Grassland
Define Grassland
A biome of wide open spaces, where the vegetation is dominated by grasses; sometimes called a prairie, steppe or savannah.
Define Tropical Rainforest
A biome that lies between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, which has high regular rainfall, high average temperatures and a high level of biodiversity.
Define Boreal Forest
The coniferous forest biome, dominated by fir, spruce and pine trees
Define Desert
A dry region of the Earth with little vegetation or rainfall, but experiencing extreme temperatures
Define Mountain Vegetation
Vegetation that grows on the colder slopes of mountainsides
Describe what 'crop yield' is.
Crop yield refers to the amount of crop (in kilograms) that is grown per hectare and is used by farmers to measure how much they have grown.
Describe Deforestation
The cutting down of trees and other plant life in a forest.
List three threats to boreal forests around the world.
Deforestation, insect plagues, acid rain, bushfires, climate change.
Describe Desertification
The transformation of fertile land into relatively dry desert areas.
Describe Terracing
The process of cutting ‘steps’ into sloping land to make fat sections
Explain what 'soil salinity' is.
Salinity is a condition where the amount of salt causes problems in the soil.
Explain why tropical rainforests exist around the equator.
Stable climate conditions, with torrential rain and warm temperatures between 26-32 degrees celsius everyday annually.
Explain some of the resources which boreal forests provide.
Wood for construction, heating and cooking came from boreal forest trees. More recently, boreal forests have supplied the increased global demand for cheap wood and paper, spurred by population growth and a change in global markets.
Outline characteristics of desert biomes in Australia, including wildlife and plant life.
In most of Australia’s desert areas, grasses and low shrubs dominate the landscape. Australia is arid or semi-arid because 70 per cent of the continent receives less than 500 millimetres of rainfall each year. This low rainfall has resulted in large desert areas across much of Australia.
Explain how terracing can have negative impacts.
Terracing can sometimes catch too much water, especially during heavy rainfall. This saturates the soil, leading to overfowing terraces that can cause more soil erosion than the normal run off.
Explain how 'soil degradation' occurs.
Soil degradation occurs because human activities impact on the soil’s ability to support plants and animals. These activities include clearing forests to make way for farms and towns,
Food, pharmaceutical drugs, climate regulation (Oxygen), temperature regulation, Indigenous peoples, consumer goods (toothpaste, golf balls, steroids etc).
Identify where boreal forests are located in the world.
The boreal forest biome covers vast areas in the northern hemisphere, between the Arctic tundra and the north of Europe, Asia and North America.
Explain why Australia has a large variety of biomes.
Australia is one of the world’s largest countries. The northern part of Australia lies in the tropics, while the southern part stretches towards Antarctica. The sheer size of the land mass which spreads across much of the Earth’s southern latitudes means that there is a wide variety of climates and landscapes that form many biomes across Australia.
Explain how mountains provide water for farming.
As the glaciers have slowly melted, water has flowed down the mountains into the rivers, providing water to millions of people. This water has been used to grow a significant amount of the food to meet the requirements of 2.5 billion people in Asia.
Elaborate how farmers overcome low levels of nutrients in soil.
Many farmers are now changing their techniques to minimise their impact on the soil structure and nutrients by reducing ploughing, adding protective layers of organic material (mulch) and growing plants that help return nutrients to the soil.
Explain what 'Slash and Burn' is.
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area.
Forecast how climate change is going to impact boreal forests.
Climate change is causing some forest areas to spread further north. Rising temperatures in the Arctic region have seen the edge of the boreal forest slowly advancing northward, replacing tundra in some places.
Forecast how desertification will impact agriculture in the future.
The United Nations currently estimates that the food security of about 250 million people around the world is directly affected by desertifcation. They believe that the food security of a further one billion is also threatened.
Outline why adding fertilisers in farming is bad for the environment.
Fertilisers such as nitrogen, phosphorus and animal manure can also end up in lakes and rivers, causing algae to grow out of control. This starves the water of oxygen and creates ‘dead zones’ in the water. Upon entering water sources, pesticides used in farming to control insects and weeds can poison fish and native animals, as well as killing the plants that create their habitats.