111133
Description
Flashcards by Molly Atkinson, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Molly Atkinson
about 11 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| What encourages rapid vegetation growth in rain forests? | Heavy Rainfall (+2000mm pa) and high temperatures (30 Celcius) |
| How has the rain forest coverage of the earth changed? | Used to cover 14% of the earths surface now 6% |
| What is the nutrient cycle? |
Image:
phosphoruscycle (image/jpg)
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| What is the Shrub Layer? | The shrub layer is at ground level in a tropical forest. It is dark and gloomy with very little vegetation between the trees. During heavier rainfalls this area can get flooded. |
| What is the Under Canopy? | Under canopy is the second level up. There is limited sunlight. Saplings wait here for larger plants and trees to die, leaving a gap in the canopy into which they can grow. Woody climbers called lianas avoid having to wait for gaps by rooting in the ground and climbing up trees to get to the sunlight. |
| What is the Canopy? | Canopy is where the upper parts of most of the trees are found. The canopy is typically about 65 to 130 feet (20 to 40 metres) tall. This leafy environment is full of life such as insects, arachnids, birds and some mammals. |
| What is the Emergents? | Emergents are the tops of the tallest trees in the rainforest. These are much higher, and give the trees an advantage (in terms of light) than the average trees that populate the forest canopy. |
| Why is deforestation taking place? | As much as 100,000 km's (=1 /2 the area of the U.K) is cleared ever year. It is cleared for a number of reasons; • Ranching- raising animals e.g. Me Donald's beef burgers • Mining - extraction of numerous minerals • Plantations - to grow cash crops e.g. cocoa • Shifting Cultivation - a form of subsistence agriculture • Logging - timber very often for MNC. Often they fell hundreds of trees to claim only 1/2 trees per hectare • Road construction – the trans Amazon highway - 2000 mile highway – removal of TRF & increased access • Slash and burn agriculture – chop trees down and burn to add nutrients |
| What are the Consequences of Deforestation? | • Massive increase in soil erosion. No vegetation to hold the soil together or add fertility and therefore the soil is eroded leaving it thin and infertile • 10m of Animals, plants and insects live-in the TRF – loss of biodiversity • Disruption to the water cycle - less stores (soil and biomass) and increased transfers initially (SRO, ET) • Global warming - the absence of vegetation means there is less oxygen as trees are no longer able to recycle carbon dioxide - about 20% of earth's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest. • Loss of new medicines from the forest, many of which could possibly cure major diseases • Disruption to the nutrient cycle – decrease in biomass store, increase in nutrients lost to leaching and surface runoff and decrease in litter store • Disruption to the native population, who are unable to fight Western diseases when they come into contact with them. |
| Who are the Yanomami Tribe? | Est 10m Indians lived in the Amazonian TRF five centuries ago, now less than 200,000 Simple but spiritual life – some live close to rivers to trade and fish but majority live on high ground or deep into the TRF to avoid contact with outsiders for reasons above They use the TRF sustainably - harvest mango trees as opposed to cutting them down. Slash and burn farming techniques allows them to farm and also allows the land to regenerate |
| How have the tribe been affected by deforestation? | • In the 1980s the Yanomami territory was discovered to be rich in many natural resources such as gold, diamond, iron, wood etc. • Explorers and general invaders exposed the Yanomami tribe to diseases they have never come across before. These diseases killed a large majority of them. They also introduced alcohol which weakened the tribe, decreasing their ability to produce and hunt food. • Since the invasion, more than 10% of the tribe has fallen victim to massacres / disease. • Mining has contaminated water supplies – high levels of mercury which kills water life and fish. • Local government is fighting to reduce the Yanomami territory, due to their greedy want of the land. If access to their territory is granted, commercial mining equipment will be imported to the territory and this will only expedite the extinction of the Yanomami, and eventually, the rain forest. |
| What are solutions to the problems of deforestation? | • Zoning - protect certain areas for the TRF & do not allow development to take place within these zones • Ecotourism and creation of National parks or similar protected spaces • Afforestation – plant and replace trees • Different methods of logging – strip cuttings and selective cutting • Sustainable development and forestry – limited use of bulldozers and heavy machinery and limiting number of companies logging including illegal loggers • Logging permits and suitable logging methods which target key trees and do not cause mass destruction |
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