1.16 carbon cycle in the tropical rainforest
Add a Rainforest Diagram and include the points (how much photosynthesis, how is it a sink, respiration, detritivores, soil and rivers) involved in the Carbon cycle?
Input, Output, Flow and Store?
Where is carbon actively absorbed and produced?
Photosynthesis and soil
What is carbon used for in the rainforest?
Creating biomass and for respiration
Using fig 2 how much carbon is ‘fixed’ per year by TRFs?
2200 g C/m2/year 38%
Video Notes from Indonesia’s forest fires?
The fires stopped for four years but flared up again due to a dry season
mainly occurred on peatland due to the layer of decomposed matter
The fires occur in the layers of decomposing matter underground
They happen in remote places
They are man made
99% are caused by human actions
Mainly caused by palm oil plantations
Locals have to put out fires themselves
They try to monitor hotspots to keep an eye on them
34 people were arrested in a month
What is ‘slash and burn’?
Clearing land by cutting down trees and plants, then burning them to ashes. The ash provides temporary nutrients to the soil, making it fertile for crops but it leads to deforestation and habitat loss. After a few years, the soil becomes depleted, and farmers move to a new area, leaving the old plot to recover over time. This method was historically sustainable with low population density but is now a major cause of deforestation due to increasing populations.
Why are the general reasons a TRF is cleared?
Urbanisation and urban expansion and agricultural land being made on the area due to the fertile soil. Also for timber for construction
How would selective logging help reduce deforestation?
Less trees would be cut down, as they would only cut down the necessary trees, based on age, size and location
Indonesian Rainforests
Using the case study notes from page 50 can you break down the impacts into the following categories?
General outline
Mass deforestation occurred due to rapid development in Indonesia, and due to demand for paper and wood pulp, on top of issues with land rights, ownership and use which became quite corrupt and aggressive. This lead to an incredibly high deforestation rate of around a million hectares a year which lead to widespread out of control wildfires across Indonesia due to people burning areas of forest as it was quicker and easier for land development. These fires burned throughout 1997 and 98 and emitted as much carbon on their own that all living things produce in a year, and it then created a positive feedback loop as the excess carbon created dry and warm weather which encouraged more fires, amplified by people using slash and burn methods.
Reasons for it being cleared
A demand for paper, logs and wood pulp, rapid national development, corruption amd conflict over land usage
Specific points from class
Most of the fires are started by people using the illegal slash and burn method and most occur on peatland which means that they often burn underground and are therefore more difficult to put out amd they burn more due to the methane coming out of the decomposing matter underground
Why does the burning of so much of Indonesia’s Rainforests have more than local impacts?
TRF - 2200 - 38%
Grass - 600 - 10%
Desert - 100 - 1%
Coral - 2500 - 43%
Lakes - 250 - 4%
Ocean - 150 - 3%
