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GCSE Geography > Theme 5c - Ecosystems > Flashcards

Theme 5c - Ecosystems Flashcards

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1
Q

What is an ecosystem?

A

The links between plants, animals and non-living things around them such as rocks, soil, water and climate.

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2
Q

What determines the ecosystem of an area?

A
  • Rainfall

- Temperature

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3
Q

What is a tropical rainforest?

A

Located either side of the equator where hot and wet conditions encourage continuous growth of plants.

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4
Q

What is a temperate deciduous forest?

A

A hot and cold season means that trees lose their leaves in the winter to conserve energy.

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5
Q

What is a coniferous forest?

A

It is so cold in the winter that trees have evolved needle-like leaves to survive the frosts and reduce moisture loss.

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6
Q

What is the living called in an ecosystem?

A

Biotic

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7
Q

What is the non-living called in an ecosystem?

A

Abiotic

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8
Q

What are the factors effecting succession?

A
  • Pioneer species
  • Change in environment
  • Soils becoming deeper due to weathering.
  • Dominant species over running areas.
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9
Q

What is the water cycle?

A

Moves from land to the sky and then back again. It follows the cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

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10
Q

What is the nutrient cycle?

A
  • Weathered rock releases nutrients into the soil
  • Water is added to the soil by rainfall
  • Plants absorb nutrients through roots and leaves
  • Herbivores gain nutrients by eating plants
  • Plants and animals die and are decomposed by bacteria and fungi
  • Nutrients are returned to the soil
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11
Q

Explain food webs.

A
  • The sun provided heat and energy
  • Plants convert energy by photosynthesis
  • Herbivores eat the plants
  • Carnivores eat the herbivores (thus energy moving up the food chain)
  • Food chains are connected to make a food web
  • number at organisms at each stage decreases, along with the energy.
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12
Q

What is an endemic species?

A

A species which is only found in a given region or location and nowhere else in the world.

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13
Q

What is an indigenous species?

A

Originating in a particular area, region or nation; usually applied to flora, fauna and people.

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14
Q

What key services do ecosystems provide?

A
  • Provisioning services
  • Regulating services
  • Cultural services
  • Supporting services
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15
Q

Examples of key services provided by different ecosystems?

A

Coniferous forests - source of timber.
Savannah - provides materials for nomadic people
Peat bogs - huge stores of co2
Sand dunes - natural coastline defenses

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16
Q

What is an embryo dune?

A

The youngest of the dune at the front of the dunes, nearest the sea.

17
Q

What is a fore dune?

A

Older and slightly higher dunes just shorewards of embryo dunes.

18
Q

What are fixed or grey dunes?

A

Found further inland where conditions for plant growth improve.

19
Q

What types of interference do humans have on sand dunes?

A
  • Recreation
  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Management
20
Q

What is a plagioclimax?

A

The plant community that exists when human actions prevent the climax vegetation being reached.

21
Q

What is monoculture?

A

The cultivation of a single crop in a given area.

22
Q

What is the multiplier effect?

A

The snowballing of economic activity, for example new jobs are crated, people who take them have money to spend in shops, which means that more shop workers are needed.

23
Q

What is the Sahel?

A

A region in north central Africa south of the Sahara desert in an area prone to draught.

24
Q

What is desertification?

A

The spread of desert, or desert conditions, from an established desert area into the surrounding area.

25
Q

What is gully erosion?

A

Channels formed on a poorly vegetated hillside by soil erosion.

26
Q

What is a fallow?

A

A field left to naturally regain its nutrients after growing crops for a number of years.

27
Q

What are three major kinds of habitat loss?

A 
Habitat destruction (eg deforestation)
Habitat fragmentation (eg urban developments or dams)
Habitat degradation (eg pollution)
28
Q

What is genetic modification?

A

The placing of a gene from one organism into another so that the latter can take on a quality of the former that it doesn’t otherwise have.

29
Q

What is agro-forestry?

A

A land-use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland.

GCSE Geography (10 decks)

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