Case Study of a Tropical Rainforest

Question 1

What are Flux Towers

Answer 1

Towers used by scientists to measure changes of carbon in the atmosphere.

Question 2

Amazon Water Cycle Sizes of Stores

Answer 2

Tress release 20 billion tonnes of water into the atmosphere per day

• 75% of rainfall is intercepted.
  - Of this 50% taken up by
  plants and 50% infitrated into
  the soil.
• 25% of rainfall is evaporated.

Question 3

Processes Driving Change in Amazon Water Cycle

Answer 3

• Commercial Farming, Logging, Settlements have led to deforestation of 50% of the World’s rainforest.
• Climate Change has cuased more extreme fluctuations in the water cycle.

Question 4

Variation in Run-Off in Amazon Water Cycle

Answer 4

• Land Use Changes can reduce infiltration, increase run off.
• Deforestation can lead to rduced interception and uptake by roots, so faster water movement and increased run off.

Question 5

Spatial Change in Amazon Water Cycle

Answer 5

• Western Amazon tends to receive higher rainfall than the Eastern Amazon.
• The River begins in the Andes mountains, with steeper relief and rapid runoff.
• In the Amazon Basin, the relief is flatter with floodplains.
• The construction of hydro-electric dams, such as the Belo Monte Dam, is dependent on the flooding of vast areas around it and affects ecosystems downstream.
• The Southern Amazon is facing more extreme dry sasons due to climate change, whilst the North is facing more extreme flooding.

Question 6

Temporal Change in Amazon Water Cycle

Answer 6

• The Wet Season (December to May) and Dry Season (June to November).
• During Glacial periods, the area is cooler and drier.
• In El Nino periods, the area is drier.
• Deforestation acts as a predecessor to growing urbanisation has led to increasing surface run off and reducing infiltration and interception.
• Anthropological Climate Change has caused rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns.

Question 7

Size of Stores in Amazon Carbon Cycle

Answer 7

• 17% of the World’s Carbon, largest carbon sink in the World
• 200 Billion tonnes of C02 in Soil
• 86 Billion tonnes of C02 in Trees and Vegetation
• 20 Billion tonnes of C02 in Dead Organic Matter
• Unknown amount in Atmosphere

Question 8

Processes Driving Change in Amazon Carbon Cycle

Answer 8

• Climate Change causing rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns affecting vegetation, determining respiration, photosynthesis and transpiration.
• Deforestation and Land Use Change releases stored carbon in vegetation.

Question 9

Spatial Change in Amazon Carbon Cycle

Answer 9

• Denser tropical forests in the Western and Central Amazon, so more carbon is stored in biomass.
• More Savannahs and Grasslands in the Eastern Amazon, so less is stored.
• The Andes mountains have different vegetation to the Amazon basin.
• Mining occurs in areas with vast antural resources.

Question 10

Tropical rainforests thrive in which type of climate

Answer 10

Equatorial

Question 11

Optimum Temperature fro a Tropical Rainforest

Answer 11

27°C

Question 12

Annual Rainfall per year in a tropical rainforest

Answer 12

> 2000mm

Question 13

How much of the Earth’s surface do Tropical Rainforests cover

Answer 13

• 6%
• Contains 10% of all biomass

Question 14

How many people does the Amazon Rainforest house

Answer 14

Over 40 million people, including over 2 million indigenous peoples and over 400 different indigenous groups

Question 15

How many countries does the Amazon cover

Answer 15

9
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Question 16

How much of Brazil does the Amazon cover

Answer 16

60%

Question 17

What % of the World’s freshwater is supplied by the Amazon Basin

Answer 17

20%

Question 18

What % of medicine comes from rainforests

Answer 18

25%, with over 2000 plants with anti-cancer properties

Question 19

Causes of Deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 19

• Mineral Extraction
• Energy Development
• Road Building
• Logging
• Settlement and Population Growth
• Subsistence and Commercial Farming

Question 20

Mineral Extraction in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 20

• In Brazil, minerals such as gold, bauxite and copper are mined extensively
• Borneo has rich reserves of tin, copper and gold
• 99% of Malaysia’s coal supply is in Borneo

Question 21

Energy Development in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 21

• High rainfall creates ideal conditions of hydroelectric power
• Constructing dams and reservoirs involves flooding vast areas of rainforest. This causes the rainforest to rot over time, turning the water acidic, so the turbines and dams corrode
• The Belo Monte Dam in Brazil dams the Xingu River and involved flooding over 40,000 hectares and displacing 20,000 people

Question 22

Road Building in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 22

• Roads bring supplies and access to new mining areas, as well as to send goods to market
• In Brazil, construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway has allowed increased access to remote areas of the Amazon Rainforest

Question 23

Logging in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 23

• Mahogany and Teak are highly valuable for furniture
• Less valuable, smaller trees are used as fuelwood or to improve access to the more valuable wood
• 80% of deforestation in Malaysia is logging

Question 24

Settlement and Population Growth in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 24

• The economic activities in the rainforest require workers and as these grow, more people migrate to the area looking for employment
• Large areas must be cleared for settlements
• Settlements have developed to service the development in the Brazilian and Malaysian rainforests

Question 25

Subsistence and Commercial Farming in Tropical Rainforests

Answer 25

- Indigenous tribes practice subsistence farming - Cattle Ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon - Soy Beans, Palm Oil and Sugar Cane are the leading crops - Deforestation leads to the disruption of the nutrient cycle, so the land can only sustain herds for a short period of time - Accounts for 80% of deforestation in Brazil

Question 26

Impacts of Deforestation in the Amazon

Answer 26

- 330 indigenous tribes in 1900, but now down to 240 - Eradication of topsoil and soil erosion makes the soil infertile - Local Climate Change as the local climate dries and the increasing temperatures impacts farming - River pollution as the mercury used in gold mining seeps into rivers and poisons marine wildlife as well as local settlements - Biodiversity loss as 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to deforestation, 50,000 a year - By 2030, parts of the Amazon could have lost 30-45% of their main species

Question 27

Mitigation and Human Interventions in the Amazon

Answer 27

- Debt Reduction - USA agreed to allow Brazil to convert the $13.5 billion it owed in debt to protect parts of the Amazon - 2006 International Tropical Timber Agreement placed more restrictions on tropical rainforest hardwoods making them harder to sell - Ecotourism trend - Education and Conservation - Small-scale Forestry: 1. Selective Logging 2. Agroforestry 3. Replanting