Tropical Rainforest

Question 1

What is the climate of the Rainforest like?

Answer 1

No dry season- at least 60mm of rainfall each month. High temperatures- 26-32 degrees Celsius all year round.

Question 2

What are the layers of the rainforest?

Answer 2

Emergent layer
Canopy layer
Understorey layer
Forest floor

Question 3

Where do most animals live?

Answer 3

In the canopy because there is so much food available.

Question 4

What is an adaptation of sloths?

Answer 4

Huge claws to allow them to hang upside down.

Question 5

What is an adaptation of drip tip leaves?

Answer 5

Shed water quickly to prevent rotting.

Question 6

What is the nutrient cycle like?

Answer 6

Large biomass store, large decay transfer, small litter store, large growth transfer, large weathering input and leaching output.

Question 7

Why are food webs complex?

Answer 7

Huge amounts of biomass and thousands of different plants and animals. Most animals are also quite selective.

Question 8

What are the direct threats to tropical rainforests?

Answer 8

Poverty (subsistence farming), debt, economic development and demand for resources.

Question 9

What are direct causes of deforestation in the Amazon?

Answer 9

Cattle ranches (60%)
Subsistence agriculture (33%)
Fires, mining, road construction, urbanisation, dams (3%)
Logging (3%)
Large scale commercial agriculture (1%)

Question 10

What are indirect threats to tropical rainforests?

Answer 10

Global warming and climate stress.

Question 11

How does global warming threaten tropical rainforests?

Answer 11

Droughts, forest fires and increased pests and disease thriving in rising temperatures.

Question 12

How does climate stress threaten the tropical rainforests?

Answer 12

Droughts and forest fires cause the Amazon to emit carbon dioxide. Drought dries out leaf litter and leaves in canopy affecting nutrient cycle and food webs.

Question 13

Give some facts about why deforestation is decreasing.

Answer 13

Forest Code Law (landowners have to preserve 80% of their land), government cracked down on illegal logging and clearance for cattle ranching, global recession in 2008 reduced demand for resources, since 2006 an area the size of France has been protected.

Question 14

What is CITES?

Answer 14

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Adopted by 180 countries and bans cross border trade in listed species. However doesn’t prevent deforestation and hard to monitor.

Question 15

What is REDD?

Answer 15

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. It tries to reduce carbon emissions and minimise deforestation through sustainable management of forests. However it is easy for developed countries to appear to reduce emissions without actually doing it.

Question 16

What is Juma Sustainable Forest Reserve?

Answer 16

Local people are paid not to cut down the forest (Bolsa Floresta) which provides them with an income without destroying the forest.

Question 17

What are the negatives of Juma Sustainable Forest Reserve?

Answer 17

Relies on donations, money for families is significantly less than reserve manager (less than $1 a day compared to $25000 a year), locals sign away rights to use forest resources, huge area is hard to police.

Question 19

What is Kilum-Ijim?

Answer 19

An area of mountain forest in Cameroon. They have areas for light use on a rotational basis such as extracting or selective logging. There are also core conservation zones.

Question 20

What are successes of Kilum-Ijim?

Answer 20

Forest area has increased by 8%. Marked out the forest reserve and made lists of forest resources, developed rules for sustainable use of forest, set up a unit to manage and monitor forest, educated communities.

Question 21

What problems will Kilum-Ijim face in the future?

Answer 21

Population growth increases pressure to deforest, urban areas could encroach on forest, donations could stop, climate change could degrade the forest.