Living World

• Deciduous woodland


  An example of a small-scale ecosystem in the UK that provides a variety of habitats for plants, insects and animals
• Deciduous woodland


  • Located in moderate latitudes (0 to 60 N/S)
  • Consistent precipitation (50 mm per month)
  • Moderate temperature (30°C to -20°C), varies seasonally
• Vegetation


  • Moderate biodiversity, trees lose their leaves during autumn (e.g. oak and elm)
• Nutrient cycle


  The transfer of nutrients from the non-living environment to the living environment and back again
• Nutrient stores in the nutrient cycle

  • Soil (S)
  • Litter (L, organic matter on the soil)
  • Biomass (B, the total mass of living organisms)
• Inputs to the nutrient cycle

  • Weathering (W)
  • Precipitation (P)
• Outputs from the nutrient cycle

  • Leaching (Le, nutrients drain away)
  • Surface runoff (R)
• As plants and animals die, their tissues fall into the litter store. As living tissue decomposes, nutrients are transferred to the soil store.
• Some nutrients are lost from the litter by surface run off.
• Plants take nutrients from the soil. Soil loses nutrients by leaching but gains nutrients from weathering of the rock beneath it.
• Goods from the tropical rainforest

  • Oil
  • Medicine such as Periwinkle
  • Wood pulp and timber
  • Western foods such as pineapple and coffee
• Services from the tropical rainforest

  • Provide nutrients for the soil
  • Regulate the gases in the atmosphere
  • Regulate the water cycle
  • Provide animal habitats
• Threats to the rainforest

  • Deforestation for housing
  • Deforestation for cattle ranching
  • Deforestation for mining
• The population is increasing, leading to greater demand for housing, food, and resources, resulting in deforestation.
• Commercial farming


  Farms that operate like a business
• Commercial farming in the Thar Desert

  • Cotton
  • Wheat
  • Sorghum
• Irrigation


  Water supplied to crops from the Indira Gandhi Canal
• Attractions in the Thar Desert

  • Thar Desert National Park
  • Annual desert festival in Jaisalmer
• Mineral deposits in the Thar Desert

  • Gypsum
  • Phosphoric
  • Kaolin
  • Limestone
  • Marble
  • Coal
• The Thar Desert experiences extremely high temperatures, up to 53°C in July, creating problems for people, plants and animals.
• The Thar Desert is very inaccessible due to the vast expanses of sand and extreme temperatures, making it difficult to develop the region.
• Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has continued from the 1980s to the present day, with 17% of the forest lost by 2005.
• Causes of Amazon deforestation

  • Subsistence farming
  • Commercial agriculture
  • Logging
  • Mining
  • Energy development
  • Population growth
• Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest releases greenhouse gases, disrupts the global water cycle, and leads to loss of biodiversity and fertile soil.
• Brazil has justified deforestation as a way to develop its economy and improve people's standard of living, despite the environmental impacts.