Unit 1 Brainscape terms Flashcards
What are the key characteristics of deciduous woodland?
Warm summers and mild winters with plenty of rain. Deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter because it is too cold and dark for much photosynthesis. Loss of leaves reduces water loss by transpiration.
What are the key characteristics of coniferous woodland?
Cold climates with ground often frozen in winter. Poor, often acidic soil. Coniferous trees have needles which are not lost in winter - no energy needed each spring to re growing them. Needles reduce water loss as water is often unavailable as it is frozen. Cone shaped trees allow snow to fall off and shallow roots help to absorb precious nutrients.
What are the key characteristics of meadows?
Traditionally cut for hay in July. Contain a wide range of wild flowers such as poppies if no fertiliser is added. If the soil is nutrient rich, wild flowers will be out competed by grasses
What are the key characteristics of ley grassland?
Rye grass produces a very high yield allowing several cuts for silage, it requires high levels of fertilisers to maintain productivity. Lower species diversity than meadows.
What are the key characteristics of wetlands?
Water plants are characterised by luxuriant growth and often have large leaves as loss of water from the leaves is not a problem. These plants often have large air spaces within their leaves to store air due to lack of oxygen in the soil.
What are the key characteristics of moorland?
A semi natural habitat over 300m, that was formed when woodland was cleared and grazed 1,000 years ago. Careful management by humans is needed to ensure the heather regenerates.
In which ecosystem would you find - wood mice, foxes, badgers and tawny owls?
Deciduous woodland
In which ecosystem would you find - deer and squirrels.
Coniferous woodland
In which ecosystem would you find - a wide range of invertebrate species such as the marbled white butterfly, burnet moth, bees and hoverflies as well as birds such as goldfinches.
Meadows
In which ecosystem would you find - small mammals such as wood mice and weasels.
Ley grassland
In which ecosystem would you find - otters, water vole and birds such as reed warblers as well as fish such as sticklebacks, frogs and newts, snails, diving beetles and damselflies.
Wetland
In which ecosystem would you find - animals such as red grouse, hen harrier, adders and lizards.
Moorland
Name at least 3 plants found in deciduous woodland
Broadleaved trees such as oak, ash and beech, bluebells and wild garlic
Name at least 3 plants found in coniferous woodland
Native British species like Scots pine and juniper, as well as non-native species like Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce.
Name at least 3 plants found in meadows
Grasses such as Cocksfoot, Timothy and Common Bent, clover.
Name the plant species found in ley grassland
Agricultural strains of grasses, particularly rye grass together with clover.
Name at least 3 plants found in wetland
Marsh Plants such as willow, yellow iris and water mint as well as water plants such as duckweed and water lilies.
Name at least 3 plants found in moorland
Heather, bilberry and cotton grass - plants adapted to living in acidic soils which are often waterlogged.
What is a microclimate?
A small region of a habitat where conditions are different to normal
How is removing hedgerows damaging to the environment?
Destroys habitats, food sources, shelter, breading areas and links between woodlands leading to isolation of communities
What is a herbivore?
An animal that only eats plants
What is a carnivore?
An animal that only eats meat
What is an omnivore?
An animal that eats plants and meat
In a food chain grass could be described as a ?
Producer
In a food chain a rabbit could be described as a ?
primary consumer/herbivore/prey
In a food chain a fox could be described as a ?
secondary/tertiary consumer, carnivore, predator
What is a food Chain
A simple diagram which shows the feeding relationship between animals and plants
What is a food Web
A complex diagram containing many organisms which shows the feeding relationship of animals and plants
In a food chain or web what do the arrows show?
The direction of energy flow
In a food web or chain where does the energy come from?
The sun
What is a diagram called which shows the number of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain
A pyramid of numbers
What is a diagram called which shows the mass of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain
A pyramid of biomass
Intensive productions systems aim to reduce the amount of energy wasted between trophic levels. How do they do this?
Reduce the amount of movement an animal can make. Keep the animal warm. Feed concentrated foods.
How can physical processes contribute to soil formation?
Heating and cooling of rock - onion skin weathering. Freeze-thaw. Action of seas, rivers and glaciers.
How can chemical processes contribute to soil formation?
Rainwater is slightly acidic and reacts with the rock. Acid rain causes this to happen at a faster rate.
How can biological processes contribute to soil formation?
Plant roots go into cracks in the rock and cause the rock to break up. Action of soil organisms such as worms.
