Key Words Flashcards
biome
large scale ecosystem
biosphere
the layer of the Earth inhabited by living organisms
ecosystem
self-sustaining system of interactions between living and non-living things
biotic
living things
abiotic
non-living things
flora
vegetation eg. plants
fauna
animals eg. tiger
carbon sequestration
the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it up in biotic material
surface run-off
water from precipitation flows over the lands surface
altitude
height
biomass
the mass or volume of living things in an area or biome
climate graph
a graph which shows precipitation (bar) and temperature (line)
evapotranspiration
when water evaporates from pores of leaves into the atmosphere. This results in water being drawn up the plant stems. This is combined process of evaporation and transpiration.
goods
physical materials eg. wood
services
functions eg. oxgen from trees
provisioning services
products obtained from ecosystems eg. vegetables, nuts, game
regulating services
keeps areas and the whole planet healthy eg. storing carbon and emitting oxygen which keeps the atmosphere balanced
supporting services
keeps the ecosystem healthy eg. nutrient cycle
cultural services
benefits people get from a healthy ecosystem eg. spiritual well-being and happiness
resources
found in the natural world that we need to survive or make a living
commercial exploitation
using the biosphere to make a profit
non-renewable resources
cannot be remade eg. fossil fuels
sustainable resources
can be deliberately renewed by managing them eg. trees
renewable resources
renew themselves without being managed eg. wind energy
malthus theory
the growth of population is faster (increasing geometrically) than food supply (increasing arithmetically) and the population will decrease through starvation and ‘Positive Checks’ such as diseases and ‘Preventative Checks’ such as couples having less children
boserups theory
the population determines agricultural methods and the human race will always invent new ways of coping with demand and we will never run out of food
