levo

Ecosystems Under Stress

Ecological change in Borneo

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Ecological change in Borneo as a regional case study, covering the loss of rainforest and peat swamp forest to logging, oil palm and fire, the effects on orangutans and the carbon cycle, and responses from certification to conservation.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What are the main causes of deforestation in Borneo?

Process

What ecological change has Borneo experienced?

Process

How has ecological change affected orangutans in Borneo?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What ecological change has Borneo experienced?

    Model answer

    Large-scale loss of tropical rainforest and peat swamp forest, with the island's 1973 forest area shrinking by about 30% by 2010.

  2. 2

    What are the main causes of deforestation in Borneo?

    Model answer

    Commercial logging, conversion to oil palm and pulpwood plantations, and fires, many started to clear land, especially on drained peatland.

  3. 3

    Why has oil palm expanded so rapidly in Borneo?

    Model answer

    Global demand for palm oil in food, cosmetics and biofuel is high, and Indonesia and Malaysia, which share Borneo, are the world's two largest producers.

  4. 4

    How has ecological change affected orangutans in Borneo?

    Model answer

    A 2018 study estimated that more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost between 1999 and 2015 through habitat loss and killing.

  5. 5

    How does draining and burning peat swamp forest in Borneo affect the carbon cycle?

    Model answer

    Drained peat oxidises and burns easily, releasing large amounts of stored carbon, as in the 2015 fires whose haze spread across South-East Asia.

  6. 6

    How does the economic character of communities in Borneo reflect their ecological setting?

    Model answer

    Indigenous Dayak communities have relied on forest products and shifting cultivation, while many rural households now depend on plantation jobs or smallholder oil palm.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Water and Carbon Cycles
Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes
Coastal Systems and Landscapes
Glacial Systems and Landscapes

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

China and .
IndiaAustraliaJapan

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AThe horns have less sand volume, so they move more quickly.
BSand is transported up the gentle windward slope via saltation.
CSand accumulates at the crest.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Weathering means breakdown of rock in place.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Ecosystems Under Stress, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.