Ecosystems And Peatlands Flashcards
What are the living elements of ecosystems
Plants, animals, humans and bacteria
What is an ecosystem
A living community of plants and animals and the environment in which they live
What are the non-living elements of ecosystems
Sunlight, air, water, rocks and soil
How does an ecosystem work
-The plants make food inside themselves using the suns energy
- the plant traps the suns energy in chlorophyl
- it takes in carbon dioxide through its leaves and water through its roots
- it uses the suns energy to turn see into glucose - this process is called photosynthesis
- It combines glucose with minerals from the soil it needs to grow(these minerals are called nutrients[nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus])
What eats plants
Herbivores
What do carnivores eat
Animals
What do omnivores eat
Plants and meat
Give two examples of decomposers
Fungi and bacteria
What do decomposers feed on
Dead animals, droppings and other waste material
What does a food chain show
What eats what
Give an eg of a food chain
Plant(producer) -> caterpillar (herbivore) -> wood mouse (carnivore) -> fox (carnivore)
What does a food chain always stat with
A plant
What is passed along the chain
The energy from the sun which was trapped by the plant
Why are food webs better than food chains
They are more realistic because consumers will generally eat more than one thing
What will every living thing become
A feast for the decomposers
What do decomposers do when they make material rot
They release nutrients from it and then they sink back into the soil and get used all over again
What is peat
Partially decomposed plant material which has been compressed under water-logged conditions
How long to peat bogs take to form
Average of 1cm every 10 years
What does this give us evidence of
What past environments were like
What do we call peatlands in Ireland
Bogs
How do bogs form?
- The last ice age ended 10,000 years ago - when the ice melted valleys and lakes filled with water
- Plants and vegetation grow around the lake, they died and fell in, slowly filling up the lake
- When the lake was full, mosses and trees grew on the surface, they died and created layers of partially decomposed material -> peat
What are the two types of bogs
Raised bogs and blanket bogs
Name 3 bog plants
Heather, sundew and bog cotton
Name 3 peatlands animals
Hare, rabbit and frog
Name 3 ways peatlands are being destroyed
- Cutting peat for milling in horticulture
- dumping rubbish
- grazing sheep
What do peatlands preserve
- Plants and pollen which grew here in the past and record past vegetation and climates
- Artifacts and bog bodies
What do peatlands provide
Habitats for animal species which would become extinct because they only live in bogs
Give 3 ways we can protect peatlands
- use wooden walkways to keep public off sensitive areas
- information boards educate the public about bog areas
- give peatlands ASSI status (areas of special scientific interest)
