rainforests 2 Flashcards
What can the Amazon be described as?
The green Lung of the world.
What element can help forests produce that leads to water vapour moving from oceans to land?
wind
What 2 cycles play a part of other natural cycles?
Nutrient cycle and water cycle
What is The Achiote
Use for sun cream and insect repellent. It looks like a red spiky fruit.
What is a Cordoncillo?
It is an anaesthetic. You chew on leaves and your mouth goes numb or you rub it on a wound.
What is Lapacho?
Used to treat cancer.
State a fact about Drug using plants.
70% of plants with anti-cancer properties exist only in the Amazon.
One rainforest drug, Rosie Periwinkle, improved childhood leukaemia sufferers survival chance from 10% to 90%.
What are some global products from the rainforest?
Rubber- this latex is tapped from rubber trees and is used in many plastic products globally. Latex makes rubber.
Cocoa- cocoa pods are harvested and shipped around the world to be used in many food products.
Give an example of a provisioning service.
Food, water, fiber
Give an example of a regulating service.
Climate, water and disease regulations
Give an example of a cultural service.
Recreational, ecotourism, educational, aesthetic, inspirational,
Give an example of a supporting service.
Nutrient cycling, evolution, soil formation, primary production, spatial structure,
What is biodiversity?
Its a measure of the variety of plants and animals in an ecosystem.
What is selective logging?
It’s cutting down a few mature trees within the forest.
How can parts of the forest be protected from development?
By creating national parks or reserves
How are the government helping to protect the rainforest?
By paying other countries
What does sustainable mean?
The ability to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of the future generation.
How can rainforest be managed sustainably?
To ensure that rainforests remain a lasting resource for future generations.
To allow valuable rainforests resources to be used without causing long-term damage to the environment.
What is afforestation?
New trees can be planted to replace the ones cut down
What is a positive and negative of selective logging?
Other plants and trees survive which gives the rainforest an opportunity to recover.
It can be slower as it takes time to identify species and cut down the correct ones. It is a 40 year cycle.
What is a positive and negative of afforestation?
They log a range of species so that none are over-exploited.
Expensive to plant trees and takes long time to plant.
What is conservation?
It is when national parks or reserves are created which restricts illegal logging.
What is a positive and negative of conservation?
These areas can be used for education and scientific research as well as tourism.
A lack of funds can make it difficult to police these areas.
What is a positive and negative of educating people on the rainforest issues?
It teaches people why these areas need to be protected.
Locals living in poverty may lack education and might illegally cut down trees for the short term gain.
What is ecotourism?
It is a type of tourism that’s designed to be low impact and has two main principles: to benefit local communities and to protect the environment for the future.
What is a positive and negative of ecotourism?
Only a small number of visitors allowed at a time minimising the environmental damage.
Very expensive and travelling there is not eco friendly e.g. planes or cars
What are international agreements?
They restrict the importation of wood that is not from a sustainable source.
What is a positive and negative of international agreements?
It stops people from buying wood that’s not sustainable.
The high demand leads to increased rates of illegal deforestation. Some people make up fake logos so people think it’s sustainable when it’s not.
What is debt reduction?
It is when many rainforests are found in LIC’s who often borrow money to fund development schemes, or to cope with national emergencies.
What is a positive and negative of debt reduction?
This means countries don’t have to cut down rainforests for money.
LICs allow logging, farming and mining in rainforests in order to make money to pay back the debt.
