Ecosystems of the Planet (Congo Basin and GBR) Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
A community that consists of living organisms and their habitats.
Where are deserts found?
In a discontinuous band around the tropics at around 15-30 degrees N & S
Where are tropical rainforests found?
In a discontinuous band around the equator at around 0-15 degrees N & S
What are the 5 reasons climate is different in different places?
- Distance from the sea
- Prevailing wind direction
- Latitude (concentration of solar radiation)
- Altitude
- Ocean currents
How much rainfall does temperate forests receive?
750mm to 1500mm per year
How much rainfall does tropical rainforests recieve?
> 2000mm per year
How much rainfall do deserts receive?
<250mm per year
What adaptations do camels have to survive the desert?
- Humps to store fat
- Tough leathery lips to eat plants with spines
- Large feet to not sink into sand
What adaptations does the Saguaro Cactus have to survive the desert?
- Can store 5 tonnes of water
- Long roots to absorb water
What are the adaptations of flora in tropical grasslands?
- Small leaves to reduce transpiration
- Slick, shiny bark to reflect sunlight away
- Deep tap roots
- 10m wide and can store 120,000 litres of water
What threats do the Congo Basin face?
- Illegal logging (87% illegal)
- Central African Elephant poached
- Gorillas poached
What are 3 management strategies to combat threats to the rainforest?
- The Virunga National Park
- Forest Stewardship Council Certification (FSCC)
- World Bank Funding
What are the benefits of Virunga National Park?
- 60,000 new jobs
- Stopping illegal logging and poaching
- Improved drinking water health and education for 4 million people by 2025
What are the negatives of Virunga National Park?
160 rangers killed in the last 2 decades
What are the benefits of FSCC?
- Can certify companies that are legally allowed to log in the Congo Basin rainforest
- 5 million hectares certified
What are the negatives of FSCC?
A relatively small scale project
What are the positives of World Bank Funding?
- $40m funded for 120,000 people
- 100,000ha of land protected
- Improved quality cooking stoves for people in Kinshasa
What are the negatives of World Bank Funding?
- Only focused on Kinshasa people
- Money channelled through the government who has a poor record for corruption
Where are coral reefs located?
In a discontinuous band between 0-30 degrees N and S.
Where is the GBR located?
On the East coast of Australia
How are coral reefs and zooxanthellae interdependent on each other?
- Zooxanthellae photosynthesise for coral for a place to live inside coral
- Coral releases nitrogen which zooxanthellae benefit from
- These products fertilise the algae
How are anemones and clownfish interdependent on each other?
- Clownfish immune from anemone stings
- Brightly coloured clownfish attract predators to anemone
- Anemones ingest predator
- Clownfish then get a place to live
What would happen if there was a sudden increase in nutrients in the water?
- The water would turn cloudy
- Harder for zooxanthellae to photosynthesise
- Formation of large algae sheets on surface of water which block sunlight
- Death of coral
What are some threats to the Great Barrier Reef?
- Temperature rise causing bleaching
- Farming where nutrient rich sediments end up in ocean
- Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish
- Over-Tourism
What are some management strategies to combat threats of the GBR?
- Changing farming practices
- Using bile salts or vinegar to kill COTS
- Guidelines on tourism
What is the area of the Congo Basin Rainforest?
500 million acres
How many unique species of plants are there in the Congo Basin?
10,000
How many different species of mammals are there in the Congo Basin?
400
How many people live in the Congo Basin?
75million(150 different ethnic groups)
How many traditional medicines are there from the moabi tree?
50
How many tonnes of CO2 is stored in trees in the Congo Basin?
22.9 gigatonnes
What percent of logging is illegal in the DRC?
87%
What is the deforestation rate in the Congo Basin?
0.15%-0.20% per year
How much land has Central Africa lost due to deforestation from 1991 to 2000?
91,000km
How many new jobs has Virunga National Park created?
60,000
How much money has been funded by World Bank Funding?
$40m
What percentage of the coral reefs cover the world’s ocean surface?
0.1% but provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species
How many species of fish, invertebrates and algae are found in the GBR?
1 million species
How much money does the GBR generate directly to the economy?
$6.4bn
How many jobs are reliant on the GBR?
64,000
What is the area of the GBR?
340,000km^2
What percent of the GBR is in danger of bleaching if there is a 2-3 degrees rise in temperature?
97%
How many tourists visit the coral reefs each year?
2 million
