What should you be able to say about the way climate, soil, water, plants and people fit together in the rainforest you have studied?

That its hot wet climate drives both rapid growth and rapid decay, that this keeps the soil thin because the trees hold the nutrients, and that the people there depend on the forest for food, medicine and shelter.

What should you be able to say about how the living and non-living parts of the coral reef you have studied depend on each other?

That warm, clear, shallow water lets coral and its algae live together, that the coral then builds the structure sheltering fish and other animals, and that local people fish and dive on what the coral has built.

Why is a rainforest called a fragile ecosystem in spite of its size?

Because nearly all its nutrients are locked in the trees, so once these are felled the soil is exhausted within a few harvests and the forest struggles to return.

Give three ways a rainforest is of value to the people living in it.

It gives them food from hunting and gathering, timber and fibres for building, and plants used as medicines.

Why do rainforests matter to the planet as a whole?

They absorb and store carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the atmosphere, they hold a huge share of the world's land species, and they help drive the rainfall of the regions around them.

Why are coral reefs valuable to people?

They feed coastal communities through the fish they support, draw income from tourists and divers, and absorb wave energy that would otherwise erode the shore.

OCR GCSE Geography A J383

Ecosystems of the Planet

Topic overview Abiotic and biotic components, and how ecosystems interact The world’s biomes: where they are and what they are like Where the tropical rainforests are, and what they are like Where the coral reefs are, and what they are like Rainforest processes and nutrient cycling Two threatened ecosystems: a rainforest and a coral reef

Environmental Threats to Our Planet

Topic overview Climate change through the Quaternary, and since 1000AD The evidence for climate change Natural causes of climate change, and the enhanced greenhouse effect The consequences of climate change The world’s climatic regions and global atmospheric circulation How global circulation produces extreme weather Tropical storms: causes, distribution and frequency A drought caused by El Niño or La Niña

Fieldwork Skills

Topic overview Framing an enquiry question and choosing your methods Presenting, analysing and explaining fieldwork data Concluding, and evaluating the enquiry

Geographical Skills

Topic overview Constructing maps, and reading cross-sections and transects Coordinates, scale, distance and reading information from a map Gradient, contours, spot heights and GIS Choosing, constructing and presenting graphs and charts Reading and interpreting the main graph and chart types Number, area, scale and the relationships between units Proportion and ratio, and measures of central tendency and spread Percentages and percentiles, and designing data collection sheets Reading tables, and describing relationships in bivariate data Trend lines and lines of best fit Predicting from data, and spotting weak statistical presentation Drawing and justifying conclusions from data Interpreting images and written sources, and recognising bias Judging the limits of maps, graphs, statistics and images

Landscapes of the UK

Topic overview The UK’s upland, lowland and glaciated landscapes Geomorphic processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition River landforms and how they form Coastal landforms and how they form Two UK landscape case studies: a river basin and a coastline

People of the Planet

Topic overview Defining and measuring development The global pattern of development: ACs, EDCs and LIDCs Why development is uneven, and the role of aid A developing or emerging country: its context and economy Rostow’s model and the country’s path of development Cities, megacities and world cities Why urban growth rates differ around the world Rapid urbanisation in poorer countries: causes and effects A major city in a poorer or emerging country

People of the UK

Topic overview The UK’s trade, media and cultural links with the world The UK’s geographical diversity and its inequalities Uneven development within the UK, and the effects of economic growth How the UK’s population structure has changed since 1900 Immigration into the UK in the twenty-first century Urban trends in the UK and their effects A major UK city: its people, challenges and ways of life

UK Environmental Challenges

Topic overview Air masses, the North Atlantic Drift and the UK’s extreme weather A UK flood event: causes, effects and responses How people use, modify and change UK ecosystems The UK’s renewable and non-renewable energy sources Changing UK energy supply and demand, and sustainable use Renewables in the UK, and the future of fossil fuels What shapes the UK’s energy choices

Ecosystems of the Planet

Two threatened ecosystems: a rainforest and a coral reef

3 things to know
Component 02

Overview

How climate, soil, plants, animals and people depend on each other in a rainforest and a coral reef, why rainforests are fragile, the value of both to people and the planet, clearance, logging and bleaching, selective logging, ecotourism and marine protected areas, and the Amazon and the Great Barrier Reef as case studies.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What are the main threats to biodiversity in a tropical rainforest?

Key term

What is selective logging, and why is it more sustainable than felling everything?

Key term

How can ecotourism help protect a threatened ecosystem?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What should you be able to say about the way climate, soil, water, plants and people fit together in the rainforest you have studied?
Model answer
That its hot wet climate drives both rapid growth and rapid decay, that this keeps the soil thin because the trees hold the nutrients, and that the people there depend on the forest for food, medicine and shelter.
2
What should you be able to say about how the living and non-living parts of the coral reef you have studied depend on each other?
Model answer
That warm, clear, shallow water lets coral and its algae live together, that the coral then builds the structure sheltering fish and other animals, and that local people fish and dive on what the coral has built.
3
Why is a rainforest called a fragile ecosystem in spite of its size?
Model answer
Because nearly all its nutrients are locked in the trees, so once these are felled the soil is exhausted within a few harvests and the forest struggles to return.
4
Give three ways a rainforest is of value to the people living in it.
Model answer
It gives them food from hunting and gathering, timber and fibres for building, and plants used as medicines.
5
Why do rainforests matter to the planet as a whole?
Model answer
They absorb and store carbon dioxide that would otherwise warm the atmosphere, they hold a huge share of the world's land species, and they help drive the rainfall of the regions around them.
6
Why are coral reefs valuable to people?
Model answer
They feed coastal communities through the fish they support, draw income from tourists and divers, and absorb wave energy that would otherwise erode the shore.

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Ecosystems of the Planet

Environmental Threats to Our Planet

Fieldwork Skills

Geographical Skills

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The trade winds drive warm surface water .

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AMore sunspots mean the Sun is giving out more energy.

BMore reaches the Earth and the climate warms.

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