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Geography Y12 > The Amazon Rainforest > Flashcards

The Amazon Rainforest Flashcards

1
Q

How large is the rainforest?

A

6 million km2

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2
Q

How much of the rainforest is in Brazil?

A

70%

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3
Q

What other countries does the rainforest extend into?

A

Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, Bolivia, Guyana

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4
Q

What are the average annual temperatures like?

A

High - 25 to 30 degrees

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5
Q

What are the seasonal differences in temperature?

A

Small

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6
Q

What is the result of cloud cover?

A

Temperatures kept to 33 degrees max

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7
Q

What is the average rainfall?

A

over 2000mm

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8
Q

How much precipitation is recycled by evapotranspiration?

A

50-60%

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9
Q

Where is water lost?

A

River flow and export of atmospheric vapour to other regions

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10
Q

Where does the inward flux of moisture come from?

A

Atlantic Ocean

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11
Q

How is precipitation distributed throughout the year?

A

Evenly

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12
Q

What type of rain is it?

A

High intensity convectional rainfall

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13
Q

How much rain is intercepted by trees?

A

10% - a lot

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14
Q

Intercepted rain accounts for what % of evaporation?

A

20 - 25%

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15
Q

Why is evapotranspiration high?

A

High temperatures, abundant moisture, dense vegetation

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16
Q

What feedback loop is strong?

A

evapotranspiration-precipitation

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17
Q

Where doe most evaporation come from?

A

Intercepted moisture from leaf surfaces

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18
Q

How do plants replace lost moisture from transpiration?

A

Soil via the roots

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19
Q

Why is run-off rapid?

A

high and intense rainfall and well-drained soil

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20
Q

What causes a short peak in river discharge?

A

seasonal distribution of rainfall

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21
Q

What forms of humidity are high?

A

absolute and relative (the ratio of mass of vapour in air against how much is needed to saturate it)

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22
Q

Why is there significant water storage in soil?

A

High rainfall and deep soil

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23
Q

What role do trees play in the water cycle?

A

absorb and store water then release it via transpiration

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24
Q

What geology is dominant?

A

impermeable crystalline rocks

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25
Q

What is the result of impermeable rocks?

A

minimal water storage capacity so rapid run off

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26
Q

Examples of porous rocks:

A

limestone and sandstone

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27
Q

Describe the relief

A

mostly lowland with gentle relief but steep Andes range in the west

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28
Q

What is the effect of lowland on the water cycle?

A

overland flow and throughflow

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29
Q

What is the effect of the Andes on the water cycle?

A

rapid run off

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30
Q

Example of a floodplain

A

Pantanal

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31
Q

What do floodplains do?

A

store water

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32
Q

What is the result of high temperatures on the water cycle?

A

high evapotranspiration

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33
Q

What is the result of strong convection on the water cycle?

A

high humidity, thunderstorm clouds, intense precipitation

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34
Q

What processes continually cycle water?

A

evaporation, transpiration, precipitation

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35
Q

How much is was deforested on average each year between 1970 and 2013?

A

17,500 km2

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36
Q

How much primary forest has been destroyed since 1970

A

1/5

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37
Q

What has happened to the rate of deforestation in recent years?

A

slowed

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38
Q

What is the result of converting rainforest to grassland on the water cycle?

A

increases run off by a factor of 27

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39
Q

How much of rainfall that falls on grassland goes into rivers?

A

half

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40
Q

Why are trees crucial to the water cycle?

A

extract moisture from soil, intercept rainfall, release moisture to atmosphere, stabilise albedo and ground temperatures

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41
Q

What do trees help sustain?

A

humidity, clouds, convectional rainfall

42
Q

How much is regional rainfall predicted to fall by due to deforestation?

A

20%

43
Q

What other forests are affected by deforestation?

A

forests hundreds of km downwind of degraded sites

44
Q

What is the Madeira?

A

the largest tributary of the Amazon

45
Q

When did the Madeira flood?

A

April 2014

46
Q

How much higher was the river at Port Velho?

A

19.68m

47
Q

How many died in the 2014 floods?

A

60

48
Q

How many families were evacuated in the 2014 floods?

A

68,000

49
Q

What diseases emerged in the 2014 floods?

A

cholera and leptospirosis

50
Q

What did human activity in the Upper Madeira basin do to the water cycle?

A

modify stores and flows

51
Q

What flow became more rapid due to deforestation in the Madeira?

A

run-off

52
Q

What is a physical cause of the 2014 floods?

A

torrential rain

53
Q

How much Bolivian rainforest was lost in 2000-2012?

