Section B : The living world

• Tropical rainforests


  This biome is home to the greatest number of plant and animal species
• Location of rainforests


  a belt across central and South America, Western parts of central Africa (it is too dry in the east), in parts of Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and even in Northern Australia.
• 2000mm+


  of rainfall per year
• 27 °C

  Minimum average temperature in a tropical rainforest
• Canopy


  Dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forest trees
• Emergents


  the tallest trees in the rainforest towering above the canopy, such as the capoc
• Shrub layer


  layer of forest containing shrubs and other short plants
• Buttress roots


  Large roots that offer stability in the soil
• Lianas


  Climbing woody vines that drape rainforest trees.
• Drip tip leaves


  allow the heavy rain to drop off the leaf
• Development opportunities :

  Tourism

  -2 million tourists

  -60% of tiurists in the summer go via cruises

  -attractions include mountains, glaciers, snow boarding

  -1 in 8 jobs are related to tourism —> with around 750,000 permenant residents

  -in 2018 $4.5 billion contrubuted to the economy, $5.6 billion in 2022
• Development opportunities :

  Fishing

  - Alaska has 3,000 rivers, 3 million lakes, 10,686 km of coastline

  -fishing takes place on the south coast

  - salmon, crab, whitefish are fished

  -10% of all jobs are provided by fishing

  -$8 billion contributed to the economy
• Development opportunities :

  Mineral extraction + energy

  -coal, copper, silver, zinc, gold mined —> 20% of all mineral wealth lies in gold —> $2.1 billion of non energy commodities is gravel

  -prudhoe bay in the north to Valdez in the south —> oil transferred via trans-Alaskan pipes

  -oil transported to mainland USA by companies e.g Alaskan pipeline which transports oil 1287km through mountains
• Advantages + disadvantages of oil mining in Alaska

  Advantages :

  -provides jobs

  -accounts for 90% of tax raises

  —> multiplier effect + quality of life increases via new infrastructure

  
  

  Disadvantages:

  -locals account for only 20% of workers —> rest are migrants who stay only temporarily —> this prevents the multiplier effect

  -possible oil spills —>e.g oil spill in 1989 which killed over 5,000 sea otters
• Why is oil,production in Alaska decreasing?

  - mining companies have closed down

  - trying to ease out of oil for energy
• Problems + opportunities of Alaskas inaccessibility

  Problems:

  -need to rely on frozen rivers for transport —> dangerous

  -difficult access for locals e.g difficulty in hospital transport

  
  

  Opportunities:

  -landscape is natural + protected
• Challenges with building the trans- Alaskan pipeline

  - extreme temperature + conditions made construction difficult

  -cost over $ 8 billion and needed over 10,000 workers

  -required specialised techniques

  -oil tanks can crack + spill due to extreme conditions
• Reasons why wilderness should be protected:

  1) indigenous people inhabit some cold environments —> their culture could depend on the preservation of the natural environment

  2) home to a range of species native to that environment

  3) global moral responsibility to conserve wilderness

  4)scientists need to access unspoilt environments to conduct research

  5) fragile environments take years to recover
• Strategies to manage cold environments

  - technology

  - government

  -international agreements

  - conservation groups
• Table of strategies to manage fold environments + how