Case Study 8: The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

Question 1

Processes

Answer 1

The nutrient cycle

1. Dead leaves (and other plant and animal matter) and water and air
2. decompose era break down organic matter
3. Minerals and other nutrients real eased into soil
4. Plant grows

Question 2

Shifting cultivation

Answer 2

1. A clearance is made by cutting down trees and burning vegetation. This is called ‘slash and burn’
2. Crops are planted and grow well in the warm, humid conditions
3. Within four or five years the soil becomes becomes exhausted and the harvest gets poorer and poorer
4. The clearing is abandoned and the farmers move on
5. The clearing gradually grows over and the natural forest

Question 3

Benefits for people

Answer 3

• the Amazon rainforest is one of the worlds largest carbon sinks- the trees take in a large amount of Open dioxide and change it into oxygen
• 90s think that only 1% of the plants in the rainforest have been studied to see if they could be used in medicine
• lots of products come from the rainforest: rubber, gun, chocolate etc.
• Local tribes have lived there for years and years. Have adapted: building on stilts to protect against heat and flooding/they can get poison out of some foods /fishing/building to news.

Question 4

Impact of human activity:

Answer 4

• mining (gold/minerals) – long-lasting scar on landscape. Destroys lots of trees/a large area. Never recovers
• logging (felling please) – when you drop one tree down 28 for down by accident (as Liannas has attach themselves to other trees they fall down to, also driving in the trees through the forest Portmore down, building roads to get the trees destroys more trees).
• farming: cut down trees to create farmland. Farming intensely on the land uses up the nutrients and nothing will grow there in future
• cattle ranching- cattle over Grace, which uses up the nutrients. The forest never recovers
• shifting cultivation
• slash and burn – forest never recovers

Question 5

Management

Answer 5

• Agro-forestry- growing trees and crops at the same time. This lets farmers take advantage of shelter from the canopy of trees. It prevents soil erosion and the crops benefit from the nutrients from the dead organic matter.
• selective logging – trees are only felt when the reach of a specific height
• education – ensuring those involved in expectation management of the fathers understand the consequences behind their actions
• afforestation – the opposite of deforestation. If trees are cut down, they are a place to maintain the canopy.
• Forest reserves – areas protected from exportation
• monitoring – using the satellite technology and photography to check that any activities taking place on the go and follow guidelines for sustainability

Question 6

What is this case study about?

Answer 6

Processes benefits for people, impact of human activity and management