Living World checklist
Key Words
Ecosystem
Biome
Adaptations
Producers
Consumer
Arid
Felling
Food Chain
Food Web
Decomposers
Nutrient cycle
Leaching
Desert
Temperature Deciduous woodland
Tropical Rainforest
Leaf Litter
Biomass Deforestation
Pollarding
Ecotourism
Subsistence Farming
Selective Logging
Slash and Burn
Content:
An ecosystem is made up of plants and animals and the physical factors affecting them.
These parts interrelate and depend on each other:
o What is an ecosystem?
o The living and non-living elements of an ecosystem.
o The differences between a food chain and a food web.
o The nutrient cycle.
Different ecosystems are found in different parts of the world due to the influence of
climate and soils.
o Location of temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests and hot deserts.
o The vegetation and layers (structure) of a deciduous woodland.
o The vegetation and layers (structure) of a tropical rainforest.
o The soils and vegetation within a desert.
o Examples of how the vegetation has adapted to its climate.
Temperate deciduous woodlands are used for a variety of reasons. They provide examples
of successful, sustainable management.
o Named example is Epping Forest.
o The uses of the woodland for timber, timber products, recreation and conservation.
o The management strategies which include felling, coppicing, conservation management
and recreational use.
o Other example which can be used is Wyre Forest.
Tropical rainforest is removed for a range of reasons. This has economic, social, political
and environmental repercussions:
o Named example is the Malaysian Rainforest.
o Causes of deforestation: farming, slash and burning, commercial ranching, logging, road
building, population pressure.
o The economic, social, political and environmental impacts of deforestation.
Tropical rainforests need to be managed sustainable with international cooperation:
o Named case study is the Malaysian Rainforest.
o Sustainable management includes selective logging, replanting, education, ecotourism,
reducing debt.
Hot deserts provide opportunities for economic development:
o Named case study in an LEDC- Sahara Desert, Africa
o Named case study in an MEDC- Australian Outback
o How the desert is used in each of these areas. Examples include commercial framing,
mineral extraction, tourism, and hunting.
o Management of these areas. Examples including