1. 3.2 The Biosphere is a Vital System
What do I need to know? How the biosphere provides resources for people (food, medicine, building materials and fuel resources) but is also increasingly exploited commercially for energy, water and mineral resources.

2. The Biosphere as a vital system
LO: To be able to explain how the biosphere acts as a life support system providing goods and services

3. The biosphere acts as a life support system
As you can see everything is connected together- draw your own simplified version of this diagram

4. Key factS: Lots of dead leaves and animals
For plants to grow, they need:
Lots of dead leaves and animals

5. The Nutrient CYCLE Tasks
There are 3 stores and many different processes within the nutrient cycle.
Tasks
Draw the nutrient cycle and define the processes to show how nutrients get into or leave the cycle.
Describe how nutrients move around the cycle.

6. There are different variations of the nutrient cycle.
How have these nutrient cycles changed for the tropical rainforest and deciduous woodland?
What does this mean for the number of nutrients in each store and each process?

7. Ecosystems provide us with goods and services
Something that you cannot see or touch but you can use.
Something that you can see, touch or use.
Paper, wood, phone…
NHS, Education…

8. What goods can this ecosystem provide us with?

9. Food Medicine What goods does a biosphere provide us with?
Fish and meat are part of the biosphere
Natural plants can be replaced with crops like wheat and rice
Quinine from bark has been used as a painkiller and malaria treatment
Fruits, berries and nuts are produced by trees and plants
Food
Timber for building
Periwinkle plant is used to treat leukaemia
Medicine
Raw materials
In Hong Kong bamboo is used for scaffolding
Wood pulp makes paper
Vitamin C is vital for health and is found in oranges
Rubber comes from trees and makes tyres

10. Biosphere and people: the biosphere provides humans with a wide range of goods.
Food
Medicines
Raw Materials
Using the diagram, fill in this table of information showing how humans use the biosphere

11. What services can this ecosystem provide us with?

12. Services Regulation Support Culture
There are 3 groups of ecosystem services:
Regulation
Support
Culture
Ecosystems regulate:
air we breathe,
water via the water cycle which includes water purification.
Disease and pests
Natural hazards such as floods.
Ecosystems support services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services:
Soil formation
Photosynthesis
Nutrient cycling
Water cycling
The benefits people get from ecosystems:
Recreation
Experience of landscape and wildlife.
Remember – They are not free, just because they do not ‘cost’ anything, do not think they are free.

13. Regulation Ecosystems regulate: air we breathe,
water via the water cycle which includes water purification.
Disease and pests
Natural hazards such as floods.

14. Support Ecosystems support : Soil formation Photosynthesis
Nutrient cycling
Water cycling

15. Culture The benefits people get from ecosystems: Recreation
Experience of landscape and wildlife.

16. Ecosystem services
Rank these services into order of importance. List them in your books
Maintaining the water cycle
Cleansing the water
Maintaining atmospheric gases (O2 – CO2)
Pollinating crops and other important plants
Maintaining soil health
Storing essential nutrients for vegetation
Absorbing and detoxifying pollutants
Providing beauty, inspiration, and recreation
Preventing natural disasters 3 2 1 4 5 6 9 7 8

17. How is the biosphere dependent on soils, the atmosphere and water?

19. Look back at your diagram and answer the following questions in your book
How is the biosphere affected by the atmosphere?
What do trees and plants help stop?
What are nutrients?
What do dead leaves do to the soil?

20. Burrowing insects are vital for allowing the air to circulate in the soil!
Healthy soils require lots of nutrients. These come from dead leaves and dead rotting plants.

21. So how does this all work together?
Draw your own version of this and label it

22. Now for the technical bit !!!!
You need to draw and learn this geographical model.
You have 30 seconds to remember what you can about the model, and 1 minute to draw.
Then another 30 seconds remembering and 1 minute to draw, until you have drawn the diagram in 5 minutes.
P.F. Gersmehl (1976) developed this geographical model

23. Make a note of the key points
Biomes are world- scale ecosystems
The distribution is determined largely by climate, plus local factors
The biosphere acts as a life support system providing goods and services
Everything works together as a system – the nutrient cycle proves how
Human impact on the biosphere is growing in terms of species extinction and climate change