Amazon Rainforest Case Study

Area of the Amazon?

6,000,000 km2

% of all global tropical rainforest found in the Amazon?

50%

Net primary productivity of the Amazon?

2200g/m2/yr

% of the Amazon lost to deforestation since 1970?

17%

% of the world’s land carbons stored in the Amazon?

%25

Average annual temperatures in the Amazon?

25C and 30C

Average annual rainfall in the Amazon?

2000mm

How many trees in the Amazon?

390 billion

What % of precipitation is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration?

50%

How much water can a single tree in the Amazon recycle in a day?

400L

What are the Guiana and Brazil Shield formed of?

Crystalline igneous rock

What % of intercepted rain is evaporated>

20%

What % of deforestation is caused by cattle ranching?

65-70%

What % of deforestation is caused by argiculture?

25-35%

What % of deforestation is caused by logging?

2-3%

What is the “point of no return” for deforestation?

20%

What % of the Amazon does the Madeira River Basin cover?

20%

How many times has the Madeira River Basin experienced and extreme flood in the last 27 years?

15

How high are the Bolivian Andes?

6000m

By what factor does surface runoff increase by when rainforest is converted to grassland?

27 times

What % of carbon is used up in respiration?

Over 50%

How much carbon do tropical rainforests sequester per hectare?

2-300 tonnes

Rainforest biomass per hectare?

400-700 tonnes

How much carbon does the Amazon absorb annually?

2.4 billion tonnes

How much carbon in total is sequestered in the Amazon?

100 billion tonnes

How much carbon is stored above ground in branches/stems and leaves of plants?

60%

By how much have stores of carbon decreased by in the past 10 years?

1/3

How many wildfires have occurred in Brazil as a result of slash and burn?

76,000

How much have carbon stores in the Amazon dropped to?

16.2 tonnes/hectare

How much dieback is predicted by 2300?

55%

What % of carbon is stored in peat?

90%

What % of carbon is stored in limestone?

50%

How many times more fertile is the Pebas Formation than the Nauta Formation?

15 times

How tall do Brazil nut trees and teak trees grow to?

Over 50m

What % of tree species account for how much carbon stored in the Amazon?

1% of tree species account for 50% of carbon

What % of the Amazon is protected?

Over 50%

How many hectares has Brazil committed to restoring?

12 million hectares

What is Brazil’s conservation target?

Conserve 80% by 2030

What % towards its target had the reforestation initiative by 2023?

20%