People and the biosphere

ts so kevin 😂😂😂

What is an ecosystem?

All of the living things in a given area, interacting with eachother + with their non-living environment

What is a biome?

A very large ecosystem, e.g: deserts or rainforests

What is a biosphere?

The zone where life is found

What are biotic factors?

Living things that are part of and influence an ecosystem, e.g: trees, plants, decomposers, animals

What are abiotic factors?

Non-living things that are part of and influence an ecosystem, e.g: sunlight, rocks, water, wind, temperature

Where is the tundra located?

• Far north, 70-80

• e.g: Canada, Russia, coastal Greenland

What is the climate of the tundra?

• Very temperatures of around 5-10 C in summer and < -30C in winter

• High latitudes mean near continuous daylight in summer and little/none in winter

• No cloud cover + very little precipitation (10-25cm/yr)

What flora is in the tundra?

• Cold climate and lack of light means there’s hardly an biodiversity

• Mosses, grasses, lichens, dwarf shrubs

What fauna is in the tundra?

• Cold climate and lack of vegetation means few live here

• Artic foxes + hares, mosquitoes, birds

• Lots of animals migrate south for the winter

Where are tropical rainforests located?

• Straddles the equator between 10°N&S

• Amazon, Brazil, Indonesia

What is the climate of tropical rainforests?

• No definite seasons

• High temperatures above 26°C due to sun being concentrated at small area (due to curvature of the earth)

• High rainfall around 200mm per year

What type of flora are in tropical rainforests?

• Evergreen trees grow all year long

• Plants grow quickly + adapted to take in max light

What type of fauna are in tropical rainforests?

• Dense vegetation gives food and habitats so there are lots of species

• Jaguars, sloths, tree frogs

What is the location of taiga?

• 60°N

• Russia, Canada, Scandanavia

What climate is taiga?

• Short summers + long winters

• Winter’s average temps are below -20°C

• Summer’s average temps are around 10°C and can drop much lower

• Low precipitation, less than 500mm a year, mostly snow

• Lots of sunlight

What flora is there in taiga?

• Most trees are evergreen

• Pine, fir, growing moss + lichen

What fauna is there in taiga?

• Fewer animal species compared to tropical rainforests as there’s less food and they have to adapt to a cold climate

• Black bears, wolves, elk + eagles

Where are deserts located?

• 30 N&S

• North Africa, Australia

What is the climate in deserts?

• Very low rainfall of less than 250mm yearly

• Hot temperatures, very hot in the day (e.g 45 C) - cold at night (0 C)

• More daylight during summer than winter - v little cloud cover means lots of hours of sunshine every day

What flora is there in deserts?

• Plant growth is sparse due to lack of rainfall

• Cacti, thornbushes

What fauna is in deserts?

• Relatively low amount of animals - those that do are adapted to cope with v hot, harsh cliimate

• Lizards, snakes, insects, scorpions

Where are temperate forests located?

• 50-56 N

• Eastern North America, northeastern Asia, and central and western Europe

What is the climate in temperate forests?

• Average daily temperatures range between -30°C and 30°C

• Rainfall is high, up to 1500mm per year, all year round

• Hot summers and cold winters are typical in this biome.

What flora is there in temperate forests?

• Mix of deciduous and evergreen trees

• oaks, maples, beeches, birches, and ash. Evergreens like pines, spruces, and hemlocks are also found. 

• various shrubs, herbaceous plants

• ground cover like mosses and lichens

 What fauna is there in temperate forests?

• Insects, spiders, slugs, frogs, turtles and salamander

• white-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, porcupines and red foxes

• Bears

What is latitude and how does it influence biomes?

• How far N or S of the equator the area is

• Influences temperature due to curvature of the earth - more sun at equator than poles so less vegetation at higher latitudes than tropics

• Influences precipitation, which is generally highest in coastal and highland regions. Precipitation happens where there’s belts of low pressure - main areas of year round rainfall is the equator + mid latitude areas, often forests frow here

What is altitude and how does it influence biomes?

• The height above sea level in a particular location.

