Tropical rainforest

• They are found 25 degrees north or south of the equator
• They have high temperatures that coincide with high levels of rainfall all year round
• They have high biodiversity due to the abiotic conditions present e.g. high rainfall
• Plants may outcompete each other for light, so some plants are epiphytes: they grow on the branches of other plants to reach higher light levels in the canopy
• Species are adapted to the stable conditions of the climax community, making them vulnerable to extinction due to the low range of tolerance to environemental change
• High light levels enable high rate of photosynthesis
• There are no seasonal fluctuations
• Most trees are deciduous providing dead matter all year round
• Plants produce seeds and fruit at different times of the year
• High biodiversity is important for biomemetrics, medical discoveries, food species etc
• Rainforest is important for resources such as fibres, timber, wood
• Rainforest is important for climate maintainace, rainforest increase downwind rainfall
• Rainforest are important for carbon sequestration, they photosynthesise, store large amounts of carbon and help reduce the greenhouse effect
• Rainforest are important in soil maintainance, the warm moist condition allow dead vegetation to decay rapidly
• Fulwood collection is a threat due to wood being the most important domestic fuel in rural areas
• Due to timber being used in construction, furniture and it being exported to larger companies timber harvesting has become a threat
• Clearance for alternative land use is a major threat to rainforests
• Land may be cleared for subsistence agriculture which involves small clearings so the fertile soil can be exploited for farming of a small community
• Land may be cleared for commercial farming which involves large scale schemes
• Land may be cleared for mineral extraction due to the high abundance of precious minerals and metals such as bauxite
• Land may also be cleared for tourism, resovouirs or housing
• Debt for nature conservation schemes involve a trade of a countries debt in return for the promise of conservation of a specific area of land
• Debt for nature swaps can help global conservation by ensuring vulnerable habitats and species aare Managed sustainably, preventing biodiversity loss
• Debt for nature swaps can however take years to negotiate, during this time the more expensive it becomes
• Some conservation schemes include Cameroon Brazil and belize
• Belize conservation scheme: rio bravo conservation scheme in Belize covers 100,000 hectares of rainforest habitats. It is funded by conservation charities and donations from companies. Sustainable exploitation of high value timber also helps to pay for forest exploitation done by selective logging