6. Tropical Rainforests Flashcards
What continents are tropical rainforests found in?
- Northern Australia
- South East Asia
- Central Africa
- Central and South America
What is the climate like in tropical rainforests?
- temperature is high and constant throughout as sun is overhead
- rainfall is high because of area of low pressure at the equator, and the rising air causes clouds
- distinct rain seasons/ variation in rain, with a distinct wet season
What are the soils in tropical rainforests like?
- infertile, with most nutrients on the surface
- trees and plants have shallow roots
- heavy rainfall can carry away many nutrient
What types of plants and animals live in the rainforest?
- birds in the canopy
- mammals in the trees
- animals such as deer and rodents on the floor
- huge biodiveristy half the types of animals and plants live here
Where are the majority of plants and animals found in the rainforest?
- found in the camopy as there is light there
- only some bacteria and other things are in the dark forest floor
How tall is the top canopy and what are the adaptions of plants there
- 35-50m
- fast growing trees or emergents grow highest to reach sunlight
- leaves have flexible bases to face the sun
- leaves have a drip tip which allows heavy rain to drip of the leaf (otherwise algae will grow)
How tall is the middle canopy and what are the adaptions of plants there
- 20-35m
- plants called epihytes live on branches high in the canopy and receive nutrients from water and air
How tall is the lower tree canopy and what are the adaptions of plants there
- 10-20m
- thin smooth bark on trees to allow water to flow down
- Lianas - woody creepers rooted to the ground but carried up by trees into canopy
What is the shrub and ground layer and what is there?`
- 0-10 m
- butresses, massive ridges help to support tall trees and transport water + help CO2 and O2 exchange
What are the general facts about Malaysia?
- 67% of land is covered by rainforest
- natural vegetation is rainforest
- made up of east malaysia and peninsular malaysia
What are 7 reasons for deforestation in Malaysia?
- logging - exports of tropical wood (however selective logging has now started taking place)
- road building - to provide access to new areas, settlements and mines
- energy development - Bakun Dam, resoivoir flooded over 700km2 of farmland and forest
- Mineral Extraction - drilling for oil and gas in Borneo
- Commercial Farming - large areas of land turned into plantations (malaysia is biggest exporter of palm oil)
- Settlement and population growth - poor people encourages to move from cities to countryside (spaces cleared for them)
- Subsistence Farming - slash and burn to help create farmland and nutrients in the soil, howvwer can get out of hand
What are 4 impacts of deforestation in Malaysia
- soil erosion - roots of trees and plants bind soil together, so if it is not there soil can become loose and erode away
- Loss of Biodiversity - reduces ecosysrem and habitats
- Contribution to climate change - no CO2 aborbed, trees give off moisture in transpiratom, so now drier climate, evaporation of water uses heat and cools air so temperatures rise now
- Economic Development - short term gains but long term losses
What are the economic gains of deforestation in Malaysia
- development of land for various activity will lead to employment from the activity and employment from support activities
- companies pay tax which can be used to increase QOL
- improved transport infrastructure means more tourism and industrialisation etc.
- hydroelectric power is cheap and clean energy
- palm oil and rubber are raw materials for processing
- minerals such as gold and oil are valuable
What are the economic losses of deforestation in Malaysia
- pollution of water and dry climate means water shortages
- fires cause harmful pollution and can burn out of control
- rising temperatures can mess with some forms of farming
- planst can have medical benefits and therefor profit
- tourism to rainforests may decrease
What is the Main Range Biodiversity case study in Malaysia?
- Main Range is 500km stretch
- largest area of continous forest left
- rich in biodiversity
- homes to over 25% of plant species in Malaysia
- undiscovered plants which may have medician benefits
What is the rate of deforestation in the world?
- from 15.5 million km2 to 6.2 million km 2
- fastest in Brazil and Indonesia
What is the Brazil Deforestation case study?
- used to be for small scale farming but now is for landowners and big companies
- since 2004 rate of deforestation has fallen by 80% because government has cracked down on illegal deforestation, it is committed to reducing climate change and conumser pressure not to use pressure from deforested areas has lead to a decline
What are 7 reasons the tropical rainforest should be protected?
- Medicine - 25% of worlds medicines from here
- Water - 20% of worlds fresh water
- People - indigenous tribes live and do not cause harm
- Climate - 28% of oxygen comes from here and also keeps climate stable
- Biodiversity - contain half species of plants and animals in the world
- Climate Change - store and absorb CO2
- Resources - hardwood, nuts fruit and rubber
What is the Achuar tribe case study?
- 11,000 people, primitive tribe in the Peruvian Amazon
- conflict over oil on Achuar traditional lands, and parts of rainforest on which Achuar people rely on for survival
Why do rainforests need to be managed sustainably?
- to ensure rainforests are a lasting resource for future generations
- to allow resources to be used without long term harm
What are the 4 ways rainforests can be managed sustainably?
- Selective logging + replanting
- Conservation and Education
- Ecotourism
- International Agreements
How can selective logging help to manage the rainforest sustainably?
- clear felling of trees is the most damaging (as it completely destroys the ecosystem)
- selective logging is better, and used in places such as Malaysia
What is the Selective Management Malaysia Selective Logging case study?
- 2 years before felling - identify what is there
- 1 year before felling - trees marked for felling, as well as direction of fall
- 6 months after felling - check to see correct trees have been felled with punishment otherwise
- 2 years after felling - treatment plan to restore forest
- 10 years after felling - regen work by state foresty offcials (new trees planted)
- 30-40 years later cycle continues
How can conservation and education help to manage the rainforest sustainably?
- preserved in conservation areas
- can be used for scientifc research and ecotourism + education
How can ecotourism help to manage the rainforest sustainably?
- introduces people to the natural world
- income generated from this can be used to fund conservation and provide compensation for not cutting trees
How can International Agreements help to manage the rainforest sustainably?
- debt relief for countries that are trying to pay debts with massive deforestation programs to generate income
- FSC promotes sustainable forestry
