Biodiversity
in the Amazon Rainforest
Location
The Amazon rainforest is located in South America and covers 2.1 million square miles of land. Brazil contains 60%, Peru contains 13%, and Colombia contains 10% while other countries have very small parts of the rainforest within their borders.
Map 1
This is a map of the Amazon Rainforest
Map 2
This is a map of the Amazon Rainforest
Map 3
This is a map of the Amazon Rainforest
Importance
The Amazon Rainforest is an extremely important area of Earth. While there are many reasons as to why the Amazon Rainforest is crucial, here are just a few;
- Helps to stabilize the world’s climate
- Provides homes to many plants and animals
- Maintains the water cycle
- Protects against flood, drought, and erosion
- A source for medicines and foods
- Supports tribal people
- An interesting place to visit
Native Animal
The Amazon Milk Frog
Native Animal
The Jaguar
Native Animal
The Golden Lion Tamarin Monkey
Harmful Activities
Deforestation is a huge issue when discussing the Amazon Rainforest. As human population grows the need for agriculture, energy and development space increases with it. Tropical rainforests cover a massive amount of the world’s tree surface, each year over 90,000 square miles of the forests are harvested for human use. This deforestation has worried environmentalists because of the release of carbon from the machinery and the vegetation. It is believed that deforestation may accelerate the effects of global warming and transform the rainforest climate.
Economic industries also have a negative impact on the Amazon Rainforest. The lumber, agriculture, and mining industries are major impacts on the tropical rainforest. They all require large areas of forest to be cleared so that they can take place. In mining, large areas of forest are cleared, and roads are built to access the mines.
Deforestation
Deforestation
Through forest fires
Deforestation
Protection Efforts
It is important that an effort is put forth in order to save, and rebuild, the Amazon Rainforest. While more can be done, as always, here are a few tactics being used to help preserve and rebuild the Amazon Rainforest;
- Rehabilitation and increased productivity of formerly forested lands
- Expansion of protection areas
- Development based on concepts of sustainable use of some existing forest
- Land policy reformation
Native Plant
Bromeliad
Native Plant
The Lupuna Tree
Native Plant
The Passion Flower
Information/Picture Citations
- www.softschools.com/facts/wonders_of_the.../amazon_rainforest.../98/
- http://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/401.html
- http://tropicalrainforestscience10.weebly.com/human-impacts.html
- http://www.jod.uk.com/media/291591/amazon-rainforest-hero.jpg?width=1280
- http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_conservation.html
- https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/9f/95/52/9f9552e4c873df3a162733bbd263ff3a.gif
- http://i.imgur.com/h8tZRQh.jpg
- http://radio-weblogs.com/0105910/images/rainforest.jpg
- http://usercontent1.hubimg.com/2887642_f248.jpg
- http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2012/4/26/1335451702817/A-golden-lion-tamarin-wit-008.jpg
- http://www.ecorazzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bromeliad.jpg
- http://www.peru-explorer.com/rainforest/images/heliconia.jpg
- http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/023/861/iFF/sumatra-deforestation-120124.jpg?1327433844
- http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/image/9/n/forest-fire-600x400.jpg
- http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_qLr-A8ZD1XI/SpYi2JnZyXI/AAAAAAAAAM0/FMg2TsDt7cg/s1600-h/rt_amazon_080528_ssh.jpg
- https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6035/6285638028_564000df3a_b.jpg
- http://vicvapor.com/files/2014/01/air-terjun-Amazon-forest.jpg
Created by: Tristain Graham