Geography: Chapter 5 & 6

Question 1

What is natural vegetation?

Answer 1

Plant life which covers particular parts of the world’s land areas and develops without human interference.

Question 2

In a climograph, what is ‘mean annual temperature’?

Answer 2

(can someone help me confirm this please because i’m stumped) It’s the total/12.

Question 3

ok help idk bro i so scared for geog tmr

Answer 3

ok

Question 4

What is ‘annual temperature range’?

Answer 4

The difference of the hottest and the coldest months.
e.g. 31-20=11

Question 5

What does it mean when a forest is evergreen?

Answer 5

The trees do not shed all of their leaves at particular leaves of the year. Tropical rainforest plants continuously grow new leaves to replace older ones that die and fall off, thus maintaining a constantly green appearance.

Question 6

What is the forest structure of a tropical rainforest?

Answer 6

Emergent, Canopy, Undergrowth.

Question 7

Undergrowth Layer

Answer 7

Found beneath the canopy layer. Very little sunlight reaches here, hence not many plants are able to grow here, except smaller ones that are able to grow in the shade and and the seedlings of taller trees.

Question 8

Canopy Layer

Answer 8

20-30 metres in height. Because so many rainforest trees grow up to this height and are so close together, their crowns interlock to form a thick and near-continuous mass of branches and leaves. It also blocks most of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor.

Question 9

Emergent Layer

Answer 9

30 metres or more. The crowns of trees form the emergent layer.

Question 10

What are some rainforest plant adaptations?

Answer 10

Broad leaves, waxy leaves, drip tips, and buttress roots.

Question 11

What are broad leaves?

Answer 11

When the leaves of a tree is broad, it means that it has a large surface area and can absorb as much sunlight as possible to make food to grow and survive.

Question 12

What are waxy leaves?

Answer 12

Waxy leaves gives its surface a glossy appearance. It helps the plant to reduce the amount of water vapour that it loses to the atmosphere through transpiration as the forest has a high temperature.

Question 13

Water are drip tips?

Answer 13

Drip tips are small, narrow tips that point downwards. Drip tips, along with waxy texture, allow rainwater that falls on them to flow off easily. As there is a frequent heavy rainfall in the tropical rainforest, it helps the leaves to dry quickly and prevent the growth of fungi or bacteria on them.

Question 14

What are buttress roots?

Answer 14

Buttress roots help keep trees upright and prevent them from toppling over. Buttress roots can grow up to five metres above the ground surface.

Question 15

What are environmental functions of tropical forests?

Answer 15

Generate oxygen, contribute to carbon storage, provide habitats for diverse animal life, provide protection from soil erosion.

Question 16

How do tropical forests generate oxygen?

Answer 16

Rainforest plants carry out oxygen generation through photosynthesis. They are capable of producing oxygen throughout the year as they are evergreen.

Question 17

How do tropical forests contribute to carbon storage?

Answer 17

When they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.
1) Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed.
2) The absorbed carbon dioxide is stored in solid form in the plants - leaves, stems, roots, branches.
3) Dead leaves and branches that fall to the ground add carbon to the soil.

Question 18

How do tropical rainforests help prevent soil erosion?

Answer 18

Rainforest plants provide a protection cover over the ground surface.
1) The leaves, branches and stems of rainforest plants slow down falling raindrops before they reach the ground.
2) More rainwater can infiltrate and percolate into the soil, thus reducing surface runoff
3) The roots of rainforest plants also bind the soil together, making it harder to erode. Hence, the overall soil erosion is minimised.

Question 19

How are tropical forests used by people?

Answer 19

Place for habitation, place for recreation, source of food, source of raw material.

Question 20

How are tropical forests used for habitation?

Answer 20

Many people still continue to live in tropical forests. They depend on the physical environment to meet their basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, and clothing. For example, the Korowai tribe lives on the island of New Guinea in Indonesia.

Question 21

How are tropical forests used for recreation?

Answer 21

Tropical forests are recreational sites for people who live in towns and cities to get close to nature. For example, trekking, camping and birdwatching. Visiting forests for recreation is also a way to exercise and to lead an active lifestyle.

Question 22

How to tropical forests provide a source of food?

Answer 22

Many common types of food are found in tropical forests. For example, cashew nuts, mangoes, eggplants, cocoa pods and beans.

Question 23

How do tropical forests provide a source of raw material?

Answer 23

Tropical forests are known for being valuable sources of wood for building and carpentry. Flooring, doors, furniture and even musical instruments can be made from wood. Iron and diamonds can also be found in the ground beneath tropical rainforests.

Question 24

What are the consequences of extracting resources from tropical forests?

Answer 24

Wood and oxygen are often considered as renewable as they are replenished when trees and plants grow back. However, cutting down tropical forests faster than they can regrow can lead to deforestation and enhanced greenhouse effect.

Question 25

What is deforestation?

Answer 25

The permanent removal of tropical rainforests. It may occur because of the unsistainable cutting down of trees for their wood. The tropical forest vegetation is prevented from regenerating as the cleared land is converted by humans into mines, plantations, ranches or fish farms.
From example, the Amazon rainforest has lost more than 11% of its original extent. Up to 57% of the 15000 species found in the rainforest is likely to face extinction.

Question 26

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 26

Greenhouse gases help to keep the Earth’s surface warm. The natural greenhouse effect is when sunlight passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Not all the heat escapes into outer space and some is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, the enhanced greenhouse effect is when more carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere trap more heat released by the Earth’s surface and less heat is able to escape into outer space.

Question 27

How can tropical forests be managed sustainably?

Answer 27

Establishing protected areas, regulating forestry activity, rehabilitating disturbed areas, and promoting public education.

Question 28

How do countries establish protected areas?

Answer 28

A common strategy to conserve remaining tropical forests is to set them aside as protected areas. Governments usually put laws in place to ensure that people do not damage these protected areas. The effectiveness of establishing protected areas depends on strong enforcement of these laws. For example, Singapore has a total of four protected areas. They are the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Labrador Nature Reserve.

Question 29

How do countries regulate forestry activities?

Answer 29

It is often difficult for a country’s government to set aside all of its remaining tropical forests as protected areas. Hence, controlled logging is an example of how resource extraction from tropical forests can be regulated instead. Malaysia uses a method where companies are only allowed to cut down specific trees. The trees are selectively logged and the forest is able to recover relatively quickly as younger trees have more space and sunlight to grow.

Question 30

How do countries rehabilitate disturbed areas?

Answer 30

Forest rehabilitation usually aims to re-introduce at least some of the plant and animal species which were originally found there. Reforestation is an example. It helps rehabilitate a deforested area through the planting of new trees. In Trombetas, Brazil, large areas of tropical rainforest that were deforested have been rehabilitated since the 1980s.

Question 31

How do countries promote public education?

Answer 31

A lot of the deforestation occurring around the world today is due to people’s consumption of products made from resources obtained from tropical forests. Public education can help encourage the sustainable use and extraction of resources. More people can play a part in helping to reduce deforestation. The National Parks Board in Singapore regularly organises exhibitions, festivals and talks which people can take part in to learn more about tropical forests.