| What is an ecosystem? | All biotic and abiotic parts of an environment. |
| What is another way to say plants? | Flora. |
| What is another way to say animals? | Fauna. |
| What is a producer? | Organisms that use sunlight as energy to produce food. |
| What is a consumer? | An organism that gets it energy by eating other organisms. This may be producers or other consumers. |
| What is a decomposer? | An organism that gets it energy by breaking down dead material. |
| What is a food chain? | A model that shows what eats what. |
| What is a food web? | A model that shows multiple food chains and how they overlap. |
| What happens in the nutrient cycle? | Dead material and leaves fall into the soil and create the litter.
This is then decomposed by microorganisms and the nutrients are stored by the soil.
Plants then absorb the nutrients.
The plants may be eaten by consumers, and when they die, the nutrients return to the soil. |
| What is a biome? | A large scale ecosystem. |
| What is climate? | The weather of an area over a long period of time, like 30 years. |
| What are the the different biomes (studied)? | Tropical rainforest, savannah, desert, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous forests, taiga, and tundra. |
| What and where are tropical rainforests? | They are found near the equator and are hot, wet, and humid all year round with dense vegetation. They're found at ITCZ and have heavy rainfall. |
| What and where are deserts? | They are found between 15° and 35° north and south, there is little rain and are very hot during the day and cold during the night. |
| What and where is polar? (this biome may not be necessary for the specification) | They are found near the poles. They are very cold and dry. Not much grows and remain dark for many months, so the growing season is short. |
| What and where are temperate deciduous forests? | They are found mid-latitudes and have distinct seasons. Summers are warm and winters are mild and there's rainfall all year. Deciduous trees lose their leaves to cope with the cold weather. |
| What and where is savannah? | They are found between the tropics with distinct dry and wet seasons, however rainfall is still relatively low. |
| What and where are temperate grasslands? | They are found at higher latitudes with a variation in temperature. |
| What and where is tundra? | Found above 60° north, it has cold winters and brief summers There are hardly any trees and a vegetation of shrubs and moses. There's a permanently frozen ground called permafrost |
| What and where is taiga? | They are found between 50° and 60° north. The winters are cold and dry, and summers are mild and moist. Trees are coniferous, which mean they dont shed their needles (evergreen trees). |
| What is the average temperature of tropical rainforests? | 20-28°C. |
| Why are tropical rainforests typically hot? | Since it's at the equator, the sun's energy is more intense and is overhead all year round. |
| What is the average yearly rainfall in tropical rainforests? | 2000mm per year. |
| What are the layers of tropical rainforests? | Shrub layer, under-canopy, canopy layer and emergent layer. |
| What are epiphytes? | Plants that harmlessly grow on other plants and take nutrients and moisture from the air. E.g. orchids or ferns. |
| Is the soil fertile in tropical rainforests? Why? | The soil is not fertile because the heavy rain washes away the nutrients. Although there is a surface layer of litter, it is very thin since decay is fast in the warm and moisture. |
| What species can be found in tropical rainforests? | Gorillas, jaguars, frogs, monkeys, sloths, snakes and birds. |
| What is biodiversity. | The variation of different species in an area. |
| What percentage of the worlds life is found in rainforests? | 50%. |
| What are indigenous people? | People who are native to the natural environment. |
| How are rainforests interdependent? | The warm and wet climate allow fungi and bacteria to decompose material quicker. This means the surface soil is high in nutrients and plants can grow easily.
Plants are high in nutrients, the dense vegetation provides food for animals. When the animals die, the nutrients are transferred back to the soil, making it richer. |
| How are trees adapted in tropical rainforests? | They have buttress roots. They are thick, large roots that stabilize the tree.
They grow tall and their branches spread out wide to maximize sunlight absorption. |
| How are leaves adapted in tropical rainforests? | They have drip tips so water can easily run off without damaging the plant. It also prevents the growth of fungi or bacteria.
They are waxy to repel the rain. |
| How are some animals adapted in tropical rainforests? | They are camouflaged, e.g. geckos.
Monkeys have strong limbs to allow them to climb trees.
