Tropical Rainforest Flashcards
What are epipyhtes?
Adaptation
Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants.
In order to reach sunlight
Soil fetility
Soil fertility is low in tropical rainforests because the heavy and frequent rain washes away the nutrients
Tip drips
Adaptation
Allow heavy rain to drip off. This prevents algae growing, which could block sunlight and stop photosynthesis
Butteress roots
Shallow layer of fertile soil, so trees only need shallow roots to reach the nutrience. However shallaw roots can’t support huge rainforest trees. These can strech from the ground to two metres or more to trunk
Lianas
Liana roots are like woody creepers rooted to the ground but carried by trees into the canopy where they have leaves and flowers
(maximum sunlight recived)
Flying lemur
Has a huge wingspan which allows it to glide between trees and isn’t acually a wing though more of growth skin. This way it consereves alot of energy in movement as it doesn’t need energy to reach food
Tree frog
Have dry thumbs, so that in wet cinditions they can climb easily as they can grip on slipper surfaces. Large vocal sac
Why is biodiversity so high in tropical rainforests ?
Biodiversity is so high in tropical rainforests because they have high rainfall and high temperature which leads to high humidity (perfect conditions for plants to thrive)
Interdependence in tropical rainforests
Plants need water in order to grow
Plants contribute by evaportranspiration
(water cycle)
(water and plants)
Issues related to biodiversity
Indigenous tribes being unable to survive their as they have to abandon their traditional lifestyle
Plants and animals species may become extinc - some before they have been discovered
Why should tropical rainforests be protected?
28% of oxygen (lungs of the world)
Carbon sink
Medicine - 25% cancer fighting ingredients
Climate of tropical rainforests
Same all year round
hot temperatures between 20-28 because the sun’s energy is more intense near the equator
rainfall is very high around 2000mm per year.
it rains everday
Soil
The soil isn’t very fertile as heavy rain washes nutrience away.
There are surface nutrients due to decayed leaf fall, but this layer is very thin as decay is fast in the warm, moist conditions
People
Many indigenous people have adapted to life in rainforests
They make a living by hunting, fishing and gathering nuts and berries
And growing vegetables in small garden plots
Animal/biodiversity
Rainforest ecosystems are belived to contain more animals specoes than any other ecosystems
They contain 50% of the worlds planys animal and insect species
They dont have to cope with changing conditions and there is always plenty to eat
Plants
Most trees are evergreen to help them take advantage og the continual growing season
Mant trees are tall and the vegeitation cover is dense- very little light reaches the forest floor
What is commercial farming?
When the forest is cleared away to make space for cattle grazing (letting cows eat grass) or for huge plantations
Cattle ranching is onw of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon
For example soy takes up 250,000km2 and rice, sugar canes and corn are also grown
Subsistance farming
Forest is cleared by small-scale farmers who need land to grow craps for themselves and family
Many indigenous people are subsistance farmers
Comercial logging
The amazin is full of valuable hardwood trees such as mahgony which makes logging extremely tempting to both legal and illegal businesses.
How does mineral extraction lead to deforestation
Gold, iron ore and copper are mined and exploded to help boosts countries development.
Explosives are sometimes used to clear earth, and deep pits have to be dug to reach the mineral deposits
Energy development
Building hydroelectric dams floods large areas of forest. The construction of the Bralbina Dam flooded 2400km of the rainforest
How does population growth affect deforestation
Population growth and migration to the same area is putting pressure on the Amazon rain forest, especially as the Brazillian goverment offers land in the rainforest to poor people from overcrowed cities
For example many farmers have settled along the Trans-Amazonian Highway
How does road building affect deforestation?
4000km of the Trans-Amazonian Highway connects the Brazilian coast to Peru
New roads built for logging have opened up areas that werepreviouslytoo hardbto get to, destroying and threating more of the forest
How is replanting a sustainable management startegy for rainforests
This is when new trees are planted to replace the ones that are cut down
Its important that the type your planting matches the ones that were cut down
In some countries there are law that trees should be replanted after being cut down
How is ecotourism a sustainable management strategy - tropical rainforest
- Ecotourism minimises damage to the environment and benifits local people
- Only small groups of visitors are allowed in an area at a time and rules are imposed to minimise environmental impacts
- Ecotourism provides a source of income for local people e.g. they can act as guides and help with transport. It can also raise awareness of the conservation issue and raise money to protect rainforests
- If local people are employed in tourism, they don’t have to log or farm to make money meaing a fewer trees are cut down
How is selective logging a sustainable management strategy?
- Only some trees are cut like old ones meaning most trees remain
- Less damaging as the whole areas not being cleared leading to the forest structure being kept
- Canopy remains meaning remains and the soil isnt exposed
- Horse logging and helicopter logging are the least damaging
Eduacation
- Educating international students about the impacts of deforestation which can encourage them to buy products from sustainable sources
- Local people might damage the forest (illegally logging) without realizing the the long term impacts
- Educating local people about the impacts of deforestation to help reduce damage
- Teaching people an alternative way to make money
Hoe is reducing depth a sustainable managent strategy?
- Many tropical rainforests are found in lower income countries, which often borrow money from wealthier places like the world bank
- This leads to paying back with interest so poorer countries log farm and mine rainforests to make money to pay back the depth
- Reducing depth means countries don’t have to do this and rainforests can remain conserved
- But there is no guarntee that the money will be spent on this
How is conservation a sustianably management strategy?
- Many countries have set up national parks and nature reserves within rainforests. In these areas damaging activities are restricted
- However a lack of funds can make it difficult to police the restrictions
- As a result some countries have set up funds which overseas goverments and businesses can invest in
International hardwood agreements
Hardwood tends to be dense and hard so it’s often used in furinture
High demand for hardwood from consumers in richer countries means that some tropical hardwood trees are becoming increasingly rare as more are cut down
There are international agreements in place to try to prevent illegal logging, and to promote the use of hardwood from sustainablly managed forests
