AMAZON RAINFOREST - BIODIVERSITY AND ADAPTATIONS

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Interdependance
- Warm+wet climate means dead plant material is decomposed quickly, which increases soil nutrients, increasing plant growth. - Animals rely on plants as food. - Deforestation causes change in CO2 levels (change in climate)+increase risk of drought.
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Layers of rainforest
- Bottom: shrub level. - Under canopy. - Canopy. - Top: Emergents. - Plants in emergents only have branches at their crown (where most light reaches them). - Plants in undercanopy have large leaves to absorb max. light.
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Plant adaptations - Trees' buttress roots
- Tall trees competing for sunlight have buttress roots to support trunks.
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Plant adaptations - Leaves
- Plants have thick, waxy leaves with pointed tips ('drip-tips'). Drip-tips channel the water to a point so it runs off - weight of water doesnt damage plant and there's no standing water for fungi/bacteria to grow in. - Waxy cuticle helps repel rain
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Plant adaptations - Trees' bark
- Many trees have smooth, thin barks as there's no need to protect trunk from cold temp.s. - Smooth surface allows water to run off easily.
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Plant adaptations - climbing plants
- E.g. lianas. - Use tree trunks to climb up to sunlight.
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Plant adaptations - Dropping leaves
- Plants drop their leaves gradually throughout year, meaning they can go on growing all year round.
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Animal adaptations - Living in canopy
- Many animals spend whole life high up in canopy. They have strong limbs so they can spend all day climbing and leaping between trees, e.g. howler monkeys.
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Animal adaptations - Flaps of skin and suction cups
- Some animals have flaps of skin that enable them to glide between trees, e.g. flying squirrels. - Others have suction cups for climbing, e.g. red-eyed tree frogs.
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Animal adaptations - Birds' wings
- Some birds have short, pointy wings so they can easily manoeuvre between dense tangle of branches in trees, e.g. harpy eagle has short wingspan.
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Animal adaptations - Camouflage
- Some animals are camouflaged, e.g. leaf-tailed geckos look like leaves so they can hide from predators.
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Animal adaptations - Nocturnal
- Many animals are nocturnal (active at night), e.g. sloths. - They sleep through day and feed at night when its cooler - helps them save energy.
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Animal adaptations - low light levels
- Some animals are adapted to the low light levels on forest floor, e.g. anteaters have sharp sense of smell and hearing, so they can detect predators without seeing them.
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Animal adaptations - swimming
- Many rainforest animals can swim, e.g. jaguars - allows them to cross river channels.
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Biodiversity
-Biodiversity:variety of organisms living in particular area.-Rainforests have very high biodiversity-contain around 50% of world's plant,animal+insect species.-Stable environments (hot+wet).-Deforestation can cause extinctions+loss of biodiversity.
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Endangered species
- No. of endangered species in Brazil increased from 218 in 1989 to 628 in 2008.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Layers of rainforest

Back

- Bottom: shrub level. - Under canopy. - Canopy. - Top: Emergents. - Plants in emergents only have branches at their crown (where most light reaches them). - Plants in undercanopy have large leaves to absorb max. light.

Card 3

Front

Plant adaptations - Trees' buttress roots

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Plant adaptations - Leaves

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Plant adaptations - Trees' bark

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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