Amazon Rainforest Flashcards
How much of earth’s photosynthesis do tropical rainforests account for?
30-50%
How much of earth’s surface do tropical rainforests cover
6%
How much of the Amazon basin has been lost in the last 50 years?
17%
What have been the biggest causes of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest?
Cattle ranching - 65-70%
Small scale, subsistence agriculture - 20-25%
Large scale, commercial agriculture - 5-10%
Logging, legal and illegal - 2-3%
Fires, mining, urbanisation, road construction, dams - 1.2%
How many species live in the Amazon rainforest?
15,000
Give some examples of endangered species that live in the Amazon
- Amazonian manatee (an aquatic mammal)
- Black caiman (a reptile)
- Pirarucu (fish)
How many trees are there in the Amazon rainforest?
300 billion
How much of the planet’s biomass store of carbon does the Amazon rainforest hold?
1/5
What is the total area of the Amazon rainforest?
5.5 million km2
What is the water table?
The boundary between saturated rock and unsaturated rock
What is brackish water?
mix between salt water and fresh water
When does a salt water intrusion occur?
when the water table has gone down either due to abstraction or transpiration, therefore seawater is able to infiltrate into the ground
How much CO2 does the Amazon rainforest absorb each year?
600 million metric tons
How much CO2 does the Amazon rainforest absorb compared to 20 years ago?
Less than half as much
How can deforestation in the Amazon affect the wider world?
Deforestation reduces the amount of water in the atmosphere, which affects regional precipitation patterns, and can cause droughts beyond the Amazon