Case studies - Life

• C.S: Amazon Rainforest, South America (pt.1)

  • covers 6 million km^2 of land, 70% in Brazil and 30% in Peru
  • has small seasonal variation in temperature - between 25.C and 30.C
  • large interception rates (15%) due to high vegetation concentration
  • high intensity precipitation of 2000mm
  • saturated soils with local runoff and groundwater systems due to slopes
  • is a global carbon sink, storing 2.4 billion tonnes a year
  • has high decomposition and photosynthesis rates
  • has porous geology consisting of sandstone and limestone which store rainwater and reduces amount of carbon that can be stored
• C.S: Amazon Rainforest, South America (pt.2) 


  Human factors affecting the flows of

  Water:

  • 17,500km^2/year lost to deforestation
  • Mandeira river flooded Porto Velho as it strained floodplains causing 60 deaths and cholera outbreak
  • deforestation in Peru and Bolivia accelerated runoff and reduced rainfall by 20%

  Carbon:

  • deforestation releases carbon biomass store
  • croplands replacing trees store lower amount of carbon
  • reduces organic inputs, leaving soils exposed to sunlight thus erosion, reducing carbon flow to atmosphere from soils
• C.S: Amazon Rainforest, South America (pt.3)

  Management strategies:

  > Protection through legislations against commercial developments

  > 7 NGOs implemented to protect rainforest:

  > ARPA project: 128 million acres saved, 1.4 billion tonnes of carbon avoided from release

  > UNs REED scheme: payment to countries for protecting rainforests and abandoning logging

  • Ghana payed $4.9 million in march 2023 for reducing 970 k tonnes of carbon emissions

  > 20 million hardwood trees grown - however, these cannot replicate the biodiversity of primary rainforest
• C.S: Artic Tundra (pt.1)

  • covers 8 million km^2 in Alaska, Siberia and North Canada
  • has a negative heat balance of -40. C
  • has limited vegetation and transpiration rates so low NPP and decomposition reducing carbon and water transfer to atmosphere
  • stores 1600 GT of carbon globally in impermeable permafrost
  • low annual precipitation of snow-maximum 350 mm
  • impermeable crystalline rocks prevent water drainage
  • gentle undulating plain offers minimal relief causing water logging in summer
  • due to increase in temperatures, permafrost melting releases methane and co2
• C.S: Artic Tundra (pt.2)

  Anthropogenic factors affecting the flows of

  Water:

  • North slope activities and oil production plants in Prudhoe Bay increases runoff, floods and evaporation due to melting of the permafrost
  • strip mining creates artificial lakes disrupting drainage

  Carbon:

  • installation and construction of oil and gas diffuses heat to environment
  • dust on road sides darkens snow surfaces increasing absorption of sunlight
  • removal of vegetation cover insulating permafrost, reduces co2 absorption
  • permafrost melting can release 30 million tonnes/year of carbon
• C.S: Artic Tundra (pt.3)

  Management strategies:

  > insulated ice and gravel pads

  > drilling laterally beyond drilling points

  > using computers to detect oil and gas bearing geological structures remotely, avoiding vehicle usage

  > elevated pipelines allows cold air to circulate beneath preventing melting of snow