Amazon rainforest

Question 1

Average temperature

Answer 1

High avg. temp 25-30°C

Question 2

Average annual rainfall

Answer 2

> 2000mm with no dry season

Question 3

Significant cloud cover does what?

Answer 3

Regulates temp. ensuring it doesn’t reach sub-tropical desert climates

Question 4

Convection rain fall when?

Answer 4

All year round

Question 5

% of precipitation recycled by evotranspiration

Answer 5

50-60%

Question 6

High intensity, convectional rainfall

Answer 6

10% rainfall intercepted by trees.
Intercepted rainfall accounts for 20-25% of all evaporation

Question 7

High rates of evaporation and transpiration why?

Answer 7

High rates due to high temperatures abundant moisture and dense vegetation

Question 8

Absolute and relative humidity

Answer 8

are both high

Question 9

Rainforest trees play what crucial role in the water cycle

Answer 9

Absorb and store water from the soil and release in through transpiration

Question 10

Net Primary productivity (NPP) level - plant growth level

Answer 10

avg. 2500 g/m2/yr and biomass is 400-700 tonnes/ha

Question 11

Soil carbon stores avg.

Answer 11

90-200 tonnes/ha

Question 12

Amazon rainforest absorbs how much carbon per year?

Answer 12

2.4B tonnes

Question 13

100B tonnes of carbon locked in Amazon rainforest

Answer 13

Absorbs 2.4B tonnes and releases 1.7B tonnes of CO2 per year

Question 14

Carbon cycles between…

Answer 14

the forest and other living organisms, the soil and the atmosphere

Question 15

Leaf litter and other dead organic matter accumulates on soil surface

Answer 15

High temps and humidity make this decompose rapidly by bacteria and fungi

Question 16

Amazon basin dominated by what type of rocks

Answer 16

Ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks

Question 17

Deforestation avg. per year from 1970 - 2013

Answer 17

17500km2/year

Question 18

Since 1970…

Answer 18

One fifth of the primary forest destroyed or degraded

Question 19

Deforestation reduced water storage…

Answer 19

in forest trees, soils, permeable rocks and in the atmosphere

Question 20

Run off speed increased due to deforestation which means…

Answer 20

Higher flood risks throughout basin

Question 21

30000km2 of Bolivian rainforest cleared for farming and cattle between what years?

Answer 21

2000 - 2012

Question 22

20% less rainfall in Amazonia due to deforestation - forest replaced by glassland

Answer 22

Deforestation exhausts carbon biomass store in trees

Question 23

Carbon flow to atmosphere reduced through deforestation, because…

Answer 23

Drastically reduced input of organic material to the soil

Question 24

Deforestation destroys forests main nutrient store - trees

Answer 24

Nutrients no longer taken up by tree root systems are washed away instead and soil eroded without tree cover

Question 25

Large expanses of primary forest now protected through legislation

Answer 25

Projects to reforest areas destroyed by logging, mining, cattle ranching and subsistence farming

Question 26

By 2015 what percent of Amazon was protected?

Answer 26

44% of Amazon protected through Nations parks, wildlife reserves etc.

Question 27

Parica project in Rondonia aims?

Answer 27

Aims to plant 20M fast growing, tropical hardwood seedlings

Question 28

Parica project benefits?

Answer 28

Sequesters carbon in trees and soil, re-establishes carbon and water cycle, reduces run-off of nutrients from soil