Tropical Rainforests Flashcards
What is evaporation?
It is when water is heated by the sun and turns into water vapour
What is transpiration?
It is the evaporation of water from plants
How is water vapour moved?
It is moved by wind
In tropical rates are evaporation rates high?
Yes, because the weather is hot.
What does high evaporation mean?
It means there is a lot of water vapour, so rainfall is high.
What is the vegetation like in tropical rainforests?
It is dense because there are a lot of trees and plants. Lots of water is stored by plants
Are nutrients cycled quickly in tropical rainforests?
Yes
What is the nutrient cycle?
It is is the way nutrients move through an ecosystem
Describe the nutrient cycle. How does it work? (4 steps)
- Plants absorb nutrients from the soil and use them to grow.
- Animals eat plants, taking in the nutrients they contain.
- Animals and plants die and decompose returning nutrients to the soil.
- Plants drop their leaves.
What does a water cycle show?
It shows you how water moves in tropical rainforests
What are the 5 aspects of a water cycle?
- Water evaporates from water bodies and the land.
- Water vapour is moved by winds.
- Water vapour condenses to form clouds which turns (rain)
- Water flows from one place to another and is stored on land.
- Water eventually ends up back in the sea/river and the cycle starts all over again.
Are rainforest soils low in nutrients? If so, why?
Yes, because there is high rainfall and high temperatures in rainforests.
Are rainforests interdependent ecosystems? If one part changes is everything affected?
Yes, all parts of the rainforest are dependent on one another.
