Tropical rainforests are often considered to be the “cradles of biodiversity.” Though they cover only about 6% of the Earth’s land surface, they are home to over 50% of global biodiversity. Rainforests also take in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis, which has also given them the nickname “lungs of the planet.” They also store very large amounts of carbon, and so cutting and burning their biomass contributes to global climate change. Many modern medicines are derived from rainforest plants, and several very important food crops originated in the rainforest, including bananas, mangos, chocolate, coffee, and sugar cane.
In order to qualify as a tropical rainforest, an area must receive over 250 centimeters of rainfall each year and have an average temperature above 24 degrees centigrade, as well as never experience frosts. The Amazon rainforest in South America is the largest in the world. The second largest is the Congo in central Africa, and other important rainforests can be found in Central America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. Brazil contains about 40% of the world’s remaining tropical rainforest. Its rainforest covers an area of land about 2/3 the size of the continental United States.
There are countless reasons, both anthropocentric and ecocentric, to value rainforests. But they are one of the most threatened types of ecosystems in the world today. It’s somewhat difficult to estimate how quickly rainforests are being cut down, but estimates range from between 50,000 and 170,000 square kilometers per year. Even the most conservative estimates project that if we keep cutting down rainforests as we are today, within about 100 years there will be none left.
Rainforests are incredibly complex ecosystems, but understanding a few basics about their ecology will help us understand why clear-cutting and fragmentation are such destructive activities for rainforest biodiversity.
High biodiversity in tropical rainforests means that the interrelationships between organisms are very complex. A single tree may house more than 40 different ant species, each of which has a different ecological function and may alter the habitat in distinct and important ways. Ecologists debate about whether systems that have high biodiversity are stable and resilient, like a spider web composed of many strong individual strands, or fragile, like a house of cards. Both metaphors are likely appropriate in some cases. One thing we can be certain of is that it is very difficult in a rainforest system, as in most other ecosystems, to affect just one type of organism. Also, clear cutting one small area may damage hundreds or thousands of established species interactions that reach beyond the cleared area.
Pollination is a challenge for rainforest trees because there are so many different species, unlike forests in the temperate regions that are often dominated by less than a dozen tree species. One solution is for individual trees to grow close together, making pollination simpler, but this can make that species vulnerable to extinction if the one area where it lives is clear cut. Another strategy is to develop a mutualistic relationship with a long-distance pollinator, like a specific bee or hummingbird species. These pollinators develop mental maps of where each tree of a particular species is located and then travel between them on a sort of “trap-line” that allows trees to pollinate each other. One problem is that if a forest is fragmented then these trap-line connections can be disrupted, and so trees can fail to be pollinated and reproduce even if they haven’t been cut.
The quality of rainforest soils is perhaps the most surprising aspect of their ecology. We might expect a lush rainforest to grow from incredibly rich, fertile soils, but actually, the opposite is true. While some rainforest soils that are derived from volcanic ash or from river deposits can be quite fertile, generally rainforest soils are very poor in nutrients and organic matter. Rainforests hold most of their nutrients in their live vegetation, not in the soil. Their soils do not maintain nutrients very well either, which means that existing nutrients quickly “leech” out, being carried away by water as it percolates through the soil. Also, soils in rainforests tend to be acidic, which means that it’s difficult for plants to access even the few existing nutrients. The section on slash and burn agriculture in the previous module describes some of the challenges that farmers face when they attempt to grow crops on tropical rainforest soils, but perhaps the most important lesson is that once a rainforest is cut down and cleared away, very little fertility is left to help a forest regrow.
Many factors contribute to tropical deforestation, but consider this typical set of circumstances and processes that result in rapid and unsustainable rates of deforestation. This story fits well with the historical experience of Brazil and other countries with territory in the Amazon Basin.
Population growth and poverty encourage poor farmers to clear new areas of rainforest, and their efforts are further exacerbated by government policies that permit landless peasants to establish legal title to land that they have cleared.
At the same time, international lending institutions like the World Bank provide money to the national government for large-scale projects like mining, construction of dams, new roads, and other infrastructure that directly reduces the forest or makes it easier for farmers to access new areas to clear.
