaves
What do drip tips and thick waxy leaves help the leaf to do
Helps repel moisture and prevents the growth of algae
Why is algae bad for leaves
It blocks out sunlight and reduces photosynthesis
What is an adaption of buttress roots
They grow outside the soil so that the roots have space to grow larger and therefore provide better stability for the trees
Name 2 adaptions of an emergent
Grow higher to get more sunlight
Don’t have excess branches
What are the two methods of deforestation
Burning and logging
Name the reasons why we cut down trees
Make space to use the woodland for quarrying, farming and mining
Use of the wood
What rainforest is showing an increase of deforestation
Bolivian rainforests
What country has the largest amount of rainforests
Brazil
What percentage of the worlds rainforest is in Brazil
27 percent
What is logging
Cutting down trees and transporting the logs to sawmills
What is selective logging
The cutting down of trees that are mature or inferior to encourage growth of other trees
What is mineral extraction
The removal of solid material resources from the earth
What is commercial farming
Farming to sell produce for a profit
Name all the impacts of deforestation (6)
Loss of biodiversity, global warming, climate change, soil erosion,river pollution, decline of indigenous tribes
What have lots of plants in rainforests found to contain
Pharmaceutical ingredients that help treat and cure diseases
What parts of plants and trees have indigenous tribes used for medicine
Bark,resin, roots and leaves
How are we protecting the rainforests
Making large areas of it into nature reserves or national parks and allowing the resources and services of it to be used but in a controlled and sustainable way
What is forest degradation
It’s the changes in the forest that negatively affect the way it’s services and resources work
What are the values of the rainforest to people and environment
Provides shelter, food and earth for heating and cooking
Takes out carbon dioxide from the environment
Define sustainable
Meeting the needs of yourself and others without damaging the forest for future generations
Define conservation
Natural resources can still be used but must be used sustainably
Define protection
The environment can’t be touched and humans cannot interfere, so that eco systems can find their own balance
When was the push for more protected areas
2003
What is my case study for cold environments
Alaska
What are some characteristics of a cold environment
Abundance of snow
More cold days than mild
Sunlight gets reflected
Name some characteristics of a tundra
Very cold winters
Warming period during summer
Berries grow
Wet
Name some characteristics of a polar environment
Always below freezing Solar radiation cannot penetrate the atmosphere No vegetation- only hardy mosses 24hrs of dark/sun in winter/summer Dry
What is the North Pole purely made out of
Ice
What’s an alpine environment
A place that is only cold because of its altitude and it is not classes as a cold environment
Where are polar environments found on the planet
Extreme north and south
Where are tundra environments found on the planet
Between the warmer climates and the polar climates
Where are penguins found
Antartica
Where are polar bears found
Greenland
Name a tundra food chain
Caribou moss, caribou, artic wolf, polar bear
What is an active layer
The top 2-3 metres of soil that thaws during the warming period
What is the population of Alaska
750,000
Name some facts about Alaska
Largest of USA states
There is oil drilling near the border to Canada
Majority is Tundra
What are some moving values of Alaska
It's untouched landscape Oil drilling Mineral extraction Fishing Tourism
What are the impacts of the opportunities
Mining and oilfields destroys landscapes and environments
Fishing disrupts the food chain
What are some problems with crude oil
It separates from water
It’s toxic and flammable
What are the problems with oil drilling
Spillages can kill people as well as many animals
Spillages are hard to clear up and ruin habitats
Describe the location of the ANWR
ANWR is located in the North-East of Alaska, it borders Canada,the Beaufort sea and Alaskas north slope
What are the “fors” for drilling in the ANWR
Modern tech means you can extract without damaging the environment
The USA need oil and don’t want to depend on other countries
What are the againsts for drilling in the ANWR
We should be investing in other forms of energy
Drilling Alaskan oil will not reduce the price of world oil
The ANWR is a wildlife refuge which means it’s protected area
Define wilderness
Unhabited and untouched area
What are the characteristics of a wilderness
Lots of vegetation
Diverse animals/shy animals
Unpolluted air
What is the largest wilderness
Antartica
What kind of a climate do wildernesses have
Extreme climates
Are wildernesses accessible
No, they are usually inaccessible
What are the reasons why we protect wildernesses
White snow and ice cover reflects sunlight and regulate the earth
Permafrost locks in methane
We need to maintain the ‘gene pool’ of wild species
What are the 4 ways we protect wildernesses
Technology
International agreements
Government laws
Conservation groups
How does technology help protect wildernesses
Modern construction methods can minimise environmental impacts
How do international agreements help protect wildernesses
They recognise the importance of the place and put agreements in place to protect it
How do conservation groups help protect wildernesses
They pressure governments to protect cold areas that are at risk of being damaged
How do government laws help protect wildernesses
They can make laws to protect the areas
