Unit 4: People and the Environment: Tropical Rainforest Key Word Glossary

St Ivo School Geography Department Revision Quiz - Tropical Rainforest Key Word Glossary

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A community of living animals and plants and their interactions with their non-living environment (air, water, soils)Ecosystem
Continuous recycling of mineral nutrients (e.g. carbon and nitrogen) around an ecosystem between the atmosphere, soil and living organismNutrient cycle
A dense continuous upper layer to the rainforest, most photosynthesis takes place hereCanopy
Situated below the canopy. Saplings ready to advantage of a gap in the canopy aboveUndercanopy
The tallest trees in the rainforest - may reach up to 50mEmergents
Thick roots extending up to 10m up a tree, providing support for tall trees growing up towards the sunlightButtress Roots
Leaves have small tips at the end to funnel off heavy rainfallDrip tips
Woody climbers that use trees to help them reach up towards the sunlightLianas
Characteristic of Tropical Rainforests due to their equatorial location. Intense heating occurs, warm air rises, cools and condenses forming thick clouds (often accompanied by storms)Convectional Rainfall
The deliberate removal of trees - in this case from the rainforestDeforestation
This is where although logging takes place it is managed to ensure that the forest is not damaged and that volumes of wood extracted are low.Sustainable Logging
An alternative to timber for earning money from the rainforests (includes fibres; fruits; honey; seeds etc.)Non-timber forest products
A traditional activity using the forest in a sustainable way as it doesn't involve the cutting down of the tree. Rubber is extracted from slits in the bark.Rubber Tapping
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