How does the living world provide resources and services, and how can it be used sustainably?
The biosphere: biomes and their distribution, biological and biomass resources, the ecosystem services the biosphere provides, and the sustainable management of biological resources.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on the biosphere, covering biomes and what determines their distribution, biological and biomass resources, the ecosystem services provided by living systems, and the sustainable management of biological resources such as forests and fisheries.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to describe the biosphere: the biomes of the Earth and what controls their distribution, the biological and biomass resources the biosphere provides, the ecosystem services it delivers, and how biological resources are managed sustainably. This is the living sphere of the Earth's Resources area, connecting ecology to resource use.
Biomes and their distribution
The distribution of biomes is controlled mainly by climate, especially temperature and precipitation, which vary with latitude (distance from the equator) and altitude. Climate sets the conditions plants can tolerate, so it determines the vegetation, which in turn supports the characteristic animals. Warm, wet equatorial regions hold rainforest; very dry regions hold desert; cold high-latitude regions hold tundra.
Biological and biomass resources
The biosphere provides biological resources that humans depend on:
- Food from crops, livestock, fish and wild harvests;
- Timber and wood products from forests;
- Fibres such as cotton and wool;
- Medicines derived from plants, fungi and microorganisms.
It also provides biomass (organic material) that can be used as an energy resource, for example wood, crop residues and biofuels, which links the biosphere to the energy topic in Sustainability.
Ecosystem services
These services are often free and easily overlooked, yet they would be extremely costly or impossible to replace artificially. For example, forests store carbon and produce oxygen, wetlands purify water, and insects pollinate crops, which is why protecting the biosphere has direct economic as well as ecological value.
Sustainable management of biological resources
Biological resources are renewable, but only if they are used no faster than they can regrow or reproduce. Overuse turns a renewable resource into a depleting one (as in overfishing or deforestation). Sustainable management includes:
- Forestry: replanting (reforestation) at least as many trees as are felled, selective felling rather than clear-felling, and managing on a rotation;
- Fisheries: setting quotas at or below the sustainable yield, with mesh-size and closed-season rules;
- Protecting the resource base: maintaining soil, water and biodiversity so the system keeps producing.
Examples in context
Example 1. Amazon rainforest as a carbon store. The Amazon stores vast amounts of carbon and produces oxygen, a regulating and supporting service of global value. Deforestation releases that carbon and weakens the service, illustrating both the worth of ecosystem services and the cost of losing them.
Example 2. Sustainable forestry certification. Schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council certify timber harvested with replanting and selective felling so that yield does not exceed regrowth. It shows the principle of harvesting a renewable biological resource no faster than it regrows put into commercial practice.
Try this
Q1. Name the two main climatic factors that determine the distribution of biomes. [2 marks]
- Cue. Temperature and precipitation (rainfall).
Q2. Give one provisioning and one regulating ecosystem service provided by a forest. [2 marks]
- Cue. Provisioning: timber (or food). Regulating: carbon storage (or climate regulation, water purification).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher specimen3 marksExplain what determines the distribution of biomes such as tropical rainforest, desert and tundra across the Earth.Show worked answer →
A 3-mark explain answer needs the main climatic controls and a link to vegetation.
The distribution of biomes is determined mainly by climate, especially temperature and precipitation, which vary with latitude and altitude.
For example, tropical rainforest occurs where it is consistently warm and wet near the equator, deserts occur where rainfall is very low, and tundra occurs where it is very cold with a short growing season at high latitudes.
Because climate sets the conditions plants can tolerate, it determines the vegetation, and the vegetation in turn supports the characteristic animal community of each biome.
Markers reward temperature and precipitation as the controls, the link to latitude or altitude, and the idea that climate determines the vegetation.
SQA Higher specimen4 marksUsing forestry as an example, explain how a biological resource can be harvested sustainably.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark answer needs the principle of replacement plus specific forestry measures.
A biological resource is harvested sustainably when it is removed no faster than it can regrow, so the resource is maintained for the future.
In forestry, this means replanting (reforestation) at least as many trees as are felled, so the standing stock is not depleted.
Selective felling of mature trees, rather than clear-felling, keeps the forest cover, protects soil and habitat, and allows continuous regrowth.
Setting felling at or below the rate of regrowth, and managing on a rotation, keeps the yield sustainable indefinitely.
Markers reward the harvest-no-faster-than-regrowth principle, replanting, selective felling or rotation, and the idea of maintaining the resource.
Related dot points
- The geosphere: the structure of the Earth, the rock cycle and rock types, the formation and properties of soil, weathering and erosion, and the extraction and sustainable use of mineral resources.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on the geosphere, covering the structure of the Earth, the rock cycle and the three rock types, soil formation and properties, weathering and erosion, and the extraction and sustainable use of minerals.
- The hydrosphere: the water cycle and the distribution of water, water as a resource, the causes and effects of water pollution, and the treatment of water for supply and after use.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on the hydrosphere, covering the water cycle and the distribution of fresh water, water as a resource, the causes and effects of water pollution including eutrophication, and how water is treated for supply and after use.
- The atmosphere: its composition and layered structure, its role in weather and climate, the greenhouse effect, and the causes and effects of atmospheric pollution including acid rain and ozone depletion.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on the atmosphere, covering its composition and layered structure, its role in weather and climate, the natural greenhouse effect, and atmospheric pollution including acid rain and ozone depletion.
- Biodiversity as genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; how species and genetic diversity are measured; and the ecological and economic importance of biodiversity.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on biodiversity, covering the three components of biodiversity, how species richness and a diversity index are measured, why genetic diversity matters, and the ecological and economic value of biodiversity.
- Energy: the demand for energy, the comparison of fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewable energy sources, and the move towards a sustainable, low-carbon energy supply.
An SQA Higher Environmental Science answer on energy, covering the demand for energy, the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewable sources, and the transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon energy supply.
Sources & how we know this
- Higher Environmental Science Course Specification (C826 76) — SQA (2021)
- Higher Environmental Science course overview and resources — Qualifications Scotland (2026)