Tropical Equatorial Rain-forest Biome

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  • Tropical Equatorial rain-forest biome
    • Key facts & figures
      • Latitude 10^N & 10^S
      • Democratic republic of Congo
      • Amazon rain-forest, South America
    • Climate
      • Very little seasonal variation - hot and wet all year round
      • Sun directly over twice a year
      • Day time temp can rise above 30^ and Night time temp can fall below 20^
      • 2000mm of rainfall each year
      • Low pressure belt dominates all year round so leads to constant rainfall
      • A little further away from the equator there are dry seasons in the months; May, June and July. This is because the ITCZ id directly above the Tropic of Cnacer
      • Usually plenty of clouds throughout the morning and then in the afternoon once the temperature is at it's peak there becomes heavy rainfall and possible thunder and lightening
    • Soil
      • Zonal soil - developed naturally over time
      • Very fertile
    • Characteristics
      • A latosol can be more than 40m deep. the climate in the rain-forest provides perfect conditions for weathering of the bedrock.
      • Ferrallitisation is the name given to the process of wearing away the rocks
      • There is a reddish colour in the soil, this is due to the presence of iron and aluminium minerals
    • Vegetation
      • State of dynamic equilibrium
      • climatic climax community
      • Dominant species - hardwood trees
      • The energy from sunlight is used to produce 2200g of living matter for every square meter of land each year
      • the forest has an evergreen appearanceas most of the trees are deciduous
      • 300 species per every square kilometre
      • Layered appearanceof -Lower layer - Canopy layer - Emergent layer
      • Fungi grow on trees and other plants and inhibit the forest floor, they play an important role in the decomposing of litter
      • the trees grow rapidly towards the sun, they have thin branches as they do not require proaction for harsh winter conditions
      • The minerals required for the trees only lie on the top layer of soil the trees roots do not go deep into the group, they can however spread up to 3m long horizontally
      • The leaves have adapted to cope with heavy rainfall by developing drip tips. The leaves are also heavy and waxy to withstand the high amounts of light intensity
    • Human Activity - Deforestation
      • Causes
        • There is a demand for hardwood, such as teak, for building furniture - most if not all is exported, meaning the money does not remain in the country
        • To provide land for rubber plantations,cattle ranching, beef farming, soya plantations,roads and railways
        • In Brazilian rainforest, areas have been dammed and flooded to provide reservoirs such as the Tocantins River in Amazonia
        • Mining
        • A growing population, requires more land for homes
      • Impacts
        • Physical
          • As habitats shrink, plant species become endangered and foo chains within the forest become disrupted
          • Ground saturation as less infiltration occurs, causing surface run off. This in turn causes sediment to block river channels
          • Less cloud cover so therefore higher variation of temperatures
        • Social & Economical
          • Local communities who may rely on tourists who visit the rainforest an suffer by loosing their homes
        • Cultural
          • The many different tribes who live in the forest will be forced to move out and find new areas to live

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