Looking After the Environment Flashcards
What is an ecosystem?
Consists of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment. (consists of living and non-living factors)
What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our
planet
What is the biosphere?
The biosphere is composed of all living organisms. Plants, animals, and one-celled

What is the lithosphere?
The lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet.
This crust is
inorganic and is composed of minerals. It covers the entire surface of the earth from the top of
Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
What is the hydrosphere?
The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth.
This includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and even the moisture in the air.
What characterises a forest?
Forest ecosystems are common across temperate climates – areas where winters are cold
and summers are warm.
They usually consist of deciduous trees, which shed their leaves
each autumn, and coniferous trees, which stay green throughout the year.
What characterises a rainforest?
Located in tropical regions, rainforests possess a greater diversity of plant and animal life than any other type of ecosystem.
As their name implies, precipitation
is significant, leading
to dense, verdant vegetation.
Trees grow very tall as they compete for sunlight, and animals live in their canopy
What characterises rivers and streams?
Consisting of flowing freshwater, river and stream ecosystems
support a variety of underwater life
Their relatively fast-moving waters boast a higher oxygen content than that of stationary waters, allowing greater biodiversity among plant and
animal species.
What characterises coral reefs?
Coral reefs are often referred to as the “rainforests of the ocean”
An estimated one-quarter of marine species rely on them for food or shelter.
Brightly-colored fish, sponges, sea anemones, sea urchins and
clams make their homes in coral reefs.
What characterises a grassland?
Grasslands, located in semi-arid zones, contain wide, treeless expanses often inhabited by
grazing animals.
Sub-categories of grassland ecosystems include
savannas, which are found in the tropics;
prairies, situated in temperate regions; and
steppes, which can be found
in either climate.
What characterises a desert?
With a drier climate than grasslands, desert ecosystems are characterized by relatively sparse vegetation, and the number of insects and animals is also relatively limited.
Deserts aren’t necessarily hot; they can lie in temperate zones as well.
Nor must they be sandy;
many deserts feature rock floors.
What is the brief outline of the water cycle?
Heat energy from the Sun causes the water to evaporate from soil, plants,
lakes, rivers and oceans.
This is followed by condensation in clouds formation, precipitation of rain/snow and collection in lakes, rivers and oceans.
What is the carbon cycle?
Carbon atoms move between the biotic and abiotic features of an
ecosystem.
Carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants which is released by animals in a process called respiration.
The plants use carbon dioxide along with water in photosynthesis to produce energy (cells to grow), oxygen and glucose.
The Sunlight is the driving force behind it all.
What is the nitrogen cycle?
- most Nitrogen exists in the air
- animals can’t utilize airborne nitrogen
- nitrogen-fixing bacteria capture nitrogen from the air and transfer it to
plants.
Plants use the nitrogen to develop stronger roots for absorption of water
Animals can then access the nitrogen by eating the plant
Many farmers use fertilizers to add nitrogen to the soil to help plants grow larger and faster.
Both nitrogen fertilizers and forest fires add huge amounts of nitrogen into the soil and nearby lakes and rivers.
Water full of nitrogen causes plants and algae to grow very fast and then die all at once when there are too many for the environment to support.
What are the important parts of an ecosystem?
An ecosystem includes soil, atmosphere, heat and light from the sun, water and living organisms.
What describes a healthy ecosytsem?
A healthy ecosystem has lots of species diversity and is less likely to be seriously damaged by human interaction, natural disasters and climate changes.
Every species has a vital part in its ecosystem that helps keep the system healthy.
How are the living organisms in an ecosystem divided?
Into three categories: producers, consumers and decomposers
