Geography (3.5) Book and lab copy Flashcards
POINTS IN THE BOOK:
THE DESTRUCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM (HOW IT HAPPENS)
CAUSES
1) Large areas are being burned to clear land for farming. Some by poor farmers, to grow food, and some by big companies, to set up cattle ranches or palm oil plantations to make lots of money
2) Logging companies are big culprits. They cut down trees, for wood for things like furniture and doors
3) The rainforest is also cleared by companies searching for crude oil and metals. It is also cleared by governments building roads, or dams, that they hope will help the country.
EFFECTS
1) But once the trees go, the soil suffers. It soon loses its goodness and the rain erodes it away.
2) The animals suffer and die away as they lose their tree homes
3) The rainforest tribes suffer when they lose the lands they live on
4) And we suffer, because rainforests help us in many different ways:
a) they help to protect us against global warming, by taking in carbon dioxide
b) they give us many plants that cure diseases
c) trees are kind of like earth’s natural beauty/riches. so if we destroy them, we will be destroying the earth’s riches and also the millions of species living in the rainforest
(Q.NA FROM THE LAB COPY)
Why have large areas of the rainforest been cut down
1) Farming: to grow food and palm oil
2) Cattle ranching
3) Logging
4) It is cut down by governments for building roads and dams to help the country develop
5) For crude oil and metals
6) To set up factories:
a) to make furniture
b) to process nuts
c) to make bags and sandals from latex
(BOOK) Refer to pg 53 diagram of two rainforests
In diagram “A” where does the soil get its nutrients?
Dead leaves and animal waste falls on the ground. Decomposers such as insects and bacteria release the nutrients in the soil.
In “A”, the trees help to protect the soil from erosion. Explain how
1) The roots of the trees hold the soil tightly, protecting it from wind erosion, land and soil erosion
2) The canopy of the trees intercept the big rain drops before it reaches the ground. The drip tips of the leaves allow the rainwater to drip off easily and be sprayed on the soil, preventing soil erosion
The soil in “B” will soon be useless. Explain
Large areas of the rainforest is being cut or burned down. There will be no canopy and no roots to protect the soil. The nutrients in the soil will either be blown away by wind or washed away by rain. The land will be left as wasteland or fallow land. Even the grass would refuse to grow
