The Overview of Ecosystems

 Ecosystems are entire living communities of plants and animals that, although diverse in nature,
share common characteristics.
 Ecosytems can be split into two main sections, abiotic and biotic elements.
 Climate, soils and vegetation interact closely to produce the characteristic nature of an individual
ecosystem.

Coniferous Woodlands
 The temperature in the summer varies between 12 and 18oC, with temperatures falling below freezing
for the winter months.
 The total precipitation amount will be approximately 500mm.
 The main soil found in coniferous forests is called a podsol.
 Coniferous trees are evergreen, meaning that they have leaves all year round, and therefore can
always photosynthesise.
 The trees are extensively used as timber and for paper making

Deciduous Woodlands
 The summer temperatures range between 15 and 20°C, whilst the cool winters don't generally drop
below zero.
 Rainfall is moderate, usually between 1000 and 1500mm.
 The typical soil of a British deciduous woodland is a brown earth.
 Deciduous trees are ones which drop their leaves in the autumn.
 One of the primary reasons for the clearance of many of the deciduous woodlands around Britain was
to use the area for agriculture.

Deserts
 Temperature often remains above 30°C for long periods.
 They tend to receive an average of less than 300mm of rain each year.
 Desert soils are alkaline, and are very dry with little humus.
 Plants have to cope with very little water in the hot desert. Species such as cacti have evolved to
reduce water loss to a minimum.
 Many plants have seeds that only germinate when the rains come.

Mediterranean Woodlands and Scrub

 The Mediterranean experiences hot, dry summers, with temperatures usually between 20 and 25°C.
 There is moderate rainfall, of around 800mm, which falls mainly in the winter.
 Mediterranean soils are a mixture between brown earths in the wetter areas and desert soils in the dry
places.
 The Mediterranean hillsides were once covered in dense deciduous and coniferous forests.

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  Where the forests have been removed a dense shrubland has replaced them.
 Forest fires are very common in the Mediterranean area, and this has helped to destroy much of the
original woodland.

Tropical Rainforests
 Hot throughout the year, with temperatures ranging between 25 and 30°C.
 There also is a massive level of precipitation, usually between 2000 and 3000mm each year.
 Rainforest soils are called latsols.
 Tropical rainforests boasts a huge variety of vegetation and animal life.
 They can be divided into five simple layers, from the canopy to the forest floor.
 Humans use the rainforests for logging, ranching, dam projects, subsistence farming, and mining.

Management of Ecosystems
 The main method of management is called sustainability. This means that the forests are used, but
in a way which does not affect their long term growth.
 By removing the trees, humans have also removed the main source of nutrients in the soil in the
rainforests.
 By chopping down vast areas of both the rainforests and deciduous woodlands, less carbon dioxide
can be processed, meaning that there is more in the atmosphere.

What is an Ecosystem?
The ecosystem system

Ecosystems are entire living communities of plants and animals that, although diverse in nature,
share common characteristics. These primarily relate to the climate and soil seen in the ecosystem.
Climate, soils and vegetation interact closely to produce the characteristic nature of an individual
ecosystem.

Ecosystems can be split into two main sections, abiotic and biotic elements:

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 1. Abiotic elements are those that are non-living, but affect the ecosystem. Examples of these
include water, heat, relief, the atmosphere, soil, fire, gravity, nutrients and rocks.

2. Biotic elements are those living elements of the ecosystem. In other words the plants and animals.
Within the biotic element, there are organisms, which are known as producers. These convert
sunlight into energy through the process of photosynthesis. There are also organisms known
as consumers, which feed on the other organisms. Within each ecosystem there is a hierarchy of
producers and consumers. Energy moves between these groups as shown in the diagram
below:

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 The Ecosystem as a system

GCSE Case Study Revision Guide

UNIT 1 – CLIMATE, THE ENVIRONMENT AND PEOPLE

The Savanna in Kenya – A Case Study Of A Large Scale Ecosystem

The Savanna Ecosystem covers about one quarter of the land on our planet and is
found
in three continents: South America, Africa and Australia. Figure 1 shows the world
distribution
of the Savanna. The Savanna ecosystem usually occupies the area between the
rainforest and
the desert ecosystems. Savanna is typically grassland but where it merges into
rainforest it
becomes more wooded. Where it merges with desert it becomes an area
of bushes and clumps
of grass.

