Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

What is an ecosystem

Answer 1

A natural system which links together the living and non-living environment

Question 2

What is ‘emergent’ and what lives there

Answer 2

tops of tallest trees (60m tall) birds and insects live here

Question 3

what is the canopy and what lives there

Answer 3

Primary layer, 45m high, filters 80% of the light, monkeys, snakes and tree frogs

Question 4

What is the understory and what lives there

Answer 4

Only 5% light, plants have dark green lives with lots of chlorophyll. Snake jaguars

Question 5

What is the forest floor and what lives there

Answer 5

Only 2% light so few plants, covered with rapidly decomposing plants and organisms . large mammals, tapirs, termites

Question 6

What are the farming reasons for deforestation ( 3 )

Answer 6

1/ Slash and burn
2/ subsistence farming
3/ Commercial cattle ranching

Question 7

Explain: slash and burn

Answer 7

Method used for forest clearance which makes the ground infertile

Question 8

Explain: subsistence farming

Answer 8

Land cleared when government gave land to 25 million people

Question 9

Explain: commercial cattle ranching

Answer 9

Large transportational companies sell beef mainly to fast food chains, burning forest and replacing it with grass

Question 10

What is the transport reason for deforestation

Answer 10

over 12000km of new roads been built, largest being 5300km. These roads built to timber, minerals mines

Question 11

How much, percentile wise, of the rainforest has been destroyed since 1960

Answer 11

40%

Question 12

What is the settlement reason for deforestation

Answer 12

Increase in population means new housing is required

Question 13

What are the resources reasons for deforestation ( 3 )

Answer 13

1/ Timber
2/ Minerals
3/ Hydro-electricity

Question 14

Explain: timber

Answer 14

mainly hard wood cut down by logging companies with little effort to replant

Question 15

Explain: Minerals

Answer 15

Including iron ore, bauxite, diamonds, gold and silver

Question 16

Explain: Hydro-electricitiy

Answer 16

Is an important renewable resource but the building of large dams and lakes has caused areas of forest to flood

Question 17

What are the effects of deforestation here? ( 6 )

Answer 17

1/ Habitats of animals destroyed, extinction following
2/ Reduction in Amerindians - ancient cultural people
3/ No canopy to protect soil from heavy afternoon rain - leads to soil erosion
4/ rivers polluted die to mining operations
5/ Causing climate change
6/ Change in the composition of the atmosphere - 1/3 of the oxygen comes from the rainforest

Question 18

Explain how it causes climate change

Answer 18

less evapotransipration meaning there’s less moisture in the water cycle leading to droughts. Burning of forest release CO2

Question 19

What are the sustainable solutions to the problem ( 7 )

Answer 19

1/ Selective logging
2/ Replanting
3/ Reducing demand for hardwood
4/ Education of the issue
5/ Ecotourism
6/ Reducing debt 
7/ Protection

Question 20

Explain: selective logging

Answer 20

Only the oldest trees cut down,

Question 21

Explain: Replanting

Answer 21

New trees plant to replace old ones, there will be trees for people to use in the future.

Question 22

Why is it important to replant the same type of tree

Answer 22

So that the variety of trees is kept for the future

Question 23

Explain: Reducing demand for hardwood

Answer 23

Hardwood is the main used wood for things such as furniture, reducing demand would mean less is cut down

Question 24

Explain: Education of the issue

Answer 24

Some local people don’t know what the environmental impacts are, they just try to make money. Also educating them about other ways to make money.

Question 25

Explain: ecotourism

Answer 25

Ecotourism provides money for local people and does not harm the environment

Question 26

Explain: Reducing debt

Answer 26

Reducing debt means that the poorer people do not have to log, farm or mine

Question 27

Explain: protection

Answer 27

Environmental laws protecting the forests by, banning the use of wood from forests that are managed non-sustainably, banning illegal logging. set up national parks