Ecosystem Flashcards
Convection rainfall
Sun rays are strong on the equator , evaporation increases and transpiration.Hot air rises cools and condense into clouds which repeats
- Sunday’s strongly heating the surface of earth
- evapotranspiration happens
- water vapor rises, when the air gets cooler it condenses into droplets of water
- they form clouds and after the clouds get heavier they turn back to rain and fall
How does this effect environment effect people?
Indigenous people are telling us rainfall and river level have changed; the fires they’re dealing with are different now the climate system they’re dealing with are different now the climate systems they used to depend on for growing crops have become unpredictable
Less tourism- 10000 people visit each year
+provide income
+they protect the climate even if declining
- they burn down the forest
Soil erosion
—> the trees and there roots anchor the soil, without the trees in the rainy season the soil will get wash away
—> without nutrients in the ground the soil is becoming infertile, this is then making it difficult to farm
Loss of habitat
—> rainforest have high number of different species
70% of animals live in the habitat
How does this environment effect the local and global environment
Global- the trees in the Amazon rainforest gives 20% oxygen
17% of forest has been lost
Increased greenhouses gases
- 2 inches sea level rise
- > Venice Italy
Precipitation increases yet some places experiment more drought increasing the risk of wild fires , lost crops and drinking water shortages like places in Ethiopia or Australia
Temperature change by 2 degrees yet some places animals move to other places farther north or to cooler places like butterflies and foxes alpines
Rainforest provide all kinds of medical herbs for the local and global for the healing all kinds of things such as two third found to have cancer fighting properties
Deforestation causes
Agriculture- TRF clear for farming e.g. palm oil & beef (MNF’s e.g McDonald)
Logging- trees cut down- wood use for paper
Mineral extraction- coltan minded for used in smartphones e.g Apple
- > creates job
- > requires large area to be cleared
Over population (urban sprawl) settlement built as population increases
Energy development- hydro electric power in Amazon
-> provide cheap & plentiful energy
Infrastructure- improve transport links (road building) opens up new areas for industrial development & tourism
—> 12,000 km of new roads have been built
Cattle ranchiing-need space for cows and beef (McDonald) 70% of deforestation occurred
Effect of deforestation
Soil erosion- when trees are cut down there are no roots to hold surface layer of the earth, nutritive layer run off the rainwater leading to loss of fertile soil
—>Further by the process of soil in the earth, causes the top layer of the soil to become infertile
Loss of biodiversity- takes home of lots of animal and plants leading to their extinction, also tribal communicates living in the forest lose their habitat. With herbal medicine along with it
—> white cheek spider monkeys- which feed on fruit high in the forest canopy are endangered because of the expansion of the farmland and road building
—>giant otters- found slow moving rivers and Swamps of the Amazon , faces water pollution from the agriculture run off and mining operation in the area
Global warming
Loss of source of medicine
Less trees> less evaporation-> less water vapor -> less rainfall -> likely to cause local droughts
Rainforest nutrient cycle
The process is rapid. The hot damp condition on the forest floor allow for the rapid decomposition of the dead plant material of the dead plant material. This provides plentiful nutrients that are easily absorbed but eh plant roots
However ,Nutrients are high in the rainforest many fast growing plant , they don’t remain in the soil for long and stay close to the surface of the soil. If vegetation is removed the soils quickly became infertile and vulnerable to erosion
Solution to deforestation
Replanting trees
-bring back the balance
Ban deforestation
-need to protect the trees before it too late
Better government policy
- the government can make law abiding rule and policies to protect the forest
Create awareness
Campaign can be organized for the awareness of the people regarding the environment it can be done at both the government and organizational level
The government in Brazil are now trying to reduce deforestation by 70% as so much land has been cleared.most of the deforestation has been caused by illegal clearing
Reducing the amount of paper and wood we use
Plant adaptation
Tree trunks- these are tall and thin to allow trees to reach the sunlight
—> the bark on these trees are smooth to allow water to flow down to the roots easily
Lianas- these are woody wines that have roots in the ground but climb up the trees to reach the sunlight. Their leaves and flowers grow in the canopy
Drip tips- plants have leaves with pointy tips. This allows water to run off the leaves quickly without damaging or breaking them
Buttress roots- large roots have ridges which create a large surface area that helps to support large trees
Epithytes- these plants which lives on the branches of the trees high up in the canopy . They get their nutrients from the air and water not from the soil
Emergent layer + animal adaptation
These are the top of the tallest trees in the rainforest . These are much higher d so are able to get more light than the average trees in the forest
The spider money has long strong limbs to its climb through the rainforest trees
Shrub layer + animal adaptation
Dark and gloomy with very little vegetation between trees during heavy rainfall this area can flood
Anteater- they have strong sense of smell which they use to find food
Ants- eat fungus only other species to cultivate their own food per colonies 8 million
Under canopy
It is the second level up. There is limited sunlight. Sapling wait here for larger plants and trees to die leaving a gap in the canopy which they can grown into
Woody climbers called lianas avoid having to wait for gaps by rooting in the ground and climbing up trees to get to the sunlight
Flying frog has webbed hand and feet and flap of loose skin thatstrenhes between its limb which allows it to glide from plant to plant
Canopy+ animal behavior
Where upper parts of the most of the trees are found. The canopy is typically about 65 to 130 feet tall. This left home to some insects, arachnids, birds and mammals.
Toucan- has a long large beak to allow it to each and cut the fruit from branches that are too weak to support it weight
Sloth uses camouflage and moves very slowly to make it difficult for predator to spot
Ecosystem
A group of living organism interacting with non living parts of the environment
Characteristics of desert
Very hot
Summer time can exceed 40c
At night drop to zero
Very dry less than 250mm of rain fall per year
Summer - 35-40c
Winter- 20-30c
Characteristics of tropical rainforest
-found in hot, humidity which rains often
Soils are red with dense vegetation
Trees with large leaves
Precipitation- high , 500m-1500mm per year
Temperatures about 20-25c in the summer, 0c in the winter
