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Earth’s Life Support System 2024 > OCR A Level ELSS - 7 OCR A Level ELSS 4.2 Amazon Rainforest CASE STUDY > Flashcards

OCR A Level ELSS - 7 OCR A Level ELSS 4.2 Amazon Rainforest CASE STUDY Flashcards

1
Q

What is the area of the Amazon rainforest?

A

6 million km2

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2
Q

How significant is the Amazon rainforest regarding freshwater in the water cycle?

A

The amazon river basin is the largest single source of freshwater runoff on Earth, representing 15-20% of global river discharge

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3
Q

How significant is the Amazon rainforest as a carbon sink in the global carbon cycle?

A

The Amazon rainforest absorbs around 35% of global CO2 emissions and produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen

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4
Q

What percentage of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil?

A

70

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5
Q

What is the average annual temperature in the Amazon rainforest?

A

25-30 degrees C

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6
Q

What is the average annual rainfall in the Amazon rainforest?

A

> 2000mm

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7
Q

Why does the Amazon have a humid and tropical climate?

A

It’s location near the equator means that it has some of the highest levels of solar insolation. This means that the earth’s surface heats up and warms the surrounding air. Consequently, the warm air rises, cools and the water vapour condenses forming clouds. Latent heat allows air to continue to rise and so storm clouds form, resulting in high precipitation levels in this region. The thermal equator (ITCZ) moves with the tilt of the earth, meaning that there is a dry and wet season in the tropics.

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8
Q

What percentage of precipitation is recycled by evapotransipiration?

A

50-60

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9
Q

What percentage of precipitation is intercepted by forest trees in the Amazon rainforest?

A

10

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10
Q

What percentage of evaporation comes from intercepted rainfall in the Amazon rainforest?

A

20-25

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11
Q

What causes high rates of transpiration in the Amazon rainforest?

A

high temperatures abundant moisture dense vegetation

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12
Q

How much of incoming rainfall is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration in the Amazon rainforest?

A

half

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13
Q

Why can run-off be high in certain parts of the Amazon rainforest?

A
  1. Rainfall is often falls in intense afternoon storms. 2. Where there has been deforestation, there is less interception and so rainfall quickly saturates the thin soil layer and creates significant amounts of run-off. 3. Large parts of the Amazon have an underlying geology of impermeable igneous and metamorphic rock, which do not allow water to infiltrate and so increases the rates of run-off.
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14
Q

Where is moisture lost in transpiration derived from?

A

soil via tree roots

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15
Q

What are the significant water stores in the Amazon rainforest?

A

soils and groundwater

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16
Q

What role do rainforest trees play in the water cycle in the Amazon rainforest?

A

absorb and store water and release it through transpiration

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17
Q

What enables the air in the Amazon rainforest to store large amounts of moisture?

A

warm air is able to hold more moisture than cold air and the air in the Amazon rainforest is warm due to the high levels of solar insolation.

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18
Q

What is the net primary productivity average in the Amazon rainforest?

A

2500 grams/m2/year

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19
Q

What is the biomass per hectare in the Amazon rainforest?

A

400 and 7000 tonnes/ha

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20
Q

What is the typical amount of carbon in large forest trees above ground store in the Amazon rainforest?

A

180 tonnes C/ha

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21
Q

What is the typical amount of carbon stored by trees below ground (i.e. roots) in the Amazon rainforest?

A

40 tonnes C/ha

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22
Q

What is the typical amount of carbon stored in the soils in the Amazon rainforest?

A

90-200 tonnes/ha

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23
Q

How much carbon does the amazon rainforest absorb each year?

A

2.4 billion tonnes

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24
Q

What ensures speedy decomposition of dead organic matter and the quick release of CO2 in the Amazon rainforest?

A

warm, humid conditions

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25
Q

What makes carbon exchange rapid in the Amazon rainforest?

A

fast decomposition and fast photosynthesis

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26
Q

What is limited in Amazonia’s leached and acidic soils?

A

carbon and nutrient stores

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27
Q

What three physical factors affect flows and stores of water in the Amazon rainforest

A

geology, relief and temperature

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28
Q

What effects do the underlying geology of the Amazon Rainforest basin have on the water cycle??

A

The large parts of the Amazon that have an underlying geology of impermeable igneous and metamorphic rock, do not allow water to infiltrate, and so there is increased rates of run-off in these parts. Where there are more porous areas of limestone and sandstone, more water is stored in underground aquifers and there is slower run-off.

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29
Q

How does water move in areas of gentle relief in the Amazon rainforest?

A

across the surface (overland flow) or horizontally through the soil (throughflow) to streams and rivers

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30
Q

What is an example of a floodplain which stores water for several months due to gentle relief in the Amazon rainforest?

A

Pantanal

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31
Q

What impacts do the Andes mountains (areas of high and steep relief) have on the water cycle in the Amazon rainforest?

A

The steep slopes of the Andes create areas of rapid run-off, making precipitation flow quickly through this part of the drainage basin. The Andes also physically block the movement of warm, moist air from the east (as part of orographic uplift/relief rainfall), consequently, there is heavy rainfall throughout the year in the Andes, creating many tributaries that all lead to the Amazon river.

32
Q

What evidence is there that the majority of the Amazon river basin’s elevational gradient is very low?

A

The mouth of the Rio Negro river (a tributary of the Amazon river) is 1,500km from the Atlantic, and yet is still only 15m above sea level. Therefore the gradient is about 1cm for every kilometre along the rest of the river from this point!

