Ecosystems Flashcards
Name the layers of the rainforest
Describe the features of the rainforest nutrient cycle
What are the four categories of ecosystems goods and services?
Explain what happens when an area is deforested.
Name the example of ecotourism in the Amazon rainforest and give 4 facts about it
- It is Brazil’s first REDD (UN) project
- Paid for by Marriott Hotels
- Families given $28 per month not to cut down the forest this gives them an alternative income
What does REDD stand for?
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is an unit that includes all the biotic (living) parts (e.g: plants and animals) and the abiotic (non-living) parts in an area.
What can organisms in ecosystems be classed as?
Producers, consumers or decomposers
What is a producer?
A producer is an organism that uses sunlight energy to produce food.
What is a consumer?
A consumer is an organism that gets its energy by eating other organisms - it eats producers or other consumers.
What does a food chain show?
What eats what.
What does a food web show?
It shows lots of food chains and how they overlap.
What is a decomposer?
A decomposer is an organism that gets its energy by breaking down dead material, e.g) dead producers, dead consumers or fallen leaves. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. This returns nutrients to the soil, where they can be used by plants.
Give an example of a small scale ecosystem:
- A hedgerow ecosystem includes the plants that make up the hedgerow, the organisms that live in it and feed on it, the soil in the area and the rainfall and sunshine it receives.
- The producers include the hawthorn bushes and blackberry bushes.
- The consumers include thrushes, ladybirds, spiders, greenfly, sparrows and sparrowhawks.
How are different parts of ecosystems interdependent
Some parts of an ecosystem depends on the others, e.g: consumers depend on producers for a source of food and some depend on them for a habitat (a place to live). So, if one part changes it affects all the other parts that depend on it.
Example of ecosystems being interdependent
Hot, dry summer –> reduced plant growth –> Fewer berries for birds in the winter –> Number of sparrows and thrushes fall –> Fewer birds for sparrowhawks, so number of sparrowhawks fall
Remember this:
The climate in an area determines what type of ecosystem forms. So different parts of the world have different ecosystems because they have different climates.
Where are coral reefs found in the world?
Mostly found between 30° north and south of the equator, a few miles off the coast.
Where are grasslands found in the world?
There are two types of grassland. Tropical savannah grasslands are found between the tropics. Temperate grasslands are found at mid-latitudes.
Where are temperate forests found in the world?
Found mainly in the mid-latitudes, between the tropics and the polar regions.
Where are tropical rainforests found in the world?
Found around the equator, between the tropics.
Where are hot deserts found in the world?
Found between 15° and 35° north and south of the equator.
Where are polar areas found?
Found around the north and south poles.
What is the climate like of a polar area?
- Polar areas are very cold. Temperatures are usually less than 10°C. Winters are normally below -40°C and can reach almost -90°C.
- Precipitation is low - no more than 500mm a year (mainly in the summer).
- There are clearly defined seasons - cold summers and even colder winters.
