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Amazon Rainforest Flashcards

1
Q

How much of the SA landmass the Amazon?

A

40%

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2
Q

What is the climate like in the Amazon?

A

Hot and very wet.

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3
Q

What is the vegetation like? Amazon

A

Very dense

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4
Q

Do people live in the Amazon?

A

Many groups of indigenous people

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5
Q

How many plant species are in the Amazon?

A

Up to 1 Million

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6
Q

How many species of mammals are in the Amazon?

A

Over 500 species

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7
Q

How many species of fish are there in the Amazon?

A

Over 2000 species

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8
Q

Why is the Amazon very wet?

A

Due to the water cycle - a lot of evaporation over the Atlantic Ocean and wet air is blown towards the Amazon.

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9
Q

Why is there a high amount of evaporation in the rainforest itself? What can this lead to?

A

High temperatures so this means high levels of precipitation.

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10
Q

What does it mean if the rainforest has a dense canopy?

A

Interception is high

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11
Q

How does the variety of species survive in the Amazon?

A

Adaptation to high humidity and rainfall

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12
Q

Why is the rainforest a ‘carbon sink’?

A

Stores loads of carbon due to vegetation and soil

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13
Q

What has the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere led to?

A

more photosynthesis.

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14
Q

What is the reason for deforestation in the Amazon?

A

To exploit the timber
Usage of land

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15
Q

How can deforestation affect the water cycle? 2 ways

A

No interception so too much water - increased risk of flooding.
Reduces the rate of evapotranspiration - less clouds and increased risk of drought.

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16
Q

How can deforestation affect the carbon cycle in the Amazon?
3 ways

A

Nutrients washed away - loss of carbon
Less leaf litter - reduces absorption of carbon
More atmospheric CO2 caused due to fewer trees.

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17
Q

How has climate change affected the Amazon?

A

Drought risks.
Extinction of species due to high temperature.
Wildfires

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18
Q

What is selective logging? How does this limit human impacts?

A

Oldest trees cut down. Less damaging and keeps the forest structure.

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19
Q

How does replanting trees help limit human impacts in the Amazon?

A

Variety of trees kept

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20
Q

How can environmental laws help protect rainforests?

A

Ban use of wood that is not managed sustainability
Ban selective logging
Laws that control land use

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21
Q

How does protection e.g national parks help protect rainforests?

A

Allows protection for biodiversity and activities can be monitored.

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22
Q

How many trees is estimated for Amazon?

A

300 billion trees

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23
Q

How many tree species does the Amazon have?

A

15,000

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24
Q

How many insect species is estimated?

A

2.5 million

25
How much carbon is in the biomass?
A fifth
26
How many hectares does it spread across and how many countries?
670 million hectares spread across 9 countries
27
As a %, how much is covered over Brazil?
64%
28
How much carbon is estimated to be stored in the Amazon?
76 billion tonnes of carbon
29
Is the Amazon a carbon sink or source?
Sink of1 to 3 GTC a year
30
What is the Amazon losing?
Its capacity to absorb CO2 from atmosphere
31
What has halved from 1990 to 2019?
Net uptake of the forest
32
What is the average discharge of water into the Atlantic by Amazon?
15% of freshwater each day
33
What is the second largest river in the world in terms of water flow?
Rio Negro - a tributary of Amazon
34
What is the average amount of precipitation annually?
2300 mm annually
35
What happens to the precipitation in the Amazon?
Intercepted and re-evaporated
36
Between 2000-2007, how much of the Brazilian Amazon was deforested?
A rate of 19368 per year
37
What is Brazil in terms of climate pollution?
World's fourth largest climate polluter
38
How much of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions attributes to the deforestation and land use change?
75%
39
What are the 5 threats to the rainforest?
Farming Mining Tourism Hydroelectric power - dams & reservoirs Logging
40
What does slash and burning the forest increase?
Albedo effect
41
How much forest does WWF estimate that has been lost already?
20%
42
What are the 2 main effects of soil because of deforestation?
Soil contains a lot of carbon - 4-9kg in the upper 50cm of soil When forests are cleared, 30-60% of this carbon is lost to atmosphere As well as soil erosion
43
What will happen to the Amazon Rainforest is destroyed? In terms of water cycle 2 points
Deforestation leads to less interception - risk of floods Precipitation decreases as less evapo-transpiration and area will eventually dry out and become more arid Link to deserts
44
How many hectares were Peru planning to reforest to mitigate the deforestation ?
3.2 million
45
What else is another mitigation of change?
Selective logging
46
What is selective logging?
Oldest trees are felled - keeps forest structure
47
What has been enforced to combat the deforestation?
Creation of nature reserves/national parks
48
What is an example of an environmental law that has been put in place to protect the forest and be sustainable?
The Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organisation (ACTO) 1995
49
What happened in terms of politics which helps the Amazon?
Luiz da Silva elected President in 2022 and has pledged to end deforestation in Amazon
50
What is the tragedy of the commons in terms of the rainforest?
An environmental economic phenomenon where an economic resource experiences extreme depletion due to each individual's pursuit of their own self-interest
51
What is an example of forests experiencing the tragedy of the Commons?
Brazil's destruction of the Amazon
52
What are the effects on the water cycle by deforestation?
High rainfall and dense forest canopy - high interception which slows down progress to ground so evaporation can happen as well due to the high humidity
53
Due to the deforestation, when there is high precipitation what happens?
Lack of interception - high runoff and throughflow which creates high river levels and risk of flooding
54
What causes the soil erosion?
Increased runoff and this can block river channels
55
How much water does the Amazon release?
Up to 20 billion tonnes of water
56
What does the atmospheric water do to the forest?
Keep it humid so ecosystem can grow and thrive
57
What has happened to the Amazon in the last 10 years?
Drier and hotter
58
What can happen if the deforestation continues/
Could turn into a dry savanna

WATER AND CARBON CYCLES (6 decks)

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