Living World Flashcards
The freshwater pond:
How do the consumers obtain their energy? Give an example of a consumer.
They obtain energy by feeding on producers or other consumers.
Eg. pond snails eat plants
The freshwater pond:
How do scavengers obtain energy? Give an example.
They break down living elements and recycle nutrients. (nitrogen, potash, potassium)
eg. rat-tailed maggot will eat dead fish
The freshwater pond:
How do decomposers obtain energy?
Bacteria or fungi break down remaining plant and animal material.
The freshwater pond:
How does the freshwater pond provide a variety of habitats?
BOTTOM: there is little oxygen or light, but plenty of shelter and food: SCAVENGERS
MIDWATER: animals breath through gills/ skin. fish are the main predators. good is found on the surface or the pond bottom: FISH
POND SURFACE: plenty of light and oxygen. little shelter: DUCKS
POND MARGIN: dry, lots of oxygen and light. plenty of shelter: HERON
The temperate deciduous forest:
Describe the distribution of temperate deciduous rainforests.
Found across much of NW Europe, eastern North America and parts of East Asia.
The temperate deciduous forest:
Describe the temperatures and rainfall.
Temperatures are moderate and the growing season lasts for 7 months.
Rainfall distributed evenly throughout the year.
The temperate deciduous forest:
Describe the soils.
- Rich and fertile brown soils.
- Active weathering provides high levels of nutrients.
- Annual leaf fall provides organic matter which further enriches the soil.
The temperate deciduous forest:
Describe the vegetation.
Deciduous oak, beech, birch and ash trees shed leaves in Autumn.
(limits water loss by preventing transpiration in winter)
Fully grown trees provide a canopy.
There is a sub canopy of saplings such as hazel.
There is a herb layer of bracken, brambles and bluebells.
The ground layer is dark and moist (moss grows).
The tropical Rainforest:
Describe the distribution.
Found in a broad belt through the tropics.
Central and South America.
Central parts of Africa.
South east Asia and northern parts of Australia.
The tropical Rainforest:
Describe the temperature and climate.
Over 2000mm of rainfall a year.
27 °C = average temp throughout year.
—> conditions ideal for plant growth.
The tropical Rainforest:
Describe the soils.
Surprisingly infertile.
Dead leaves rapidly decompose in the damp, hot conditions…
Most of the nutrients are found on the soil surface…
heavy rainfall leads to leaching: nutrients dissolve in rainwater and are carried away.
Infertile, red coloured soil remains: LATOSOL
LATOSOL= rich in iron and very acidic.
Trees and plants have largely shallow roots to absorb nutrients on soil surface.
The tropical Rainforest:
Describe the vegetation.
Largest number of plant and animal species of any biome.
CANOPY - where the majority of plants and animals live due to maximum light and food sources. eg. parrots, toucans, monkeys.
The rainforest floor is too dark to support many plants.
The tropical Rainforest:
Describe how plants adapt to the rainforest conditions.
buttress roots- massive ridges help support the base of the tall trees and help transport water. may also help O2/Co2 exchange by increase SA.
‘Drip tips’- allow heavy rain to drip off the leaf
leaves have flexible bases- allow them to turn to face the sun
thin smooth bark- allows water to flow easily
LIANAS- woody creepers that are rooted to the ground but carried by trees into the canopy where they have their leaves and flowers.
EPIPHYTES- plants that live on branches high in canopy to seek sunlight. nutrients from air and water, not soil.
The Hot Desert:
Describe the distribution.
Found in dry continental interiors in a belt approximately 30 degrees N and 30 degrees S.
The Hot Desert:
Describe the climate.
High temperatures in the day and temps below freezing at night.
Arid- < 250mm rainfall/ year.
Very few clouds: air rises at the equator–> descends at these latitudes–> high pressure anticyclone
The Hot Desert:
Describe the soils.
Sandy or stony.
Dry, but soak up water quickly.
Evaporation draws salts to the surface, leaving a white residue on th surface.
Not particularly fertile.
Little organic material, leading to a lack of dense vegetation.
The freshwater pond:
How do the producers obtain their energy? Give an example of a producer.
They convert sunlight into glucose (energy)
Plants do this by photosynthesis.
eg. bulrushes, marsh marigolds
The hot desert:
describe the vegetation, giving examples of plant adaptations 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 water can be soaked up before it evaporates.
Joshua tree: needle like leaves coated in a waxy resin, reducing water loss.
Epping Forest:
What is it?
An ancient deciduous forest running north- east of London on a high gravel ridge.
2500 ha, 19km long and 4km wide.
70% deciduous woodland (mostly beech), including grasslands and marshes
Habitat for all three native species of woodpecker, wood-boring stag beetles and fallow deer.
Epping Forest:
What are the forests early uses and management?
Has been in use since Norman times.
Norman’s:
medieval kings and queens hunted for deer. Commoners grazed animals and collected wood for fires and building.
Pollarding was used as a method of sustainable management. (cut at shoulder height, above the level of browsing by animals such as deer).
Royal land use declined in the 19th century.
local land owners made attempts to buy parts othe forest…
—> 1878: ‘Epping Forest Act of Parliament’.
‘the conservators shall at all times keep Epping Forest unenclosed and unbuilt on as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the people.
City of London Corporation has managed EF since then.
Epping Forest:
How has the forest been managed recently?
1,600ha designated as:
- SSSI
- European special area of conservation
City of London Corporation:
- Provides car parks, toilets, refreshment facilities and maintains footpaths
- 3 easy access parks for people with disabilities
- Old trees allowed to die and fall naturally
- Controls riding and mountain biking
- Preserves ancient trees through pollarding (1,000 since 1981)
- Encourages grazing to maintain grassland and flora&fauna
- Preserves ancient earthworks and buildings
- Maintains ponds to prevent them from silting up
- Preserves herds of fallow deer
Malaysia Tropical rainforest:
Give features of the rainforest.
Malaysia is made up of Peninsula Malaysia and Eastern Malaysia.
60% is forested
13% is commercial tree crops (rubber and Palm oil)
Most of the primary (virgin) forest has now been deforested.
5,500 species of flowering plants
2,600 species of tree
1,000 species of butterflies
203 species of mammals (78% only live in rainforests)
Malaysia Tropical Rainforest:
Describe how Logging is a threat to the rainforest.
Logging:
Malaysia was the worlds largest exporter of tropical wood in the 1980s.
Clear felling is common.
Selective logging more recently- biodiversity is still reduced, especially through associated road construction.
Illegal logging occurs (in Borneo)–> increasingly marginal slopes logged–> soil erosion, mudslides.
Logging reduces biodiversity
Logging threatens indigenous tribes.
eg. 2003, Penan community in Long Lunyim, Sarawak state protested against the encroachment by a logging company–> some members of the community imprisoned
Malaysia Tropical Rainforest:
Describe how energy production is a threat.
Hydroelectric power is produced.
Thousands of hectares of forest are flooded.
Provides HEP primarily for industrialised Peninsula Malaysia.
Bakun Dam project- Sarawak- $2bn
230km squared of virgin rainforest cut down
10,000 indigenous people forced to move from the flooded area–> traditional subsistence farmers have to pay to be rehoused–> depression, alcoholism
