Tropical rainforests

Define deforestation

The large scale of woodland destruction to make room for another purpose.

What are the main categories of factors that influence deforestation?

Commercial, infrastructure and agricultural expansion

What are the causes of deforestation?

Mining/extraction of minerals and metals, urbanisation, fuel source (wood), commercial logging and agriculture.

Which tropical rainforest has the highest deforestation rate?

Amazon rainforest (the biggest in the world).

What human activities drive deforestation?

Agriculture, urbanisation, ranching/cattle ranching, logging

How does agriculture contribute to deforestation?

It leads to deforestation by converting forest areas into farmland for crops or pasture for livestock, reducing biodiversity and altering ecosystems.

What impact does deforestation have on urban life?

It can affect urban life by increasing flooding risks, disrupting water cycles, leading to loss of resources, and contributing to climate change that affects urban environments.

What role does urbanisation play in deforestation?

It drives deforestation as cities expand into forested areas for housing, infrastructure, and services, leading to habitat loss and environmental degradation.

What is the relationship between ranching and deforestation?

It requires large areas of land, leading to significant forest clearing for grazing, contributing to deforestation. This especially applies to cattle ranching.

What are the ecological consequences of deforestation?

This can lead to loss of biodiversity, disruption of carbon and water cycles, soil erosion, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

How can urban areas counteract the effects of deforestation?

They can implement sustainable practices, promote green spaces, and support reforestation efforts to mitigate the effects of deforestation.

What are the main categories of factors that influence deforestation?

The main categories influencing deforestation are commercial activities, infrastructure development, and agricultural expansion.

What are the causes of deforestation?

Causes of deforestation include mining and extraction of minerals, urbanisation, use of wood as a fuel source, commercial logging, and agriculture.

Which tropical rainforest has the highest deforestation rate?

The Amazon rainforest, which is the largest rainforest in the world, has the highest deforestation rate.

How does agriculture within urban areas impact deforestation?

Urban agriculture can contribute to deforestation by pushing urban expansions into forested areas for crops or livestock, which decreases biodiversity.

What impact does urbanisation have on biodiversity in relation to deforestation?

Urbanisation can lead to a decrease in biodiversity as it expands into natural habitats, contributing to habitat loss and fragmentation.

What strategies can urban planners use to promote sustainable development to reduce deforestation?

Urban planners can implement zoning regulations, promote vertical gardens, and develop mixed-use spaces to reduce the spatial impact on forests and promote sustainability.

Define biodiversity

The amount of plants and animals in a certain habitat area.

How does deforestation contribute to greenhouse gas emissions?

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Trees naturally absorb this gas during growth- as their use it for photosynthesis, the production of food for the tree (glucose, via carbon chemically reacting with solar energy) and to build organic plant matter with. When trees are cut down a high volume of carbon dioxide is released from every tree. As deforestation is the cutting of trees in a large area, then a high volume of carbon dioxide is produced. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmostphere, contributing to global warming- meaning deforestation also contributes to global warming.

What is the growing process of trees via the use of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

Trees begin their growth process by capturing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, via carbon dioxide entering the stomata (pores) tissues at the bottom of a leaf. Carbon dioxide then chemically reacts with solar energy inside of leafs, as the high amounts of chloroplasts absorb the sunlight (stored in the green substance that makes up chloroplasts- chlorophlly). This chemical reaction then allows the tree o split the product into carbon dioxide and water, which react together to form glucose- a food source/energy source. Remaining carbon dioxide is then used to form solid plant matter, assisting the making of celluose fibers and lignin- which contribute to the making of the trunk, branches, leafs and roots. Oxygen is then released into the atmosphere as a byproduct of photosynthesis.

What are the layers of a tropical rainfoest?

The emergent, canopy, understory, forest floor

Describe global atmospheric circulation

It is the circular motion of high and low pressure, high pressure being water particles from the upper atmosphere becoming more dense therefore they sink making the sky more sunny and dry. Which is followed by lower pressure, which is when water from the lower atmosphere evaporates, becomes less dense, and therefore rises to high altitude, then cools and condenses to form clouds, and create a wind, rainy climate.

Why are rainforests hot?

Rainforests are located near the equator, therefore recieve direct sunlight alot of the time, and a tropical rainforests thick structure absorbs sulight and blocks wind.

Why are tropical rainforests humid?

They recieve high precipitation as due to the high rate of evaporation (caused by low pressure global atmospheric circulation resulting in more rising air) more water rises up into the sky to form clouds, that rain the water back down.

Define leeching

A process that lets nutrients dissolve away from soil. This is because decomposes break down the nutrients as they are washed away.

What are the layers of the rain forest?

Forest floor, understory, canopy and mergent

Describe the emergent layer of a tropical rainforest

In this layer, there are trees that reach the height of 50 meters, to absorb as much such light for photosynthesis to occur, to produce glucose which can be converted into cellulose (the carbohydrate pigment that builds cell walls of plant cells which are used to make tissues). These tree tops in the emergent layer also supply great habitats for different bird species such as parrots ans tucans as well as bats.

Describe the canopy layer of the tropical rainforest

At this layer, trees are limited to a height of 30 meters. In the canopy, the biodiversity is very dense, and high levels of sunlight are still visible at this layer, making this layer dense in plant life. It is also the layer containing most of the animals in the rainforest, such as insects, small birds and many many species of monkey.

Describe the understory layer of the rainforest

This is the layer where there are the shortest trees, most only reaching a height of 15 meters. Due to the dense canopy layer being right above it, this layer only recieves around 10% of sunlight. Although, this makes a fantastic habitat for cold blooded animals such as snakes and other reptiles, also well as amphipians such as frogs. It is also a great habitat for these animals because of the damp vegetation, which allows them to camouflage to hid against apex preditors.

Describe the forest floor of the rainforst

A very dark region of the rainsforest where only 2% of sunlight reaches, which creates the prefect conditions for apex preditors like the panther because they can camoflauge with the darkness and attack their prey more easily. Only 2% of sunlight reaches these areas because of the dense vegetationabove which blocks sunlight. The soil here is very infertile (meaning it lacks nutrients such as iron). This is because a rainforest recieves 2500mm of preciprotation annually on average which causes leeching in the soil. Leeching is when decomposes break down litter (dead oraganic matter) into nutrients that dissolve into the soil, but don’t because it is washed away by rainfall.