Biomes

Biomes/deforestation

• Biomes:
• - Biomes are communities of plants and animals that extend over larger areas -> eg. forest, deserts, grassland
• - They are described as large scale ecosystem + can be transferred
• Biomes and Food Production map:
• - Denmark, Norway and Russia have cold Tundras with greenhouse
• - Vertical farms for growing wheat + crops in Japan
• - Vietnam terrance for rice hills
• - Nile for irragation
• Biomes and the biosphere:
• - The biosphere is made up of the parts of earth where life exists. The biosphere extents from the deepest root systems of trees, to the world's deserts, to lush rain forests and high mountain tops
• - All the biomes on the earth collectively form the biosphere
• Knock-on effects of deforestation:
• - reduced biodiversity
• - loss habitat
• - release green house gas emissions
• -> reduced carbon sink
• - water cycle disrupted
• -> less evaporation
• -> less rain
• -> drier local climates
• - increased soil erosion
• - When trees cut down, there nothing to intercept the rain
• - The rain washes away the fertile top soil
• - It also washes nutrients out of soil through leaching
• - Because there are no trees, there are no leaves falling, decomposition + adding nutrients to the soil together

Teel paragraph

• How over-use by humans can impact the function of forest?
• The forest is a major part of our ecosystem, but the over-use by humans can impact the function of a forest. The forest is made of multiple trees reach absorbs Co2 and release oxygen, but with humans cutting trees down. The amount of carbon reduces and the greenhouse gas emissions are released. As well as this, if the forest reduces, the more the water cycle gets disrupted which can lead to less evaporation, less rain to drier local climates and the soil erosion increases because when the trees are cut down, there is nothing to intercept the rain. This can also lead to nutrients loss which can decrease the organisms living at the forest. Overall, the amount of trees can impact many important aspects.
• How climate impact biomes?
• Climate is the key factor in determining what plants grow. However, climate determined by latitude

Climate/biomes/soil erosion

• How do people alter biomes?
• - Too steep -> Terraces eg. build steps up the mountains to create flat fields - paddy rice friends
• - Too cold -> Greenhouses used to create the right climate
• - Forested -> Clear the land, through deforestation
• - Hilly -> Level the land, use ploughing + additional of topsoil to make land suitable to growing crops
• - Too dry -> Irrigation - artificial watering of the land eg. along the Nile
• - Poor soil -> Fertiliser + addition of compost/topsoil
• Soil erosion:
• - Soil erosion refers to the removal of soil by running water +/or wind
• - Exposed soil is easily washed away by rainfall, run off during floods + wind
• - Farming is a major cause of soil erosion as fields are left bare during the sowing season + heavy machinery compacts and/or breaks up the soil damaging the structure

Latitude

• What is the latitude of the Gold Coast?
• 28 degrees
• Explain why during the polar summer there is constant daylight 24 hours a day?
• The sun orbits around the earth, but because the earth is on a tilt which makes the sun shine across the polar all day during summer
• What do you think happens in winter at the poles?
• During winter, since the sun is orbiting around another part of earth so there is no sunlight during winter in the polar
• Textbook definition of latitude:
• The angular distance north or south from the equator of a point on the Earth's surface
• How does latitude:
• Latitude affects the climate as the distance of each latitude is different from the sun
• Examples - How does latitude affect temperatures at the Poles?
• The equator would evenly be disturbed because it's at the middle from the sun

Latitude affecting climate/biomes

• Textbook/internet explanation of the tilt of the earth:
• The tilt of the earth is 23.5 degrees from the plane of it's orbits around the sun
• How does the tilt of the earth affect climate?
• It points to a different part of the sun
• Examples - How does the tilt of the earth affect the poles?
• The pole is exposed to the sun all the time or never so it's either night or day all the time for season
• Trees stop growing above the tree line. Why do you think this is?
• Trees can not continue to grow any further as the climate conditions above the tree line is not suitable for growing
• Explain the relationship between biome and climate type?
• The relationship between biome and climate as they both change temperature to colder, the further they move away from the equator

Rainforest/soils/deforestation

• Soils in the rainforests are:
• - High temperatures causes weathering
• - High rainfall leaches
• - Soil is often reddish cause of high iron level
• - Nutrients are being recycled
• - Soil fertility is rapidly lost if trees are removed, as the supply of organic materials is no longer represent
• Deforestation is the large scale removal of trees. The cleaning of forests is increasing due to our demand for materials, farmland + urban development. The concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforest
• What happens to rainforest soils when deforestation occurs?
• Rainforest soils are nutrients poor. Removal of vegetation means that their is no input of organic matter (eg cloud, leaves) and the soils soon become infertile. In addition, the heavy rains wash nutrients through the soil in a progress called leaching further altering the chemical + minerals composition of the soil, making more acidic + less fertile.
• Before deforestation:
• Many trees offering soil protection from eroding rain -> Many leaves fall to forest floor as litter -> Nutrients from litter form a layer of top soil (hummus) -> Soil retains water, weathering and minerals -> Few nutrients lost by leaching -> Nutrients - rich soil promotes rapid vegetation growth
• After deforestation:
• Very few trees for protection -> Few leaves drop for litter -> Less nutrients in soil -> Rapid loss of nutrients from leaching results in acidic soil -> Change in composition -> Infertile soil - little vegetation growth
• Runoff of water washes the topsoil away, while the process of tree cleaning + farming also cause the soil erode. In conclusion, the cutting down of rainforests disturbs the naturals cycle of nutrients from the soil to plants + makes the soil vulnerable to soil erosion as the topsoil is removed