Tropical Rainforests Practice Questions

Figure 1 shows the average monthly temperature and rainfall for a weather station in the tropical rainforest of Country X, which lies close to the Equator.

Figure 1 shows the estimated causes of tropical rainforest clearance in Country Y between 2015 and 2020.

Figure 1: Three animals found in tropical rainforests

• A sloth, which moves very slowly through the canopy and has green algae growing in its fur.
• A toucan, which has a very long, lightweight beak and feeds on fruit growing at the ends of thin branches.
• A poison dart frog, which is brightly coloured and lays its eggs in small pools of water trapped in plants growing high above the forest floor.

Figure 1 shows the annual area of rainforest cleared in Country Z, an NEE in South America, between 2004 and 2020. Country Z introduced stricter laws against illegal logging in 2006 and set up a national satellite monitoring system. Since 2014, world prices for beef and soya have risen and the government has reduced funding for forest protection.

Figure 1: Strategies used to manage tropical rainforests

• Selective logging and replanting
• Ecotourism lodges owned by local communities
• Debt-for-nature swaps
• International agreements on the trade in tropical hardwoods, eg FSC certification
• National parks, conservation projects and education programmes

Figure 1: Some information about tropical rainforests

• Tropical rainforests contain over half of the world's plant and animal species.
• About 25% of the medicines used today come from rainforest plants.
• Rainforests store huge amounts of carbon and return large amounts of water vapour to the atmosphere.
• Millions of people, including indigenous groups, live in rainforests and depend on them for food, water, shelter and medicine.
• Rainforests supply hardwood timber, rubber, nuts and fruit that are traded around the world.