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Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

Deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

The 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.

What you need to know

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Key term

Describe the climate of a temperate deciduous woodland.

Key term

What are the layers of a deciduous woodland?

Key term

Name typical animals of a British deciduous woodland.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Describe the climate of a temperate deciduous woodland.

    Model answer

    Four distinct seasons, with warm summers and cool but not severe winters, and moderate rainfall spread fairly evenly through the year.

  2. 2

    What soil forms under deciduous woodland, and why is it fertile?

    Model answer

    A brown earth: deep, well drained and rich in humus, because autumn leaf fall rots down into it and earthworms mix that humus through the layers.

  3. 3

    How does the movement of water through a deciduous woodland change with the seasons?

    Model answer

    In summer the leafy canopy intercepts rain and the trees transpire heavily; in winter the bare trees intercept little and transpire almost nothing, so the soil stays wet.

  4. 4

    What are the layers of a deciduous woodland?

    Model answer

    A canopy of tall broadleaved trees, a shrub layer of smaller trees and bushes, a herb layer of flowers and ferns, and a ground layer of moss and leaf litter.

  5. 5

    Name typical animals of a British deciduous woodland.

    Model answer

    Deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels and woodmice at ground level, with woodpeckers, owls, bats and great numbers of insects among the trees.

  6. 6

    How have people shaped the deciduous woodlands of the UK?

    Model answer

    Centuries of clearance for farming have left only small fragments, and what remains has been coppiced, replanted and managed for timber, game and recreation.

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