The African Savanna Climate

Africa has the world’s largest area of savanna. The climate of the savanna is hot
all year round, never dropping below 20˚c. Rainfall varies; some parts of the
savanna get a lot of rain but others get very little. The rain falls in just a few
months of the year; this is known as the wet season.
It is then followed by a long dry season.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Temp. (˚c) 21 24 28 31 30 28 27 26 27 28 26 24
Rainfall (mm) 0 0 0 8 60 120 215 310 130 18 10 0

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 Vegetation
Plants in the savanna ecosystem are adapted to coping with the difficult conditions
of a very warm climate, with a wet season followed by a long dry season. The
most common vegetation is grass. In the wet season it grows very fast, reaching
up to 3 meters high, flowering, and then spreading its seeds. In the dry
season grasses die back and their roots reach deep into the soil searching for
water. When the wet season returns, the grass grows back again and the seeds
that fell quickly germinate.

Not many trees are found in the drier parts of the savanna because trees need lots
of water. The acacia tree has adapted to the difficult climate by developing small
waxy leaves to cut down moisture loss, and in the dry season it loses its leaves.
The acacia also searches for moisture with its long tap root. Its needle-like thorns
reduce moisture loss and protect it from animals. The baobab tree looks very
strange, and is sometimes called the upside down tree. Its huge trunk stores
water in the wet season, which can then last through the dry season. Its thick bark
protects it from fires and it has few leaves,
which helps to conserve moisture. It too has a long tap root that searches for
moisture in the dry season.

Wildlife in the savanna

The African savanna is home to some familiar animals such as lions, cheetahs,
leopards, elephants, giraffes, rhinos and zebra. These, together with the plants
and non-living parts – weather, soil and rock – make up the savanna ecosystem.
The animals can be divided into three types:
♦ Herbivores, which eat plants
♦ Carnivores, which eat other animals
♦ Omnivores, which eat both plants and animals.
Some of these are shown in the diagram below. This is a very simplified food web
showing a small number of African plants and animals.

Food web of the African savanna

The savanna supports large numbers of grazing animals, or herbivores, which in
turn support large numbers of carnivores. Just like plants, many of the savanna
animals have adapted to this difficult environment. For example, giraffes have
developed long necks to feed on acacia trees, wildebeest are able to travel long
distances to find fresh grass, and antelope get much of their moisture from the
grass they eat, only drinking water when it is available.

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 How has the savanna been affected by people?
Large areas of Africa that were once savanna have been destroyed. With the
population of some African
countries like Kenya and Tanzania growing rapidly, some areas have developed
with the growth of towns and cities.
Farmers have also destroyed large areas of savanna; land has been ploughed and
is used to grow crops, which are urgently needed to feed the growing
population. Farmers have also allowed cattle to graze on areas of savanna and
have killed the predatory wild animals that also roam these areas. Sometimes too
many cattle have been grazed on the savanna – this is called overgrazing.
Overgrazing results in the dry savanna turning into desert. This process is called
desertification. Figure 3 shows how
desertification is spreading in Africa.

What is being done to protect the savanna ecosystem?

In the savanna areas of Africa some countries have established national parks.
These are large areas of savanna where restrictions limit what people are allowed
to do, and protect the savanna ecosystem. In Kenya, there are 40 national parks
and game reserves. The largest one in Kenya is the Tsavo National park, which is
about the same size as Wales.

How do the parks limit the damage to the savanna ecosystem by humans?
• Farming is not allowed in the parks.
• Grazing animals in the savanna do not have to compete with farm animals.
• Poaching – the illegal killing of animals – is strictly banned. Park wardens are
paid to try and
prevent it happening. Rhino are killed for their horns. People are prepared to pay
a lot of money for these. In some parts of the world rhino horn is used as a
traditional medicine, in others it is used as the handles for daggers. Elephants are
killed for their tusks as ivory is worth a lot of money.

Tourists are able to visit the parks, and safari holidays in African countries are very
popular. Tourists are willing to pay a lot of money to tour the parks and see the
wildlife. Tourism is a major source of income.
Many jobs such as hotel workers, taxi and mini-bus drivers, and tour guides, are
created through
tourism.

How can tourism affect the savanna ecosystem?

Tourists can cause problems in the savanna, although these are not always
obvious. Tourist minibuses get too close to savanna animals such as lions and
cheetahs, which are at the top of the tourists’ “want to see” list. The animals are
easily disturbed and are unlikely to mate or to make a kill while being observed.
Their numbers are now decreasing as a result.
Tourists taking hot-air balloon rides to get a fantastic view of the parks are also
causing problems. The shadow cast by the balloon passing over the savanna and

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 the noise from the burners cause animals like the rhino to stampede. If they
stampede out of the parks and go onto farmers’ land they could be shot.
Animals like baboons have learned to scavenge for food from tourists and are now
becoming overweight.
Lastly, the tourist minibuses are eroding the thin savanna soil and destroying the
vegetation, especially in the dry season. This is adding to the problem of
desertification

Deserts
Features of a desert

Climate: Very hot throughout the year, the temperature of ten remains above 30°C for long periods.
Deserts are also very dry places, usually placed in the central regions ofa continent. They tend to
receive an average of less than 300mm of rain each year.

