deforestation

Question 1

Resons why forests are important

Answer 1

-contain 50% of the world’s plants and aniamls
-improves air quality (absorbs CO2)
-recreation and torism (engaging in actities)
-provides many sources of food(coffee, bananas, nuts and fruit)

Question 2

Facts and stats

Answer 2

-forrest cover approx. 31% od the world’s surface area
-annual loss of 10 million hectares
-350 million people live within or close to forests
-large tracts of the world’s remaining forests are contained within national parks
-rates of deforestation have slowed

Question 3

Spatial distribution of forests

Answer 3

-Russia contains the largest proportion od the world’s forests at 20%
-Australia contains 3% of the world’s forests

Question 4

Natural characteristics of forests - Forest

Answer 4

natural land cover covering at least 0.5 hectare dominated by trees having a height of at least 5m and a crown cover of at least 10%.

Question 5

Natural characteristics of forests - Biome

Answer 5

a biome is a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra

Question 6

Natural characteristics of forests - Primary forests

Answer 6

intact or old growth forests are forests that remain in virtually pristine condition, containing the full array of native species. Make up 36% of forests and declining.

Question 7

Natural characteristics of forests - Secondary forests

Answer 7

or regrowth forests or regenerated forests consist of native species but they have been disturbed by human activities, or humans have intervened in their development, such as through replanting. Make up 57% of forests.

Question 8

Natural characteristics of forests - Plantations

Answer 8

are a monoculture (only one plant type) of native or non-native trees planted for the commercial production of a particular species (eg rubber, blue gums, pinus radiata etc) or for environmental services such as environmental control (excluding tree food crops and crops such as oil palm). Make up 7% of forests.

Question 9

Deforestation

Answer 9

The long-term reduction of tree canopy cover to below 10-30% of its original cover (depending on the type of forest).

Question 10

Forest degradation

Answer 10

Forests modified by human activities (selective logging, replanting, shifting cultivation & wood fuel collection. More than 10-30% of forest remaining.
(Deforestation- less than 10-30% remaining)

Question 11

Fragmentation

Answer 11

Clearing of pockets of land mostly for roads, leaving pockets of forest, over time, edges of become degraded and pockets become too small to support viable ecosystems.

Question 12

Afforestation

Answer 12

Trees are planted on land that was not previously forested (seeding or replanting)

Question 13

why are Forests are cleared and modified?

Answer 13

• As a source of wood & non-timber products.
• To change the land cover to accommodate for- settlements, farms, dams & mines
• As a result of natural disasters (drought, fire & landslides)

Question 14

Natural Process Causing Global Deforestation

Answer 14

• Insects pests & diseases
• Wildfires
  -Irregular ocean circulation patterns
• Natural climate change

Question 15

Insects pests & diseases causing deforestation

Answer 15

Affect less than 2% of forests annually (primarily in temperate and boreal zones). E.g. Noth American mountain pine bettle devasted more than 11 million hectares in Canada in Western USA.

Question 16

Wildfires causing deforestation

Answer 16

Affect about 3% of forests each year (dry temoerare & tropical regoins).E.g. Black Summer fires un Australia. Australia’s temperate forests regenerate after wildfire and even dependcon it for regrowth, however some forests are very sensitive to fire and can be devasted

Question 17

Irregular ocean circulation patterns causing deforestation

Answer 17

El Nino Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole and their influence on extreme weather such as drought & tropical storms affect lass than 0.5% of global forest cover annual.

Question 17

Natural climate change causing deforestation

Answer 17

Over many thousands of millions of years causes deforestation when temperature, evaporation or precipation extremes reduce forest growing seasons or when wildlife becomes more common

Question 18

Human activity Causing Global Deforestation

Answer 18

• Agriculture, logging & wood fuel collection
  -Projects to improve infrastructure
  -Agriculture sector
  Subsidies
• Difficulty to enforce laws & regulations
• Poor forests management
  in LICs & NEEs
• land rights & forest
  ownership issues
• War and civil disruption
• Pursuit of economic
  development
• Global warming from
  human activity

Question 19

Agriculture, logging & wood fuel collection causing deforestation

Answer 19

Agriculture= 73% of deforestation, Logging= 19%, Wood fuel collection= 6%

Question 20

Projects to improve infrastructure causing deforestation

Answer 20

Mines, dams, transport and rural settlement facilities. Roads and rural settlements increases accessibility to forests. E.g. Trans-Amazonia highway in Brazil.

Question 21

Agriculture sector
Subsidies causing deforestation

Answer 21

Supported by government subsidies to promote food security. May enhance economic benefits of farming, fuelling deforestation.

Question 22

Difficulty to enforce laws & regulations causing deforestation

Answer 22

Enforcement difficult due to remote and isolated locations of forests (requires money and workforce to enforce). Lack of enforcement leads to illegal logging.

Question 23

Poor forests management
in LICs & NEEs
causing deforestation

Answer 23

LICs & NEEs lack workforce capacity to enforce existing laws & corruption exists due to high value of forest products. Rapid & wasteful exploitation of forests has occurred. Illegal logging & clearing for agriculture= US$51-$152 billion/year (mainly in Indonesia & Brazil).

Question 24

Land rights & forest
ownership issues causing deforestation

Answer 24

Issues hamper effective forest management especially among Indigenous minorities in LICs. Land tenure conditions are unclear which can lead to the manipulation of vulnerable forest communities.

Question 25

War and civil disruption causing deforestation

Answer 25

E.g. civil disruption in Rwanda lead to mass migration of more than 750, 00 refugees where a large area of protected habitat was deforested

Question 26

Pursuit of economic
development causing deforestation

Answer 26

A means of alleviating poverty in LICs. Food security and basic income take precedence over protecting forests. As countries develop, deforestation occurs at a rapid rate, once countries become a NEE, income allows them to address deforestation and rates start to decrease.

Question 27

Global warming from
human activity causing deforestation

Answer 27

Increase in greenhouse gas concentations in the atmosphere, has caused measurable changes to natural characteristics and distribution of forests in some regions & is predicted to continue.
**However, some forests can benefit from elevated greenhouse gas concentrations (fertilization effect).

Question 28

How People have Responded to Deforestation

Answer 28

-most countries have forest management guidelines aimed at achieving sustainable use
-illegal harvesting in isolated areas
-high cost to enforce forest protection
-susceptibility of the forest sector to corruption + poor management, especially in developing nations
-spatial association between forests + the poorest parts of the world
-sustainable use through forest conservation alleviating poverty set out in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Question 29

Use of spatial tech to address Deforestation

Answer 29

-remote sensing allows for aerial images of the land cover
-used to classify forest cover + monitor change
-software developed
-images used to produce GIS maps.
-analyse + record data