33
Q

What is the name given to strong air circulation currents that are active in the Amazon rainforest that lead to high atmospheric humidity, the development of thunderstorm clouds and intense precipitation?

A

convection

34
Q

How much carbon is locked up in the Amazon rainforest?

A

100 billion tonnes

35
Q

What is the main carbon store in the Amazon rainforest?

A

forest trees

36
Q

How much carbon is released a year through decomposition in the Amazon rainforest?

A

1.7 billion tonnes

37
Q

Which process connects the rainforest to atmosphere stores?

A

photosynthesis

38
Q

What percent of all carbon in the Amazon rainforest is stored in the above ground biomass of tree stems, branches and leaves?

A

60

39
Q

What stimulates primary production in Amazon rainforest?

A

high temperatures high rainfall intense sunlight

40
Q

What percent of all NPP in terrestrial ecosystems does Amazonia account for?

A

15-25

41
Q

How is organic litter decomposed in the Amazon rainforest?

A

bacteria fungi other soil organisms

42
Q

What is the geology of Amazonia dominated by?

A

ancient igneous and metamorphic rock

43
Q

What was the average rate of deforestation between 1970 and 2013 in the Amazon rainforest?

A

17,500 km2/year

44
Q

Since 1970, what fraction of the primary forest in the Amazon Rainforest has been destroyed or degraded?

A

one-fifth

45
Q

On which river did devastating floods occur in April 2014?

A

Madeira River

46
Q

What was the record level above normal that the river at Porto Velho reached?

A

19.68m

47
Q

How many people died as a result of the 2014 flood on the Madeira river in the Amazon rainforest?

A

60

48
Q

How many families were evacuated as a result of the 2014 flood on the Madeira river in the Amazon rainforest?

A

68,000

49
Q

What diseases broke out as a result of the 2014 flood on the Madeira river in the Amazon rainforest?

A

cholera and leptospirosis

50
Q

Where has deforestation reduced water storage in the Amazon rainforest?

A
  1. forest trees 2. soils 3. permeable rocks 4. atmosphere
51
Q

What processes in the water cycle are reduced due to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest?

A
  1. evapotranspiration 2. interception and 3. precipitation
52
Q

Deforestation in which countries was a main cause of the floods in the 2014 flood on the Madeira river in the Amazon rainforest?

A

Bolivia and Peru

53
Q

How much of the Bolivian rainforest was cleared between 2000 and 2012?

A

30,000 km2

54
Q

Why was Bolivian and Peruvian rainforest cleared between 2000 and 2012?

A
  1. Subsistence farming 2. Cattle ranching
55
Q

What effect did the conversion of rainforest to subsistence farming and cattle ranching have on the Madeira drainage basin?

A
  1. Reduced interception 2. Reduced storage capacity of rainfall 3. Dramatically increased the rates of run-off
56
Q

By what factor does run off increase by when converting rainforest to grassland?

A

27

57
Q

How much rainfall falling on grassland goes into rivers?

A

half

58
Q

What were the physical factors that contributed to the Medeira river floods in 2014?

A
  1. Extreme rainfall - between December 2013 - March 2014 rainfall was around 100% above normal. This led to river discharge being 74% higher than normal (58,000m3/second!) at Porto Velho. 2. Studies suggest that the extreme rainfall was caused by warm conditions in the western Pacific-Indian Ocean and with an exceptionally warm Subtropical South Atlantic
59
Q

By what percentage is regional rainfall in Amazonia due to reduce by as a result of future projections of deforestation in Amazonia?

A

20

60
Q

Which store does deforestation reduce in the carbon cycle?

A

carbon biomass store

61
Q

What is the biomass of grasslands in areas of former rainforest?

A

16.2 tonnes/ha

62
Q

What is the biomass in areas of soya cultivation?

A

2.7 tonnes/ha

63
Q

By how much is Brazil committed to restoring to the rainforest by 2030?

A

120,000km2

64
Q

What is eroded without the protection of forest trees?

A

soils

65
Q

What type of methods did indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest survive as for thousands of years?

A
  1. Hunter-gatherers and 2. Shifting cultivators
66
Q

How big is the area covered by the Amazon Regional Protected Areas?

A

twenty times the size of Belgium

67
Q

What percent of Brazilian Amazon was national park, wildlife reserves or indigenous reserves by 2015?

A

44

68
Q

What kind of assistance is given to smallholders for land preparation, planting and the maintenance of plots by the Parica project in Rondonia?

A

financial

69
Q

What did the Surui project join in 2009?

A

UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme

70
Q

Who does the REDD scheme give payments to and for what?

A

tribes for protecting rainforest and abandoning logging

71
Q

Which agricultural technique maintains soil fertility in the Amazon rainforest?

A

diversification

72
Q

What is an example of diversification in agricultural technique in the Amazon Rainforest?

A
  1. rotational cropping 2. combining livestock with crops
73
Q

What is the expected level of increase in ranching productivity if diversification strategies are used?

A

fivefold

74
Q

What are human-engineered dark soils made from?

A

charcoal, waste, human manure

75
Q

What do dark soils attract that retains long-term fertility?

A

micro-organisms

76
Q

What kind of assistance is given to smallholders for land preparation, planting and the maintenance of plots in the Amazon rainforest?

A

financial

Earth’s Life Support System 2024 (12 decks)

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