The activities most often encouraging new road development are timber harvesting and mining. Loggers cut out the best timber for domestic use or export, and in the process knock over many other less valuable trees. Those trees are eventually cleared and used for wood pulp, or burned, and the area is converted into cattle pastures. After a few years, the vegetation is sufficiently degraded to make it not profitable to raise cattle, and the land is sold to poor farmers seeking out a subsistence living.
Regardless of how poor farmers get their land, they often are only able to gain a few years of decent crop yields before the poor quality of the soil overwhelms their efforts, and then they are forced to move on to another plot of land. Small-scale farmers also hunt for meat in the remaining fragmented forest areas, which reduces the biodiversity in those areas as well.
Another important factor not mentioned in the scenario above is the clearing of rainforest for industrial agriculture plantations of bananas, pineapples, and sugar cane. These crops are primarily grown for export, and so an additional driver to consider is consumer demand for these crops in countries like the United States.
These cycles of land use, which are driven by poverty and population growth as well as government policies, have led to the rapid loss of tropical rainforests. What is lost in many cases is not simply biodiversity, but also valuable renewable resources that could sustain many generations of humans to come. Efforts to protect rainforests and other areas of high biodiversity is the topic of the next section.
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The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest, and it is home to 8 other countries. It is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth, and it is threatened by deforestation due to its wild crops and wildlife. The Amazon rainforest is a global issue so must check current ppc sales for your help, and the Aspinall Foundation has helped to fund two major research initiatives in the Amazon to understand how the Amazon rainforest functions; one of which is the Amazon Rainforest Carbon Cycle.
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Tropical rainforests are an important ecosystem with distinct characteristics and adaptations. Tropical rainforests face threats which need to be managed to ensure their survival.
Part of Geography The living world
The tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin face the threat of deforestation close deforestation The cutting down of trees and forests to allow a different land use. . Deforestation is happening due to the following reasons:
The impacts of the deforestation of the Amazon Basin include the following:
Once the land is cleared of rainforest vegetation the soil is left bare. When it rains, the nutrients in the soil are washed away. The nutrient cycle close nutrient cycle Cyclic movements of nutrients such as calcium, potassium and magnesium within an ecosystem. stops because there are no plants or trees shedding leaves to replace the nutrients in the soil. The soil is no longer able to support plant life because it is not fertile . The roots of plants and trees no longer hold the soil together so it is easily eroded.
Many different species of plants and animals die because of deforestation. As plants and animals are closely connected through the food web close food web A network of food chains, showing how they all link together. , deforestation this reduces the biodiversity close biodiversity The range of animals and plants in a given area. , or variety of species found in the tropical rainforest.
The trees and plants of the Amazon Basin absorb carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis close photosynthesis A chemical process used by plants to make glucose and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water, using light energy. Oxygen is produced as a by-product of photosynthesis. Algae subsumed within plants and some bacteria are also photosynthetic. . If there are fewer trees and plants, due to deforestation, then less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. In this way deforestation contributes to global warming close global warming The rise in the average temperature of the Earth's surface. and therefore climate change close climate change The long-term alteration of weather patterns. .
The creation of mines, farms and roads - which caused deforestation - has also led to economic development. The money created from these enterprises allows a country to generate foreign income, which can then be used to pay off debts or be invested in further development projects.
FILE - Workers stand atop a tower that will spray carbon dioxide into the rainforest north of Manaus, Brazil, May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Fernando Crispim, File)
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — The Amazon rainforest stores the equivalent of almost two years of global carbon emissions, but its role as a carbon sink is under threat, according to a study released Monday.
The U.S. nonprofit Amazon Conservation used satellite data provided by the Planet company to calculate how much climate-changing carbon the Amazon forest stores. An analysis of the data concluded that with deforestation there’s a danger the Amazon could start contributing more carbon than it absorbs from the atmosphere.
Researchers found Amazon trees held 56.8 billion metric tons of carbon above ground in 2022. They said that’s 64.7 million metric tons more than in 2013, making the Amazon a carbon sink over the last decade.
