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Rainforest Geography Worksheet

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Rainforest Geography Worksheet

You are advising a conservation team comparing two tropical rainforest regions. Read the case study and use the data to explain how physical processes and human decisions shape rainforest environments. Use evidence in your answers. Total: 30 marks.

Case study: two rainforest frontiers

The fictional Matariki Basin lies in a humid tropical region. Its rainforest stores carbon, supports high biodiversity and helps regulate water flows. A new road has made it easier to reach the forest edge. Some residents want jobs from farming and timber; others rely on forest foods, clean water and cultural sites. A conservation group proposes protecting a continuous forest corridor while allowing carefully monitored harvesting in community-managed areas. A second region, the Koru Highlands, is also tropical but has steep slopes and scattered villages. Forest clearance there has increased soil erosion and made streams muddy after heavy rain. Both regions experience year-round warmth, high rainfall and rapid nutrient cycling, although local conditions vary.

Indicator

Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Forest cover in study area

92%

86%

79%

Annual cleared area

120 km²

210 km²

340 km²

Average dry-season stream sediment

18 mg/L

27 mg/L

41 mg/L

Investigate and recommend

Answer using the case study and monitoring data. Where a question asks you to explain, connect causes to consequences.

1.Tropical rainforests are commonly found close to the Equator. Explain how strong solar heating and rising moist air help produce the warm, wet conditions that support them.

2.In a tropical rainforest, the canopy is the layer formed by the crowns of tall trees. Identify one way the canopy affects conditions on the forest floor.

3.Rainforest soils are often not as nutrient-rich as the lush vegetation suggests. Explain how rapid nutrient cycling can maintain dense plant growth even when soils are relatively poor.

4.From Year 1 to Year 5, by how many percentage points did forest cover fall in the Matariki Basin?

5.Choose the best-supported inference from the monitoring data.

Increasing forest clearance is associated with more sediment in streams.
Stream sediment fell as annual clearing increased.
The data prove that rainfall decreased over the five years.
Forest cover increased as the cleared area grew.

6.Use the Koru Highlands case study to explain how clearing forest on steep slopes can increase stream sediment after heavy rain.

7.Name one possible benefit and one possible cost of the new road for people living near the Matariki Basin rainforest.

8.The conservation group proposes a continuous forest corridor and community-managed harvesting areas. Explain one environmental advantage and one challenge of this approach.

9.Suggest one practical way people, businesses or government in Aotearoa New Zealand could help reduce pressure on tropical rainforests. Explain the link between the action and rainforest conservation.

10.Write a short recommendation to the Matariki Basin conservation team. Use at least two details from the monitoring data and one detail from the case study to justify a balanced action.