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Summary GCSE Geography revision notes for people and the biosphere
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Key terms What are the global distribution and characteristics of major biomes?Biosphere: the part of the earth’s
surface inhabited by living things
Ecosystem: an area made up of living
things and their non-living
environment e.g. pond, forest
Biome: a very large-scale ecosystem
e.g. desert, tropical rainforest
Biomass: the mass of living organic
matter in a given area of an
ecosystem or biome
Tropical rainforest
Biotic components: the living parts of
Hot and wet all year round due to being equatorial where solar
a biome – flora, fauna, fungi
radiation is concentrated over a small area and rapidly rising air
Abiotic components: non living parts results in low pressure – highest biomass due to optimum growing
of a biome e.g. soils conditions (lots of sunshine hours) e.g. kapok tree
Productivity: the rate of biomass Tundra
generation
Very cold and dry all year round due to high latitude where radiation
Food webs: the relationship between is spread over large area and descending air results in high pressure –
species in an ecosystem little biomass just mosses due to limited sunshine hours particularly in
winter so limited photosynthesis
What local factors affect biomes? Desert
Altitude Very hot and dry due to low latitude and descending air moving away
Increasing altitude = decreasing from the equator – little biomass due to drought conditions so
temperatures, increasing winds and organisms adapt e.g. xerophytic
precipitation and thinning soils so
biomes decrease
Soils
Chalk supports grassland rather than
forest and sand is dry so plants must
be adapted
Rock type
Hard rocks (granite) weathers slowly
and soils are thinner so limited
growth but soft rocks (limestone) are
permeable and produce alkaline soils
Drainage
How do biotic and abiotic components of biomes react?
Waterlogging due to high rainfall and
impermeable rocks prevents trees Bio-physical weathering: living things break up rock in situ e.g. tree roots
from growing and peat bogs / Bio chemical weathering: flora and fauna can secrete acid-dissolving
marshland only contain adapted rocks e.g. seabirds secrete guano
plants
Photosynthesis and respiration regulate oxygen and carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere
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