Tropical Rainforests Flashcards
What percent of the worlds land surface is covered by tropical rainforests ?
7%
Where are the main areas of tropical rainforest ?
- amazon basin
- central Africa
- south east Asia
What is the climate like in the tropical rainforest?
- warm and wet
- 26°
- 2,500mm of rainfall annually
What is the vegetation like in a tropical rainforest ?
- rich vegetation
* very tall trees, 30-40m in height
What is the soil normally like in the tropical rainforest ?
- thin and poor
- is often leached
- usually orange due to high iron content
How does water recycling work ?
- The roots of plants take up water from the ground and the rain is intercepted as it falls
- midday the water evaporates into the atmosphere
- this evaporation forms clouds to make the next days rain
What does stratification mean?
And how does it relate to the rainforest ?
Layered
- the forest is stratified as plants try to take advantage of the light and space
How has flexible based leaves adapted to the tropical rainforest?
Flexibility in their bases helps leaves to turn and face the Sun
How has thin Smooth bark help adapted to the rainforest?
Allows water to flow down the tree easily and stop other plants from growing on trees surfaces
How have a emergents help adapt to the rainforest ?
Fast growing trees e.g. Capoc out compete are the trees to reach sunlight
How has drip tip leaves help adapt to the rainforest?
Allow the heavy rain to drop off the leaf. This prevents algae growing which could block sunlight and stop photosynthesis
Independence in the rainforest
- plants and food for animals
- trees leaves create nutrients on forest floor for the soil
- sunlight allows photosynthesis in plants
- water cycle
- nutrient cycle
How many of the worlds known animal species live in the rainforest?
2/4
How many of the worlds known plant species live in the rainforest?
More than 2/3
How have animals adapted to survive?
- parrots and toucans have developed big strong beaks to crack open nuts
- camouflage to escape being prey
- some animals are poisonous and use bright colours to warn predators to leave them alone
How has the rate of deforestation changed ?
Deforestation increased from 1700 to 1979 in tropical areas, however the amount of deforestation is in decline at the moment although still occurring
How has Indonesia’s deforestation rate increased ?
Deforestation has increased as they replace forests with palm oil plantations this threatens the
orangutan
• an 107% increase from 2000-2005 vs 2005-2010
How has Brazil’s deforestation rate changed ?
It has decreased to a record low and half of the remaining rainforest has a protection on it
• a decrease of -21% from 2000-2005 vs 2005-2010
How many square kilometres of Amazon rainforest was cleared since 1970?
761,000km2
What is percentage of South America covered by the amazon ?
40%
How many countries does the amazon cover ?
8
How many species of bird is there in the Amazon?
1000
How many species of plants are there in the amazon ?
60,000
How Many people live in the Amazon ?
20 million people
How many square miles does the amazon cover ?
2.1 million square miles
What percent of the earths species live in the Amazon ?
20%
What percent of the rainforest in the Amazon was already lost by 2005 ?
17%
What are the causes of deforestation in Brazil ?
- logging
- mineral extraction
- energy development
- illegal trade in wildlife
- cattle ranching
- commercial farming
- road building
- settlement and population growth
Why is the logging in the Amazon?
- timber companies are most interested in trees such as mahogany and teak and sell them to other countries to make furniture (selective logging )
- Loggers are interested in any trees for fuel or pulp and clear huge areas in one go (clear cutting)
Why is the minimum extraction in the Amazon?
- In the Amazon mining is mainly about gold
* there is 50,000 hectors of land use for gold mining
Why is the energy development in the Amazon ?
- and unlimited supply of water and ideal river conditions have encourage dams to be built to generate hydroelectric power
- they alter the hydrological cycle and trap sediment behind them
- dams displace many people and the reservoirs they create flood large areas of land that would be forest this can rot making the water very acidic
Why is there illegal trade in wildlife in the Amazon ?
- this is not a direct cause of deforestation but upsets the rainforest ecosystem
- hunting, poaching and trafficking in wildlife and animal parts are big business in Brazil
Why is there cattleranching in the Amazon ?
- large areas of rainforest have been cleared for cattleranching this contributes to 80 percent of the rainforest destruction in Brazil
- The land cannot be used for very long the quality of the pastor quickly declined on the cattle farmers move onto a new area of land
Why is there commercial farming in the Amazon ?
- forests are being cleared to make way for plantations for banana and palm oil growth
- The soil that the crops are planted in cannot be sustained for long and the plantation has to move , cutting down more forest for more land
- commercial farming takes up 10 percent of the causes of deforestation in Brazil
Why is there roadbuilding in the Amazon?
