Discuss the relative importance of physical and human factors in accounting for changes to vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles
Discuss the relative importance of physical and human factors in accounting for changes to vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles The British Isles is an example of a Lithosere succession, in that it began as bare rock from glacial retreat. The plant succession started with the pioneer species which were algae and bacteria. Both began to broke down rock surface through weathering. Then lichens and mosses began growing in the area which helps with water retention and provides a base for soil. The next stage of primary succession is herbs/grasses/flowering plants/ferns. These add nutrients and organic matter to the ground which provided soil. Next, shrubs invaded and colonised the area. Shrubs dominate and shade out the sere below them. Small trees such as birch and willow were the following sere which invaded and colonised the area. They produced humus from leaf fall which provided nutrients for the soil through nutrient recycling and encouraged new growth of the sere. The last sere is the larger trees which are oak and ash which dominate the area and shade out smaller trees. This sere is the climax community in that it is stable and no further succession happens after. The climax community is the deciduous woodland biome we know today. The main characteristics include the location in which they are found, which is in temperate maritime climate such as
Discuss the degree to which the theory of plate tectonics is supported by seismic and volcanic activity
Discuss the degree to which the theory of plate tectonics is supported by seismic and volcanic activity. The theory of plate tectonics suggests that the earth's lithosphere is split into plates (as shown in map 1). At their boundaries the plates submerge, diverge and slide past one another, this movement is caused by convection currents in the asthenosphere. The idea that the plates are moving is not new, as early as 1620 the English philosopher Francis Bacon was aware that the continents seemed to fit together. In 1912 Wegener suggested that the continents were once joined as the super continent Pangaea (as seen in image 4) and that they had drifted apart, he gathered a large amount of evidence to support this theory. Continents appear to fit together, more significantly so if continental shelves are taken to be the true edges of the land mass. There is a vast array of geological evidence that includes similar glacial deposits being found in Antarctica, S. America and India. Antarctica, Svalbard, N. America and the UK all contain coal deposits of a similar age that were formed in tropical conditions, they are no longer in tropical climate zones. Biological evidence is also available, Marsupials are only found in Australia because the predator that wiped them out elsewhere had not migrated there before it drifted away from the main super continent. Despite this evidence,
