Paper 3

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What is an ecosystem?
A grouping of plants and animals that interact with each other and their local environment
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What is a biome?
A large ecosystem, a grouping of plants and animals over a large area of Earth
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Describe the taiga biome?
At higher latitudes where the suns rays are weak. Trees are adapted to the cold with needle-like leaves.
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Describe the tropical rainforests?
Mostly found either side of the equator. The temperature is hot and there is heavy rainfall.
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Describe the temperate forests?
High rainfall, seasonal variations in the sun’s rays. Trees lose their leaves in the cool winters.
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Describe the desert biome?
Deserts are close to the tropics of cancer and Capricorn. This is where hot and dry air sinks down to the Earth’s surface and the sun’s rays are concentrated making it very hot.
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What is biodiversity?
The variety of biotic components in an ecosystem (a high biodiversity = thousands of different plants and animals)
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What does the biosphere provide us with?
• Food • Medicine • Building materials • Fuel
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What are biotic components?
Long cold winters, Low precipitation, Frozen soils
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What are abiotic components?
Small amounts of plant food
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What does the biosphere do for us?
• Regulates the water cycle – plants slow the flow of water to rivers and filter water to make it clean • Regulates the gases that make up the atmosphere – plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breathe in. • It keeps soil healthy
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Give examples of plant adaptations?
• The dense forest canopy blocks out light • Mould grows on all wet surfaces • Nutrients are concentrated in only the top layer of the soil.
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What are the rainforest's layers?
1.Herb layer 2.Shrub layer 3.Under-canopy 4.Main canopy 5.Emergent layer
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Describe the rainforest nutrient cycle?
• Plants grow all year in huge numbers • Dead matter drops to the forest floor and decomposes quickly in the warm, wet conditions • Fast growing plants take up the nutrients very quickly • The constant precipitation leaches nutrients down through the
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Describe the taiga nutrient cycle?
• Plants can only grow in the short summer • Litter accumulates because decomposition inly happens in the summer • Soils are thin, low in nutrients acidic • Plants grow very slowly due to short growing seasons and low nutrient soils.
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What are the causes of tropical rainforest deforestation?
• Commercial hardwood lodging • Biofuels • Mining • Electricity (hydroelectric power damns) • Wood for fuel • Agriculture eg Subsistence or commercial
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What is subsistence agriculture?
Poor people clear the forest to plant crops to feed themselves and their families
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What are direct threats to the taiga?
Most of the world’s wood comes from softwood timber produced from conifer trees of the taiga. Therefore, lodging for softwood and paper production threatens the Taiga.
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What are indirect threats to the taiga?
The taiga is also threatened by mining for minerals and fossil fuels as well as damns used for hydroelectric power schemes.
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Why is biodiversity at risk?
• Animals such as the Siberian tiger have heavy fur coats and high levels of body fat making them heat intolerant. • Warmer winter temperatures will allow new diseases and pests to spread in the taiga. • Forest fires are more common due to global war
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What are CITES?
Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species. They protect species and countries that sign up to CITES agree to stop exports or imports of endangered species.
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What is a REDD?
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. This supports schemes that reduce the rate of deforestation and the United Nations monitors the schemed by the use of remote sensing and visits.
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What is sustainability?
The ability to keep something going at the same rate or level.
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What factors are there to consider with sustainability?
• Will it keep going without using up natural resources? • Does it require lots of money to keep going? • Will it meet the needs of people today and in the future without having a negative impact?
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Why does the taiga need protecting?
• Plants grow very slowly because of the lack of nutrients and because of cold winters. Pollution remains in the ecosystem for decades. • There are very few species in the taiga therefore a disease that impacts one species could impact the whole ecos
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What is geothermal energy?
Hot springs use the earths heat to turn turbines
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What is nuclear energy?
Radioactive elements are used to produce large amounts of energy.
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What are solar panels?
The suns energy turns into chemical energy
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What is hydroelectric energy?
Water is stored up behind a dam and used to turn turbines
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What is a power station
Coal, oil, gas are burnt to turn turbines
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What is biomass?
Plant and animal waste is burnt to produce heat energy
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What is wind energy?
Giant windmills harvest the wind to turn turbines.
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What is oil?
Formed millions of years ago in places where dead organic material builds up on the bottom of oceans, riverbeds and swamps to create crude oil.
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What is gas?
Most gas is accessed by drilling vertically into the Earth’s surface to extract the gas contained for burning and generating electricity.
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What is coal?
Over millions of years ago the wood and other plant matter physically and chemically changed into coal. It is extracted through mining which bring the natural material to the surface.
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What are hydrogen fuel cells?
Electrolysis can be used to convert hydrogen and oxygen into water producing electricity and heat in the process.
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Why is oil consumption growing?
• The world’s population is increasing • As countries get richer, their people buy more things which consume more energy • As new technology is developed, people want to buy new things or the latest version.
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What are tar sands?
They are a mixture of clay, water and sand and can be mined to extract a substance called bitumen. Bitumen can be used to make a substance like oil which can then be used in a power station to generate electricity.
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What is fracking?
This is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the Earth. It involves injecting a liquid at high pressure into rocks allowing gas to escape.
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How can energy be conserved in the home?
• Cavity wall with mineral wall • Insulating concrete blocks • Full draught proofing • Thick carpets and underlay • Double glazing • Loft, wall and floor insulation • Energy saving light bulbs • Solar panels • Switching off appliances
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Benefits of renewable energy sources?
• Low or no carbon emissions • Widely available or more likely to be available in most countries • Can reduce globalisation • Inexhaustible – available forever • Clean no local air or water pollution • Locally available
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How does the cost of renewable energy compare to fossil fuels?
It often costs more for smaller groups eg a wind farm to generate the same amount of energy as a fossil fuel power station.
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How does geography for renewable energy compare to fossil fuels?
Often the best places for generating renewable energy are a long way from the cities where energy is needed.
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How does land use of renewable energy compare to fossil fuels?
Renewable energy requires a lot of land area which can cause tension.
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How does the impact on local ecosystem of renewable energy compare to fossil fuels?
Birds being killed by wind turbines or valleys being flooded for hydroelectric power
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How does the impact of the landscape of renewable energy compare to fossil fuels?
Renewables are often very visible and some say they spoil the landscape
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What is a carbon footprint?
A measurement of the greenhouse gases individuals contributes to our environment as a result of our daily lives.
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How is a carbon footprint written?
It is written as kilograms of the equivalent carbon dioxide per person.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is a biome?

Back

A large ecosystem, a grouping of plants and animals over a large area of Earth

Card 3

Front

Describe the taiga biome?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Describe the tropical rainforests?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Describe the temperate forests?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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