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The amazon in context.
Tropical rainforests are often considered to be the “cradles of biodiversity.” Though they cover only about 6% of the Earth’s land surface, they are home to over 50% of global biodiversity. Rainforests also take in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis, which has also given them the nickname “lungs of the planet.” They also store very large amounts of carbon, and so cutting and burning their biomass contributes to global climate change. Many modern medicines are derived from rainforest plants, and several very important food crops originated in the rainforest, including bananas, mangos, chocolate, coffee, and sugar cane.
In order to qualify as a tropical rainforest, an area must receive over 250 centimeters of rainfall each year and have an average temperature above 24 degrees centigrade, as well as never experience frosts. The Amazon rainforest in South America is the largest in the world. The second largest is the Congo in central Africa, and other important rainforests can be found in Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. Brazil contains about 40% of the world’s remaining tropical rainforest. Its rainforest covers an area of land about 2/3 the size of the continental United States.
There are countless reasons, both anthropocentric and ecocentric, to value rainforests. But they are one of the most threatened types of ecosystems in the world today. It’s somewhat difficult to estimate how quickly rainforests are being cut down, but estimates range from between 50,000 and 170,000 square kilometers per year. Even the most conservative estimates project that if we keep cutting down rainforests as we are today, within about 100 years there will be none left.
Rainforests are incredibly complex ecosystems, but understanding a few basics about their ecology will help us understand why clear-cutting and fragmentation are such destructive activities for rainforest biodiversity.
High biodiversity in tropical rainforests means that the interrelationships between organisms are very complex. A single tree may house more than 40 different ant species, each of which has a different ecological function and may alter the habitat in distinct and important ways. Ecologists debate about whether systems that have high biodiversity are stable and resilient, like a spider web composed of many strong individual strands, or fragile, like a house of cards. Both metaphors are likely appropriate in some cases. One thing we can be certain of is that it is very difficult in a rainforest system, as in most other ecosystems, to affect just one type of organism. Also, clear cutting one small area may damage hundreds or thousands of established species interactions that reach beyond the cleared area.
Pollination is a challenge for rainforest trees because there are so many different species, unlike forests in the temperate regions that are often dominated by less than a dozen tree species. One solution is for individual trees to grow close together, making pollination simpler, but this can make that species vulnerable to extinction if the one area where it lives is clear cut. Another strategy is to develop a mutualistic relationship with a long-distance pollinator, like a specific bee or hummingbird species. These pollinators develop mental maps of where each tree of a particular species is located and then travel between them on a sort of “trap-line” that allows trees to pollinate each other. One problem is that if a forest is fragmented then these trap-line connections can be disrupted, and so trees can fail to be pollinated and reproduce even if they haven’t been cut.
The quality of rainforest soils is perhaps the most surprising aspect of their ecology. We might expect a lush rainforest to grow from incredibly rich, fertile soils, but actually, the opposite is true. While some rainforest soils that are derived from volcanic ash or from river deposits can be quite fertile, generally rainforest soils are very poor in nutrients and organic matter. Rainforests hold most of their nutrients in their live vegetation, not in the soil. Their soils do not maintain nutrients very well either, which means that existing nutrients quickly “leech” out, being carried away by water as it percolates through the soil. Also, soils in rainforests tend to be acidic, which means that it’s difficult for plants to access even the few existing nutrients. The section on slash and burn agriculture in the previous module describes some of the challenges that farmers face when they attempt to grow crops on tropical rainforest soils, but perhaps the most important lesson is that once a rainforest is cut down and cleared away, very little fertility is left to help a forest regrow.
Many factors contribute to tropical deforestation, but consider this typical set of circumstances and processes that result in rapid and unsustainable rates of deforestation. This story fits well with the historical experience of Brazil and other countries with territory in the Amazon Basin.
Population growth and poverty encourage poor farmers to clear new areas of rainforest, and their efforts are further exacerbated by government policies that permit landless peasants to establish legal title to land that they have cleared.
At the same time, international lending institutions like the World Bank provide money to the national government for large-scale projects like mining, construction of dams, new roads, and other infrastructure that directly reduces the forest or makes it easier for farmers to access new areas to clear.
The activities most often encouraging new road development are timber harvesting and mining. Loggers cut out the best timber for domestic use or export, and in the process knock over many other less valuable trees. Those trees are eventually cleared and used for wood pulp, or burned, and the area is converted into cattle pastures. After a few years, the vegetation is sufficiently degraded to make it not profitable to raise cattle, and the land is sold to poor farmers seeking out a subsistence living.
Regardless of how poor farmers get their land, they often are only able to gain a few years of decent crop yields before the poor quality of the soil overwhelms their efforts, and then they are forced to move on to another plot of land. Small-scale farmers also hunt for meat in the remaining fragmented forest areas, which reduces the biodiversity in those areas as well.
Another important factor not mentioned in the scenario above is the clearing of rainforest for industrial agriculture plantations of bananas, pineapples, and sugar cane. These crops are primarily grown for export, and so an additional driver to consider is consumer demand for these crops in countries like the United States.
These cycles of land use, which are driven by poverty and population growth as well as government policies, have led to the rapid loss of tropical rainforests. What is lost in many cases is not simply biodiversity, but also valuable renewable resources that could sustain many generations of humans to come. Efforts to protect rainforests and other areas of high biodiversity is the topic of the next section.
