unit 3 overview

Question 1

define environment

Answer 1

the abiotic and biotic elements of the earths surface and atmosphere. It includes human changes to the earths surface for example; croplands, planted forest,buildings and roads

Question 2

define a biome

Answer 2

a community of life forms that have adapted to a large natural area

Question 3

define natural biome

Answer 3

are those in which have not sustained direct human interactions.

Question 4

anthropogenic biomes

Answer 4

Are biome that are the result of sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems and can be referred to as human biomes. This can include villages, urban, rural, cropland.

Question 5

define land cover change

Answer 5

The changed that have taken place in natural environments due to variety of natural and or human induced causes. Cyclones bushfires or tsunamis are all natural causes. Human induced casues agriculture and urban areas

Question 6

define ecosystem structure and dynamic

Answer 6

The ecosystem has a structure made up of the biotic and abiotic element. biotic elements have a hierarchy of organisms which are composed of different trophic levels. thereare autotouphs which are often produces such as plants heterotrophs which are secondary and tertiary consumers and decomposers which break down organic matter and recycle this back into the ecosystem.

abiotic elements such as soil, win, sun and are what many of these biotic elements need to survive.

FOOD CHAIN=
1- plant
2. grasshopper eats the plant
3. mouse eats the grasshopper
4 snake eats the mouse
5. bird eats the snake

Question 7

define biodiversity loss

Answer 7

Is the exinction of species (plant or animal) worldwide, and also the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat.

Question 8

define climate change

Answer 8

Is a long term change in the distribution of weather patterns over periods of time, it may be a change in average weather conditions or distribution of weather events with respect to an average for example greaters or fewer extreme weather events. Climate change can contribute global cooling or global warming.

Question 9

define sustainability

Answer 9

is meeting the need of current generations with out compromising the needs of future generations through through simultaneous environment, social and economic adaptation and improvement

Question 10

list the 4 processes of landcover changes

Answer 10

• mining
• expansion and intensification of agriculture
• increased urban areas
• deforestation

Question 11

describe with an example the land cover change deforestation

Answer 11

deforestation is the removal or clearing of forests generally for other uses such as agriculture and urban development. deforestation can also be caused naturally from desertification and fires. forests in Borneo today have been converted into industrial oil palm and timber plantations. this is because palm oil is highly profitable and is used in soaps ad lipstick the switch from oil plantations to rubber generated approx doubles income for makers. thus making illegal plantations in Borneo more attractive. this making oil plantations responsible for 50% of deforestation in borneo over the past 35 years

Question 12

describe with an example the land cover change of the expansion and intensification of agriculture

Answer 12

the expansion and intensification of agriculture refers to the increasing amount of land available for agriculture. there has been a 300% increase in food crop production since 1970 by using fertilisers, sees pestisides and technology to maximise their output. this also having consequences on the natural environment for example ruining water quality and aquatic environments. the green revolution reffers to the improvements made. brazil for example seeing a 574% increase in ceral out put as a reult of adopting improved forms of technology outperforming competitors.

Question 13

describe with an example the the land cover change with the process of the growth of urban settlement

Answer 13

this includes the clearing of native vegitaion and habitats and the building of infrastructure required to support urban areas. its is predicted that by 2030 urban land cover could tripled.

Question 14

describe with an example the land cover change wiht the process of mining

Answer 14

1% of the worlds terrestrial worls is used for ming this still haeing significant impacts on biodiversity, greenhouse gas emmisions, water quality and human health. mining represents 62%of australias total export revenue. mining processes can afford to put funds into rehabilitation of the land and preventing biodiversity loss. for example Brumadinho dam disater an iron ore site resulted in loss of life an effected the economy, water supply and arounf 12million cubic meters of sedimant was released into surrounding rivers.

Question 15

define remote sensing and an example of it

Answer 15

• The science of obtainig info about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircrafts or satalites. An areal image taken by copernicus sentenial-2 which shows sediement making its way into the coral sea near the great barrier reef lagoon after flooding in QLD in 2019.

Question 16

list the 3 main factors which influence the world population

Answer 16

• humans are living longer
• majority of population growth is occuring in urban areas in developing countries.
• fertility rates are dropping

Question 17

outline how government policy in AUS effects land cover change

Answer 17

australia is strict in terms of rehab of mine site and other deforested areas. for example rehab of the Argyle mine site will take around 5 years to complete with an additional period of monitoring the success before the land is returned to the traditional custodians. WA forest managemetn plan 2024-33 includes restrictions on forstrys and preserves 400,000 h of jarrah,karri and other native vegetation.

Question 18

outline how the type of economy AUS has effects the land cover change

Answer 18

12% of aus exports are from agriculture this alone accounts for 55% of australias land use. mineing contributes for $300billion to aus from exports. due to a large amount of aus income is reliant on the lands resources therfore undergoing deforesation as well as urbanisation.

