Amazon Rainforest Flashcards
What is the Amazons net carbon intake and output?
Lets out 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year
Takes in 2.2 billion tonnes
Net carbon intake = 500 million tonnes
What is the total rainfall in the Amazon Rainforest?
Around 2400mm per year
How much of the Amazon Rainforest has been deforested?
20% has been deforested in the last 50 years
How many trees are in the Amazon Rainforest?
390 billion
How tall can emergent trees be?
40m tall
How much precipitation remains in the Amazons water cycle?
50-80% of rainfall
Largest factor causing deforestation?
Cattle grazing - 80%
How many people live in the amazon rainforest?
20 Million people
What is the amazon rivers basin discharge?
209,000 metres cubed per second
How much rainfall reaches the Amazon floor?
Only half
What is the average temperature?
25-30°C
How long is the amazon river?
4000 miles
water cycle in the amazon rainforest key points
-convectional rainfall daily
-evapotranspiration is very high 50-60% of water is recycled as evapotranspiration rates
-Rapid run off
-High temperatures mean large water stores in atmosphere
-lots of aquifers
-lots of vegetation stores
Carbon cycle in the Tropical rainforest key points
-rapid decomposition so lots of exchange between atmosphere
-soil\ground stores are limited because they get broken down and recycled very fast
-high sequestion of co2
-high NPP
How much carbon does the Amazon hold?
123 Billion tones
app
High temperatures, high convectional rainfall
and intense insolation lead to high primary
production (NPP ~2500 grams/m2
/yr) (how much carbon is produced)
Precipitation can promote mineralization and improve soil nutrients, thereby increasing plant NPP, which is the limiting factor for plants to absorb soil nutrients.
Amazonia accounts for …… of global NPP in
terrestrial ecosystems
15-25%
where and how big is the amazon rainforest
The Amazon covers a huge area (6.7 million sq km) of South America.
rock in amazon
large parts impermeable but there is porous limestone in some areas
how much co2 does a tree take in a year
tree takes in 21 of kg of carbon dioxide a year
is it the most productive biome
yes
What percent of rainforest carbon is stored in the above ground biomass of tree stems, branches and leaves
60%
what river flooded
Madeira River in 2014, 60 people died and 68,000 had to be evacuated
Projections of future deforestation in Amazonia predict a what percent decline in regional rainfall
20 percent
