biosphere and biomes

• the study of organisms and their relationships with one another and their relationship with their physical environment is called ecology.
• the scientists that study ecology are known as ecologists
• the part of the earth where humans and other organisms can live is known as the biosphere
• the biosphere consists of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
• the atmosphere is made up of gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, etc.
• the hydrosphere includes all bodies of water on Earth including oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, groundwater, ice caps, glaciers, and freshwater reservoirs.
• the lithosphere includes rocks, soil, sedimentary rock, sandstone, limestone, granite, basalt, shale, clay, loam, silt, gravel, peat, permafrost, and volcanic ash.
• the biosphere is where life is found on earth and is made up of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
• A biome is a large area of land with a particular climate and species of plants and animals. it is made up of smaller ecosystems.
• A biological community is all the populations of different species in a place and other plants that interact in an area.
• An ecosystem is communities of plants and animals interacting with each other and with their non-living (abiotic) environment.
• a population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific area at the same time.

  eg. All lions living in a pride
• An organism is a single form of life
• A habitat is where organisms live (a home and or environment in which an organism lives)
• A niche is the role it plays where it lives.
• A species is a group of organisms of the same kind that can breed with one another.
• acid rain is rain that occurs when sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide combine with water vapor in the atmosphere and form sulphuric and carbonic acids.
• Acid rain falls onto the lithosphere and damages plants and buildings and it also affects human and animal health
• a population is a group of organisms of the same species living in the same area
• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Marginal utility


  The additional utility (satisfaction) gained from the consumption of an additional product
• If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
• aquatic biome

  • salt water
  • fresh water
• south african biomes

  • Savanne
  • Grasland
  • Nama-Karoo
  • Sukkulente Karoo
  • Fynbos
  • thicket
  • forest
• The fynbos biome has been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations
• Fynbos biome


  • Located in the southern parts of the Western Cape Province
  • Unique biome
• Soil types in the fynbos biome

  • Sandy and alkaline coastal soil
  • More acidic further inland
  • More fertile and neutral in the lowlands
• Climate of the fynbos biome

  • Cold, wet winters
  • Hot, dry summers with strong winds and regular fires
• In the fynbos biome, trees are rare and grasses are a small part of the vegetation
• The main plants in the fynbos biome are evergreen plants that do not lose their leaves, such as low shrubs with fine leaves (e.g. ericas) and leafless, tufted grasses
• Proteas can grow into large bushes in the fynbos biome
• Reproduction in the fynbos biome

  • Fynbos plants can only reproduce through seeds
  • They depend on small mammals or birds, such as the Cape sugarbird, for pollination
• Fynbos is one of the most diverse floras in the world, with at least 8,570 species of flowering plants
• 68% of the plants in the fynbos biome are endemic, many found only in very small areas
• Fauna in the fynbos biome

  • Leopard
  • Grysbok
  • Mountain zebra
  • Geometric tortoise