Question 19

outline how type of economy BRAZIL has and how it effects land cover change.

Answer 19

largely based on exports such as beef, soybeans, sugar and ethanole and iron ore. 31 % of brazil is dedicated to agriculture and is responsible fot 21% of the countries employment. brazil having the top 10 highest GDP due to exploitation of natural resources without strict laws.

Question 20

outline government policy for brazil and the effects it has on land cover change

Answer 20

established economic growth by identifying the amazon rainforest as such a large area with significant potential. therefore building trans Amizonian hwys for easier access and free plots of the land to farm. resulting in 20,000 square kms of forests being cut down between 1978 and 1988. a new agreement called the forest code says that only 20% of the land could be cleared to farm and the rest will be set aside for protection of native environment. this 20% changing to 24% then 29% from2014-16 each yr. as a result of pressure from lobbists growing hold in parliment and weakenin the forest code and therfore deforestation increasing.

Question 21

describe the traditiolnal owners of the land term mosaic burning

Answer 21

is a traditional practise done by the indigenous people of australia where only smaller parts of the countryside was burnt at a time. this is alot better for the environment as it preserves the natural habitatand allows animals time to create a new habitat in the parts of the countryside that are not yet burnt. this is usually done in conjunction to cool burning.

Question 22

describe how the aborignal seasonal calander efected land cover change

Answer 22

6 different seaons for each month for more sustainable use of the land ans so that plant and animal species were available for future seasons reducing the long term impact on land cover.

Question 23

list 2 impacts of land cover change

Answer 23

• degradation of aquatic and marine environments
  -urban heat islands

Question 24

explain the degradation of aquatic and marine environments due to land cover change

Answer 24

The quality olf the watershed areas and runoff has a impact on aquatic and marine flora and fauna. Pollution from chemicals such as fertilisers enter the aquatic environments causing eutrophication to occur which causes algal blooms. This then reduces oxygen in the water therefore fish and other marine life dying. 2019 the swan and canning river had large algae blooms leading over 2000 fish dying. these fertiliser have also occured in QLD effecting the coral in the great barrier reef where coral bleaching occurs. this also having an effect on the economy as the reef becomes less appealing to tourists therfore tourists reducing in numbers.

Question 25

explain how urban heat islands are an impact of land cover change

Answer 25

• Urban heat islands are the warming of temperatures in an urban area due to the human made environment.
  Caused by infrastructure absorbing and re-emitting the suns heat making the urban area one to three degrees Celsius higher than rural areas. Places which higher greenery are typically cooler because they absorb some of this heat as well as creating shade.

example: downtown NYc is an urban heat island and is often 1-3 degrees warmer than surrounding rural areas
Impacts: heat waves have killed more people than many australian natural hazards like bushfires and floods and cyclones.

Question 26

give an example of a way indigenous Australians managed change in land cover

Answer 26

cool burns
this refer to having controlled burns that are kept at a lower temperature. this is done by choosing the correct burn lows which is: grasses that are dry at the top and green at the bottom so they carry a little bit of moisture to burn at a lower temp. the fire is also started in the opposite direction of the wind eg wind blows east to west it would start west going east to slow the fire down and lower the risks of the fire getting out of control. benefits of cool burning include promoting seed germination, bushland transformed from dense bush to medium coverage which made it eaier travelling around the country as well as hunting.

Question 27

what are the 4 components of earth

Answer 27

atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere

Question 28

list each trophic level and how they gain their energy

Answer 28

first the sun and abiotic factor provides energy for most producers

producers are autotophic therfore gaining their energy through photosynthesis and respiration

consumers are heterotrophic organisms meaning they gain their energy from other organisms

decomposers are hetertrophic feeding on dead matter and also recycling nutrients.

Question 29

list an example of sustainability

Answer 29

fishing sustainabily means to not over fish and to ensure fish stocks are stable for benefits of the ecosystem and for those that relie on fishing as a source of income.

Question 30

what is the green revolution

Answer 30

a term refering to the key turning point in global agricultureal production in the mid 20th century. a time when LDC adopted new techologies in machineries such as tractor and chemicals such as fertiliser and pestid=sides to increse out put. brasil the seeing 574% increase in their cerial output between 1961 and 2021.

Question 31

how is food security at risk

Answer 31

due to growth of urban settlement as it causes implications for the worlds natural, biomes and climate. deforestation and intesnitification of agricultureal practices are also at fault of the destruction to the natural ecosystems.

Question 32

list and example of climate change

Answer 32

Glaciers are shrinking: average thickness of 30 well-studied glaciers has decreased more than 18m since 1980.

Question 33

define mitgation

Answer 33

involves the implementation of the strategies to eliminate or minimse the severity of hazards or similar adverse occurrences

Question 34

define biophilic

Answer 34

human beings love of nature and innate tendency to relate to other living things

Question 35

define adaptions

Answer 35

Adaptation means an alteration or change to in response to a changed environment