Ecosystems

Question 1

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 1

The interaction of living and non-living things in an environment.

Question 2

What happens to the biodiversity as altitude increases?

Answer 2

It decreases.

Question 3

Where are tropical forests found?

Answer 3

Low-lying areas near the equator.

Question 4

What is the climate in tropical forests?

Answer 4

Always hot and rainy.

Question 5

What does the climate in an area determin?

Answer 5

What type of ecosystem forms.

Question 6

What trees are found in tropical forests?

Answer 6

Evergreen trees.

Question 7

How are plants adapted in tropical forests?

Answer 7

They are adapted to take in maximum light.

Question 8

Where are temperate forests found?

Answer 8

Places with high rainfall and mild temperatures.

Question 9

What is the climate of temperate forests?

Answer 9

Mild and wet.

Question 10

What climate do boreal forests have?

Answer 10

Cold and dry climate.

Question 11

Where are boreal forests located?

Answer 11

High latitudes where plants and animals are adapted to the cold climate.

Question 12

What is the climate of tropical grasslands? (Savanna biome)

Answer 12

Mostly dry.

Question 13

Where are tropical grasslands found?

Answer 13

Near the equator.

Question 14

Where are temperate grasslands found?

Answer 14

High altitudes and latitudes.

Question 15

What are temperate grasslands’ climate?

Answer 15

Hot summers and cold winters.

Question 16

Where is tundra found?

Answer 16

High latitudes (Northern Europe, Alaska and northern Canada)

Question 17

What is the climate of tundra?

Answer 17

Cold and dry.

Question 18

What does the biosphere provide?

Answer 18

Lot’s of resources humans use.

Question 19

What does the biosphere include?

Answer 19

All parts of the earth that are occupied by living organisms. (Plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, soil and water).

Question 20

What do living organisms provide?

Answer 20

Lots of good people need to survive. (Food, medicine, building materials, fuel).

Question 21

What construction materials does the biosphere provide?

Answer 21

Timber from trees and clay from the soil that can be made into bricks or tiles.

Question 22

How is the biosphere being exploited by humans for energy?

Answer 22

.Forests are cut down for the growing of crops for biofuels, and coal mines or power stations are being built.

.Drilling for oil and gas in the tundra is damaging the biosphere because pipelines are melting the permafrost.

.Areas of the tropical forest have been flooded by the building of hydroelectric dams.

Question 23

How is water being exploited in the biosphere?

Answer 23

Water from lakes and rivers can be exploited and damage the biosphere as plants and animals won’t have enough water to survive.

Question 24

How are humans exploiting the biosphere for minerals (Gold and iron)?

Answer 24

Mines in tropical forests cause deforestation and toxic chemicals are washed into the stream, killing wildlife.

.Open pit mining removes large areas of the land surface which reduces habitat for plants and animals.

Question 25

What are the UK’s four main ecosystems?

Answer 25

Heaths, moorlands, wetlands and woodlands.

Question 26

Where are heaths found in the Uk?

Answer 26

Lowland areas in the south of England like Dorset Heaths and the New Forest.

Question 27

Where are moorlands found in the Uk?

Answer 27

Upland areas - Scotland, northern England and Wales.

Question 28

Where are Wetlands found in the Uk?

Answer 28

On floodplains and in some upland areas.

Question 29

Where are small areas of Woodlands found in the Uk?

Answer 29

The lowlands in southern England like the Forest of Dean.

Question 30

What types of woodland covers most of the UK?

Answer 30

Deciduous woodlands and coniferous woodlands.

Question 31

What is drilled for in the sea?

Answer 31

Oil which is used as fuel for transport and industry.

Question 32

What are the 3 main things that are damaged from human activities in marine ecosystems?

Answer 32

Pollution, damage to the seabed and fishing.

Question 33

Abiotic

Answer 33

Non-living

Question 34

Biotic

Answer 34

Living

Question 35

What are the 4 parts of the rainforest?

Answer 35

Emergents, main canopy, undercanopy and shrub layer.

Question 36

What is the nutrient cycle?

Answer 36

The way nutrients move through a system.

Question 37

What does the Gersmehl model show?

Answer 37

The nutrient cycle.

Question 38

Why is the transfer of nutrients very rapid in rainforets?

Answer 38

Trees are evergreen, so leaves fall all year round.

Warm and moist climate means fungi and bacteria decompose the dead matter quickly.

Rapid plant growth means nutrients are rapidly taken up by the plants roots.

Question 39

What is biodiversity?

Answer 39

The variety of organisms living in a particular area.

Question 40

What does high biodiversity do for humans in a rainforest?

Answer 40

Makes rainforests a rich source of good and services.
(Food, Medicines, Timber, Recreation).

Question 41

What does climate change do in tropical rainforests?

Answer 41

Cause temperatures to increase and rainfall to decrease, and droughts will happen more often.

Question 42

Describe two economic reasons why tropical rainforests are chopped down.

Answer 42

1. Through agriculture, as forest is cleared by farmers to grow food.

2: Resource extraction - Trees are felled to make furniture and for roads to be built.

Question 43

What is a social reason as to why rainforests are cleared?

Answer 43

Population pressure - As the population in the area increases, trees are cleared to make land for new settlements.

Question 44

What 2 factors affect sustainable management strategies?

Answer 44

Political and economic factors.

Question 45

What is ecotourism?

Answer 45

Tourism that minimises damage to the environment and benefits the local people.

Question 46

What are the main biotic and abiotic characteristics of decidiuous woodlands?

Answer 46

Climate, soil, water, plants, animals and people.