Amazon Rainforest Flashcards
Layers of the rainforests ( High to Low )
Emergent layer - 50m
Canopy - 30m
Under canopy
The forest floor
Size of the Amazon rainforest
largest rainforest of Earth
6% of the Earth’s surface
Location of the Amazon Rainforest
Along the equator but spreads above and below majority being in the southern hemishpere
In South America
Mostly in Brazil - north west
20 degrees north 20 degress south latitude
Climate of the Amazon rainforest
Average temps of 27 degrees C
Average rainfall of 2000+mm
Carbon cycle of Amazon rainforest
accounts for around 30 - 50% global photosynthesis
Biodiversity of Amazon rainforest
home to 50% of animal and plant species
how much water is used by plants and returned to the atmosphere
50%
How much water infiltrates into soil
50%
How much rainfall is intercepted by vegetation
75%
In the last 50 years how much of the rainfall has been lost
17%
What % is how much cattle ranching responsible for the lost of Amazon Rainforest
80%
Impacts of human activty on the water cycle
reduced evapotranspiration - less precipitation
More soil compaction - increase rates of surface runoff
Rates of runoff will increase - increase flood risk
Soil becoming dry and vulnerable to erosion - limit chances of regrowth
Little interception - leaves ground exposed
Transpiration will be virtually zero
Regional impacts of deforestation
Rainfall levels in the wider regions are most likely to reduce - could lead to a 20% decline in regional rainfall if it continues
Air passing over extensive forest produced twice as much rain that air passing over little forest
Local impacts of deforestation
Less precipitation
Some cases show an increase in local rainfall downwind
Vegetation breezing
What is vegetation breezing
Air over cleared land warms faster rising and creating localised low pressure drawing moist air from forested areas
This casues an increase in cloud coverage over the cleared
This will lead to things like heavy rainfall and thunderstorms causing soil erosion and increased surface runoff