Ecosystems And Rainforests Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is the living organism in an area, together with
The non-living components of the environment
What does it mean is something is biotic?
It’s a living thing
What does it mean if something is abiotic?
Non-living
Hedgerow advantages are…
Good shelter
Food source
Helps develop diversity
Draw lots of c02 from the atmosphere
What is decomposition?
Decomposition is the breaking down of dead organic material
Why is decomposition essential?
To release nutrients back into the soil to be used again
What’s part of the energy transfer square in animals
Producers (leaf)
Primary consumers(slug)
Secondary consumers
Tertiary consumers
Causes of hedgerows…
Farmers Desiree for larger profits, need more space to grow crops
Move from low intensity to high intensity farming
Need for more food due to a growing population
Effects of hedgerow loss..
Less of rare hedgerow species in uk
No longer any roots to stabilise soil in fields
Animals exposed to predators as natural coridors are gone
Faster soil erosion
What is global change?
Changes that involve the whole world. Eg. Climate change
What is local scale change ?
Things which damage a habitat. Eg. Removal of hedgerows
Forest case study in the uk….
Epping forest
Where is Epping forest?
Southeast England
Essex
North east of greater london
3 things needed for an ecosystem to work
Biomass ( life)
Litter ( dead plants, decomposing animals)
Soil ( fertile ground containing nutrients)
The rate of what affects the ecosystems function
Rate of the flow and proportion of biomass litter and soil.
Big circle on a diagram means..
Lots of nutrients stored there
Wide arrow on diagram means…
Nutrients transfer quickly between the stores.
What does the nutrient cycle look like ( picture )
What’s different about the rates of flow between the 2 ecosystems? (Amazon) (Epping)
Smaller litter (dead organisms) store in the Amazon
Larger soil store in Eppingforest
What causes the difference in rates
Different temperatures and environment
Example of a producer….
A green leaf
Example of a primary consumer…
A slug , a fly
Example of a secondary consumer…
A blackbird
An example of a tertiary consumer…
A fox
A sparrow hawk
What is a biome?
Biomes are global ecosystems
What’s the distribution of biomes decided by?
It’s dertermimed by the climate
What is a climate?
Avaradge weather conditions of a place over 30 years or more
Where do tropical rainforests occur?
Tropical rainforest typically occur
Near the equator
Between the tropical of cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
Between 10degrees N and 10 degrees S
What’s the climate of a tropical rainforest like?
Hot and wet
Equatorial climate
What is leeching? Think soil.
Fertile Soil being washed away by precipitation
Importance of the Amazon rainforest..
Provides cover for animals
Nutrients for animals
Produces nesrly 20% of earths oxygen
Carbon sink ( trees store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen)
What’s is deforestation ?
Deforestation is the permanent and usually large scale removal of trees
Where’s the Amazon rainforest an how much does it cover?
It’s in South America
60% of it is in Brazil
Covers 8million km2
What are the 5 main causes of deforestation in Brazil?
Logging
Road building
Mineral extraction
Commercial farming
Substinence farming
What’s commercial farming?
Where the forest is cleared to make way for plantations where crops are grown
What’s substinence farming? ( small scale farming)
Forest is cleared for farmers who need land to grow for crops for themselves and their families
What is logging ?
Wood being removed from the forest by cutting down trees for For furtnitre and other things
What’s road building
What does it lead to
Road building is the building of roads to bring equipment and resources in and out of the rainforest. Makes remote areas of the rainforest more accessible to people that take advantage of its resources
What’s mineral extraction?
Mineral that are found under the rainforest are needed by developed countries.
Impacts of deforestation….
Economic - farming,logging and mining ( jobs and resources)
Climate change- carbon sink affected increasing the greenhouse effect. Global warming. Up to 75% of brazils c02 emissions come from deforestation.
Soil erosion-Brazil is loosing 100tonnes of top soil per hectare each year. Trees being cut down can’t intercept the rainfall on the top canopy.
Can the impacts be positive, negative . Global or local?
Impacts can be
Positive
Negative
Global
Local
The 5 habitats
Deciduos forest
Confireous forest
The tundra
The desert
The savvana
What’s a stakeholder?
People/ groups who have an interest in something.
People take interest in the rainforest for….
Resources
Services
Jobs
Sustainable management means ….
Meeting the needs of a current population without compromising the needs of future generations
Sustainability needs to be
_____ sustainable
______ sustainable
______ sustainable
Environmentally sustainable
Socially sustainable
Economically sustainable
Sustainable managements of the Amazon rainforests
International debt reductions
International agreements
Selective logging
Conservation and education
Ecotourism
What’s an international debt reduction relating to the Amazon
A debt is cancelled for a country in exchange for a country conserving its tropical rainforest
How do international agreements affect the rainforests
International agreements insure only sustainably sourced wood is imported
What is selective logging ?
Only older trees are cut down, this protects the canopy and limits damadge fo the soil. If a trees cut down another one is planted . Forest can reach full maturity again after 30-50 years
What’s conservation and education?
Ensuring people involved in the exploitmenr of the rainforest understand the concequences behind the actions .
What’s Ecotourism ?
Tried not do damadge environment and respects local culture . Aims to givejobs to local people .. ecotourist travel in small groups and use local products
3Plant adaptations in the rainforest ….
Buttress roots-large roots have ridges which create a large surface area to help supper large trees
Epiphytes -plants that live on the branches of trees high up in the canopy. They get their nutrients from air and water not soil
Waxy leaves- to help keep the moisture
Animal adaptations in the rainforest…
Sloth- camoflauge and moves slowly to make it difficult for predators to spot
Spider monkey- long , strong limbs to help it climb through rainforest trees
Toucan has a long, large bill to allow it to reach and cut fruit from branches that are too weak to support its weight
