Amazon Rain Forest

THE AMAZON RAIN FOREST

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Location

The yellow outlines the borders
of the Amazon Rain Forest in
South America. (4)

The Amazon Rain Forest is found in South America. The forest covers 78.57% of the Amazon Basin and spans across 9 countries. 60% of the forest can be found in Brazil. 13% can be found in Peru, 10% can be found in Columbia, and the remaining 17% can be found in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

This map not only shows an outline,
but also shows the countries that
contain the Amazon Rain Forest. (5)

History

The Amazon Rain Forest was created as a result of a series of natural events. About 15 million years ago, the Andes Mountains were formed when the South American and Nazca plate collided. This, along with the merge Brizilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the Amazon River and the valley formed became an inland sea. The area became a swamp with freshwater, and marine organisms adapted to the freshwater. One example is the over 20 species of stingray that live in Amazon freshwater and are related to stingray from the Pacific Ocean.

5 million years later, the Amazon lake or inland sea started to drain as a result of sea levels dropping during the Ice Age. The inland sea became a river and when ocean levels dropped enough, more land was revealed and mammals were able to migrate from North to South America to the Amazon Basin. The area became more filled with different types of plants and animals, and thus, the Amazon Rain Forest was born.

The region is one of the most species-rich biomes in the world. It is very diverse and 10% of the world's species can be found in the Amazon Rainforest. About 2.5 million inspect species, 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish species, 1294 bird species, 427 mammal species, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles are found in the area. More than 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of plants are found in the area.

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Current Human Impacts

The Amazon is home to 20 million people from 350 indigenous and ethnic groups; hence the opportunity for human impacts on the environment is large. As a result of the size of the Amazon rainforest (approximately 5.5 million square kilometers), even a low percentage of damage to this ecosystem can lead to disastrous effects for the planet. As such, it is important to understand the current threats the Amazon rainforest faces, as well as potential ways to alleviate this problem.

Many inhabitants in this ecosystem farm in the Amazon, and agricultural products include crops and livestock. This leads to one of the greatest impacts humans have on the environment – deforestation. 80% of deforestation in the Amazon can be traced to cattle farming, which is very land intensive. The traditional problems associated with cattle rearing also impact the Amazon as a result of this, including pasture run-off causing water pollution along the many rivers of the Amazon. Also, slash and burn techniques are employed in agriculture in the Amazon, which can lead to fires spreading to other parts of the forest.

The most current threat to the Amazon Rainforests is a lengthening of the dry season, which increases risk to the forests. This is related to the deforestation caused by the aforementioned agriculture practices. Air over deforested land warms faster, and the increased evaporation draws air from surrounding areas – leading to increased dryness in the ecosystem. Scientists have estimated that the dry season has increased by approximately 1 week every decade. This is caused by global warming, which moves the southern jet stream to a position blocking the cold fronts which usually cause rainfall. The lengthening of the dry season and the lack of rainfall due to cold fronts being blocked culminates in another threat the Amazon ecosystem faces – damaging droughts. Key examples include the droughts that occurred in 2005 and 2010. Drought can kill off healthy trees that were not under threat of deforestation. Hence, this is an instance where human activity is indirectly harming the ecosystem.

Moreover, infrastructure within the Brazilian part of the Amazon has been planned poorly from an environmental standpoint. One of the main issues is hydroelectric power, which requires dams to hold water in a reservoir. However, the locations of these dams are not conducive to conservation, and can divert the flow of natural rivers and impact marine life.

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Likely Future Prospects

Efforts are underway to conserve the Amazon rainforests, with many organizations and charities seeking to increase awareness and funding for conservation efforts, including the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy. Moreover, due to the increase in awareness, Brazil has taken a more proactive stance towards protecting the Amazon, with deforestation having decreased from 28,000 square kilometers in 2004 to under 7,000 square kilometers in 2011 (Figures from Scientific American). However, this may change with the political climate of Brazil, as anti-deforestation legislation can be repealed. In fact, recent reforms in Brazilian anti-deforestation laws are cited as a factor in a 28% increase in deforestation in 2012. Meanwhile, other efforts are underway including the establishment of protected areas and working with indigenous people to protect the ecosystem.

