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Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

The biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

The 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.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is meant by the biosphere?

Key term

Why is the biosphere an important source of medicine?

Key term

Name building materials that come straight from the biosphere.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is meant by the biosphere?

    Model answer

    The zone of the planet in which living things exist, taking in the land, the water and the lower atmosphere they occupy.

  2. 2

    How does the biosphere supply people with food?

    Model answer

    It provides wild fish, fruits, nuts and game directly, and it maintains the soils and pollinators on which farmed crops and grazing depend.

  3. 3

    Why is the biosphere an important source of medicine?

    Model answer

    Many drugs are derived from wild plants and fungi, such as quinine from cinchona bark, and most species have never been screened for new ones.

  4. 4

    Name building materials that come straight from the biosphere.

    Model answer

    Timber for frames, floors and roofing, and natural fibres such as thatch, reeds and bamboo.

  5. 5

    What fuels do people take from the biosphere?

    Model answer

    Fuelwood and charcoal for cooking and heating, animal dung and crop residues, and biofuels such as ethanol grown from crops.

  6. 6

    What is the difference between subsistence and commercial use of the biosphere?

    Model answer

    Subsistence use takes small amounts to meet a household's own needs, while commercial use extracts on a large scale in order to sell for profit.

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