The Amazon Rainforest
The tropical Amazon Rainforest covers most of Northwestern Brazil, and extends into Bolivia, Peru, and many other South American countries. It is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and contains at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity. Over the last 500 years, the Amazon has lost almost 20% of its forest cover, leading to waves of resource exploitation for many species residing there. The rainforest contains 90-140 billion metric tons of carbon and helps to stabilize local and global climate. Human impact has changed the ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest dramatically. Biotic as well as abiotic factors have been impacted along with the cycles of matter density dependent factors within the ecosystem. I will …show more content…
Selective logging and wildfires can result in a yearly loss of 54 billion tons of carbon from the Amazon. This increases greenhouse gas emissions and is equivalent to 40% of the annual carbon loss from deforestation. The trees of the Amazon Rainforest are growing fast. They're growing even faster than expected for a "mature" rainforest. The exact causes of this accelerated development still remains unknown. More than five million square kilometers of the Amazon's trees are now taking in about 400 million metric tons of carbon per year. This helps offset fossil fuel emissions, reducing the rate of climate change. The cause of the accelerating growth of trees in the Amazon might be because of recovery from an unrecognized disturbance from long ago or because of more recent changes in climate and CO2. Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere (now about 400 parts per million) may be fertilizing the rainforest and preventing even greater impacts from reduced rainfall, which is still unknown. Fire frequency and intensity is affected by both human activity and climate, which presents consequences for the harm of the …show more content…
The slash-and-burn method is a method of agriculture where vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, and is typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming. Vegetation is cut down and then burned, and the ash acts like a fertilizer, adding nutrients to the soil. After two to three years of slash-and-burn when the soil's fertility is exhausted, crops no longer grow well. The soil has been leached and nutrients have been washed out of the topsoil. Had deforestation not taken place, the rainforest would contain 12% more vegetation, and cover a much larger area than it does now.
Some of the abiotic factors of the Amazon Rainforest are water, humidity, soil, temperature, and rocks. The Amazon Rainforest gets about 9 ft of water in the form of precipitation every year. Some of the biotic factors of the Amazon Rainforest are things like plant life and animals. Deforestation leads to less plant life, and less availability of resources for animals. The slash-and-burn method of agriculture impacts the soil by adding nutrients or turning the soil infertile depending on what stage it is in/how long it's been done in one area
The tropical Amazon Rainforest covers most of Northwestern Brazil, and extends into Bolivia, Peru, and many other South American countries. It is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and contains at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity. Over the last 500 years, the Amazon has lost almost 20% of its forest cover, leading to waves of resource exploitation for many species residing there. The rainforest contains 90-140 billion metric tons of carbon and helps to stabilize local and global climate. Human impact has changed the ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest dramatically. Biotic as well as abiotic factors have been impacted along with the cycles of matter density dependent factors within the ecosystem. I will …show more content…
Selective logging and wildfires can result in a yearly loss of 54 billion tons of carbon from the Amazon. This increases greenhouse gas emissions and is equivalent to 40% of the annual carbon loss from deforestation. The trees of the Amazon Rainforest are growing fast. They're growing even faster than expected for a "mature" rainforest. The exact causes of this accelerated development still remains unknown. More than five million square kilometers of the Amazon's trees are now taking in about 400 million metric tons of carbon per year. This helps offset fossil fuel emissions, reducing the rate of climate change. The cause of the accelerating growth of trees in the Amazon might be because of recovery from an unrecognized disturbance from long ago or because of more recent changes in climate and CO2. Increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere (now about 400 parts per million) may be fertilizing the rainforest and preventing even greater impacts from reduced rainfall, which is still unknown. Fire frequency and intensity is affected by both human activity and climate, which presents consequences for the harm of the …show more content…
The slash-and-burn method is a method of agriculture where vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, and is typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming. Vegetation is cut down and then burned, and the ash acts like a fertilizer, adding nutrients to the soil. After two to three years of slash-and-burn when the soil's fertility is exhausted, crops no longer grow well. The soil has been leached and nutrients have been washed out of the topsoil. Had deforestation not taken place, the rainforest would contain 12% more vegetation, and cover a much larger area than it does now.
Some of the abiotic factors of the Amazon Rainforest are water, humidity, soil, temperature, and rocks. The Amazon Rainforest gets about 9 ft of water in the form of precipitation every year. Some of the biotic factors of the Amazon Rainforest are things like plant life and animals. Deforestation leads to less plant life, and less availability of resources for animals. The slash-and-burn method of agriculture impacts the soil by adding nutrients or turning the soil infertile depending on what stage it is in/how long it's been done in one area