Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Living Things 2
- ***THE AMAZON RAINFOREST***
- Location
- The equator runs through the Amazon meaning it's very hot as
the curvature of the Earth which point is nearest the sun. It's
hot all year round 25ºc+. At around 1pm-3pm they get daily
rainfall which is a short and sharp heavy downpour. This is
called convectional rainfall. It is then evaporated and the cycle
repeats daily.
- Climate
- Annual Rainfall is 1800m. No drought in the
rainforest. Av. temp is 25-30ºc. There is a little
variation in temp. Perfect growing conditions.
Constant sunshine through the year and lots
of rain daily. Perfect for photosynthesis
- Rainforest
structure/adaptations
- DESTRUCTION OF THE RAINFOREST
- Mining
- Huge deposits of iron ore, gold, copper,
bauxite and other minerals have been
discovered in the rainforest. Mining
companies have felled trees and built roads
through the forest to reach these deposits
- New Roads
- Many new roads have been built deep into the
rainforest. The Trans-Amazonian Highway is the
longest. It stretches 3300 miles across Brazil from East
to West. The roads help move timber, cattle and crops
to markets. People from other parts of Brazil have
settled along these roads.
- Power stations
- An unlimited water supply and ideal river
conditions have led to the development of
many hydro-electric power (HEP) stations.
HEP stations provide cheap and plentiful
energy for industry, transport and domestic
use. More than 125 new HEP dams are to
be built in the next 15 years. The reservoirs
behind the dams flood large areas of forest.
- Ranching
- Large areas of the forest have been bought by
multi-national companies for cattle ranching. These
companies have burnt down the first and replaced the
trees with grass. The beef from the cattle ranches has
largely gone to fast-food chains in the USA and
Europe to make into burgers/
- IMPACTS
- -Increase of CO2 levels . . . -Increase of greenhouse
gases . . . -Decrease of oxygen -Leads to global warming
. . . -Endangered species (animals) . . . -Undiscovered
medicine in plants . . . -Kayapo and Yanomami tribe . . .
-Loss of traditional culture . . . -Flooding could occur . . .
-Chemicals from mining end up in the amazon river such
as gold . . . -Multinational Companies:money goes to
MEDC's not Brazil . . . -Land becomes infertile as trees
are cut down. Soil will become dry. Convectional rain
washes out the nutrients (leaching) . . . -Soil washed
away as no roots are holding it together . . . -No leaves to
put nutrients in soil. Becomes infertile . . . -No plants to
give off water vapour, no clouds formed, environment
becomes dry . . . -Infertile, less productive animals.
- SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
OF AMAZON RAINFOREST
- Shifting Cultivation
- 1. A clearance is made by cutting down trees and
burning the vegetation. This is called slash and burn.
- 2. Crops are planted and grow
well in the warm, humid conditions.
- 3. Within four or five years the soil becomes
exhausted and the harvest gets poor and poor.
- 4. The clearing is abandoned
and the farmers move on
- 5. The clearing gradually grows over
and the natural forest returns
- Kayapo information
- As well as hunting and gathering food, the Kayapo make their
own 'gardens' in small forest clearings. In these they grow fruit
trees and crops including manioc, maize, sweet potatoes,
pineapples, peppers and beans. The Indian women especially,
are expert forest gardeners. They work in a careful and organised
way, improving the soil at the same time. After a while, however,
the heavy rains wash away the nutrients in the soil and crops no
longer grow so well. The Kayapo then move away and make a
new forest garden. This type of farming is called shifting
cultivation. It is sustainable as they replenish the land as they
move around every 5 years. They also burn down the trees to get
nutrients to put in the soil to replenish it. However they let the
jungle regrow so they are not destroying the rainforest. The
Kayapo's usually only use small plots of land to make it easier for
the jungle to regrow.
- 1. Shifting cultivation - Sustainable way of farming, move around every 5
years so the earth can replenish itself. 2. Agroforestry - Plant trees within
the crops. Hold soil together. Protects from heavy rainfall. Nutrients from
leaves. 3. Ecotourism - A rapidly growing form of tourism often
encouraged and highly profitable. 4. Afforestation - Instead of cutting down
the tree's, they replant them. Companies that cut down trees should plant
one for every one they cut down. 5. Monitoring - Satellite technology and
photography to check rainforest are legal and follow guide lines to ensure
sustainability. 6. Selective logging - Tree's measured and only felled when
a certain height. Gives young trees a life span and the area will regain fully
in 30-50 years. 7. Education - Insures those involved in management, incl.
general public in MEDC's understand principles. 8. Forest Reserves -
Areas of forest protected from exploitation and maintained as natural
environments.
- THE MILLENNIUM
ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT
- What is it?
- MEA is a report released into the state of the environment in
2005. Over 1,000 experts and scientists were involved. They
concluded that ecosystems have been destroyed in order to
supply people with resources (e.g food, energy, water, clothing)
- Proof that ecosystems are
being managed unsustainably?
- 1. Modern fishing techniques do not allow fish stocks to recover. The amount of fish in the seas is decreasing
rapidly. 2. The 2 billion people who live in the worlds driest areas are increasingly at risk from drought and
poverty. 3. We are using up fresh water supplies at a rate that is faster than they can be replaced. Climate
change will cause massive problems for many ecosystems. The increasing use of artificial fertilities and burning
of fossil fuels has doubled the amount of nitrogen pollution. This is causing problems in river and marine
ecosystems. The destruction of ecosystems (for example, forests, coral reefs, and wet lands) causing the
extinction of many species at a scale that is greater than anything seen in the past.