How much energy is lost in the form of heat throughout an ecosystem?
90%
An example of an ecosystem
Energy source - sun Producer - grass Primary consumer (herbivore) - snail Secondary consumer (omnivore) - birds Tertiary consumer (carnivore) - cat Bacteria decomposer
What does the bacteria do?
Receives chemical energy and gives off heat energy
What is each level on the food chain called?
Trophic
3 reasons for imbalance in nature, which one is most often the cause?
- Natural (physical) = climate change
- Plant + animal disease
- Human activities (most often the cause :( )
What happens after a rainforest clearance?
The cycle of the ecosystem is broken
The nutrients are washed out with nothing to replace them leading to devastating effects on the soil
What are the three main global ecosystems?
Desert, rainforest and deciduous
Name where three deciduous ecosystems are around the world
- United Kingdom
- New Zealand
- South-East coast of America
Name some characteristics of a deciduous forest
- Mild/Cold winters (average temperature 3-8C)
- Warm summers (average temperature 16-20C)
- Precipitation all year round (annual rainfall 550-1500mm)
Name five tropical rain forests
- Madagascar Rainforest
- Rainforests of South. East Asia
- Central American Rainforest
- The Amazon Rainforest
- The Congo Rainforest
Name some characteristics of a tropical rainforest
- Hot all year round (average temperature 27-30C)
- Wet all year round (annual precipitation 2000-3000 mm)
Name some characteristics of a hot desert
- Very hot in summer (average temperature 35-40C)
- Hot in winter (average temperature 20-30C)
- Dry all year
- Annual precipitation under 250 mm
Name seven hot deserts around the world
- Sahara desert
- The Arabian desert
- The Great Australian desert
- The Sohoran desert (North America, Los Angeles + California)
- The Atacana desert (South American, west of the Andes, Chili)
- The Patagonia desert (South America, Argentina)
- The Turkestan desert
- The Iranian desert
- The Gobi desert (Mongolia)
What is the earths axis of rotation?
About 23.5°
What is the tilt responsible for?
This seasons
Why does the northern hemisphere experience summer when the southern hemisphere experiences winter?
This is because the Northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.
Meaning that the northern hemisphere experiences is the most direct sunlight and solar heating.
What happens to the earth during autumn and spring?
The earth is going through a transition phase
What is an equinox? How does it occur?
- An Equinox is what normally makes the occurrence of autumn or spring
- It occurs because the sun is directly hitting the earths equator and so causes 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night time across the entire earth
What is the name for the equinox that makes the beginning of spring for the northern hemisphere and the beginning of autumn southern hemisphere?
Vernal equinox
What is the name of the equinox that makes the beginning of autumn for the northern hemisphere and the beginning of spring for the southern hemisphere?
Autumnal equinox
What happens to the northern hemisphere during the vernal equinox? What about during the autumnal equinox?
The northern hemisphere gradually receives more the suns rays and starts to experience longer day light hours. It is the opposite for the autumnal equinox.
How do we experience day and night?
As well as orbiting the sun the earth rotates anti clockwise on its axis which allows us to experience day and night
What is an ecosystem?
A living community of plants and animals, linked to where they live, the natural enviroment
What happens when an ecosystem is intercepted?
Since an ecosystem everything is dependent on the organisms in the trophic below one change in the ecosystem can trigger many of others
