GCSE Geography: Ecosystems Revision Cards

These revision cards focus on Ecosystems (including the Tropical Rainforest) and I hope they're of some use to anyone doing GCSE Geography in yrs 10 or 11 (like me!) and I also hope that they're of some use to those who are trying to revise for any Geography exams.

Good luck.


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  • Created by: Kathryn.C
  • Created on: 12-06-10 12:47
Preview of GCSE Geography: Ecosystems Revision Cards

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Ecosystems: 1
Ecosystem: an ecosystem is a habitat where plants and animals live
and interact with each other, and their surroundings, in order to
A Simple Ecosystem Diagram; Energy
from the
Soil…read more

Slide 3

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Ecosystems: 2
In any system there are inputs, outputs and processes occurring.
For example;
Inputs Processes Outputs
Solar Radiation Photosynthesis Minerals
Water Pollution Tree Clearance Water into Rivers
Insecticides Reproduction Timber
Air Feeding Oxygen
Rainfall Decomposition Evapotranspiration
Feedback OR Recycling…read more

Slide 4

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Ecosystems: 3
·Air rises, cools and condensation occurs (water vapour condenses)
to form tiny droplets of water, that forms rainfall. When the droplets
are dense enough they fall as rain.
·Convectional rainfall; hot air rises.
·Frontal rainfall; a warm front meets a cold front.
·Relief rainfall; warm air is forced to rise up over
mountains and hills.…read more

Slide 5

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Ecosystems: 4
·Latitude ­ a combination of the curvature of the Earth, the angle of
the sun in the sky, and the layer of the atmosphere that surrounds
the Earth.
·Distance from the sea ­ inland temperatures have a large range. In
summer they heat up quickly, in winter they rapidly decrease and
become very cold. Closer to the sea the temperature range is small
because in summer it takes the sea a while to warm up, in winter the
sea retains most of the heat causing temperatures not to vary too
·Prevailing winds ­ the temperature depends on where the wind
originated and the type of surface it passed over.
·Altitude ­ depending on the
height of the land the
temperature decreases as the
height increases. On average
the temperature drops 10°c
every 1000 metres.…read more

Slide 6

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Ecosystems: 5
·A form of subsistence farming. A traditional form of agriculture found in
many areas of the tropical rainforest.
·Found in the most inaccessible and least explored areas.
·Main crop is Manioc ­ the `bread of the tropics' ­ which is crushed to
produce a flour called Cassava.
·Manioc can also provide sugar and a local beer.
·Other crops are Yams (which need rich soil), beans, and pumpkins.
·Men have to supplement this diet by hunting; mainly for Tapir and
monkeys, fishing and collecting fruit.
·Needs a high labour input and large areas of land to provide enough
food for a few people.
·A wasteful method of farming; causes less harm to the environment than
permanent agriculture does.
·Amerindians use stone axes and machetes to
fell about one hectare of forest. Any
undergrowth has to be cleared immediately.
·The felled trees are dried, and then burned.
·The burning helps provide nutrients for the
soil as the ash is spread over the ground as a
·This is known as `Slash and Burn'.…read more

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Mr A Gibson

Although some of the images on the slides need to be moved away from obscuring the text, it is worth spending time doing this (2 minutes?) because the information on these slides is really useful and it is accurate. The focus is on rainforests.

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