What is weathering?
The breakdown of rocks to produce particles such as clay, silt and sand
What is erosion?
The movement of rock particles by water and wind.
What is deposition?
Where particles are dropped due to the slowing down of wind or water.
What is biodiversity?
A measure of how varied a habitat is in terms of what is living there.
What are the key features of an area with high biodiversity?
An area rich in species and where the species are evenly spread out.
What are the key features of an area with low biodiversity?
An area with few species or where one species dominates the others.
What are the main components of soil?
Sand, silt, clay, gravel, humus, air, water
What are the key features of a clay soil?
Poor drainage (often water logged), heavy to cultivate, take a long time to warm up in spring, cool down slowly in autumn, rich in nutrients
What are the key features of sandy soil?
dry and fast draining, light to cultivate, warm up quickly in spring, cool down quickly in autumn, often low in nutrients due to leaching
What are the key features of loam soil?
Contain roughly equal amounts of sand, silt and clay, do not become water logged, do not dry out quickly, easy to cultivate, the best soil for growing crops.
How can organic matter be added to the soil?
Farmyard manure, green manure (grown and then dug in), kitchen or garden waste
Why are earth worms good for the soil?
recycle nutrients, feed on old vegetation and their excrement makes humus in the soil, make holes in the soil for drainage and oxygenation
What can be added to an alkaline soil to reduce the pH?
Farmyard manure
What can be added to an acid soil to increase the pH?
Lime
Why is the removal of weeds important?
To stop them competing with crops for light, water and nutrients
Give 3 ways in which weeds can be controlled ‘naturally’.
Mulching, hoeing, topping, growing cover crops
What are chemicals that kill weeds called?
Herbicides
Give 3 advantages of intensive farming
Greater yield, easier to feed and check the animals, cheaper food, not much land is needed
Give 3 disadvantages of intensive farming
Large amount of waste produced which needs to be removed, animals can’t behave naturally, over crowding causes stress, rapid spread of disease, visual and smell pollution
Give 3 advantages of extensive farming
little money needed to get started, animals allowed to behave naturally, not much labour is needed, causes less damage to the environment
Give 3 disadvantages of extensive farming
Large amounts of land are needed, low yield, smaller profits, difficult for farmer to monitor health
What is Genetic Modification (GM)?
When a gene is removed from one living organism and put into another. The organism makes the protein that the new gene codes for.
Give 2 uses of GM crops
Disease resistant crops, herbicide resistant crops, production of rice containing vitamin A (can be used to help in poorer countries)
What are the disadvantages of GM crops
They may mutate and cross pollinate with natural crops/plants and alter them, the long term consequences are not known
What is monoculture?
When the same crop species is grown year after year in the same land
Give one advantage of monoculture
The farmer can specialise in growing only one type of crop which is well suited to the land, farmer needs fewer types of fertilisers, pesticides and cultivation equipment
Give 3 disadvantages of monoculture
Depletes soil nutrients so inorganic fertiliser much be used, encourages the build up of pests so pesticides must be used, can lead to the removal of hedgerows which increases soil erosion, can lead to loss of wildlife habitats which reduces species diversity
What is mixed culture?
When there is a yearly change of crops in fields - crop rotation
What is inorganic farming?
Uses inorganic fertilisers, chemical pesticides and herbicides. Monoculture.
What is organic farming?
Uses organic fertilisers and biological pest control. Crop rotation or mixed cultivation.
Name the 4 different types of bacteria in the soil involved in the nitrogen cycle
Nitrifying, nitrogen fixing, denitrifying and decomposers
What are legumes? Give some examples
Plants which have nodules on their roots which contain nitrogen fixing bacteria. Clover, peas and beans.
What happens when nitrate fertilisers get into rivers?
Eutrophication
Name 4 conservation groups
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), English Nature, Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST)
What are the aims of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme?
Conserve biodiversity, maintain and enhance landscape quality and character, protect the historic environment and natural resources, promote public access and understanding of the countryside, protect natural resources
What are the advantages of using larger machinery to farmers?
More efficient, less labour needed
What are the disadvantages of using larger machines on farms?
Removal of hedgerows and soil compaction
Name 3 fossil fuels
Coal, oil and natural gas
Name 3 renewable sources of energy
Wind, water (tide, wave, hydroelectric), solar, biofuels
Name a non-renewable source of energy that is not a fossil fuel
Nuclear