But it´s now a “very small buffer,” according to an analysis by Planet. “There’s reason to worry that the biome could flip from sink to source with ongoing deforestation.”
Clearing vegetation eliminates trees that absorb carbon. Cutting and burning them puts more carbon into the atmosphere. And cleared land often is used for farming and livestock grazing that produce greenhouse gases.
David Lapola , a professor at the State University of Campinas who was not part of the study, told The Associated Press the findings are consistent with other studies.
While overall carbon absorption in the Amazon basin remains positive when considering only intact areas, the inclusion of forest degradation changes the picture, Lapola said.
However, he added that deforestation, which has destroyed roughly 20% of the Amazon, is an easier problem to solve than the impact of climate change on the rainforest, which is struggling with a severe drought for the second year in a row.
“It is crucial to turn our attention to how climate change and extreme weather events could alter the carbon sink in untouched forests,” Lapola said. “This is considerably more difficult to address as it involves a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse emission.”
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
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this document is a summary of all the key details, facts and figures that should be learnt or understood for the Amazon Rainforest Case Study in AQA Geography A-level. This document would aid any task/revision on the Amazon Rainforest and use should not be restricted to AQA Geography, other exam bo...
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This is the Amazon Rainforest Case Study for the Water and the Carbon Cycle it contains a key facts page (page not available to preview) and contains a quiz at the end other other side of the page depending on how you print it, its a great resource to learn and revise from it looks much like other resources in my shop.
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A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.
This is the Ultimate AQA A-Level Geography bundle which includes the following topics and their case studies. **Physical**, Hazards Coastal Systems and Landscapes Water and Carbon Cycles **Human**, Global Systems and Governance Changing Places Contemporary Urban Environments This ULTIMATE bundle contains countless pages of content with each page of content including a 10 question quiz which is great for revision. This bundle has 79% off for a limited time only at £19.99 you truly are getting great value for money.
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Carbon sink. How much carbon did the rainforest use to absorb before 1990s? 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2. How much did carbon did the rainforest absorb in 2015? only 1 billion. The rainforest is at risk of becoming a what? A carbon source. How much has tree biomass increased? By 0.3-0.5%.
Living World - Amazon Case Study The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. It sits within the Amazon River basin, covers some 40% of the South American continent and as you can see on the map below includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname.
Case study of a tropical rainforest setting to illustrate and analyse key themes in water and carbon cycles and their relationship to environmental change and human activity. Amazon Forest The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. It sits within the Amazon River basin, covers some 40% of the South American continent and as you can ...
100 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in the wood of the trees in the Amazon. If the Amazon were completely deforested, it would release the 100bn tonnes and also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by 2bn tons each year. Trees anchor soil in the ground, bound to their roots. Deforestation damages the topsoil and ...
Description (3) Largest tropical rainforest and covers 40% of the South American landmass. Has a very hot and wet climate, with dense vegetation. Water Cycle (5) There's a lot of evaporation over the Atlantic Ocean, which is blown towards the Amazon, contributing to the Amazon's very high rainfall. Warm temperatures mean that evaporation is ...
Amazon Rainforest. the largest rain forest in the world, located in South America. 10 million. species of insect in the Amazon. 20 million. people live in the forest. Newly Emerging Economy (NEE) Countries that have begun to experience high rates of economic development, usually with rapid industrialisation. They differ from LICs in that they ...
AQA GCSE Infographic giving you case study information on animal and plant adaptations in Tropical Rainforests. This video covers the social, economic and en...
Lesson 8 for AQA A Level Geography. This is the eighth lesson in section A, a core physical geography module to be taught alongside optional modules from section B and C. This lesson covers the characteristics of the Amazon rainforest, the interaction of the water and carbon cycles in the system and the impact of human activity .
