Component 3 - Topic 8

Question 1

What are some plant adaptations in the rainforest?

Answer 1

• Drip tip leaves: ensures that rain properly drips off the leaf which protects it
• Butress roots: ensure that the very tall trees in the canopy are properly supported
• High levels of chlorophyll in leaves: ensures that plants are able to get the most amount of light possible
• Epiphytes: They have their roots dangling in mid air in order to get nutrients and water from the air as they are high up in the canopy
• Lianas: They use the trunks of other trees to grow on in order to simultaneously get light from the canopy and nutrients from the soil

Question 2

What are some animals that are well adapted to the rainforest?

Answer 2

• Sloths
• Primates
• Big Cats
• Birds

Question 3

Why is the nutrient cycle so high in the rainforest?

Answer 3

• There are many layers of vegetation and trees that store lots of nutrients
• Large decay transfer as hot and wet conditions allow for nutrients to move to the soil quickly
• Plants grow all times of the year so there is a large growth transfer
• Soil has a larger input from decay than weathering
• A large leeching output

Question 4

How does the rainforest support high levels of biodiversity?

Answer 4

• The many layers of the rainforest means there are many different habitats
• Constant rainfall and high average temperatures means that a There is growth all year round and so allows variation to appear quicker

Question 5

What are the main causes of deforestation in the taiga?

Answer 5

• Commercial logging
• Commercial agriculture
• Mining
• Demand for biofuels
• Local demand for fuel wood
• Subsistance agriculture

Question 6

How does the demand for biofuels lead to deforestation?

Answer 6

Large areas of land are often cleared for the plantations of biofuels, often where there are endangered species

Question 7

How does the demand for mineral resources cause deforestation?

Answer 7

Some rainforests are located on top of valuable mineral resources. Companies sometimes exploit these resources and so use opencast mining and build access roads which need large areas of rainforest to be cleared for them to be built

Question 8

How does the demand for HEP lead to deforestation?

Answer 8

Many rainforests have large rivers which can be dammed to create HEP. The damming leads to large areas of flooding in the forest which damages it. The building of the HEP dams themselves require large areas of rainforest to be cleared in the first place.

Question 9

How are climate change and global warming and indirect threat for the rainforest?

Answer 9

• Global warming increases global temperatures
• This results in the tropical rainforest becoming warmer
• Deforestation will lead to less transpiration and therefore rain
• The combination of higher temperatures and lack of rain means that some plants will struggle to grow
• Over time the nutrient cycle will be impacted
• This will further the fact that plants will struggle to grow
• The lack of plant growth will mean that food chains are affected
• This will mean that some species of animals will struggle to survive

Question 10

What are some advantages of schemes like CITIES and REDD?

Answer 10

CITES:

• The help protect well know species
• They have a large number of protected species

REDD:

• They help to reduce the rates of deforestation in the rainforest
• They can sometimes help with afforestation
• They can have the knock on affect of helping people lives who are involved in their schemes

Question 11

What are some reasons that deforestation rates are rising in the rainforest?

Answer 11

• Poor countries sell of their forest resources to help pay off their foreign debt
• Poverty in countries causes some people to rely on subsistence farming and firewood
• Weak laws and low budgets mean that stopping illegal deforestation is very difficult
• Countries start to develop and so need infrastructure which is often built and large areas of cleared rainforest

Question 12

Why are deforestation levels decreasing?

Answer 12

• Some governments have strong forest protection laws and encourage things like ecotourism to protect the environment
• Companies that operate in these countries often come under international ridicule for their deforestation and so often stop
• Urban populations increase and so the demand for forest resources decreases
• Monitoring the rainforest has become easier and so it is easier to stop illegal logging

Question 13

How can ecotourism protect the rainforest?

Answer 13

• It provides local people with stable earnings and so they don’t need to exploit the rainforest for money or resources
• It encourages local people to look after the rainforest in order to attract tourism

Question 14

How can subsistence farming help protect the rainforest?

Answer 14

• Trees and crops are planted at the same time in order to prevent soil loss and erosion
• Some plants are planted in order to add nutrients to the soil
• Crops are planted at different parts of the year in order to give the soil time to recover from previous farming

Question 15

What does the taiga need to be protected?

Answer 15

• It has a very long growth cycle, meaning plants take a long time to recover from damage
• Plants and animals in the taiga are highly specialised, meaning they will struggle to adapt to a change in climate
• They contain very few species so a disease would take out a large chunk of the forest biodiversity
• It is under threat from development and resource exploitation

Question 16

Why does the taiga have a less active nutrient cycle?

Answer 16

It has a less active nutrient cycle because of the cold temperatures and lack of precipitation. This means that initial growth takes a long time for plants. As well, there is a long period of decay for nutrients to return to the soil. This also contributes to a lack of biodiversity in the taiga

Question 17

What are the direct threats to the taiga?

Answer 17

• Logging
• Exploitation of minerals/fossil fuels
• HEP

Question 18

What are other threats to the taiga?

Answer 18

• Forest fires
• Pests and diseases
• Acid precipitation

Question 19

Why is it difficult to maintain wilderness areas in the taiga forest?

Answer 19

• Large areas are very hard to monitor
• There is pressure from the government and companies to exploit the land
• They don’t earn any money

Question 20

Why is it difficult to maintain national park areas in the taiga forest?

Answer 20

• Roads, hotels etc for the tourists cause pollution and damage the ecosystem
• Sometimes national parks can stop animal migration from happening naturally
• Might not protect the migrant routes of animals they want to

Question 21

What are some challenges that sustainable forestry faces in the taiga forest?

Answer 21

• Some Countries such as Russia are unable to enforce sustainable forestry due to corruption
• It is not popular with loggers as it produces less money than conventional logging
• Companies cut down trees quicker than they regrow

Question 22

Wha5 are some reasons to exploit the taiga?

Answer 22

• It brings jobs and incomes to isolated areas e.g. forestry creates 25,000 jobs in Canada
• Resource exploration makes money which boosts GDP
• The activity only affects a small part of the biome but can bring huge benefits
• Some activities like HEP and forestry are renewable
• Careful monitoring can prevent any problems to the area

Question 23

What are some reasons not the exploit the taiga?

Answer 23

• Development causes problems like pollution deforestation and degradation
• The taiga is one of the last touched biomes
• The taiga is very fragile, so any human activity will cause irreversible damage
• The forest is culturally significant to indigenous peoples lives
• The taiga is a crucial store of carbon and prevents climate change