A

30,000 km2

54
Q

Why was Bolivian rainforest destroyed?

A

subsistence farming and cattle ranching

55
Q

Why was the location of the deforestation important?

A

it was on the steep slopes of the Andes so run off was accelerated

56
Q

Why is the climate ideal for plant growth?

A

humid and warm

57
Q

what is the NPP?

A

2500 g/m3/year

58
Q

what is the biomass?

A

400-700 tonnes/ha

59
Q

How much carbon does the entire rainforest absorb each year?

A

2.4 billion tonnes

60
Q

What is the result of warm humid conditions on the carbon cycle?

A

quick decomposition and quick release of CO2

61
Q

What is the result of photosynthesis on the carbon cycle?

A

High rates of carbon fixation

62
Q

Why do soils only contain limited carbon?

A

they are leached and acidic

63
Q

What is the evidence that organic matter is recycled rapidly?

A

Soils support high NPP and biomass despite containing limited carbon and nutrients

64
Q

How much carbon is in the Amazon?

A

100 billion tonnes

65
Q

Out of all the carbon in the Amazon, how much is in biomass?

A

60%

66
Q

What stimulates NPP?

A

high temperatures, rain, sunlight

67
Q

Amazon accounts for how much of global NPP?

A

15-25%

68
Q

How much carbon is released through decomposition by the Amazon each year?

A

1.7 billion tonnes

69
Q

What is geology dominated by?

A

metamorphic and igneous rock with carbonates largely absent

70
Q

What are the significant carbon stores for the slow carbon cycle in the Amazon?

A

limestone in the west

71
Q

What does deforestation do to the carbon biomass store?

A

exhausts it

72
Q

what contains less carbon than trees?

A

croplands and pasture

73
Q

What is the biomass of grassland?

A

16.2 tonnes/ha

74
Q

What is the biomass of soya?

A

2.7 tonnes/ha

75
Q

What happens to soil after deforestation regarding the carbon cycle?

A

supports less decomposers so reduces the flow of carbon from soil to atmosphere

76
Q

How does deforestation destroy the main nutrient store?

A

trees are the main nutrient stores

77
Q

What happens to the remaining nutrients on the soil?

A

washed away

78
Q

What is the first category of management strategy?

A

protection of primary forest so far unaffected

79
Q

What is the second category of management strategy?

A

Reforestation of areas destroyed by farming, logging, mining

80
Q

What is the third category of management strategy?

A

improving agricultural techniques to make permanent cultivation possible

81
Q

How have indigenous people lived sustainably for 1000s of years?

A

Hunter-gatherers and shifting cultivators

82
Q

When did the Brazilian government start establishing conservation areas?

A

1988

83
Q

What size area do conservation areas cover?

A

20X the size of Belgium

84
Q

By 2014 what % of the Brazilian Amazon was national parks, wildlife or indigenous reserves?

A

44%

85
Q

Where is the Parica project?

A

Rondonia (western Amazon)

86
Q

What is the Parica project?

A

a sustainable forestry scheme

87
Q

What does the Parica project aim to do?

A

develop a 1000km2 commercial timber plantation on government owned deforested land

88
Q

How many fast growing hardwood seedlings are to be planted by the Parica project?

A

20 million

89
Q

Where will the Parica project plant is seddlings?

A

4000 small holdings

90
Q

What is an issue with the Parica project?

A

monoculture and can’t replicate biodiversity of primary forest

91
Q

What is good about the Parica project?

A

sustainable, sequesters carbon, reduces CO2 emissions, re-establish water and carbon cycles, reduces run-off and loss of nutrients

92
Q

What is the name of an indigenous tribe?

A

the Surui people

93
Q

What do the Surui people do?

A

plant seedlings in deforested areas around their villages

94
Q

What is the purpose of the Surui planting seedlings?

A

provide them with timber and a sustainable source of income

95
Q

The Surui are the first indigenous group in Amazonia to join what?

A

the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme

96
Q

What TNC bought 120,000 carbon credits off the Surui in 2013?

A

Natura

97
Q

Why is permanent cultivation not possible?

A

the low fertility of soils

98
Q

how can soil fertility be maintained?

A

rotational cropping and combining livestock with arable

99
Q

how can the rainforest support large human populations?

A

human-engineered soils made from charcoal and manure

100
Q

What does charcoal do?

A

attract microorganisms and fungi so soil retains long-term fertility

101
Q

What would permanent cultivation stop?

A

further deforestation and carbon emissions

Geography Y12 (25 decks)

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