Living World Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
A natural system made up of plants, animals and the environment.
What are producers?
They convert the energy from the sun into energy, they are the start of the food chain, e.g. plants.
What are consumers?
They feed from producers in a food chain.
What is a food chain?
The direct links between producers and consumers.
What is a food web?
Shows all the connections between producers and consumers in a more complex way than a food chain.
What are decomposers?
They break down plant and animal material and return nutrients to the soil.
E.g. bacteria.
What is the nutrient cycle?
The system when plants or animals die the decomposers recycle the nutrients, so new plants and animals can grow.
What are rainforests?
High temperature and heavy rainfall areas located close to the equator and with dense vegetation.
What is biodiversity?
When there is a high number of different species in an ecosystem.
What is deforestation?
Cutting down of trees, often on a large scale.
What is selective logging?
Where only fully grown trees are cut down.
What is commercial farming?
Large areas of land with crops (plantations) which are on land that used to be forest.
Who are indigenous tribes?
People who traditionally live in harmony with the forest’s resources without causing any long-term harm.
What is the emergent layer?
The tallest trees in the rainforest, around 40 metres tall.
What is the canopy layer?
The middle and thickest layer of rainforest.
What is stratification?
The way that the rainforest is in layers.
What are buttress roots?
Wide roots which support tall trees and have large surface area to absorb carbon dioxide.
What is ecotourism?
Holidays taken in the rainforest that are sustainable. They allow a limited number of people to visit, so bring in money to help conservation. But not too many that they cause destruction of habitats.
What is debt reduction?
Agreements between HIC countries and LIC countries. The HICs will cancel the debts of the LICs if they agree to not continue deforestation.
What are carbon sinks?
Something which absorbs more CO2 than it gives out, such as rainforest.