Future prospects for this ecosystem, should conservation efforts be ineffective, are bleak. The main threat of deforestation comes not only from agricultural activities, but also government programs. A federal development plan put forth by the Brazilian government called ‘Avança Brasil’ was projected to increase deforestation by 14.3% - 26.8%, thus causing 28% - 42% of the Amazon basin to be deforested in 20 years time (Kirby et al., 2005). This puts into perspective the importance of conserving the ecosystem, since the Amazon rainforests helps with carbon sequestration – a process whereby carbon dioxide is captured and stored, in this case, by trees in the Amazon.

Interestingly, recent studies have shown that trees in the Amazon rainforest are growing faster than expected for its age. This has a beneficial side effect since the faster growth allows the trees to be larger carbon sinks – the total amount of carbon sequestration is 400 million metric tons of carbon annually. However, researchers do not know the exact cause of this growth; some have speculated that the growth increase may be due to climate change and increased carbon dioxide levels, while others claim it might be due to the forest recovering from some unknown event in the past. This leads to an interesting dynamic – even though climate change is impacting the Amazon, it would seem that an increased amount of carbon is being stored by the trees in this ecosystem. This highlights the importance of the Amazon in the global ecological system, and why we need to preserve it.

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What Can Be Done To Improve The Ecosystem?

The deforestation rate of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has gone up and down dramatically for a few times in the past twenty years. However, in the last ten years, the Brazilian government really started to realize the importance of protecting the rainforest. Now the government is using advanced technology such as satellite imaging and remote sensing to fight against deforestation. Specifically, Landsat 7 satellite (3) is used to detect and map out the deforestation area, then IBAMA, the Brazilian environment agency, send out forces to arrest the illegal loggers.

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The fight against deforestation is a constant effort and takes extraordinary amount of work. But stopping deforestation is just the beginning. The Brazilian government needs to start reforestation once they win the battle against deforestation. In fact, certain areas in Brazil, such as the misty forests of Miguel Pereira, have become the model in reforestation. According to the Guardian, the result of this global campaign is very significant: “Three years in, the results are visually impressive. More than 950 hectares of formerly brown and barren hillsides are once again lush with the native species of the Atlantic forest, such as yellow flowering Araguaney and fast-growing Angico Artemisiana – some of which are almost 10 metres tall.”

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Sources:

(1) "Amazon Loses One Third Of Trees In A Year." Blackle Mag Amazon Loses One Third Of Trees In A Year Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013

(2) "Amazon Rainforest Carbon Sink Threatened By Drought." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 09 Mar. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2013

(3) "Droughts May Turn Amazon Rainforest into Major Pollutor, Scientists Warn." Earth Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013

(4) "Amazon Rainforest." - Geography Reference Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

(5) "Environmental Maps Enviro-Map.com." Amazon Rainforest Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013
(6)"Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest." Climate Change Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
(7)"Stock Photo - Blue Poison Dart Frog, Poisonous Animal of Amazon Rainforest in Suriname, Endangered Species Kep as Exotic Pet in Rain Forest Terrarium, Jungle Amphibian."123RF Stock Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(8) "The Amazon: The World's Largest Rainforest." Mongabay.com N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

(9) " The Amazon." The Amazon. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(10 "Increased Dry-season Length over Southern Amazonia in Recent Decades and Its Implication for Future Climate Projection." Increased Dry-season Length over Southern Amazonia in Recent Decades and Its Implication for Future Climate Projection. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(11) "The Amazon Basin in Transition." Nature (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

(12)WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.

(13) "Global Warming Forecast for Amazon Rain Forest: Dry and Dying." LiveScience.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013

(14) "The Climate Brief Accurate Reporting of Climate Science." Drying in the Amazon Rainforest. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(15)"Amazon Rainforest Deforestation..." AMAZON RAINFOREST DEFORESTATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
(16) "Amazon Trees Grow Fastest in Dry Season." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 22 Mar. 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(17) "Brazil Says Amazon Deforestation Rose 28% in a Year." BBC News. BBC, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
(18) "The Future of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

(19) "More than 40 Years in the Amazon." WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(20) Rainforest in Transition: Is the Amazon Transforming before Our Eyes?: Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.

(21) "Efforts Pay off in Fighting Deforestation in Brazil." Marketplace.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013

(22) "Brazil's Blueprint for Reforestation." The Guardian. N.p.d, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013