CHAPTER 1 THE TECTONIC CYCLE

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13 Human Interaction with Biomes
The clearing and felling of forests in Ireland
from ancient settlers to present day The impact
of deforestation on the tropical rainforest biome
of Brazil Intensive agricultural practices and
the impact they have on the tropical rainforest
biome of Brazil Industrial development and the
impact it has had on the Temperate Forest Biome
of Europe
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Chapter 13 Human Interaction with Biomes

• Early settlement and clearing of forests,
  Ireland Temperate Forest Biome
• Deciduous mixed woodland
• 5,000 years, Neolithic people/Celts, farming and
  settlement
• West, overgrazing, Burren
• Increased 16th-century English and Scottish
  planters, agri, roads, towns
• 1922 1 natural forest
• Animals of biome extinct, e.g. wolf
• Open to soil erosion, loss of fertility
• 12 woodland in Ireland, lowest in rest of Europe
  is 31

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Chapter 13 Human Interaction with Biomes

• Felling tropical rainforest, Brazil tropical
  rainforest biome
• Yanomani tribe, slash and burn
• Subsistence, sustainable exploitation
• 1970s deforestation increased demand for
  hardwoods, e.g. teak
• 1800 2.9 b, today 1.5 b hectares
• Unsustainable exploitation
• 1950s building of capital Brasilia, large-scale
  deforestation, 2.3 m people
• Soil erosion, exposed, leaching, landslides and
  mudflows, sheet erosion, flooding
• Carbon sink, global warming

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Chapter 13 Human Interaction with Biomes

• Intensive agricultural practices, Brazil
  tropical rainforest biome
• Large cattle ranches, soya products
• MNCs, soil exhaustion, overused, fertilisers,
  soil compaction
• Soil erosion, denudation, nutrient cycle lost
  laterite
• Habitats destroyed, new species introduced,
  reduces biodiversity
• 25 all pharmaceutical drugs, e.g. Aspirin, new
  cures lost, e.g. AIDS and cancer
• Native people wiped out from 6 m in 1500s to
  250,000 today
• Brazilian government encourages deforestation
• By 2050 40 rainforest destroyed

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Chapter 13 Human Interaction with Biomes

• Industrial development in Europe Temperate
  Forest Biome
• Primary cause acid rain industrial activity
• 20 EU forests above critical load
• Reduces forest growth
• Aluminium levels in soil
• Nutrient leaching
• Fish aluminium poisoning