2.5 Case Study - Amazon Rainforest

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

• The Amazon is located in Northern and Central South America.
• It’s most westerly edge in Brazil touches the Atlantic ocean.
• The Amazon is located across several countries; Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Surinam.

Question 2

Amazon statistics

Answer 2

• It is home to 1000 species of bird and 60,000 species of plants
• 10 million species of insects live in the Amazon
• It is home to 20 million people, who use the wood, cut down trees for farms and for cattle.
• It covers 2.1 million square miles of land and 40% of the South American continent
• The Amazon is home to almost 20% of species on Earth

Question 3

History of the Amazon

Answer 3

• The Amazon caught the public’s attention in the 1980s when a series of shocking news reports said that an area of rainforest the size of Belgium was being cut down and subsequently burnt every year.
  
  • This deforestation has continued to the present day according to the Sao Paulo Space Research Centre.
  • In 2005 they had lost 17% of Amazon rainforest or 650,000 square kilometres.

Question 4

Food Web of the Amazon

Answer 4

The Producers - the trees, shrubs, bromeliads and other plants.
The Primary Consumers – the macaws, monkeys, agouti, tapir, butterflies, sloths, toucans.
The Secondary Consumers – the jaguar and boa constrictor.
The Decomposers – mushrooms, insects and microorganisms.