Sloths have slow movement to reduce energy consumption since they have a slow digestive system.
Some animals are nocturnal so they can preserve energy and to survive cold nights. |
| What is sustainability? | Being able to provide for the current generation without having to compromise on the future generation. |
| What are some sustainable managements for tropical rainforests? | Selective logging.
Replanting.
Ecotourism. |
| What products can you get from tropical rainforests? | Rubber, coffee, chocolate, timber and medicines. |
| What is selective logging? | Cutting down some trees, like old ones, parallel alongside a river. This allows the forest to regenerate easily because there's more space for younger trees to gain sunlight. |
| What is replanting? | New trees are planted to replace ones that have been cut down. |
| What is ecotourism? | Allowing only a small number of visitors are a time with rules to minimise environmental impacts. This provides income for the locals, so they don't have to log or farm. It can also raise awareness. |
| How does education in the local area affect tropical rainforests? | The locals may be damaging the forest without realising the impacts. They can be taught alternative ways so they don't depend on unsustainable options. |
| How does dept in the local area affect tropical rainforests? | Many tropical rainforests are found in low income areas. To repay debt, some may log, farm or mine to make money.
Dept can be cancelled or there can be a conservation swap. This is where part of a country's debt is paid in exchange for a guarantee that the money will be spent on conservation. |
| How is conservation in tropical rainforests a sustainable management? | Many countries have set up national parks or nature reserves in rainforests, and damaging activities are restricted.
Some countries have set up funds that can be invested in, in exchange, the country conserves the rainforest or enforces restrictions. |
| How are international hardwood agreements in tropical rainforests a sustainable management? | Hardwood is a type of wood that is often used in furniture, so there's a high demand.
There are international agreements to prevent illegal logging and promote the use of hardwood in sustainably managed forests. |
| What is the largest rainforest on Earth? | The Amazon, covering 8km². |
| How many hectares of the Amazon rainforest was lost between 2001 and 2012? | 18 million hectares. |
| How much of the Amazon is estimated to have been lost by 2050 is its deforested at the current rate? | 40%. |
| What are some reasons as to why the Amazon is being cut down? | Commercial farming, subsistence farming, commercial logging, population growth, road building, energy development and mineral extraction. |
| What are some commercial farming reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Makes space for cattle ranching and plantations.
makes space to grow soy, rice, corn and sugar cane. |
| What are some subsistence farming reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Cleared for small scale farmers for themselves and their families.
Many indigenous people are subsistence farmers. |
| What are some commercial logging reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Valuable hardwood like mahogany is found, logged legally and illegally. |
| What are some population growth reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Population growth and migration in the areas means more space is needed to make settlements. |
| What are some energy development reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Hydroelectric dams flood the area and destroys large areas. |
| What are some mineral extraction reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | Gold, iron and copper are mined and exported for country development, sometimes needing explosives to clear the areas or deep pits to be dug. |
| What are some raod building reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon? | The trans-amazonian highway connects the Brazilian coast to Peru, Columbia, and Ecuador through the Amazon, introducing routes for trade.
Roads are built to new areas that were previously hard to get to. |
| What is a climatic impact of deforestation in the Amazon? | Trees are carbon sinks, by destroying them, carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere. |
| What are some economic impacts of deforestation in the Amazon? | Farming has brought wealth, and Brazil is the second largest exporter of soybeans.
The mining industry creates jobs.
Logging contributes to a huge amount of Brazil's economy.
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However, this can reduce the resources the country depends on and its attractiveness, reducing tourists.
Rubber tappers (people who extract natural rubber from rubber trees) have lost their livelihood as the trees have been cut down. |
| What two countries have accounted for almost half of global deforestation? | Brazil and Indonesia. |
| What has been done to reduce deforestation rates? | Unauthorised deforestation has been made illegal, and famers have been paid to conserve and restore the area
Increased global awareness has reduced the demand for products from deforested areas. |
| What has been done to increase deforestation rates? | The former Brazilian president weakened environmental law enforcement, making it easier to deforest the Amazon.
Deforestation rates in Brazil have rapidly increased and has reached its highest in 2021. |
