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Geography > Ecosystems 2 > Flashcards

Ecosystems 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the Climate of Hot Deserts?

A
  • Little rainfall
  • Extreme temperature
  • Day - 45 degrees Celsius
  • Night - 5 degrees Celsius
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2
Q

What is the Soil like in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Shallow w/ gravelly texture
  • Not fertile
  • Dry from lack of rain
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3
Q

What are the Plants like in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Growth sparse from lack of rain
  • Cacti & thornbushes grow
  • Short plants except cacti
  • Short life cycle
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4
Q

What are Animals like in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Contain animals adapted to survive in harsh environment
  • Lizards, snakes, insects, scorpions
  • Mammals small & nocturnal
  • Most birds leave desert during harshest conditions (roadrunners live all year)
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5
Q

What are People like in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Grow a few crops

* Indigenous people often nomadic

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6
Q

What are the Biotic components of Hot Deserts?

A
  • Plants
  • Animal
  • People
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7
Q

What are the Abiotic components of Hot Deserts?

A
  • Climate
  • Water
  • Soils
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8
Q

How are Plants and Animals linked in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Plants get nutrients from soil, providing nutrients & water for animals to eat
  • Animals spread speeds, help plants reproduce
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9
Q

How do Plants Struggle to Grow in Hot Deserts?

A
  • Hot dry climate affects soil
  • Soil salty from high evaporation & low nutrients from little decomposition of dead plant material by fungi & bacteria
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10
Q

Why can Hot Deserts only support low density populations of animals?

A

Sparse vegetation limits amount of food available

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11
Q

What can Soil Erosion lead to?

A

Clouds of dust in atmosphere - changes climate of deserts - reducing rainfall making them even drier

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12
Q

How can you cause Soil Erosion in Hot Deserts?

A

Cattle overgraze vegetation

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13
Q

Describe Cacti:

A
  • Succulents
  • Big, fleshy stems to store water
  • Thick waxy skin to reduce water loss
  • Sharp spines & toxins to stop animals stealing water from stems
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14
Q

Describe Plant Roots:

A

Very long to reach deep water supplies, spread out wide near surface to get as much water when it rains

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15
Q

How are Desert Animals adapted to cope with Hot, Dry conditions?

A
  • Nocturnal - animals stay cool
  • Long limbs or ears - large SA to lose heat from
  • Big animals (camels) store large amounts of fat which break down to water when needed
  • Minimise water loss from sweat and urine
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16
Q

How do Camels adapt to sand?

A
  • Keep sand out of eyes & nose by having triple eyelids, long eyelashes & close nostrils
  • Large flat feet so don’t sink in sand
17
Q

Where is there the Highest level of Biodiversity and what does it Contain?

A
  • Along desert margins
  • Small areas around ephemeral ponds/rivers
  • Contains high proportion of epidemic species to the desert
18
Q

Why does Human Development threaten Biodiversity?

A
  • Increasing desertification

* Over-using/contaminating water supplies

19
Q

How does Global Warming affect Hot Deserts?

A
  • Deserts hotter & drier
  • Forcing species (lizards) to move to cooler areas
  • Species at limits of environment don’t have anywhere to go, risk of decline/extinction
20
Q

What is Desertification?

A

Degradation of land that becomes drier & less productive

21
Q

How is Climate Change a Cause of Desertification?

A
  • Reduce rainfall - plants die, soil easily eroded

* Higher temperatures - water evaporates from land & plants, drier soil, plants die

22
Q

How is Human Activity a Cause of Desertification?

A
  • Removal of fuel wood (cooking), soil exposed, soil easily eroded
  • Trampling erodes soil
  • Animals eat plants faster than they can grow - soil erosision
  • Population puts pressure on land - deforestation (for firewood), more overgrazing & over-cultivation
23
Q

How can you Reduce the risk of Desertification?

A
  • Water management
  • Tree Planting
  • Soil management
  • Appropriate technology
24
Q

How does Water Management reduce the risk of Desertification?

A
  • Grow crops that don’t need much water

* Drip irrigation on crops instead of surface irrigation - soil isn’t eroded by lots of water at same time

25
Q

How does Tree Planting reduce the risk of Desertification?

A
  • Trees act as windbreaks to protect soil from wind erosion
  • Trees stabilise sand to prevent desert from encroaching on farm land
  • Trees act as shade to protect crops - reduces temp & evaporation rates
26
Q

How does Soil Management reduce the risk of Desertification?

A
  • Compost adds extra nutrients
  • Leave land to rest between grazing to recover nutrients
  • Rotate crops that use different nutrients
27
Q

How does Appropriate Technology reduce risk of Desertification?

A
  • Sand fences
  • Terraces to reduce soil erosion
  • Solar cookers - use sun energy to heat food (cheap)

Geography (10 decks)

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