OCR GCSE (9-1) Geography B: Geography for Enquiring Minds (J384) · Spec 4.1, 4.2a, 4.2b, 4.3a and 4.3b
Sustaining Ecosystems
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- An ecosystem is the living and non-living things in an area and how they interact. Producers are green plants, consumers are animals, and decomposers such as fungi break down dead matter. A food web is a better model than one food chain.
- Tropical rainforests grow near the Equator, where warm air rises and brings heavy rain. Temperatures stay around 26°C to 28°C all year and rain falls in every month.
- Rainforest layers from the ground up: forest floor, under-canopy, canopy and emergent trees. The canopy holds most of the leaves and fruit.
- Plants are adapted: drip tips shed rain quickly and buttress roots support tall trees.
- Most nutrients are in the top layer of soil, recycled quickly from leaf litter. After clearance the nutrients are soon lost because the trees that held them are gone and rain washes them out.
- Causes of deforestation include cattle ranching, commercial farming, logging, mining and flooding by large dams.
- Polar areas are cold, dry and windy. Flora means plants and fauna means animals. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 and keeps the continent for peaceful purposes only.
- You need a local or regional example of sustainable rainforest management, and one small-scale and one global example of polar management.
Key terms
- Ecosystem
- Living and non-living things in an area, and how they interact.
- Biodiversity
- The variety of plant and animal life in an area.
- Drip tip
- A pointed leaf end that sheds rain quickly.
- Buttress root
- A wide, wall-like root that supports a tall rainforest tree.
- Flora
- The plants of an area.
- Fauna
- The animals of an area.
- Debt-for-nature swap
- Part of a country's debt is cancelled in return for protecting its forest.
Common mistakes
- Saying rainforest soil is rich because the trees grow so well. The soil is poor. Nutrients sit in a thin top layer and are quickly used up.
- Saying drip tips funnel water to the roots, or that plants take in water and nutrients through their leaves. Drip tips shed water so leaves dry quickly.
- Calling a polar bear or penguin flora. Flora means plants.
- Giving a whole country, such as Costa Rica, as your local or regional management example.
- Writing 'deforestation makes the soil less fertile' with no reason. Say how: the nutrients are washed away.
Exam tip
'Describe' questions need features. 'Explain' questions need reasons. For a management 6 or 8, name your case study, say what was done, and judge how far it keeps the ecosystem going, using the words environmental, economic and social.
Free practice questions
7 questions, 16 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each rainforest layer to its description.
- Question 2 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
What happens to rainforest soil nutrients after the trees are cleared?
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
Leaves have drip ___ to shed rain, and tall trees have ___ roots for support.
Word bank: buttress · spines · tips
- Question 4 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are major causes of deforestation in the Amazon?
Choose 2.
- Question 5 · Sort into groups[3 marks]
Sort each feature into tropical rainforest or temperate deciduous forest.
Four seasons with cold winters
Rain falls in every month
Drip tips on leaves
- Question 6 · True or false[3 marks]
Decide whether each statement about protecting cold environments is true or false.
1. Nobody lives in the Arctic.
2. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959.
3. Tourism has no effect because visitors only look.
- Question 7 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in ___ and says the continent is for ___ purposes only.
Word bank: military · 1959 · peaceful · 1991