Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

What is the average discharge of water into the Atlantic Ocean from the Amazon?

Answer 1

175,000 m3/s (15% of the fresh water entering oceans each day)

Question 2

Which river is 100m deep and 14km wide near its mouth?

Answer 2

Rio Negro

Question 3

Where is the mouth of the Rio Negro?

Answer 3

Manus, Brazil

Question 4

What is the average rainfall across the whole Amazon rainforest?

Answer 4

2,300mm

Question 5

What is the average rainfall in the in the north western portion of the Amazon basin?

Answer 5

6000mm

Question 6

Why does only half of this rainfall never reach the ground?

Answer 6

intercepted by forest canopy and re-evaporated into the atmosphere.

Question 7

Where does additional water come from?

Answer 7

Evaporation from ground and rivers and transpiration from leaves.

Question 8

How much of the rainfall evapotranspired falls back as rain?

Answer 8

48%

Question 9

30% of rainfall reaches the sea. What happens to the other 70%?

Answer 9

Caught up in a constant loop system.

Question 10

What was the rate of deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest between 2000 - 2007?

Answer 10

19368 km 2 per year (an area if forest larger than Greece.)

Question 11

What percentage of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to deforestation and land use?

Answer 11

75% (59% from loss of forest and burning in the Amazon)

Question 12

What do slash and burn techniques do?

Answer 12

reduces retention of humidity in top soil to 1 meter.
sudden evaporation previously retained in canopy.
increases albedo ( reflectiveness) and temp.
reduces porosity of soil - a faster rainfall drainage, erosion and silting.

Question 13

What happens to the carbon store if forests are lost?

Answer 13

All released into the atmosphere.

Question 14

How much more solar radiation does the tropical rainforest absorb compared to pasture land?

Answer 14

11%

Question 15

Which has the higher temperature - rainforest or pasture land?

Answer 15

Rainforest 24.1 degrees C
Pasture 33 degrees C

Question 16

Is the moisture content in the upper one meter of soil of pasture higher or lower than the rainforest?

Answer 16

15% less

Question 17

What can deeper forest roots do?

Answer 17

Pump more moisture to the surface, producing 20 - 30 % more air humidity and 5 - 20% more precipitation than pastures

Question 18

What is the mean temperature increase every ten years since the mid-70’s

Answer 18

0.26 degrees +/- 0.05 g degrees

Question 19

What are the predicted temperature increase in the Amazon by 2050

Answer 19

2 - 3 degrees C

Question 20

There were falling amounts of rainfall between 1920’s and 1970’s. What has happened since

Answer 20

No significant change

Question 21

According to WWF how much Amazon rainforest has already been lost?

Answer 21

20%

Question 22

By 2030 what is the predicted % loss of rainforest if deforestation continues at the current rate?

Answer 22

27%

Question 23

The rate of loss is also impacted by climate change. What effect does climate change have on the forest?

Answer 23

Species intolerance to increased temperature, drought and seasonality. Sustainability by altering the conditions needed for growth. Drought and high temp kill millions of trees.

Question 24

A 2 degrees c temperature rise above pre-industrial levels will have what impact in the Amazon?

Answer 24

20 - 40 % of Amazon will die off in 100 years.
A 3 degree c rise will destroy 75% of the forest over the following century. (4 degree rise - 85%)

Question 25

How much Carbon is contained in the upper 50cm of the Amazonian soil layer?

Answer 25

4 - 9 kg

Question 26

How much Carbon is contained in the upper 50cm of the pasture soil layer?

Answer 26

1kg /m2

Question 27

What happens to the soils when forests are cleared and burned?

Answer 27

30 - 60% of carbon lost to atmosphere Unburned Vegetation decays and lost in 10 years. Fungi and bacteria that recycled dead vegetation dies off

Question 28

What happens to the soils after forest clearance first occurs?

Answer 28

Heavy rainfall washes away top soil, attacks deep weathered layers below. Soil washed into rivers before forest clearance has caused a reduction in the rainfall.

Question 29

What do the changes in total precipitation, extreme rainfall and seasonality lead to?

Answer 29

- Reduction in river discharge - Increase in silt which will disrupt river transport routes - Flash flooding - Destroy fresh water ecosystems which could remove a source of income and protein to inhabitants.

Question 30

What will be the result of warming water temperatures?

Answer 30

- kill off temp dependent species - change the biodiversity of rivers - reduce water-dissolved oxygen concentrations which could destroy eggs and larva

Question 31

Who are ACTO?

Answer 31

Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation to promote harmonious development

Question 32

What is TARAPOTO?

Answer 32

A process to help achieve harmonious forest development.

Question 33

Mitigation to reduce effects of environmental change in Amazonian. Name 2 (and size) of national parks and forest reserves?

Answer 33

Tumucumaque National Park (3.84 million hectares Para Rainforest reserve (15 million hectares)

Question 34

Mitigation to reduce effects of environmental change in Amazonian. What can be produced to reduce the need for sugar cane production?

Answer 34

Forest biofuel could compete with ethanol from sugar can by 2030.

Question 35

Mitigation to reduce effects of environmental change in Amazonian. How can reforestation support?

Answer 35

Much of Brazil's industrial timber comes from planted forests which make up only 2% of the forest area.

Question 36

Mitigation to reduce effects of environmental change in Amazonian. How will re introducing native species be a positive change?

Answer 36

Enrichment of already degraded forests by reintroducing the native species.

Question 37

How big is the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 37

670 million hectares Spread across 9 countries The biggest Rainforest

Question 38

How many trees are in the Amazon Rainforest?

Answer 38

300 billion 15,000 species

Question 39

How much carbon do the trees in the Amazon store?

Answer 39

1/5 of all the carbon in the planets biomass

Question 40

How many people live in the Amazon?

Answer 40

34 million

Question 41

How much carbon did UFZ estimate the Amazon stored in 2019?

Answer 41

76 billion tones

Question 42

How big is the carbon sink at the Amazon?

Answer 42

1-3 GtC/year

Question 43

How much has the forest been increasing in above ground biomass each year?

Answer 43

0.3-0.5%

Question 44

What is rising productivity of TRFs due to?

Answer 44

Increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere

Question 45

How much CO2 was the Amazon carbon sink absorbing in 2019?

Answer 45

600 million tones per year

Question 46

How much CO2 was the Amazon carbon sink absorbing in the 1990s?

Answer 46

2 billion tones per year