Living World Flashcards
What is a biome?
A global scale ecosystem
What are producers?
Organisms that obtain their energy from a primary source. Eg the sun
What is a consumer?
Organisms that obtain their energy by eating other organisms
What are decomposers?
Organisms that break down plant and animal material. Eg bacteria
What is a scavenger?
Organisms that consume dead animals or plants
What is a food chain?
Something that shows the linear links between producers and consumers
What is a food web?
Shows the detailed connections between producers and consumers
What is nutrient cycling?
The recycling of nutrients between living organisms and the environment
What are adaptations?
The way that plants evolve to cope with certain environmental conditions such as excessive rain fall
What is an ecosystem?
The living and non living parts of an environment and the interrelationships that exist between them
What are temperate deciduous forests?
Forests made up of broad leaved trees such as oak that drop their leaves in autumn
What is stratification?
Layering of forests, seen particularly in temperate deciduous forests and tropical rain forests
What are tropical rainforests?
The natural vegetation found in the tropics, well suited to the high temperatures and heavy rainfall of these latitudes
What is leaching?
The dissolving and removal of nutrients from the soil, often in tropical rainforests because of the heavy rainfall
What does arid mean?
Dry conditions that are usually associated with deserts
What are hot deserts?
Deserts have a rainfall of less than 250mm a year. Hot deserts are usually doing between 30°N and 30°S of the equator
What is pollarding?
Cutting of trees at about shoulder height to encourage new growth
What is sustainable management?
A form of management that ensures that developments are long lasting and non-harmful to the environment
What is primary (Virgin) rainforest?
Rainforest that represents the natural vegetation in the region unaffected by the actions of people
What is deforestation?
The cutting down and removal of trees
What is clear felling?
Absolute clearance of all trees from an area
What is selective logging?
The cutting down of selective trees, leaving most of the trees intact
What is transmigration?
A population policy that aims to move people from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas and provide them with opportunities to improve the quality of their lives
What is slash and burn?
A form of subsistence farming in tropical rainforests where some trees are felled and land is cleared by burning before being replanted
What is the selective management system?
A form of sustainable forestry management adopted in Malaysia
What is conservation?
The thoughtful use of resources; managing the landscape in order to protect ecosystems and cultural features
What is Ecotourism?
Tourism that focuses on protecting the environment and local ways of life, also known as green tourism
What is debt relief?
Many poorer countries are in debt, having borrowed money from richer countries to support their economic development. There is strong international pressure for the developed countries to clear these debts - this is debt relief
What is debt?
Money owed to others, to a bank, or to a global organisation such as the world bank
What is a carbon sink?
Forests are carbon sinks because trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They help to address the problem of global carbon emissions
What is a non-governmental organisation?
An organisation that collects money and distributes it to needy causes, eg Oxfam, ActionAid and WaterAid
What is subsistence farming?
Farming to produce food for the farmer and his/her family
What are hunter-gatherers?
People who carry out a basic form of subsistence farming by hunting animals and gathering fruit and nuts
What is commercial farming?
A type of farming wheee crops and/or livestock are sold to make a profit
What is salinisation?
The deposition of solid salts on the ground surface following the evaporation of water. Also an increase in the concentration of salts in the soli reduces fertility
What is retirement migration?
Migration to an area for retirement
What is the distribution of hot desert?
Most are on the Tropic of Cancer, and some around the Tropic of Capricorn. There is a large belt around the north of Africa and Saudi Arabia.
What is the distribution of tropical rainforests?
There is a broad belt between the tropics, with most on the equator.
What is the distribution of deciduous forests?
Mainly in the northern hemisphere, and above Tropic of Cancer. They cover a large part of Europe and are some in North America and East Asia.
What is the climate like in a hot desert?
Very arid and dry, less than 250mm of rainfall a year which is because of high pressure due to a lack of cloud
What is the climate like in a tropical rainforest?
Hot and wet, with rainfall over 2000mm per year. This is because of the sun heating up the air around the equator, which rises and cools quickly, causing lots of rainfall in rainforests, less in the deserts.
What is the climate like in a temperate deciduous forest?
Summers are warm but not too dry and winters are cool but not too cold because they have a temperate climate. Rainfall is distributed evenly through out the year
What are examples of sustainable management in rainforests?
- Create national parks with no disturbances
- Replanting
- Green and ecotourism
- Raising timber prices
- Increased recycling of tropical hardwoods
- Sustainable management of fuel wood supplies
- Providing alternative energy supplies (not fuel wood)
What can be the causes of deforestation?
-No replanting policies
-Lack of logging controls/not being reinforced
-Timber generates money to reduce national debt in poorer countries
-To give land to people without any
-To reduce unemployment
-To clear space for industry
And more
What can be caused by deforestation?
- Lack of clean water due to sedimentation
- Loss of species
- Loss of biodiversity
- More emissions from machinery that cut down trees and decreased number of trees
What are the potential threats to the rainforests?
Logging (economic, social, environmental)
Palm oil plantations (economic, social environmental)
Dams (economic)
Mining (economic environmental)
Slash and burn
Transmigration (social)
Facts about logging
-Clear felling and selective logging affect biodiversity
-In the 1980s there was rampant logging in Borneo
-Logging requires roads to be built and machinery to be used
>causes reduced biodiversity
>deforestation can lead to problems with soil erosion and mudslides
>social problems due to conflict between works and indigenous people
Facts about palm oil plantations
-85% of palm oil is grown in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (Malaysia is the largest exporter)
-Palm oil is in 50% of consumer goods
-It destroys rainforests and threatens people loving there
-It causes climate change
>industrial plantations have severe impacts on environment, people and climate
>80% of Indonesia’s co2 emissions are from deforestation
>Threatens survival of species
Facts about dams
-Supplies hydroelectric power
>230km squared is being cut down at the Bakum dam project in Sarawak
>More is being flooded
>10,000 indigenous people have been forced to move
>People have lost their farmland and livelihood and have become depressed
Facts about mining
-Widespread mining mainly for tin
-Areas of rainforest being cleared for road construction and mining operations
-Drilling for oil and gas
>leads to pollution of land
>leaches soil
>pollutes water supply
Facts about slash and burn
-Used to clear space for farming
-Small scale, local farmers
>can cause wild fires
>leaches soil
Facts about transmigration
-Government initiative to move people from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas
>15000 hectares were cut down for the scheme
What are hot desert soils like?
Tend to be sandy and dry
Little organic matter due to lack of vegetation
Soils are dry but can soak up water very fast after rainfall
Evaporation draws salt to the surface leaving a white residue
Not very fertile
How has vegetation in a hot desert adapted to the climate?
Desert yellow daisy - small linear leaves that are hairy and slightly succulent
Great Basin sagebrush - tap roots up to 25m long and small needle like leaves to reduce water loss
Giant saguaro cactus - roots very close to the surface so it can soak up water before it evaporates. Outside skin is pleated so that it can expand when water is soaked up. Grows slowly
Joshua tree - needle like leaves with a waxy resin