• Influences temperature, as air temperature generally decreases with increasing altitude, affecting vegetation types and climate in mountainous regions, e.g: Mt Kiliminjaro is covered in snow even though its near the equator

• Often coniferous forest + tundra with increasing height + tough grasses

What is drainage and how does it influence biomes?

• The process by which water is removed from an area, often through rivers, streams, or wetlands.

• Affects local conditions + vegetation, e.g: in the UK often entirely deciduous forest, but in parts of Scotland peat bogs replace forest due to the especially wet soil

What is geology and how does it influence biomes?

• The rocks and soils

• Affects local conditions + vegetation

• e.g: limestone bedrock causeses dry soil becoause percolating rainwater passes through it easily - in the UK trees rarely found here

• In tropical rainforests, deciduous trees may replace evergreens where limestone is found

How to answer climate graph questions, e.g: DESCRIBE THE PATTERN OF PRECIPITATION IN MANAUS

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (4)

• Start of the graph (including data)

• Trend of the data (does it increase or decrease? Is it steady? Does it increase slowly or rapidly? Does the data trend change?)

• Anomalies (does any data not fit the general pattern?)

• End of the graph (including data)

Who are the Efe people?

Indigenous people of the Congo rainforest in Africa who rely on the forest for their livelihood

How do the Efe people uses their biome? (6)

• Small circular houses built from wood + leaves (temporary as they move around the rainforest hunting and gathering)

• Wood for cooking fires comes from the forest

• Hunt monkeys and antelopes for bush meat, as well as fish from the rivers

• Gather wild yams, berries, nuts and mushrooms

• Hunt giant forest hog and sell meat to other people around the region or trade it for items like pans + rice

• Use plants + wild honey for traditional medicines

What does Malthus believe about population growth and its effects?

• Pessimist - “We are all doomed”

• Believed only bad could come from population growth

• Pop grows faster than resource supply

• Believes famines will be common in LICs

• Global warming, oil spillage, ozone depletion + desertification can lead to less food grown

What does Boserup believe about population growth and its effects?

• Optimist - “necessity is the mother of invention”

• Said food supply would increase to accomodate pop growth

• New tech, farming methods - higher yields, or renewable energy supplies will be developed

• There’s enough food to feed us, not always where it’s needed

• Famine more likely to happen cos of natural disasters or war

• Green revolution produced seeds that could grow quicker + bigger

What goods does the biosphere provide? (6)

• Drinking irrigation water

• Fruit, nuts, other products like rubber

• Genetic resources

• Medicines

• Food + fibre crops

• Meat, fish, hides, timber, fuelwood

What services does the biosphere provide? (9)

• Maintaining biodiversity

• Regulate our atmosphere (Amazon “lungs” of earth)

• Nutrient cycling

• Human or wildlife homes

• Employment

• Water regulation + purification of supply

• Humus for soil formation

• Pollination of food web/chai

• Gene pool

What is a carbon sink?

natural store for carbon containing compounds like co2 or methane

How do biomes work as carbon sinks ?

• Carbon sequestration - removing co2 through photosynthesis + locking it into biotic material

• In biomass (leaves, branches, trunks, roots + animal tissues)

• When animals + plants die the dead biomass ends up in the soil - important carbon sink

What 2 ways can humans destroy biomes and affect carbon stores?

• Deforestation so biomes absorb less co2

• Burning biomass such as trees, and soil destroyed, releasing stored carbon

What is the nutrient cycle?

What ways can humans effect the nutrient supply?

• Humans can remove biomass through logging timber, taking away a large nutrient source

• Deforested areas are at a risk of soil erosion - removing another source

Explain the importance of the biosphere to the water cycle

• With no trees, interception is reduced and rainfall hits the soil surface directly causing soil erosion

• Without trees there is much less infiltration of water into the soil, this means groundwater supplies are lower

• Surface runoff increases which increases soil erosion and means water enters rivers much faster

• Flooding becomes more frequent and river water is made dirty of the soil washed in the river

• With no forest the soil dries are very quickly, so overall evaporation is reduced, which can mean fewer clouds, less rain and dry climate