- roads are needing to be built for loggers trucks and equipment and without them they wouldn’t be able to reach the areas they need too
- trees are needing to be cut down to create these areas of road
- The trans-Amazonian highway is 4000 km long and has opened up the remote areas of the Amazon rainforest both positively and negatively
Why is the settlement and population growth in the Amazon?
•. Commercial businesses need workers ,and workers and their families need homes and services. This means clearing the forest to build settlements were these people can live
What are the impacts of deforestation in the Amazon?
- loss of biodiversity
- climate change
- river pollution
- economic development
- soil erosion
- decline of indigenous people
Why is loss of biodiversity and impact of deforestation in the Amazon ?
Biodiversity is lost a species are wiped out because of deforestation
Why is climate change and impact of deforestation in the Amazon ?
- Burning the forest releases greenhouse gases like CO2
- The loss of trees prevent CO2 being absorbed
- The Amazon also helps to drive the global atmospheric system. There is a lot of rainfall and changes to the Amazon could disrupt the global system.
Why is river pollution and impact of deforestation in the Amazon?
• Mercury used to separate gold from the ground is allowed to enter rivers. Fish are poisoned as well as people in nearby towns
Why is economic development and impact of deforestation in the Amazon?
- Brazil has use the forest as a way to develop their country and has exploited many of the natural riches
- Brazil has huge debts and poor people to feed and sees deforestation as a way to help develop their country and improve peoples standard of living
Why is soil erosion and impact of deforestation in the Amazon?
- lack of forest cover colours by deforestation means that soils are exposed to the rainfall. The rainfall washes away huge amounts of soil into rivers this is called soil erosion
- rainfall also washes away nutrients from the soil this is called leaching
Why is the decline of indigenous people and impact of deforestation in the Amazon ?
- there are only 240 tribes left compared with 330 and 1900s
- many have been forced out of the rainforest by logging, opening of mines, and construction of roads
- most of ended up in towns and have found it hard to adjust to the new life and turned to drugs and alcohol use, and died young
- The loss of these tribes also loses centuries of detailed knowledge of the forest, such as medicinal value and of various rainforest species
What are the goods the Amazon provides ?
- native food crop
- meat and fish
- building material
- Energy from HEP
- Water
- medicine
Services that the Amazon rainforest provides
- Air purification
- protection against soil erosion
- wildlife habitats
- employment opportunities
- water and nutrients recycling
How many drugs used today are derived from rainforest ingredients ?
1/4 of drugs
What percent of the rainforest trees and plants have been tested for medicinal purposes ?
1%
How many species a year die in the Amazon ?
50,000
What percent of the Amazons main species could be lost by 2030?
30-45%
How many plants, animals and insects are lost every day due to deforestation ?
137
What are the sustainable strategies for managing the amazon ?
- inter-government agreements on hardwoods and endangered species
- debt reduction by HICs
- conservation and education
- selective logging
- stopping illegal logging
- agroforestry
- replanting
- eco-tourism
How does inter-governments agreement on hardwoods and endangered species help manage the Amazon?
- International tropical timber agreement which restricts the trade in hardwood taken from the tropical rainforest
- CITES treaty blocks illegal trade in rare and endangered plants and animals
- this scheme helps manage the amount of timber harvested from the forest
- however because of corruption they might not inforce them
How does debt reduction by HICS help manage the amazon?
• most of the countries rainforest are situated in, are low income countries and have debt
• schemes known as debt-for-nature
are sometimes arranged, where HICs pay off their debt in exchange for the country pledging to protect large areas of the rainforest
• This scheme offers an alternative to poor countries exploiting their natural wealth
• however illegal loggers may still log and if the country is making money from the rainforest they may not want to protect it in exchange for debt reduction
What did the USA do to help manage the rainforest in 2010 ?
• The USA paid back £13.5 million of Brazil’s debt in exchange for large areas of rainforest being protected
How does conservation education help manage the Amazon?
- these are run by non-governmental organisations and run by volunteers and donations
- they promote the conservation message through education programs in schools
- they also buy areas of rainforest and create nature reserves
- this can take time to educate and rely on volunteers and donations
Why is selective logging a management of the amazon ?
• this involves felling trees only when they are fully grown, however this can damage other trees when felling
How does the government stop illegal logging ?
They use drones and satellites to spot illegal loggers in remote areas
How does ecotourism benefit the amazon ?
It invites tourists to appreciate the rainforest and all profits go back to the rainforest
