The Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

Location of Amazon Rainforest and characteristics

Answer 1

Located in South America and nearly 60% is in Brazil while the rest is shared amongst eight other countries. It is home to over 47 million people and has around 400 billion trees as well as 1 million plant species and a large amount of biodiversity

Question 2

Water cycles importance in the Amazon rainforest

Answer 2

The water cycle causes the Amazon to be very wet as there is a lot of evaporation over the Atlantic Ocean and the wet air is blown towards the Amazon contributing to high rainfall.
Warm temperatures make evaporation high in the rainforest itself which increases precipitation
The rainforest has a dense canopy so interception is high as less water slowly flows into rivers
The water cycle affects the Amazon environment as it is populated by species that are adapted to high humidity and rainfall

Question 3

Carbon cycles importance in the Amazon rainforest

Answer 3

The Amazon rainforest stores a lot of carbon in its vegetation and soil which makes it a carbon sink.
The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has led to increased productivity in the rainforest because vegetation is able to access more CO2 for photosynthesis - increase in biomass.
The amount of CO2 sequestered has increased making it an important carbon store

However trees are dying younger and so much of the forest is lost through deforestation in the rainforest so we may nkt be able to rely on the Amazon as an effective carbon sink in the future

Question 4

Human activities affecting the Amazon Rainforest - DEFORESTATION

Answer 4

Effect in water cycle - no canopy to intercept rainfall so more water reaches ground and infiltrates but too much water soaks into the soil so instead surface run off increased and water moves to rivers so flooding risks increase. Evapotranspirstion also reduces as less water vapour reaches the atmosphere so fewer clouds and rainfall means increased drought risk

Effect on carbon cycle - without roots to hold soil together heavy rain washes away the nutrient rich top layer of soil transferring carbon stored in the soil to the hydrosphere. Deforestation means that there is leaf litter so humus isn’t formed and the soil can’t support much new growth which limits amount of carbon absorbed. Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere so fewer trees means more atmospheric CO2 and enhanced greenhouse effect

Question 5

Human activities affecting the Amazon Rainforest - CLIMATE CHANGE

Answer 5

In some areas temperature is increasing and rainfall is decreasing which has led to drought. The Amazon had severe droughts in 2005, 2010 and 2015-16. Plants and animals living here have adapted to moist conditions so many species die due to dry weather. This can also cause wildfires destroying the forest. Scientists predict a 4 degree temp increase could kill 85% of the Amazon.

Question 6

Attempts to limit human impacts on the Amazon

Answer 6

Selective logging - only some trees eg oldest ones are felled - most left standing

Replanting - new trees are planted eg in Peru 115 acres was replanted between. 2015 and 2019

Environmental laws - help to protect the forest eg banning excessive logging, laws that control land use eg Brazilian Forest Code where landowners must keep 50-80% of their land as forest

Protection - many countries set up national parks and nature reserves to protect rainforests eg Central Amazon Conservation Complex which protects biodiversity but allows people to use the forest sustainably