EV1005 - L3 Deforestation Flashcards
Define deforestation
Complete clearance of forest
Define forest degredation
Decline in health of forest
What are examples of forest degradation?
slashing, burning, selective logging
Define reforestation
Establishment of forest after temporary loss (not to be confused with afforestation)
Define afforestation
The establishment of forest plantation in areas not previously forested
How much of India was forested 8000 years ago and what is the forest coverage now?
It was 70% forested and now only 8% forested
What caused a fuel and nutritional disaster in 1500s?
Excessive logging for firewood. they ran out of wood and they had destroyed the habitats of wild game that they relied on for food
Where are there massive oil palm plantation close to Australia?
Borneo, Indonesia
where are most of the protected forest areas in Borneo?
In highland areas that aren’t as threatened to deforestation because they are unsuitable for plantation.s
Where is the greatest concentration of biodiversity on earth?
The Amazon Basin
Approximately how many species of mammals are in the Amazon forests?
500 species of mammals
Approximately how many species of birds are in the Amazon forests?
1,600 species of birds
Approximately how many species of plants are in the Amazon forests?
50,000 species of plants
How many people live in the Amazon forests?
33 million people
How much of the worlds logging take is used for fuel? (%)
50%
How much of the world relies of wood as fuel? (%)
40%
In Africa, how much of the energy comes from firewood? (%)
90%
How is population growth linked with deforestation? (2)
1) Increased land needed for settlement
2) Increased need for energy (often from fires in underdeveloped countries)
Why is creating roads through forests a bad idea? How is it linked with agriculture and erosion?
Roads open the forest up for logging because it is easy to remove logs. Farmers use the cleared land for growing crops on te fertile forest soils. After around 3 years the soil loses most its nutrients and crops fail. grass grows and ranchers move in. Over grazing can cause erosion and make ranching difficult and unproductive. This whole process may take only 10 years.
Order these reasons for deforestation in Brazil
Small-scale agriculture
Large-scale agriculture
Ranching
Logging
Ranching (65-70%)
Small-scale agriculture (20-25%)
Large-scale agriculture (5-10%)
Logging (2-3%)
Why are developing countries more likely to engage in logging?
They lack money and tropical hardwoods are a valuable commodity. They can sell the felled trees to other countries at little economic cost
How much tropical wood production comes from Indonesia? (%)
25% of tropical wood production
How does deforestation effect climate? (2)
It increases CO2 emmisions It increases solar radiation Daily soil temp variation increases Daily humidity variation increases Wind speeds increase
How is CO2 released from vegetation? (2)
When it is burnt or decays
What does logging do to Infiltration runoff river velocity water turbidity and sediment load?
Lowered infiltration
Increased runoff, river velocity, water turbidity and sediment load (sediment load can increase up to 500 fold in some cases)
How does fragmentation effect a forest? (5)
Higher tree mortality
Higher tree density
Makes forest more susceptible to storms and droughts
Gene pools in species limited
Increased light at edges encouraging weeds
What is the expected extinction rate in tropical forests in the next decade? (%)
2-5%
How many species are expected to become extinct from tropical forests annually? (Thousand)
40,000 - 100,000 species anually
How does biodiversity loss threaten human health?
Loss of species which may be found to hold cures for diseases
As of Jan 2012, how many ha of the high conservation forest are legally protected? and how much is available for logging?
428,000 ha protected
2,000 ha available for logging