Soils: Desert soils are alkaline, and are very dry with little humus. However they are not infertile, as
areas that have been irrigated have produced good crops. Most plants could not survive in the desert
soil but some have evolved to cope with the lack of water and nutrients.

Vegetation: Plants have to cope with very little water in the hot desert. Species such as cacti have
evolved to reduce water loss to a minimum. Their waxy skins and spiky leaves reduce transpiration,
whilst their thick stems act as an excellent water store.

Other plants have evolved extensive, deep root systems that search out the last drops of water
underground, whilst others have all their roots very close to the surface in an attempt to capture all
available rainwater.

Due to lack of water plants are often found widely spaced apart. Many plants have seeds that only
germinate when the rains come. They can lie dormant for years, and then burst into life with the
rains.

Human uses of a desert

Oil: Humans have found little use inthe hot, dry desert regions of the world. However one very
important resource that is found in some desert regions is oil, which is essential for most countries of
the world.

Tropical Rainforests
Features of a tropical rainforest

Climate: The tropical rainforest ecosystem is located in a band 5 either side of the equator. This
means that it is hot throughout the year, with temperatures ranging between 25 and 30°C.There also

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 is a massive level of precipitation, usually between 2000 and 3000mm each year. Most afternoons
experience a heavy downpour, which helps to keep the rainforest moist.

Soils: Rainforest soils are called latsols. They have a very thick litter layer, which decomposes rapidly
in the hot, moist conditions to create thick humus, full of nutrients. This produces a soil, which acts as
if it is very fertile. However that is not actually the case and if the vegetation is removed the soil
quickly becomes very infertile. Rapid leaching occurs to remove minerals and nutrients from the
humus layer.

Vegetation and animals: Tropical rainforests boasts a huge variety of vegetation and animal life.
This can be divided into five simple layers, from the canopy to the forest floor, where you will see
distinctive types of vegetation:

 The top layer is called the emergent layer. This is where a few of the largest trees have managed to
grow higher than the main canopy to try to capture as much light and rainwater as possible. Examples
include mahogany trees. Birds and insects would be expected to be seen in this layer.
 The canopy layer is the layer at approximately 30 metres created by the many tall trees of the
rainforest. The canopy virtually blocks out all the light for the vegetation below and is the home for
birds and monkeys.
 The under canopy is the layer between 10 and 20 metres where there area few trees, but mainly
lianas and other vines which hang down from the taller trees that they are using to climb up to the
light.
 The shrub layer is the fourth rainforest layer. These plants are between 5 and 10 metres in height
and consist of small trees and other plants waiting patiently for a tree fall to create a gap in the
canopy to allow them the light to grow.
 The forest floor is the final layer, where there are ferns and other plants as well as the massive tree
roots. Animals such as tapirs, frogs and even alligators inhabit this layer.

The main driving force in the rainforest vegetation is the fight for light. Hence when a tree falls,
creating a gap in the canopy, there are a number of very fast growing species that will have been
almost lying dormant that will rapidly grow to try to capture all the available light.

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 Most of the tall trees have wide shallow roots, as the majority of the water and nutrients are found in
the very top layer of the soil. To prevent them from toppling over most of the tall trees have grown
large buttress roots, which act as stabilisers. Rainforest trees have straight trunks, with their leaves
and branches concentrated right at the top to enable them to make best use of all the available light.

Human uses of a tropical rainforest

Logging: Rainforest trees are mainly hardwoods. These can be very lucrative on the international
market and as many of the countries of the world with tropical rainforests in them are LEDC's, it is a
market that they often exploit. Unfortunately, to get to certain types of tree, logging companies
destroy all the other vegetation around them.

Ranching: Large-scale forest clearance has taken place to make way for huge cattle ranches, as
these are also a lucrative industry for the country. The cattle quickly erode the fragile, and now
unprotected, soil. The farmers are not interested in the wood for sale, they often just burn it.

Damming: To provide power for industries such as the mines and papermills, large dam schemes
have been introduced. An example of this is the Tucurui Dam in the Northern Brazilian rainforest. The
reservoir it created flooded an area of 2875 square kilometres and displaced 40,000 people. It
destroyed hundreds of species of animals and thousands of species of plants, some of which may
never have actually been known about.

