Sustaining ecosystems Flashcards
Ecosystem
Unit consisting of biotic (plants and animals) and abiotic (climate and soil) components
Producers
Rely on sunlight to produce food e.g. plants
Consumers
Rely on producers for food and also other consumers
Decomposers
Get their energy by breaking down dead producers/consumers/fallen leaves e.g. fungi and bacteria
Foodchain
What eats what
Foodweb
Lots of food chains and how they overlap
Interdependence
Parts of an ecosystem relying on each other
Example of interdeoendence
Hot, dry summer - less berry bushes - fewer berries for birds in winter - numbers of sparrows and thrushes fall - no food for sparrow hawks, number of sparrow hawks fall
Where are coral reefs found?
30 degrees N & S of the equator
Where are grasslands found?
Savannah - between the tropics
Temperate - at mid-latitudes
Where are temperate forests found?
At mid-latitudes
Where are tropical rain forests found?
Closely around the equator
Where are hot deserts found?
15 - 30 degrees N & S of the equator
Where are the polar regions found?
N & S poles
Characteristics of polar regions
Climate: Cold, low rainfall, clearly defined seasons
Plants: few plant (mosses and lichens - plants don’t grow very tall)
Animals: few species (polar bears and penguins)
Characteristics of hot deserts
Climate: Hot, low rainfall (rare when it does rain)
Plants: low plant growth (cacti & thornbushes)
Animals: reptiles & small mammals
Characteristics of grasslands
Climate: Savannah - low rainfall, distinct wet and dry seasons
Plants: small plants and few scattered trees
Animals: lots of insects and large animals
Climate: Temperate grasslands - cold winters, hot summers
Plants: small plants and very few trees
Animals: fewer animals species than Savannah - mammals include wild horses and mole rats
Characteristics of Coral reefs
Climate: Common in warm areas, grow best in shallow, clear and salty water
Plants: few plants as coral reefs grow under water, tiny algae live inside corals
Animals: 25% of all marine species live in coral reefs
Characteristics of Temperate forests
Climate: Distinct seasons, rainfall is high
Animals: many species including mammals and birds, streams and ponds are popular habitats
Plants: lots of trees, type of vegetation depends on type of forest: Deciduous forest - broad leaved trees and forest floor plants. Coniferous forest - evergreen trees and an understory of grasses and lower growing plants
Characteristics of tropical rainforests
Climate: No definite seasons, hot all year round, rainfall is high
Animals: more animal species than any other ecosystem (gorillas and tree frogs)
Plants: evergreen trees and ephiphytes (plants that grow on other plants and take nutrients from the air, vegetation cover is dense - very little light reaches the floor, rain forest has 4 distinct layers
