Rainforests Flashcards
To know all key terms in topic 'rainforest'
What is an ecosystem?
an environment containing a community of interdependent plants+ animals. (made up of biotic and abiotic parts)
What is abiotic?
non-living
What is biotic?
living
What is a biome?
a collection of ecosystems that have the same or similar characteristics and flora and fauna
List some ways that biomes can differ:
climate, elevation, rainfall/fresh water, saltwater, sunlight, people, temperature
What is weather?
set of conditions in atmosphere, in one location for a limited period of time
What is climate?
describes the average condition of atmosphere over a long period of time, (such as across spans of 30 years or more) for a given location
Equatorial climate is…
hot and wet
How to describe climate graphs:
Temperature:
>min temp +month -max temp + month -range
Rainfall: same as temp but with rainfall
Overall comment
What is the emergent layer?
tallest layer of rainforest, hotter, 45m+ seeds have wings, birds and monkeys live there e.g. Brazilian nut tree
What is the canopy layer?
Main layer, trees have big leaves to compete for survival, 90% of life in rainforest (sloths, birds)
What is the shrub layer?
lower layer but not floor, much darker, leaves have splits to cover a larger area, drip tip leaves to protect leaves from rotting
What is the forest floor?
lowest part of rainforest, big animals and lots of insects, stale air, humid
Name 2 facts about each layer of the rainforest:
Emergent= Only 1 or 2 in every acre of rainforest, top of these trees can be sizes of football pitches
Canopy= layer of leaves around 6mm thick, trees grow 25-45m in height
Shrub= plants receive 2-15% of sunlight, plants rarely grow above 10m in height
Floor= plants only get 1-2% of sunlight, plants have difficult time to pollinate from lack of air movement
List some ways that tribes of the rainforest are threatened:
Fires, invasions, deforestation, miners, food supply running out, air pollution, people using land
What is deforestation?
the removal of trees either through logging (cutting down) or burning
List some deforestation rates:
25% of modern medicine comes form rainforest
100 years rainforest will be completely lost
90% of rainforest has been lost in Philippines
Name some deforestation causes:
Logging (companies cut down trees for building + resources)
Cattle Ranching (areas of land cleared for large food companies to graze cattle)
Mining (companies exploring for oil and metal drill holes into ground)
What is palm oil?
an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of the oil palm tree (used for many things such as food + makeup)
What is sustainable development?
“Meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”
How does education of how to use the rainforest sustainably work?
non-governmental organisations educate people about the threats and solutions of deforestation
What is international agreements?
controlling the amount of trees being cut down and governments would stop debts from countries so that they can use the money
What is agro-forestry?
farmers grow cops among the trees in rows (having them both in the same area at the same time)
What is eco-tourism?
like tourism but tourists would be guided around an area by a local and could experience traditional practises and they can explain threats to the rainforest
What is opinion of building road network in Peru?
they should as lots of room for employment, economic benefits, however maybe strong security system so no outsiders can exploit land
Why are rainforests important?
-they absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen to breathe
-they have a quarter of the plants we get our modern medicine from
-provides us with everyday resources such as wood and food
