GCSE Geography Edexcel B – Revision Checklist
Paper 3. People and Environment Issues – Making Geographical Decisions
Topic 8. Forests under threat (tropical rainforest and taiga [boreal] forest)
Key Idea I know/ understand…
Threats to forest biomes and their management
Tropical rainforests (TR)
How biotic and abiotic characteristics are interdependent in
the TR (climate, soil, water, plants, animals and humans).
The four stratified layers in the TR:
Emergent layer
Main canopy
Understorey
Structure, functions Forest floor
and adaptation of
How plants have adapted to live in the TR:
the tropical
Buttress roots
rainforest
Drip tips
How animals have adapted to live in the TR.
The three nutrient stores in the TR, (biomass, litter, and soil).
Why are they cycled quickly in the rainforest?
How nutrient cycling supports high biodiversity and complex
food webs.
Causes of deforestation in the TR:
Commercial hardwood logging
Subsistence agriculture
Commercial agriculture
Threats to the
Local demand for fuel wood
tropical rainforest
Demand for biofuels, mineral resources and electricity
(HEP)
The difference between direct and indirect threats.
Why is climate change an indirect threat to the TR?
What REDD is.
Advantages and disadvantages of using REDD as a method of
conservation.
What CITES is.
Management of the Advantages and disadvantages of using CITES as a method of
tropical rainforest conservation.
What sustainable forest management is.
Challenges of achieving sustainable forest management.
What ecotourism and sustainable farming are.
How they might help protect the TR.
Taiga (boreal) forest
How biotic and abiotic characteristics are interdependent in
the taiga (climate, soil, water, plants, animals and humans).
How plants have adapted to live in the taiga:
Cone-shaped
Structure, functions Needles
and adaptation of Simple structure
the taiga How animals have adapted to live in the taiga (including
migration).
Why the taiga has lower productivity and less active nutrient
cycling.
How nutrient cycling leads to low levels of biodiversity.
Threats to the taiga Direct threats to the taiga:
Logging for softwood
GCSE Geography Edexcel B – Revision Checklist
Paper 3. People and Environment Issues – Making Geographical Decisions
Topic 8. Forests under threat (tropical rainforest and taiga [boreal] forest)
Pulp and paper production
Indirect threats to the taiga:
Exploitation of minerals
Exploitation of fossil fuels
HEP potential
There is a loss of biodiversity in the taiga because of:
Acid precipitation
Forest fires
Pests and diseases
What a wilderness area is.
What national parks are.
Management of the The challenges of creating wilderness areas, national parks
taiga and sustainable forestry in the taiga.
Why do some people want to protect the taiga?
Why do other people want to exploit the taiga?