This resource is a part of a scheme that covers the entire A-level topic, which can be viewed using the link below: **Carbon & Water Case Studies** L13 - 3.1.1.6 - FREE - Case Study: Tropical Rainforest Amazon L14 - 3.1.1.6 - Case Study: River Catchment Cumbria **Free KS3 Coasts SoW included ** I'm happy to answer any questions…
Resource type: Assessment and revision. File previews. zip, 7.97 MB. AQA A Level Geography Water + Carbon Cycles Case Study - The Amazon Rainforest. A3 case study sheet containing information about the Amazon's background, water and carbon cycles in the Amazon and their impacts, human activities and environmental change. DOCs and PDF Formats.
The Amazon in context. Tropical rainforests are often considered to be the "cradles of biodiversity.". Though they cover only about 6% of the Earth's land surface, they are home to over 50% of global biodiversity. Rainforests also take in massive amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis, which has also given ...
thought 4 degree rise would kill 85% of Amazon, this leads to loss of carbon by decomposition and a decrease in photosynthesis, meaning less carbon dioxide sequestration. selective logging. few trees from each area will maintain forest structure, soil isn't exposed, allows regeneration, only small impact to water and carbon cycles.
The tropical rainforest is an important source of freshwater - about 20% of the world's freshwater. Over 50% of the world's plants and animals are found in the tropical rainforests. As a carbon sink the rainforests are vital in controlling the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere so limiting global warming. The tree and plant roots help to hold the ...
Forest trees dominate the biomass of the Amazon Basin and are the principle carbon store. Approximately, the Amazon Basin stores 100 billion tonnes of carbon in total. Absorbing 2 billion tonnes of CO 2 per year, and releasing 1 billion tonnes through decomposition. 60% of rainforest carbon is stored above ground biomass (tree stems, branches ...
This is a bundle of 16 case studies/examples from the AQA 9-1 GCSE specification. This is a perfect set of resources to give to students to support them in preparation for this GCSE. Each case study/example is condensed to one A4 page, but contains the content that is required aligned with the specification. Each one of these is for sale at £2 ...
The Amazon Rainforest - Water & Carbon Cycle Case Study. The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest, and it is home to 8 other countries. It is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth, and it is threatened by deforestation due to its wild crops and wildlife. The Amazon rainforest is a global issue so must check current ppc sales for ...
GCSE; AQA; Tropical rainforests - AQA Threats to the tropical rainforest - deforestation. Tropical rainforests are an important ecosystem with distinct characteristics and adaptations. Tropical ...
Amazon Rainforest. the largest rain forest in the world, located in South America. 10 million. species of insect in the Amazon. 20 million. people live in the forest. Newly Emerging Economy (NEE) Countries that have begun to experience high rates of economic development, usually with rapid industrialisation. They differ from LICs in that they ...
Jordanlee-r1. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like How large is the amazon?, Where is the Amazon Rainforest located?, How many trees are there? and more.
However, he added that deforestation, which has destroyed roughly 20% of the Amazon, is an easier problem to solve than the impact of climate change on the rainforest, which is struggling with a severe drought for the second year in a row. "It is crucial to turn our attention to how climate change and extreme weather events could alter the carbon sink in untouched forests," Lapola said.
Amazon Rainforest Case Study Summary for Water and Carbon A-level Geography AQA. Module; Water and Carbon Cycle; Institution; AQA; this document is a summary of all the key details, facts and figures that should be learnt or understood for the Amazon Rainforest Case Study in AQA Geography A-level. This document would aid any task/revision on ...
Amazon Rainforest Case Study Information Sheet (AQA) This information sheet was created directly from the AQA specification for GCSE Geography. It has a range of information over a double page spread and would be a fantastic resource for planning or revision. There is also an additional cover sheet which provides a course break down from the ...
Describe the Carbon Cycle in the Amazon Rainforest. * It is a carbon sink - stores carbon in vegetation and soil. * Increase atmospheric CO2 = increased productivity of vegetation = increased biomass of vegetation. * Amount of CO2 sequestered is growing, increasing its importance as a carbon store. * Trees are dying younger - maybe wont be such ...
This is the Amazon Rainforest Case Study for the Water and the Carbon Cycle it contains a key facts page (page not available to preview) and contains a quiz at the end other other side of the page depending on how you print it, its a great resource to learn and revise from it looks much like other resources in my shop.