Paper 1 - Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

Question 1

Define Biome

Answer 1

An ecosystem on a global scale

Question 2

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 2

The community of plants and animals that interact with eachother and their physical environment

Question 3

State facts about the desert biome

Answer 3

• High temperatures
• Low rainfall
• Plants have water storing features and extensive root systems

Question 4

State facts about the Temperate grassland biome

Answer 4

• Hot summers and very cold winters
• High rainfall
• Grassland with very few tress or shrubs

Question 5

State facts about the Tundra Biome

Answer 5

• Low temperature
• Low rainfall
• Few plants, usually stunted
• Mosses and lichens

Question 6

State facts about the Tropical Rainforest biome

Answer 6

• Hot all year
• Very high rainfall (but has dry season)
• Huge biodiversity, Trees dominate due to competition

Question 7

State facts about the Boreal forest biome

Answer 7

• Warm summers, very cold winters
• Low rainfall
• Coniferous trees

Question 8

State facts about the Temperate forest biome

Answer 8

• Warm summers, cool winters
• High rainfall
• Deciduous trees

Question 9

State facts about the Tropical grassland biome

Answer 9

• Hot all year
• Very high rainfall
• Tall grasses, drought adapted trees and shrubs

Question 10

Why are marine ecosystems important to the UK?

Answer 10

• Tourism brings money and makes jobs
• Fishing is important for food production and employment
• Widm turbines

Question 11

How are marine ecosystems damaged?

Answer 11

• Oil spills
• Trawling and overfishing
• Litter and pollution
• Climate change

Question 12

Describe the rainforest’s soil

Answer 12

• Shallow
• Easily saturated and leached, washing out it minerals and nutrients
• Autumn leave improve its quality

Question 13

Define Biotic

Answer 13

The living parts of an ecosystem

Question 14

Define Abiotic

Answer 14

The non-living parts of an ecosystem

Question 15

What effects the Tropical Rainforest’s nutrient cycle?

Answer 15

• Biggest store is biomass
• Leaves drop into litter store and decompose quickly
• Competition for nutrients is high
• Thinness of the soil
• Leaching washes out nutrients
• Nutrients 》Biomass is very fast

Question 16

State some adaptations of the trees in the Tropical Rainforest

Answer 16

• Leaves have large surface areas for as much photosynthesis as possible
• Buttress roots keep tree stable in such shallow soil - can access the sparse nutrients in the shallow soil with shallow roots
• Drip Tip leaves so that water doesn’t weight down branches and break them, or algae and most don’t block the light

Question 17

State some adaptations of the trees in the Deciduous Woodland

Answer 17

• Deciduous soil has well developed layers of nutrients from leaf litter
• Deep roots access ground water and nutrients
• Trees shed leaves in autumn to prevent water loss in drier times if the year - other plants bloom whilst their competition for light has gone
• Leaves and acorns contain acid tannin that is poisonous to some animals (like horses) and taste bitter to deer - prevents grazing

Question 18

Compare and contrast the nutrient cycles of the Tropical Rainforest and the Deciduous woodland

Answer 18

• Biomass is bigger in TRF
• Higher Rainfall in TRF
• Smaller soil store in TRF
• Less input from rock weathering in TRF
• Less Nutrients in TRF
• Less in soil store in TRF
• Smaller Litter store in TRF

Question 19

[CASE STUDY: The New Forest] 1) How is the new forest being damaged?

Answer 19

• Air pollution from traffic
• Litter and noise pollution from people
• Walking and cycling causes erosion of the ground
• Overgrazing and overpopulation of animals

Question 20

[CASE STUDY: The New Forest] 2) What problems do human cause in the New Forest?

Answer 20

• Visitor trample plants and erode grass
• Drop litter, have BBQs and start fires
• Cars, scare and sometimes hit, ponies and pigs
• Visitors scare young foals
• 50% of woodland is privately owned
• Non-naive trees

Question 21

[CASE STUDY: The New Forest] 3) What management techniques hae been used in the New Forest?

Answer 21

• Cars parks prevent parking on the roadside
• Barriers stop access to specific places
• Leaflet ‘5 ways to love the New Forest’
• Hotels advice alternate transport, like walking, cycling or buses
• Cut down conifers and replant deciduous trees