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living world - Coggle Diagram
living world
RAINFOREST
DEFINITION -a tropical woodland with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches and marked by evergreen trees forming a continuous canopy.
CLIMATE
Very wet with over 2,000 mm of rainfall per year.
Very warm with an average daily temperature of 28°C. The temperature never drops below 20°C and rarely exceeds 35°C.
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PLANTS AND ANIMALS
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The wide range of plant species supports many different animals, birds and insects.
Species have adapted to the conditions of the rainforest
, eg trees and plants have shallow-reaching roots to absorb
nutrients from the thin fertile layer in the soil.
LAYERS
ECOSYSTEMS
DEFINITION An ecosystem is a natural environment and includes the flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that live and interact within that environment
DEPENDENT ON
CLIMATE - the temperature and amount of rainfall are very important for determining what species can survive in the ecosystem
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WATER- the amount of water available in an ecosystem will determine what plants and animals can be supported
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TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS
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DESERT-found near the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Conditions here are very hot and dry. Plants and animals are specially adapted to survive in the harsh conditions.
TROPICAL RAINFOREST- found near the Equator. The climate is hot and humid and many different species can be found here.
ECOSYSTEMS
FOODCHAIN- A food chain shows how each living thing gets food. In a food chain, energy and nutrients are passed from one organism to the next. The producer provides the basic source of food which other organisms, the consumers, then feed on.
FOOD WEB- This includes all of the connections between producers and consumers in an ecosystem. The food web shows how interconnected all of the different organisms are.
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RAINFORESTS
ADAPTATIONS
DRIP TIPS - plants have leaves with pointy tips.
This allows water to run off the leaves quickly without damaging
or breaking them.
BUTTRESS ROOTS - large roots have ridges which create a large surface area that help to support large trees.
EPIPHYTES - these are plants which live on the branches of trees high up in the canopy
. They get their nutrients from the air and water,
not from the soil.
CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
FARMING - large areas are cleared for pastoral farming. As the global demand for meat has increased many cattle farms have opened in the Amazon Basin for beef farming.
LOGGING- tropical rainforests are cut down so trees
can be accessed and sold for timber to make furniture and making paper products.
MINING - the Amazon Basin is rich in natural resources such as iron ore, copper, tin, aluminium, manganese and gold. This has led to the development of mines which results in the clearance of tropical rainforest.
ROADS - the construction of access roads for farmers,
loggers and miners results in large parts of the tropical
rainforest being destroyed.
HYDROELECTRIC POWER - The creation of HEP stations in the Amazon Basin has resulted in large areas of forest being flooded to create the reservoirs and dams.
POPULATION- population growth has resulted
in the loss of tropical rainforest as land is cleared
to build houses and infrastructure.