HOT REGIONS LANDSCAPES

Equatorial climate:
Location:
In areas near the Equator
• The Amazon Basin and parts
of Central America

• The Congo and the Gulf of Guinea

• South-east Asia

Natural conditions:
Temperatures are always very high, around
25ºC
Rainfall is very heavy:
• Evaporation is so intense and humidity so
high, than a small drop in temperatures can
cause torrential rain
 Rivers:
These rivers are among the highest
flowing and most regular on Earth,
due to the persistent rain

They have a brown colour because

of the fine soil that rainfall carries
into them

Vegetation; Rainforest:
Rain forest is dense and lush due to
the high temperatures and heavy
rainfall

It is the most biologically rich and

diverse environmental in the
planet, without dominant animals
or plants species
The vegetation grows at different levels depending on the light requirements
of each plant:

• Tall trees that grow toward the sunlight

• Shrubs, grasses and flowers

• The undergrowth is humid and dark

 Fauna:

Great variety of birds, reptiles, insects and mammals

Animals are usually small, to move

easily through the dense vegetation

Some species have disappeared or

are in danger of extinction due to
the continued exploitation of land
and forest
 Human activity:
The indigenous people survive by gathering fruit, hunting and rudimentary
agriculture:
• In Africa, America and Oceania, the low population density made them
possible to exist without destroying the natural habitat

• In Asia, more densely populated, rainforest is getting smaller as land

is cleared to cultivate rice, sugar cane, tea and rubber tree
The deforested of the rain forest has human causes:

• The felling of trees for commercial use

• To make way for vast rice, tea

and rubber tree plantations

• To make space for the

construction of roads, mining
activities or farms
 Tropical climate:

Location:

Between the Tropic of Cancer and the

Tropic of Capricorn

Natural conditions:

Temperatures are high all year

The rain mark two very different seasons:

• The wet season, in summer

• The dry season, in winter, longer further

from the Equator
 Rivers:
River flows vary greatly:

• During the dry season they carry very little water

• In the rainy season they overflow

and cause flooding

Vegetation:
Tropical forest:

Found in regions close to the Equator

Vegetation is similar to that of rainforest:

• It is less varied
• Trees are more widely spaced and
some lose their leaves in winter

Along rivers, dense gallery forest

 Savannah:
It has many grass and shrubs
Trees are scarce and grow in small
groups dispersed throughout the plain

During the wet season, the vegetation

remains green and lush, during the dry
season, the plant dry out and fires are
common

Steppe:

Further from the Equator, where the

wet season is shorter

Vegetation is made up of hard

leaves, thorny shrubs and areas of
bare soil
 Fauna:
Tropical forest:

Wide variety of bird species

Savannah:

The tall grasses and shrubs

attract a variety of
herbivorous animals and
their predators:

• Elephants, rhinos,
gazelles and zebras

• Lions, hyenas, and

cheetahs
 Human activity:
Extensive livestock farming:
By indigenous people of the
savannah, such as the Masai
They move around to find fresh
pastures for their livestock

A very dry season followed by delayed

rains can lead to famine

Livestock farming and crop

rotation:
By people form the savannah that lives in
villages
They alternate different plants to avoid
depleting the nutrients in the soil
 Plantation agriculture:

Extensive plantation dedicated to

the cultivation of crops, such as
coffee

They can completely alter the

traditional vegetation,
agriculture and landscape

They are owned by foreign

companies, which employ a local
workforce and export products to
Europe and North America

Foreign companies have created

extensive rail networks and large
commercial ports
 Hot desert Landscape:
Location:
Around the tropics:
• The Sahara, the Arabian, and the Kalahari

Alongside cold sea currents:

• Atacama desert, The
Namib, and the Great
Sandy Desert

Inland, away from the

influence of the sea:

• Gobi Desert and the

deserts of west central
North America
 Natural conditions:

Temperatures:
• The annual average is above 18ºC

• Significant oscillations between day and night

Precipitations:
• Very infrequent, irregular and usually falls as heavy downpours

Geological activity, wind, and altitude create different types of deserts:

• Sand deserts, with

dunes
• Stony deserts, with
sand, stone and rock
 Watercourses:
There are no permanent watercourses,
due to the lack of rainfall and the dry air

In some deserts there are wadis:

• Riverbeds that only contain water
when it rains, and remains dry for
most of the year

Vegetation:
Very few plants, adapted to the
harsh conditions:

• Small leaves to reduce

transpiration
 Fauna:
Without water and vegetation, very few animals can survive in the desert

Camels and dromedaries are tropical desert animals:

• They can go for a long time without water

• They can get water from the fat of

the humps

Other animals are nocturnal to take

advantage to the cool nights
 Human activity:
Nomadic herdsmen:

They live in the edge of deserts

The goats and camels graze on the

scarce vegetation found on the steppe

The nomads move around in search of underground sources of water

Sedentary population in the oasis:

Rare places where water from

underground streams rises to the surface
through springs and wells

The shade from the arboreal vegetation

protects crops
 Oil:

In some countries, oil finance new construction

techniques and materials to improve comfort

Oil is one of the factors in the expansion of

cities located in the desert:

Abu Dhabi Kuwait