Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

What Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management covers

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management is examined in Paper 1, The Physical Environment. It covers the world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution, the biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation, UK terrestrial and marine ecosystems, tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle, rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation, sustainable management of a named rainforest, deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle, woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestation and sustainable management of a named deciduous woodland.

The 11 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distributionWhere rainforests, hot deserts, boreal forest, temperate forest, tropical and temperate grassland and tundra are found and what defines them, how latitude, circulation, soil and altitude control their distribution, and how climate graphs for different biomes are read and compared.Open →
• The biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitationThe biosphere as a source of food, medicine, building materials, fuel and water, subsistence against commercial use, the damage done by mineral extraction and rising demand, and how graphs of projected world population compare with the resources ecosystems can supply.Open →
• UK terrestrial and marine ecosystemsWhere moorland, heathland, deciduous and coniferous woodland and wetlands occur in the UK, why moorland and heath are partly the work of people, the economic value of UK seas, and how overfishing, pollution, coastal building, dredging, plastics and oil spills degrade them.Open →
• Tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycleThe climate, soil and water movement of the tropical rainforest, its vegetation layers, animals and indigenous uses, how climate, plants and soil depend on one another, the stores, transfers, inputs and losses of the Gersmehl nutrient cycle, and how food webs link producers and consumers.Open →
• Rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptationsWhy rainforests hold so many species, stratification and the niches it creates, tall trunks, buttress roots, drip tips, lianas and epiphytes, and how strong limbs, specialised wings and beaks and camouflage adapt rainforest animals.Open →
• Rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestationGoods and services from rainforests including food, medicines, timber, recreation and carbon storage, how a hotter, drier climate threatens forest structure, fire risk, biodiversity and nutrient cycling, and how farming, resource extraction, population pressure and government policy drive deforestation.Open →
• Sustainable management of a named rainforestWhat sustainable rainforest management means, governance and why weak enforcement undermines it, government action and international agreements, commodity value and the pull of beef, soya and palm oil prices, certification and carbon payments, and the benefits and risks of ecotourism.Open →
• Deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycleThe climate, brown earth soil and seasonal water movement of a deciduous woodland, its layers and animals, how people have shaped it, the link between leaf fall and fertility, the spring ground flora, how its nutrient stores and transfers differ from a rainforest's, and a woodland food chain.Open →
• Woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptationsWhy deciduous woodland biodiversity is only moderate, how broad thin leaves, leaf fall and dormancy suit the trees, when ground plants flower, and how migration, hibernation and food storage carry animals through winter.Open →
• Woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestationHardwood timber, fuel and coppicing, conservation and recreation value, how milder winters, pests, drier summers and storms threaten woodland, and how urban growth, population, timber extraction and farming clear it.Open →
• Sustainable management of a named deciduous woodlandThe aims of sustainable woodland management, selective felling, coppicing, pollarding and replanting, deer control, managing visitors, legal designation, community involvement and timber certification.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Boreal forest vs Temperate forest

  Boreal forest: evergreen coniferous trees in long cold winters on thin acidic soils. Temperate forest: broadleaved trees shedding leaves in autumn, with four clear seasons.

• Coppicing vs Pollarding

  Coppicing: cutting a broadleaved tree back to its base so shoots regrow from the stump. Pollarding: cutting a tree back above browsing height so new shoots grow out of reach of deer.

• Latosol vs Brown earth

  Latosol: a deep red rainforest soil leached of nutrients by heavy rain. Brown earth: a deep, well-drained woodland soil rich in humus from leaf fall.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Where in the world are tropical rainforests mainly found?

   Model answer

   In a belt within roughly 10° north and south of the Equator, above all in the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin and South East Asia.

2. 2

   Around which latitudes do most of the world's hot deserts lie, and why?

   Model answer

   Around 20–30° north and south of the Equator, where air that rose at the Equator sinks again, warming and drying as it descends.

3. 3

   What are the defining features of the boreal forest?

   Model answer

   Long very cold winters and short cool summers, evergreen coniferous trees, few species and thin acidic soils.

4. 4

   Where is boreal forest found?

   Model answer

   In a broad band across the high northern latitudes of Canada, Scandinavia and Russia, roughly between 50° and 70°N.

5. 5

   How does temperate forest differ from boreal forest in its climate and its trees?

   Model answer

   It has four clear seasons with milder winters, and broadleaved trees that shed their leaves in autumn rather than cold-tolerant conifers.

6. 6

   What climate produces tropical grassland, and what vegetation results?

   Model answer

   A clear wet season and a long dry season on either side of the rainforest belt, giving tall grasses with scattered drought-resistant trees.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management revision questions

What does Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management cover in Edexcel GCSE Geography A?

11 subtopics: the world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution, the biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation, uk terrestrial and marine ecosystems, tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle, rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation, sustainable management of a named rainforest, deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle, woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations, woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestation and sustainable management of a named deciduous woodland. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management organised?

By the Edexcel 1GA0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.