Key Terms: The Living World Flashcards

A community of plants and animals interacting with each other and with the non-living parts of their environment.

The living parts, e.g. plants, animals, bacteria and fungi.

The non-living parts, e.g. climate, water, soil, light and rock.

An organism that makes its own food using sunlight (photosynthesis), e.g. a green plant.

An organism that breaks down dead plant and animal material, returning nutrients to the soil, e.g. bacteria and fungi.

The continuous transfer of nutrients between soil, living organisms (biomass) and dead organic matter (litter).

False. A food chain is a single line of feeding links; a food web shows many food chains connected together.

The variety of plant and animal species living in an ecosystem.

Where the living and non-living parts rely on one another, so a change to one affects the others.

A large-scale global ecosystem with a distinctive climate, plants and animals, e.g. tropical rainforest.

The cutting down and clearing of large areas of forest.

Using the rainforest so that people today benefit without damaging it for future generations.

Felling only mature or carefully chosen trees, leaving the forest structure intact so it can regenerate.

Small-scale tourism that has minimal impact on the environment and benefits local people.

When part of a country's international debt is cancelled in return for it protecting its rainforest.

False. Ecotourism is small scale, low impact and puts money into local communities and conservation.

An area receiving less than 250 mm of rainfall a year, with very high daytime temperatures and a large daily temperature range.

The process by which land, usually on the fringes of hot deserts, becomes drier and degraded until it turns to desert.

Keeping too many animals on the land so vegetation is stripped away faster than it can regrow.

Growing crops on the same land too intensively or too often, using up the soil's nutrients.

The removal of topsoil by wind or water, usually after vegetation has been cleared.

Technology suited to the skills, wealth and needs of local people, e.g. simple stone lines or sand fences.

False. Human causes such as overgrazing, over-cultivation and fuelwood collection also cause it.

A cold environment found in high latitudes with low-growing vegetation, seasonal snow cover and permafrost beneath the surface.

An extremely cold environment around the poles, covered in ice and snow all year with almost no vegetation.

Ground that remains permanently frozen for two or more years.

A region that is largely untouched and unaffected by human activity.

An environment that is easily damaged and takes a very long time to recover.

Protecting and managing the natural environment so that species and habitats survive.

False. That thawed surface layer is the active layer; permafrost stays frozen all year.

True. Their warm, wet climate all year supports a huge variety of plant and animal species.

The Challenge of Natural Hazards

The Living World

Physical Landscapes in the UK

Urban Issues & Challenges

The Changing Economic World

The Challenge of Resource Management

Issues Evaluation

Fieldwork

Geographical Skills