B: Tropical Rainforests

Question 1

What’s the climate like in tropical rainforests

Answer 1

Same all year round there is no definite seasons
It’s heart (generally between 20–28° C and any varies by a few degrees over the year) because it’s near the Equator the Sun is overhead all year round
Rainfall is very high around 2000 MM per year it rains every day usually in the afternoon

Question 2

Soil in tropical rainforest

Answer 2

Isn’t very fertile as heavy rain washes nutrients away there any trains at the service due to the Decayed leaf fall for this layer is very thin as because fast in the warm moist conditions

Question 3

Plants in tropical rainforests

Answer 3

Most trees are evergreen (they don’t drop their leaves in a particular season) to take advantage of the continual growing season

many trees are really tall and the vegetation cover is dense – very little light reaches the fourth floor.

There are lots of epiphytes (plants that grow and other living plants and take nutrients and moisture from the air) eg orchids and germs

Question 4

Animals in tropical rainforests

Answer 4

Rainforests are believed to contain more animals species than any other ecosystem

Grillers Jaguars anacondas tree frogs and sloths are all examples of rainforest animals

Loads of species of insects and birds many animals are brightly coloured and make a lot of noise

Question 5

People in tropical rainforests

Answer 5

Rainforests are home to many people have adapted to life that over many generations they make a living by hunting and fishing gathering nuts and berries and green vegetables and small garden plots

Question 6

Plant adaptations to the rainforest

Answer 6

Buttress roots – support for trees competing for sunlight

Drip tips (thick waxy leaves with pointed tips) – channel the water to appoint so it runs off the weight of the water doesn’t damage the plant no standing water for fungi and bacteria to grow in waxy coating of the leaves also helps repel the rain

Smooth thin bark - no need to protect the trunk from cold temperatures the smooth surface allows water to run off easily

Four distinct layers – emergence only have branches at the crown (when most light reaches them) and plants in the under Canopy have large leaves to absorb as much light as possible

Lianas (climbing plants) – use tree trunks to climb up to the sunlight

Drop their leaves throughout the year – they can go on growing all year round

Question 7

Animal adaptations to the tropical rainforest

Answer 7

Many animals when there entire lives higher up on the Canopy - strong limbs to climb and leap from trees e.g. Howler monkeys

Flaps of skin – helps them to glide between trees e.g. flying squirrels

Suction cups – for climbing e.g. red eyed tree frogs

Short pointy wings - easily manoeuvre between the dense tangle of branches in the trees e.g. harpy eagle

Camouflage – e.g. leaf tailed geckos to hide from predators

Nocturnal (active at night) – e.g. sloths. They sleep through the day and feed at night when it’s cooler – this helps them to save energy

Low light levels – anteaters have sharp sense of smell and hearing so they can detect predators without seeing them

Swimming – e.g. Jaguars they can cross river channels

Question 8

Rainforests have a very High?

Answer 8

Biodiversity

Question 9

What is biodiversity

Answer 9

The variety of organisms living in a particular area - both plants and animals

Question 10

Rainforests have extremely Hugh biodiversity they contain around …….% of the worlds plant animal and insect species

Answer 10

50%

May contain around half of all life on earth

Question 11

Rainforests are stable and productive environments because it’s hot and wet all year round. Therefore plants and animals don’t have to

Answer 11

Cope with changing conditions and there is always plent to eat

Question 12

Many organisms have evolved to depend on just a few species for survival -

Answer 12

They are very specific to a particular habitat and food source and many species are only found in a small area

Question 13

What is likely to lead to the extinction of many species and the loss of biodiversity?

