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Ecosystems > Tropical Rain Forests - Biomes > Flashcards

Tropical Rain Forests - Biomes Flashcards

Biomes Comparison Case Study

1
Q

Climate

A

Hot and wet all year

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2
Q

Temperature

A

20-28 degrees C

Sun overhead all year round

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3
Q

Rainfall

A
  • High all year round
  • 2000mm per year
  • Rains every day
  • Usually in afternoon (high temps create convectional rainfall)
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4
Q

Convectional Rainfall

A
  • Sun warms ground.
  • This conducts heat to air above and evaporates surface water.
  • Warm air can hold lots of water vapour.
  • Warm wet air rises.
  • As rises, it cools.
  • Cool air can hold less water vapour.
  • Water condenses to form clouds and rains.
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5
Q

Soil Moisture Budget

A
  • The balance between water inputs and outputs in the soil.
  • High because precipitation is higher than potential evaporation.
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6
Q

Rainforest Soils

A

Latosols

Very nutrient poor because:
- Leaf litter & organic matter broken down so quickly (warm & wet climate)
- Growing season continues all year – as soon as dead organic matter broken down, nutrients re-absorbed by plants. Few nutrients remain in soil.
- Nutrients leached down the soil column by heavy rainfall.

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7
Q

Plant adaptations - Emergent

A
  • 40m
  • Tallest trees.
  • Poke out of main canopy layer.
  • Straight trunks
  • Branches and leaves only at top (where they can get light)
  • Buttress roots to support trunks
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8
Q

Plant adaptations - Main canopy

A
  • 30m
  • Continuous layer of trees
  • Only have leaves at top
  • Dense layer of leaves shades rest of forest
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9
Q

Plant adaptations - Undercanopy

A
  • 20m
  • Younger trees (yet to reach their full height)
  • Only survive in breaks in canopy where light can get through
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10
Q

Plant adaptations - Shrub Layer

A
  • 10m
  • Quite dark
  • Shrubs have large, broad leaves to absorb as much light as possible
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11
Q

Plant adaptations - Leaves

A
  • Waxy leaves – helps repel rain
  • Drip tips – channel water to run off

Means:
- Weight of water doesn’t damage plant.
- No standing water for fungi & bacteria to grow / leaf to rot.

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12
Q

Plant adaptations - Lianas

A

Root in soil & clime up trees searching for light

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13
Q

Plant adaptations - Epiphytes

A
  • Grow on trees
  • E.g. orchids and bromeliads
  • Help plants reach light
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14
Q

Animal adaptations - Canopy

A
  • Live in canopy
  • Plenty of food
  • E.g. flying squirrels (flaps of skin for gliding between trees)
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15
Q

Animal adaptations - Nocturnal

A
  • Jaguars, sloths, vampire bats
  • Save energy by sleeping in hot day.
  • Feed at night when cooler
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16
Q

Animal adaptations - Low light

A
  • Underneath canopy
  • E.g. Tapirs and anteaters
  • Excellent sense of smell and hearing to detect predators
17
Q

Animal adaptations - Swimming

A
  • Many TRF animals can swim
  • Allows them to cross river channels and cope with forest floor flooding
18
Q

Deforestation

A
  • Small Scale Farming
  • Cattle Farming
  • Commercial Agriculture
  • Commercial Logging
  • Other
19
Q

Deforestation - Small Scale Farming

A
  • Trees cleared to set up small subsistence farms.
  • Often slash & burn
  • Vegetation cut down, left to dry, then burnt.
20
Q

Deforestation - Cattle Farming

A

Forest cleared to make room for cattle grazing

21
Q

Deforestation - Commercial Agriculture

A

Trees felled for planting crops.

Soya and palm oil

22
Q

Deforestation - Commercial Logging

A
  • Wood used for timber, pulp, paper.
  • Road building for logging also makes new areas accessible for agriculture
23
Q

Deforestation - Other

A
  • Mineral extraction (gold & iron ore)
  • New settlements
  • Building dams for hydroelectric power floods large areas of forest
24
Q

Deforestation - Environmental Impacts

A
  • Habitat loss –> reduced biodiversity
  • Decreased interception so more water in soil –> reduces soil fertility & flooding more likely.
  • Evapotranspiration rates decreased –> less water vapour in atmosphere, less rain falls.
  • Global warming –> fewer trees = EGE.
25
Q

Deforestation - Social Impacts

A
  • More jobs = improved quality of life for locals.
  • Traditional livelihoods destroyed if plants and animals lost.
  • Native tribes forced to move if their land cleared.
  • Locals at risk as not immune to western diseases brought by newcomers.
  • Conflict between natives, landowners, mining companies, and logging companies over use of land.
26
Q

Deforestation - Economic Impacts

A
  • Logging, farming and mining create jobs.
  • Lots of money made from selling timber, mining and commercial farming.
  • Long term, it will destroy resources that countries depend on (timber).
27
Q

Development Issues - Population Change

A
  • Pop growing
  • Indigenous inhabitants decreasing.
  • More people need more resources and space.
  • Many more small scale subsistence farmers now –> people with no/unproductive land opening up more areas.
28
Q

Development Issues - Economic Development

A
  • Commercial activities brought huge economic development to countries with TRFs (mining, logging, etc).
  • Investments in infrastructure
    –> new roads opening up inaccessible forest
  • Countries develop economically = people have more money = use more resources = more deforestation.
29
Q

Agriculture extension and intensification

A
  • Increase in forest clearance for cash crops.
  • Monocultural plantations.
  • Meat consumption increasing –> more room for cattle needed.
  • 80% deforested land in Brazil for cattle.
  • S&B sustainable if left to recover (but doesn’t happen due to pop pressure).
30
Q

Implications on Biodiversity

A

TRF = biome with highest biodiversity. Humans causing decline.

Habitat loss
- Deforestation destroys habitats.
- Natural veg replaced with land uses with lower biodiversity (monoculture farming).

Fragmentation
- Sections felled for other land use.
- Split up into isolated fragments.
- Lower biodiversity in fragments than in continuous forest.
- Populations cup off from eachother so can’t come together to reproduce.
- Animals leaving fragment may end up dead.

31
Q

Implications or Sustainability

A
  1. Selective logging, replanting, and creation of national parks.
  2. Eco-tourism –> nature based and doesn’t harm environment, benefits locals.
    - Locals employed so don’t log/farm.
    - Raises awareness of conservation issues.
  3. TRF in less developed countries –> borrow money from organisations which leads to industrial activities being allowed to repay debts.
    - Debt for nature swaps alternative solution –> when part of a countries debt paid off by someone else in exchange for investment in conservation.

Ecosystems (18 decks)

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