Subsistence Farming: The initial growth into the rainforests was along roads that were cut through
the dense vegetation. These encouraged people looking for a better way of life to enter the forest and
clear areas beside the roads for farming. They presumed that because the rainforest was so rich with
life, the soil would be very fertile. Unfortunately that is not the case, and within a few years the
farmers were forced to move on because the soil had become so bad. Not being able to afford to go
back to the cities on the Eastern coasts, most of these farmers end up copping down another area of
forest and starting again. Unfortunately the results are equally predictable.

Mining: the Northern Amazon rainforest is rich in minerals, such as bauxite, iron ore and even some
gold. This has meant that vast areas of rainforest have been cleared to allow mining to occur.
Settlements have grown up, such as Carajas and Manaus purely based on the mining industry.

Sustainable Development: The rainforests do have a huge number of very useful resources that can
be used without damaging the ecosystem. The native Amazon Indians used a method of farming
called "slash and burn" where they deforested an area and used it for farming for a few years. They
then left it and went on to another site. Plants and trees quickly invaded the deforested area, so that
soon there was very little evidence that they had ever been there. They also used the rainforest for
hunting and fishing.

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 The Management of Global Ecosystems
Woodlands and forests throughout the world are under threat from being cut down for a variety of
reasons. Therefore management is becoming increasingly important.

The main method of management is called sustainability. This means that the forests are used, but
in a way which does not affect their long-term growth. Workers carefully harvest the trees and their
resources. The trees that have been used are then replaced.

It is essential that the governments of the countries where there are still large areas of forest be
persuaded not to allow them to be cut down. Unfortunately it is not that easy, as the forests often
represent a lucrative short-term economic resource for the country.

Tropical rainforests
The Effect of Forest Clearance on the Nutrient Cycle:

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 The soils of the tropical rainforest seem to be very fertile, as they support a wide range of plants and
animals. However that is not actually the case.

The vegetation itself produces most of the nutrients that are then re-used. There is rapid leaf fall and
this is quickly decomposed in the hot and humid conditions, creating a deep and nutrient rich humus
layer.

By removing the trees, humans have also removed the main source of nutrients in the soil.
Consequently when areas have been cleared for agriculture, the soils have quickly become infertile
and useless.

The Effect of Forest Clearance on the Global Climate:

Trees absorb carbon dioxide and convert it back into oxygen, ready for animals to breathe. They are
effectively the lungs of the world and are therefore very important.

By chopping down vast areas of both the rainforests and deciduous woodlands, less carbon dioxide
can be processed, meaning that there is more in the atmosphere. In turn, this increase in carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere is one of the suspected causes of global warming.

The Effect of Forest Clearance on animals and plants:

The tropical rainforests are home to countless species of animals and plants, some of which may not
have been discovered yet. By chopping down the trees, the habitats of these plants and animals are
being destroyed and they will die. The rainforests provide a huge range of foods and medicines that
are essential for humans, and these are also being lost due to the deforestation.

Mediterranean Woodlands and Scrub

Features of Mediterranean woodlands and scrub

Climate: The Mediterranean experiences hot, dry summers, with temperatures usually between 20
and 25°C, but they can reach well in excess of 30°C.

Winters are mild, with temperatures falling to around 10°C. There is moderate rainfall, of around
800mm, which falls mainly in the winter

Vegetation: The Mediterranean hillsides were once covered in dense deciduous and coniferous
forests. In Europe this meant that trees such as the oak flourished, whilst in California giant redwood
trees grew up. Most of these have been cleared, especially in Europe, however some do remain in
remote areas.

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 Where the forests have been removed a dense scrubland has replaced them. The shrub vegetation has
adapted to cope with the dry, hot summers by having waxy leaves that prevent water loss through
transpiration. They also have long roots to reach water deep below the surface. Many of the trees are
resistant to fire, as these are a common feature of the Mediterranean area.

Human uses of Mediterranean woodlands and scrub

Clearance: Humans have had a huge impact on Mediterranean woodland throughout the
world, but particularly in Europe. The Romans and Greeks cleared much of it for fuel wood
and building materials, as well as clearing areas for farming.

Agriculture: the massive clearance of the Mediterranean woodlands exposed huge areas for
farming, as they presumed the ground would be fertile. Unfortunately in many cases the dry
summers and winter rains proceeded to wash away the nutritious topsoil fairly quickly. This
leaves relatively infertile land on which to farm.

A very good example where this occurred was in Southern Italy. Grazing animals also
caused great damage to the woodlands, and continue to also affect the newer scrubland
that has developed.

Fires: Forest fires are very common in the Mediterranean area, and this has helped to
destroy much of the original woodland. The shrubs and small trees that have replaced them
often are resistant to fire.

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