Living world - ecosystems

• Tropical climates have high temperatures throughout the year with little seasonal variation.
• Dry deserts receive less than 250mm rainfall per year and have hot summers and cold winters.
• The main types of climate are tropical, dry desert, grassland, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, tundra, polar
• The equator receives direct sunlight while the poles receive less light due to Earth's tilted axis.
• Deserts have low precipitation levels and hot daytime temperatures but cooler night-time temperatures.
• Polar climates experience extremely low temperatures due to their location near the poles.
• Monsoon climates have distinct seasons with heavy rainfall during one part of the year and very little precipitation during another.
• Climate is determined by latitude, altitude, distance from sea, prevailing winds, ocean currents, topography, vegetation cover, and human activity.
• Latitude determines how much solar radiation reaches an area, affecting temperature and precipitation patterns.
• Grasslands have moderate temperatures and long periods without rainfall.
• Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants without harming them or taking nutrients from them
• Tropical rainforests are distributed on the equator
• Biotic is living ( Living creatures + plants) and abiotic is non-living ( climate + soil )
• Producers are plants that a consumer will eat ( e.g. grass gets eaten by rabbits)
• A consumer is a animal that eats a producer ( rabbits eats grass )
• 1. Producer - primary consumer - secondary consumer - tertiary
  2. consumer - decomposer
• What are the different layers of the rainforest ?

  Shrub layer - under canopy - canopy - emergent
• Buttress roots are trees that have roots above ground and so the big trees from the emergent layer dont fall over . With the tree roots above the ground the tree is stabilised better . Shallow roots to reach thin layers of nutrients .
• Rain forest trees have thin bark as it doesn't need thick bark to keep the water in because there is constantly water which cause the bark to be smooth.
• Deforestation is the removal of trees from an area, which reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that can be absorbed by the atmosphere.
• logging is where trees are cut down to make room for farming or housing
• commercial farming - is the farming where they use slash and burn techniques to gather resources for big companys and clear ground for cattle to graze.
• After land has been used for cattle it become infertile
• Mineral extraction is the process of extracting minerals from the ground
• Energy development - were they build dams letting the land flood and have turbines that let water pass through producing energy.
• subsistence farming is growing food for there own consumption and there family's consumption
• road building - the trans - Amazonian highway is a 4000km road which was built in 1972. It has indirectly cussed a great deal of deforestation as its easier timber to be transported
• soil erosion is a impact of when the tropical rainforest land is cleared of its vegetation and soil is left bare. when it rains the nutrients is washed away and the soil can no longer support plant life ( this is called leaching )
• Loss of biodiversity - the loss of species, habitats and ecosystems due to deforestation
• climate change is an impact to the rainforest because when trees are cut the trees are no longer able to swap the carbon dioxide for oxygen therefore more co2 is released into the atmosphere.
• economic development is a positive impact of deforestation because the country can pay off debts or be invested into further projects
• logging and replanting is sustainable management technique were they will selectively pick our mature trees and replant them with young trees .
• education is a sustainable management this promotes the value and benefits of biodiversity in the rainforest and raising awareness .
• ecotourism is where a resort is made keeping the ecosystems in consideration so they use raised loges to let vegetation grow under the lodges and are a small scale resort and the lodges are very spread apart so the ecosystems aren't disturbed
• international agreements are agreements to protect tropical rainforest agreements have been made between different countries through debt or nature swaps
• a value of the tropical rainforest for humans could be the food and medicine it provides
• a value of the tropical rainforest for the environment is that its a source of oxygen - they play important part in global water cycle