Ecosystems Flashcards
Ecosystem
A community of plants and animals that interact with each other and the physical environment
What is a producer ?
A plant or grass , a plant that gets food from the sun and is eaten by a consumer
What is a consumer ?
Sometime that eats the producers
How does deforestation affect the ecosystem?
- it exposes the soil beneath to rainfall washing away nutrients
- destroys habitats
How can bad weather or climate change effect ecosystems?
- can kill part of the food web
- the habitats is no longer perfect for an animal so they migrate
- climate change can make it hard for the ecosystems to survive e.g. Less rainfall
Where are tropical rainforest found ?
Just above or below the equator, as there is heavy rainfall and a lot of sun light
Where are deserts found?
Close to the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn as the air no longer has moisture however is still hot
Where are Tropical grasslands found ?
Between tropical rainforests and deserts
Where are Temperate grassland found ?
40° and 60° north of the equator
Where are deciduous forest found?
Many places at higher latitudes
where are coniferous forests found ?
60° north they are cold forests
Where is the tundra found?
Arctic Circle
Where is Epping Forest located?
East of London and the south-east of the UK
How was Epping forest created ?
It is all that remains of a larger forest that colonised England at the end of the last ice age
In the last 100” years how has Epping Forest been managed?
hunting grounds for royalty, timber resource, and nowadays recreation
What is the biodiversity like in Epping Forest?
There is a high biodiversity meaning a complex food web composed of thousands of species
How many species of moss and lichen growth in Epping Forest?
117
How many birds species are there in Epping Forest?
38
How many species of fungi are there in at Epping Forest?
700
Most of Epping Forest trees are deciduous what does deciduous mean?
The tree that loses its leaves in the winter
How does the nutrient cycle demonstrate independence of the ecosystem?
- The trees are deciduous and shed their leaves
- decomposers decompose the leaves
- this is then converted into humus in the soil
- plants can then get there nutrients from the soil to grow
How are people and the ecosystem independent?
- coppocing used to occur ( cutting back trees to encourage new growth of wood)
- today’s visitors pick berries and flowers in turn this helps spread seeds which stick to their clothes
What is a decomposer?
And organism often the bacteria or fungus that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, thus making organic nutrients available to the eco-cycle
What is the management of Epping Forest ?
- pollarding - cutting of trees at shoulder height to encourage new growth
- allowing old trees to die and collapse naturally allowing the decomposes to decompose the wood and fertilise the soil
- encouraging grazing to maintain the grassland
What is the impact on the ecosystem of changing one component?
The whole food chain is disrupted, other biotics may die out aswell as they rely on that specific food source and other biotics will thrive as they have one of their consumers