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61 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the largest rainforest? |
Amazon Basin |
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What is the total of length of channel of the Amazon basin?
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80,000km |
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What percentage of South America does the Amazon drain? |
40% |
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What are varzeas? |
Seasonal floodplanes covering 2% of the basin with fertile soils and a distinct and abundant ecosystem |
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What are terra firme? |
Higher, drier forests |
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Where does the Amazon Basin stand in terms of productivity? |
The world's leading land-based ecosystem |
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What is a typical biomass figure? |
48kg/m2 |
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What countries is the Amazon Basin found in?
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Ecuador Bolivia Combia Peru |
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How many species of ant have been discovered in a single tree and where? |
43, Peru
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How many recorded plant species are there? |
40,000 |
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What well known timbers are found in the Amazon Forest? |
Mahogany Ebony Rosewood Greenheart Rubber tree |
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What height are the tallest trees? |
50m |
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What type of roots do many taller trees have? |
Buttress or plank |
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What is the micro-habitat of the emergent layer rlike? |
Exposure to winds Large daily temperature variation |
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What percentage of solar insolation is absorbed by the canopy layer? |
70-80% |
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What is the canopy layer habitat to? |
Climbing mammals Lianas and creepers |
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What is the micro-habitat of the shrub layer like? |
Dark and dry |
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What is the shrub layer habitat to?
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Young trees, including species that bear flowers and fruit |
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What is the micro-habitat of the ground layer like? |
Sheltered, little temperature change Little wind Slow growth due to shading |
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What is the ground layer habitat to? |
Tall ferns Buttress roots Termites, ants, fungi |
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Where can ground fauna flourish? |
River banks and clearings |
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How much light can be blocked out by the canopy layer? |
90% |
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What type of seeds do some ground species have? |
Seeds which will remain dormant for decades until light triggers their growth |
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What type of plants live on trees as they are unable to survive beneath the canopy? |
Epiphytes - ferns and flowers including orchids They get moisture and nutrients from the air and rain |
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What do parasite species do? |
Live off of their host and kill them |
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What is stratum specificity? |
The layered element of fauna |
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What species are found high in tree canopies? |
Squirrel Howler monkey Bird species (incl macaws) |
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What species are found on the ground? |
Poison frogs Tapir Peccary Antelope |
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What species can be found on the ground and in trees? |
Jaguar |
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How many species of fish are there? |
2,000 (more than the Atlantic Ocean) |
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How many bird species are there? |
600 (20% of the earth's total) |
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What is the total number of animal species? |
Several million, mostly insects |
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Why may the number of any one species be small? |
They only inhabit one specific niche in the habitat |
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What can easily cause extinction of a species? |
Any interference |
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What species can be found in trophic level one? |
Mahogany Rosewood Brazil nut Rubber Flowers Fruits Seeds |
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What species can be found in trophic level two? |
Spider monkey Deer Tree frogs Parrots Sloth |
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What species can be found in trophic level three? |
Cayman Anaconda Puma Indigenous tribes - Yanomami |
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What species can be found in trophic level five? |
Ants Termites Millipedes Mycorrhizae fungi |
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What do many species depend on? Give examples.
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A single other species Some orchard species are pollinated by a single bee species Some sloth species can consume the leaves of only one tree |
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How many fish species depend on a diet of seeds that fall from overhanging branches? |
200 |
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What is the vast productivity a reflection of? |
Climate and time |
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What factors make the |
Light - long hours of photosynthesis Warm weather - no temperature limitation, no frost Humid climate - abundant water supply from rainfall |
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How old is the Amazon Basin thought to be?
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Ten million years |
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What is the soil often like? |
Nutrient poor |
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What is terra rossa? |
A type of red clay soil |
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If soil nutrient is poor what does the ecosystem rely on? |
The ability to rapidly recycle dead organic matter |
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What percentage of nutrients are found in the biomass? |
90% |
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What rapidly decomposes litter? |
Hot, wet conditions Abundant active decomposers |
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How quickly can leaves be broken down and recycled? |
10 times quicker than in European forests |
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Why does the soil contain minimal quantities of nutrients?
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They are rapidly taken up by plants or they will be leached beyond their reach
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What can the soil be seen as? |
A routeway for nutrients |
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How can some litter bypass the soil altogether? |
Litter may fall onto plant roots that are covered by mycorrhizae fungi that transfer nutrients back to the plant directly |
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How deep are soil profiles and why?
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10-20m
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What compounds are left to dominate the top soil and why? |
Iron and aluminium as others are leached downwards |
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What percentage of Amazonian soils lack essential nutrients, and what are they? |
90% Nitrogen and phosphorus |
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Where are fertile soils found? |
Varzea floodplains |
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Why are soil horizon boundaries indistinct? |
Mixing by soil organisms and downward movement of soil watetr |
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Where is humus confined to? |
Surface 10cm of soil |
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Why does strong leaching occur? |
Downward soil water movement
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What characteristic of the soil has intense leaching led to?
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Acidic soils with low pH |
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What is laterite? |
Where soil with a high concentration of iron and aluminium oxides is left in the soil and hardens when exposed to the sun and which will support little to no vegetation |
