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Topic 7 ((Local Factors) - differences that alter animal and plant species…
Topic 7
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Factors that effect the location + the characteristics of a biome (Global Factors)
- Temperature - plants need to grow over 5c's
- precipitation and water availability - pLants need water to grow and precipitation need to be spread across season for the plant to grow. not in dry season or frozen seasons.
- light intensity and sun shine affect photosynthesis.
Temperature
- Location near the equator, the sun is more intense than that at the poles.
- As latitude increase towards the poles, winters becomes longer and colder, and the climate more seasonal.
- In polar regions, sun intensity is low, so lack off heat and light limits plants growth.
Precipitation
- Precipitation is influenced by latitudes.
- North and South of the Equator , there are main convection cells (Hadley,Ferrel + Polar)
- Precipitation is high at rising parts because the air pressure is low.
- at descending parts of the cell,air pressure is high, so precipitation is low.
Biosphere
is the living layer of the earth, a thin smear of life on its surface between lithosphere and atmosphere.
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2 main biomes -
- tropical rainforests found between tropics in south america, africa + asia
- taiga is found in a belt stretching across canada,northern europe + russia.
Abiotic - non- living part ( atmosphere, soil, water, rock ...)
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Altitudinal Zonation- change in ecosystems at different altitudes, caused by alterations in temperature,precipitation,sunlight and soil type.
Services offered:
- Storing carbon dioxide + emitting oxygen.
- purify water + regulate water level within the hydro logical cycle.
- Mangrove tress prevents flooding.
How plants absorb energy to store nutrients
- sun's energy absorbed by plants for photosynthesis.
- plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
- Energy flows along the food web to primary consumers and secondary then to detritivores and decomposers.
- precipitation moves into the soil and back to the atmosphere.
- when plants and animals die, decomposition return nutrients to the soil.
- weathering provides nutrients. e.g. phosphate + magnesium.
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Services - are functions and are intangible. (Forest prevent flooding /trees add oxygen to the atmosphere.)
Ecosystem services to indigenous people
- Efe - 30000 remain today.
- Use wood and leaves to build temporary small circular houses, as they go hunting + gather food.
- Wood from the forest is used for cooking fires.
- Efe hunt monkeys and antelopes for bush meat and fish in rivers.
- gather wild yams ,nuts,mushrooms and berries from the forest.
- hunt giant forest hog + sell its meat to other people.
- buy + trade pans or rice.
- use plants and wild honey to make medicines.
- Efe worship the tropical rainforest.
Goods offered:
- Fruits,berries,nuts,fish,game,crops
- Fuel wood
- Timber for buildings.
- Genetic and Chemical materials
Exploiting ecosystem services
- Farmers clear areas by cutting down trees or burning to farm.
- Ash from burnt soils add nutrients to the soil.
- Land can only be farmed for 5-6 years , but after soil becomes infertile + farmers move to new areas.
- Cleared to make profit for TNC's + government.
- Large ares of biomass is destroyed for commercial farming like cattle ranching or grow soy beans/palm oil/cocoa beans cereals .
- Mining metal ores such as copper or iron
- Timber for paper,construction of wood / furniture.
- Construction of dams + reservoirs for HEP
- Biomes are carbon sink.
- Carbon Sink - natural stores for carbon containing chemical compounds like carbon dioxide + methane.
-Carbon Sequestration - store carbon by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere + locking it up in the biotic material.
- This process allows photosynthesis to take place.
- Biomes store plants + animal dead materials.
Nutrient cycle can be disrupted if:
- Removing biomass by logging
- Heavy rain + surface run off can cause to wash away the nutrients.
- Deforested areas are risk from soil erosion.
Water supply and flood risk:
- no trees, interception is reduced and rainfall hits the soil surface directly, causing soil erosion.
- Without trees less infiltration into the soil, which means the ground water supplies are low.
- Surface run off increases soil erosion + water gets into river channels much faster.
- Flooding is more frequent,River water is now made dirty because all the soil is now washed into the river.
- no forest, soil dries very quickly,evaporation is reduced, fewer clouds, less rain + drier climate.
Demand of resources increases, as the there is a rise in affluence in the economy.
- Biomes are directly destroyed to farm,mine, build factories b/ buildings / HEP + dams.
- obtaining timer, fish or hunted animals degrade them, by removing key species.
- Humans use natural resources to pollute wider environment,e.g. burning fossil fuels/dumping waste in rivers.
Industrialization affect demand for resources
- China,India SK + Thailand has seen a dramatic shift from the countryside to the urban areas., this put presure on resources.
- In 1988, China had no high speed railways running over 200kmh, but in 2015 it had over 19000km of these railways.
- Between 2000 - 2015 number of cars in India increased from 6mn to 30 mn
- Thailand;s urban population was 17mn in 1990, but in 2015 it doubed to 34mn.
- 1980,the average SK ate only 11kg of meat but rose to 43 kg by 2013.
2030:Perfect Storm
- In 2009, UK government; cheif scientific advisor said:
- In 2030, we need to produce 50% more food + 50% more energy, 30%more fresh water.
Malthusian View
- Thomas Malthus - is pessimistic
- He believed the population will grow eventually very hugely that the planet will run out food,water,energy, + resources leading to a crisis.
- If population increase geometrically, 1,2,4,,8,16..., by doubling in each generation , food production increase arithmetically,1.2.3.4.5...
- Population outstrip food supply.
- Population should fall, war, starvation, famine,people marrying later, having fewer kids.
Boserupian view
- Ester Boserup - optimistic
- Population grows,humans invent new tech to allow more food to be grown + more resources to be supplied.
- Published a book "The Conditions of Agricultural Growth"
- Tech such as: farm machinery, fertilizers, GM crops + irrigation.
Quality/ quantity
- If a crisis occur quality of remaining resources become low rather than quantity become low.
- Rivers + lakes polluted , water is unusable.
- Soil becomes eroded + infertile that few crops can be grown .
- Oil + gas run out , we turn to burning coal + fossil fuels.