Ecosystems And Rainforests Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
All the biotic parts and the abiotic parts of an area
Producers
Use sunlight energy to produce food
Consumer
Gets its energy by eating other organisms. They eat producers or other consumers
Decomposer
Gets its energy by breaking down dead material. Bacteria and fungi
The Nutrient Cycle
- When dead material decomposes, nutrients are released into the soil.
- The nutrients are then taken up from the soil by plants. The plants can be eaten by consumers.
3, when the plants or consumers die, the nutrients are returned to the soil. - This is called nutrient cycling
A food chain…
Shows what eats what
A food web…
Shows lots of food chains and how they overlap.
If one part of an ecosystem changes…
It affects all the other parts in the ecosystem
Tundra
Found at high latitudes in Northern Europe, Canada + Alaska. Winter are cold, summers are brief and little rainfall. Not many trees. Layer of permafrost.
Grasslands
Savannah - dry + wet seasons, between tropics. Grasses.
Temperate - high latitudes, more variation in temperature, less rainfall. Just grasses.
Boreal Forest
Winters cold and dry, summer mild and moist. Trees coniferous, evergreen and have needles
Deciduous forest
Mid latitudes. Summers are warm, winter is mild, rainfall all year. Deciduous trees
Tropical rainforest
Around equator, where it’s hot and wet all year round. Dense canopies of vegetation forming distinct layers.
Hot Desert
Little rainfall, between tropics, hot during day, cold at night. Shrubs and cacti are sparsely distributed.
Polar
North and south poles. Cold, icy, dry. Dark for months, short growing season of two months.
Climate of tropical rainforests
Same all year. Hot, doesn’t vary. High rainfall (2000mm per year).
Plants in tropical rainforest
Trees are evergreen. Trees are tall and vegetation cover is dense - little light reaches forest floor. Lots of epiphytes.
Epiphytes
Plants that grow on other living plants and take nutrients and moisture from the air
Soil
Isn’t very fertile as heavy rain washes nutrients away. Surface nutrients due to decayed leaf fall, but this layer is very thin as decay is fast in warm, moist conditions
Animal species
More species than any other ecosystem.
People
Indigenous people make a living here by hunting, fishing, gathering nuts and berries, and growing vegetables in pots
Biodiversity
The variety of organisms living in a particular area.
Biodiversity in rainforest
Very high - 50% of the world’s plant, animal and insect species (half of all life on earth!)
Plant adaptations
- Trees compete for sunlight by growing tall.
- Thick, waxy leaves with pointed drip-tips - channel rainwater to the point, encouraging run-off so the weight of the water doesn’t damage the plant. No standing water for bacteria/fungi to grow in. Waxy coating repels rain.
- Climbing trees e.g lianas use tree trunks to reach sunlight
- Smooth, thin bark helps water to run off easily.
- Buttress roots support the trunks
- Leaves dropped gradually throughout the year, so they can keep growing.