Answer 13

Deforestation (cutting down trees) and unctrolled development of the rainforest

Number of endangered s cues in Brazil increased from 218 in 1989 to 628 in 2008

Question 14

Why are tropical rainforest chopped down

Answer 14

Population pressure
Mineral extraction
Energy development
Commercial loggoing
Commercial farming
 Substitandw farming

Question 15

What’s population pressure deforestation

Answer 15

As the population in an area increases, trees are cleared to make land for new settlements

Question 16

What’s mineral extraction within deforestation

Answer 16

Minerals (eg gold and iron ore) are mined and sold to make money

Question 17

What energy development to do with deforestation

Answer 17

Building dams to generate hydro electric power floods large areas of forest

Question 18

What’s commercial logging to do with deforestation

Answer 18

Trees are felled to make money. Road building for logging also requires more tree clearance

Question 19

What’s commercial farming to do with deforestation

Answer 19

Forest is cleared to make space for cattle grazing or for huge palm oil or soya plantations

Question 20

What’s substance farming to do with deforestation

Answer 20

Forest is cleared socfarmers can grow food for themselves and their families

Question 21

General environmental impacts of deforestation

Answer 21

No trees to hold soil together - heavy rain washes away the soil (soil erosion) this can lead to landslides

Without a tree canopy to intercept (catch) rainfall and tree roots to absorb it, more water reaches the soil. This reduces soil fertility as nutrients in the soil are washed away out of reach of plants

Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere also burning vegetation to clear forest produces CO2 so deforestation means more CO2 in atmosphere, which adds to the greenhouse effect deforestation is resposnislbe for at least 15% of all global CO2 emissions each year - more than all the worlds annual transport emissions combined

Question 22

General economic impacts of deforestation

Answer 22

Logging farming and mining create jobs

A lot of money is made from selling timber mining and commercial farming

In the long term, deforestation can destroy the resources that countries depend on eg timber and reduce attractiveness of the area to tourists

The livelihoods of some local people are destroyed cause deformation can cause the loss of the animals and plants that they rely on to make a living

Question 23

What is the rate of deforestation

Answer 23

Is very Hugh

Rougjyly 300 000 km^2 per year from 2000-2010

Globally rate seems to be slowing down but there are still hotspots where it’s increasing eg Borneo and Nigeria

OverLl deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia accounted for almost half of the global total between 2001 and 2014 though Brazil has reduced its deforestation rate since 1990

Question 24

Case study for deforestation?

Answer 24

Amazon

Question 25

How large is the Amazon compared to others

Answer 25

It’s the largest on the earth - covering an area of around 8 million km^2

Question 26

Since 1978 over how much km^2 has the Amazon been destroyed by deforestation?

Answer 26

750 000km^2

Question 27

Caused of deforestation in the Amazon between 200-2005

Answer 27

65-70% commercial (cattle) ranching

20-25% small scale subsistence farming

5-10% commercial farming - mostly soy farming but rice corn and sugar cane also

2-3% logging - lots of illegal logging. New roads have opened up areas of forest which were previously hard to get too

1-2% other activities eg mineral extraction road building energy development and new settlements

Question 28

What puts pressure on the Amazon rainforest

Answer 28

Population growth and migration

Brazilian government offers land in the rainforest to poor people from overcrowded cities

There are many more small scale subsitence farmer now and people who have no land or whose land had become unproductive are opening up more areas of the forest

Question 29

Environmental impacts of Amazon deforestation

Answer 29

Amazon stores around 100billion tonnes of carbon - deforestation wil lrealsed some of this as carbon dioxide which causes global warming

Brazil is losing 55 million tons of topsoil every year because of soil erosion caused by soy farming

Question 30

Economic impacts of the deforestation of the Amazon

Answer 30

Brought wealth to countries the were poor
Farming makes a lot of money for countries in the rainforest eg in 2008, Brazil made $6.9 billion from trading cattle it is also the worlds clsecond biggest exporter of soy beans

The mining industry created jobs for loads of people eg Buenaventura mining company in Peru employs over 3100 people

Logging contributes a huge amount to Brazil’s economy

Local Brazilian rubber tappers who extract natural rubber from rubber trees have lost their livelihood as trees have been cut down