tropical rainforests

name 3 plants and their adaptations

• butchress roots: large to stabilise tall trees in shallow soil

• leaf angling: leaves angled so they dont shade eachother- competition for light is tough

• drip tip: leafs have waxy surface and pointed tip so water is surface-run off → prevents algae growth which would prevent photosynthesis

name 3 animals and their adaptations

• sloths: covered in green algae to camouflage from predators, move slowly so harder to spot

• toucans: have long narrow beaks so they can reach foods which is hard to reach for other flyers- less competition

• ants: carry food 50x their weight- big food supply

what are the issues related to biodiversity? why are rainforests important?

• rainforests are highly biodiverse and resource rich- major resource commercially. rainforests must be used sustainably

• 28% oxygen comes from rainforests

• 20% freshwater from amazon rainforest

• 2000 plants have anti cancer properties

what is the scale of deforestation?

• scale is massive and global

• most countries which want to increase are LICs as they want to increase their GDP e.g. indonesia increased by 107%

• some countries want to decrease e.g. brazil decreased by 17%

is the rate of deforestation changing?

• 8 countries increased their rate while 7 countries decreased

• africa, asia and south america have increased their rate

name some characteristics of them

• heavy dense vegetation which grows close to each other

• high rainfall

• generally near the equator

• high biodiversity

• generally high temp annually (25-30 degrees)

name the layers

• forest floor/ shrub level

• understory

• canopy

• emergent