Enviromentally sensitive ecosystems introduction and galapgos and antarctica

Question 1

What are environmentally sensitive ecosystems?

Answer 1

• ecosystems less resistant to change
• at danger of damage

Question 2

What are some of the management techniques for environmentally sensitive areas?

Answer 2

• aim is to maintain biodiversity
• limiting areas tourists can visit
• controlling livestock movement
• anti-poaching measure
• replanting forests and native plants
• limiting hunting through quotas and seasonal bans

Question 3

What is significant about the Galapagos islands?

Answer 3

• volcanic islands that have never been connected to the main lands
• flora and fauna survived crossing hundreds kilometres of ocean
• DArwin used evidence he gained from his visits to these islands to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection

Question 4

What animals are present in the galapagos islands?

Answer 4

• majority of land animals are reptiles
• one land mammal, the Galapagos rats
  
  • arrived after being washed away from mainland river banks, floating on rafts of vegetation
• adapted to environment in isolation, resulting in unique species, e.g.
  
  • Galapagos giant tortoise
  • flightless cormorant, reduced wings better for fishing underwater when flight was not needed to escape mainland predators
  • marine igauna, ability to swim, heat up in sun and enter cold sea for food

Question 5

What plants are present in the Galapagos islands?

Answer 5

• on the larger islands, three regions ecist, whicch supports particular plant species
• coastal zone
  
  • salt-tolerant species e.g. mangrove
• arid zone
  
  • drough tolerant species e.g. cacti
• humid zone
  
  • dense cloud-forest
  • trees support population of mosses and liverworts

Question 6

What causes an increase visit to the island in the 19th century to the Galapagos Islands?

Answer 6

• whaling trade
• traders allowed domestic island to roam loose
• chopping forests for fires to render down whale fat
• using giant tortoise meat to sustain their voyage due to their ability so survive without food or water
• goats outcompeted giant tortoise

Question 7

What was done in the Galapagos islands to maintain biodiversity?

Answer 7

• Galapagos National Park was established in 1959 and since measures are taken
• park rangers across the islands
• limiting human access to particular islands of specific parts
• controlling migration to and from the islands
• strict control over movement of introduced animals such as pigs

Question 8

What is unique about antarctica?

Answer 8

• coldest highest, driest, windiest, emptiest contentent
• almost entirely covered by an ice sheet
• has 2 seasons
  
  • summer - many parts experience 24 hour sunlight vice versa

Question 9

What animals are present in antarctica?

Answer 9

• endothermic animals
• rely on blubber for insulation
• e.g. seals whales, penguins
• some invertabrates live on the continent all years

Question 10

What is special about the emperor penguin?

Answer 10

• only warm-blooded animal that remains on the Antarctic continent during winter
• females lay one egg in mid-winter and leave to spend the winter at sea
• male penguins stay on land, surviing the most extreme winter conditions for up to nine weeks with no food
  
  • keeping egg warms by balancing on their feet and covering it with a flap of abdominal skin

Question 11

What plants are present in Antarctica?

Answer 11

• only grow in the ice-free regions (2% of continent)
• lichens and moss grow in any favourable niche, e.g sand, soil, rock, weathered bones and feathers of dead animals
• algae also grow in many sheltered areas

Question 12

How is the human activityy in Antarcitica changing?

Answer 12

• with the exception of a few specialised scientific settlements, Antarctica is too cold for people to live
• in the last 100yrs the number of touism are visiting the Antarctic Pensinsula, accessible from Chile, where the climate is mild in comparison to the rest of the continents, and there is much wildlife

Question 13

What effects has human activity had on Antarctica?

Answer 13

• Planet-wide impacts, e.g. global warming
  
  • causes ice sheet to break up
  • also ozone depletion
• hunting of whales and seals, and fishing of some Antarctic species has depleted stock of these organisms
• soil contaminantion, particularly around scientific research sations
• discharging waste into sea, including human seqage

Question 14

What has the Antarctic treaty decided?

Answer 14

• used to protect the unique nature of the continent
• scientific cooperation between nations
• protection of the Antarctic environment
• conservation of plants and animals
• designation and management of proteted areas
• management of tourism