Download Fresh water ecosystems wetland

Fresh water ecosystems
wetland
By: Cynthia E.
Pr.1
Wetland Amazon Basin
•
The Amazon Basin, the largest in the
world, covers about 40% of South
•
America, an area of approximately
7,050,000 square kilometers
(2,720,000 sq mi). It drains from west to
east, from Iquitos in Peru, across Brazil
to the Atlantic. It gathers its waters from
5 degrees north latitude to 20 degrees
south latitude. Its most remote sources
are found on the inter-Andean plateau,
just a short distance from the Pacific
Ocean. The locals often refer to it as "El
Jeff Negro", referring to an ancient god of
fertility Most of the basin is covered by
the Amazon rainforest, also known as
Amazonia. Area of dense tropical forest,
this is the largest rainforest in the world.
Tropical wetlands, including those in the
Amazon, are one of the largest sources
of biogenic methane and globally
represent roughly 13 percent of annual
emissions of the greenhouse gas
Amazon basin
Habitats of Amazon basin
Plant life
• As much of the Amazon is
unexplored, many of its
indigenous plants and animals
are unknown. Plant growth is
dense and its variety of
animals inhabitants is
comparatively high due to the
heavy rainfall and the dense
and extensive evergreen and
coniferous forests The forest
cover is in fact so thick that a
dense "roof" is created by the
leaves and branches, which
does not allow the sunlight to
reach the ground. The ground
remains dark and damp and
only shade tolerant trees and
vegetation will grow here
Animal life
• More than 14,000
species of mammal
are found in the
Amazon, the majority
of which are bats and
rodents. Mammals
include the Jaguar,
Ocelot, Capybara and
South America's
largest mammal .
• Ex .animals
characteristics
• The Amazon basin stretches so far and
wide that scientist haven't yet been able to
quite study it all since it grows and grows .
• Since the forest part of the wetlands is so
thick and dense sunlight doesn't peek
through so it constantly has new growth of
wet land and species of plants animals .
Amazon Basin Risks!
• Amazon Basin methane is predominantly biogenic.
Based on carbon monoxide measurements made
concurrently with the methane observations, they
calculate that biomass burning was not a major
contributor to Methane Emissions.
• They find that wetlands were the primary source of
methane. However, they note that other biogenic
sources, such as waste decomposition or sewage and
cattle operations, could easily be confused with wetland
emissions. The authors note that their two airborne
campaigns are not enough on which to base an
assessment of the Amazon's annual methane emissions.
Geography
• The Amazon Basin is bounded by the Guiana
Highlands to the north and the Brazilian
Highlands to the south. The Amazon, which
rises in the Andes Mountains at the west of the
basin, is the second longest river in the world. It
covers about 6,400 km before draining into the
Atlantic Ocean . The Amazon and its tributaries
form the largest volume of water. The Amazon
accounts for about 20% of the total water carried
to the oceans by rivers. Some of the Amazon
Rainforest is deforested because of a growing
interest in hardwood products
Links
• http://phys.org/news/2012-08-wetlandsprimary-source-amazon-basin.html
• http://www.ehow.com/list_6504792_chara
cteristics-amazon
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River
_basin
• Google pictures
The End ! :D