Ecosystems - Rainforests Flashcards
Agroforestry
A land management approach that combines trees and shrubs with crop and livestock farming systems.
Biodiversity
The range of living and non-living things in a given area.
Canopy
The uppermost branches of the trees in a forest, forming a more or less continuous layer of foliage.
Carbon Sink
A component of the ecosystem that absorbs CO2 for photosynthesis.
Commercial Farming
Farming for a profit, where food is produced by advanced technological means for sale in the market.
Conservation
Study of the loss of Earth’s biological diversity and the ways this loss can be prevented.
Debt-for-nature
The partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth in exchange for no deforestation.
Decay
The state or process of rotting or decomposition.
Deforestation
The action of felling trees.
Ecotourism
Tourism to exotic, often threatened, natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.
FSC
An international non-profit organisation that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.
Hardwood
A type of wood from dicot trees.
Humus
The organic component of soil formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms.
Indigenous Tribes
Culturally distinct ethnic groups who are native to a place.
Infertile
The inability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth.
International agreements
Agreements to protect tropical rainforests made between different countries through debt-for-nature swaps.
Latosol
Soils found under tropical rainforests which have relatively high content of iron and aluminium oxides.
Leaching
Drain away of nutrients from soil by the action of percolating liquid, especially rainwater.
Leaf Litter
Dead plant material that have fallen to the ground.
Lianas
Vines that wrap around the trunk of another tree to reach sunlight in the upper layers of the forest.
Monoculture
The cultivation of a single crop in a given area.
Mineral extraction
Major resource extraction activities that provide the raw materials to support our economic infrastructure.
Palm oil
Palm trees cultivated for its clustered fruit whose flesh and seeds yield oil.
Precipitation
Any form of water falling through air.
Selective logging
The practise of cutting down a few species of trees while leaving the rest intact and unharmed.
Silting
The process of becoming filled or blocked with silt.
Slash and burn
A farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest to create a field.
Soil erosion
The displacement of the upper layer of soil.
Stratification
Refers to the layers of the tropical rainforest.
Subsistence farming
The practise of growing crops and raising livestock sufficient only for one’s own use, without any surplus for trade.
Sustainability
Meeting the needs of the current population without compromising the ability of the future generations to also meet their own needs.
Transmigration
Moving landless people from densely populated to less populous areas of the country.
Weathering
The process of wearing or being worn by long exposure to the atmosphere.