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The Amazon in context. Tropical rainforests are often considered to be the "cradles of biodiversity.". Though they cover only about 6% of the Earth's land surface, they are home to over 50% of global biodiversity. Rainforests also take in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis, which has also given ...
Living World - Amazon Case Study The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. It sits within the Amazon River basin, covers some 40% of the South American continent and as you can see on the map below includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname.
Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and analyse key themes in water and carbon cycles and their relationship to environmental change and human activity. Amazon Forest The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. It sits within the Amazon River basin, covers some 40% of the South American continent and as you can ...
Sustainable management ensures rainforests are worth. more than the value of the timber and other resources that can be extracted, such as gold. An example of this is sustainable foresty, which balances the removal of trees to sell with the conservation of the forest. Selective logging involves only removing a small number of trees, allowing ...
The Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) - created in 2002 by the Brazilian government: - By 2018, 60 million hectares of new parks and reserves were created under ARPA. - protect habitats, ecosystems and biodiversity. - reduce conflicts over land ownership. - provide sustainable use options to local communities.
The Amazon rainforest area spans about 8,200,000km 2 across 9 countries, making it the largest rainforest in the world. The tree coverage in 1970 was 4.1m km 2 . In 2018, it was 3.3m km 2 . Between 2001 and 2013, the causes of Amazonian deforestation were:
On the western edge of the Amazon River, there is a proposal to construct a road. This road would connect the remote town of Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil, with the larger city of Pucallpa, Peru. The construction of the road has become a subject of contentious debate. Proponents of the road claimed that it would provide an efficient way for rural ...
AQA GCSE Infographic giving you case study information on animal and plant adaptations in Tropical Rainforests. This video covers the social, economic and en...
A case study of a sparsely populated area - Himalayan Mountains; ... Sustainable Management of the Amazon Rainforest; Temperate Deciduous Woodland. What is a Temperate Deciduous Woodland? ... Geography Case Studies. The Holderness Coast Case Study. Typhoon Haiyan Case Study.
Meanwhile, total run-off and run-off speeds have increased, raising flood risks throughout the basin. Between 2000 and 2012, 30,000km 2 of Bolivian rainforest was cleared for subsistence farming and cattle ranching. Rainforest trees are a crucial part of the water cycle, extracting moisture from soil, intercepting rainfall and releasing it into ...
Description (3) Largest tropical rainforest and covers 40% of the South American landmass. Has a very hot and wet climate, with dense vegetation. Water Cycle (5) There's a lot of evaporation over the Atlantic Ocean, which is blown towards the Amazon, contributing to the Amazon's very high rainfall. Warm temperatures mean that evaporation is ...
The Amazon rainforest in South America is the largest in the world. The second largest is the Congo in central Africa, and other important rainforests can be found in Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. Brazil contains about 40% of the world's remaining tropical rainforest. Its rainforest covers an area of land about 2/3 the ...
What are the physical factors affecting flows and stores of the carbon cycle? - temp: high temp = rapid vegetation growth + large biomass of Amazon (stores 100 billion tonnes of carbon) - vegetation: 60% of rainforest carbon is stored in the above-ground biomass of trees. - organic matter: leaf litter + dead organic matter on soil surface ...
The tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin face the threat of deforestation close deforestation The cutting down of trees and forests to allow a different land use..Deforestation is happening ...
Lesson 8 for AQA A Level Geography. This is the eighth lesson in section A, a core physical geography module to be taught alongside optional modules from section B and C. This lesson covers the characteristics of the Amazon rainforest, the interaction of the water and carbon cycles in the system and the impact of human activity .
Study Mitchell Wang's Geography Amazon Rainforest Case study flashcards now! How studying works. Brainscape's adaptive web mobile flashcards system will drill you on your weaknesses, using a pattern guaranteed to help you learn more in less time. Learn more about spaced repetition
Hot and wet climate is ideal for the rapid and luxuriant growth of vegetation. Average temperature: 28°C. Annual rainfall: 2600mm. Amount the many tropical hardwood trees in the Peruvian Amazon is the rare and highly valuable big-leafed mahogany - prized for its timber for furniture and construction.
GEOGRAPHY IGCSE: TROPICAL RAINFORESTS. DEFORESTATION ON THE AMAZON. It contains: tropical rainforests, average rainfall in Brazil, rainforest ecosystems, disadvantages of human intervention, rainforest water cycle, rainforest nutrient cycle, rainforest soils, vegetation layers, fan palms, buttress roots, lianas, strangler figs, case study, humans and the Amazon.
Case Study: The Amazon Rainforest The Amazon in context. Tropical rainforests are often considered to be the "cradles of biodiversity." Though they cover only about 6% of the Earth's land surface, they are home to over 50% of global biodiversity. Rainforests also take in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through ...
Geography Case Studies - A wide selection of geography case studies to support you with GCSE Geography revision, homework and research. X; Facebook; Youtube; 0 Shopping Cart +Plus. ... Sustainable Management of the Amazon Rainforest; Temperate Deciduous Woodland. What is a Temperate Deciduous Woodland?
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Area of Amazon Rainforest, Percentage of Amazon within Brazil., Average annual temperatures (in degrees). and more. Fresh features from the #1 AI-enhanced learning platform.
Luce_Smithx. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like When does rainfall happen in The Amazon Rainforest?, Where are nutrients in a rainforest?, What type of rainfall is in the Amazon Rainforest? and more.