Download PowerPoint Presentation - IBGeography

Causes and
consequences of
reduced biodiversity in
tropical rain forests
Mongabay
Causes of loss of biodiversity in Amazonian due to deforestation
Clearing for cattle pasture
Colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture
Infrastructure improvements
Commercial agriculture
Logging
Explain each of the causes using the following resource:
Mongabay – Why is the rainforest being destroyed?
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0801-amazon.html
Consequences of loss of biodiversity
Explain using diagrams the effect of
deforestation on the nutrient cycle. (loss of
biomass)
Nagle Advanced Geography - 212
Explain the environmental and socioeconomic
effects of loss of biomass and habitats.
(Indigenous cultures, potential resources)
Explain how loss of rainforest effects
the water cycle.
Interception
This is very important for the whole
of Brazil, as winds from the
rainforest bring rain down onto the
agricultural heartland in the south.
Explain the effect of climate change on rainforests using this
diagram.
Explain the effect on climate change of rainforest drying and
converting to savannah and the potential tipping point.
Also watch
‘The day the
oceans boiled’
The Atlantic Forest, Brazil – A lesson for
Amazonia
Only 8% of its original extent remains
and it’s under constant threat from
urbanisation.
Pressure from illegally built housing and the use
of resources from the forest such as timber for
fuel and construction
Its present day area covers 99,944km2 and over
50% of this is protected
Unesco World Biosphere Reserve in 1992
1300 vertebrates
(500 endemic)
950 bird species (55
endemic)
Atlantic
Forest
269 mammals
20000 plants (6000
endemic)
458 tree species found
under 1 hectare