Section B: The Living World Flashcards
Biodiversity
A large variety of animal and plant life living in the same ecosystem.
Buttress roots
Large, thick tree roots that grow above the ground in tropical rainforests.
Camouflage
An animal adaptation where animals purposefully look like their surroundings to hide from predators.
Canopy
The layer of a tropical rainforest where the tops of trees touch, forming a dense area of vegetation.
Carbon sink
Something that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits, causing a net loss of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Clear felling
A form of logging where all trees in an area are cut down.
Commercial farming
Agriculture that is intended to create surplus produce to sell for a profit.
Debt relief
Agreements where one country reduces the amount of debt owed by another country in return for the owing country putting efforts into environmental conservation.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down organic material and release the nutrients back into the ecosystem.
Deforestation
The permanent (and usually large-scale) removal of trees.
Drip-tip
An adaptation of a leaf where the end of the leaf is tapered, allowing rainwater to drip off.
Ecotourism
Tourism that aims to have reduced environmental impact and supports conservation efforts, making it sustainable.
Epiphytes
Plants that live on the surface of other plants, receiving nutrients from these plants.
Hydroelectric power
Energy harnessed from the movement of water.
Interdependence
The concept of multiple things depending
on each other for survival.
Latosol
An iron-rich, infertile soil found in tropical rainforests.
Leaching
A process in soils where minerals are washed away by water (usually rainfall).
Lianas
Woody vines found in tropical rainforests; their roots grow on the forest floor, but the vines stretch high into the canopy.
Logging
The process of cutting down trees for wood.
Nutrient Cycling
The movement of nutrients between organic and inorganic components of an ecosystem.
Plantations
Farms where crops are grown in large amounts with the intention to sell for a profit.
Selective logging
A form of logging where only certain trees are cut down to reduce the environmental effects of logging.
Subsistence farming
Agriculture that is intended to produce only enough food for the farmer and their family to eat.
Transmigration
A government scheme that aims to move people from overpopulated urban areas to underpopulated rural areas.
Tropical rainforest
A warm, wet, biodiverse ecosystem located within the Tropics.
