6.3 Deforestation Of Tropical Rainforests Flashcards
1
Q
What is deforestation
A
The chopping down and removal of trees to clear an area of forest
2
Q
What does the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimate?
A
That 1/2 of the world’s TRFs has been cleared
3
Q
What does half of Brazil’s remaining rainforest have
A
Some form of protected status
4
Q
What is the global rate at which the TRF is being cleated estimated at
A
1 hectare per second
5
Q
In what ways have the indigenous tribes used the TRF for centuries?
A
- harvested fruits and nuts
- cut wood for fuel
- used timber to build dwellings
- discovered cures for various illnesses (TRF=medicine cabinet)
- cleared small areas by slash and burn (returns nutrients to the soil, subsistence farming)
6
Q
What is subsistence farming
A
When you cultivate enough food for your family + possibly local community
7
Q
What is shifting cultivation
A
- type of subsistence farming in which a small plot of land is cleared by burning and used for cultivation
- when the soil becomes exhausted, the community moves on and clears another
- once abandoned, the forest is able to regenerate.
8
Q
What is forest degradation
A
When the rainforest is used by people other than those in indigenous communities.
9
Q
Give effects of deforestation on soils of rainforest
A
Less fertile
Lose nutrients
