Tropical Rainforests Glossary

Question 1

Biodiversity

Answer 1

A large variety of animal and plant life living in the same ecosystem

Question 2

Buttress roots

Answer 2

Large, thick tree roots that grow above the ground in tropical rainforests

Question 3

Camouflage

Answer 3

An animal adaptation where animals purposefully look like their surroundings to hide from predators

Question 4

Canopy

Answer 4

The layer of a tropical rainforest where the tops of the trees touch, forming a dense area of vegetation

Question 5

Carbon sink

Answer 5

Something that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits, causing a net loss of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Question 6

Cattle ranching

Answer 6

The rearing of cows on large areas of land, usually to produce meat to sell for a profit

Question 7

Clear felling

Answer 7

A form of logging where all trees in an area are cut down

Question 8

Commercial farming

Answer 8

Agriculture that is intended to create surplus produce to sell for profit

Question 9

Debt-for-nature swaps

Answer 9

Agreements where one country reduces the amount of debt owed by another country in return for the owing country putting efforts into environmental conservation

Question 10

Decomposers

Answer 10

Organisms that break down organic materials and release the nutrients back into the ecosystem

Question 11

Deforestation

Answer 11

The permanent (and usually large-scale) removal of trees

Question 12

Drip-tip

Answer 12

An adaptation of a leaf where the end of the leaf is tapered, allowing rainwater to drip off

Question 13

Ecotourism

Answer 13

Tourism that aims to have reduced environmental impacts and supports conservation efforts, making it sustainable

Question 14

Epiphytes

Answer 14

Plants that live on the surface of other plants, receiving nutrients from these plants

Question 15

Hydroelectric power

Answer 15

Energy harnessed from the movement of water

Question 16

Interdependence

Answer 16

The concept of multiple things depending on each other for survival

Question 17

Latosol

Answer 17

An iron-rich, infertile soil found in tropical rainforests

Question 18

Leaching

Answer 18

A process in soils where minerals are washed away by water (usually rainfall)

Question 19

Lianas

Answer 19

Woody vines found in tropical rainforests; their roots grow on the forest floor, but the vines stretch high into the canopy

Question 20

Logging

Answer 20

The process of cutting down trees for wood

Question 21

Nutrient cycling

Answer 21

The movement of nutrients between organic and inorganic components of an ecosystem

Question 22

Plantations

Answer 22

Farms where crops are grown in large amounts with the intention to sell it for profit

Question 23

Selective logging

Answer 23

A form of logging where only certain trees are cut down to reduce the environmental effects of logging

Question 24

Subsistence farming

Answer 24

Agriculture that is intended to produce only enough food for the farmer and their family to eat

Question 25

Transmigration

Answer 25

A government scheme that aims to move people from overpopulated urban areas to underpopulated rural areas

Question 26

Tropical rainforest

Answer 26

A warm, wet, biodiverse ecosystem located within the Tropics

Question 27

Understory

Answer 27

The layer of a tropical rainforest that lies beneath the canopy but above the forest floor