Ch – 8 Human Environmental Interactions: The Tropical And The Subtropical Region

The tropical region lies near the equator that’s why it is referred to as ‘equatorial region’.
The place where a river flows into another body of water is called the river’s mouth.
Amazon Basin
The Amazon river basin drains portions of Brazil, parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Columbia and a small part of Venezuela.
Climate in the basin is hot and wet.
At day, temperatures are high with high humidity and at night, the temperature goes down but humidity still remains high.
The forests are in fact so thick that the dense “roof” created by leaves and branches does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground.
The ground remains damp and dark.
Orchids, bromeliads grow as plant parasites.
Birds such as toucans , humming birds, bird of paradise with their brilliantly coloured plumage, oversized bills for eating, etc are found here.
Animals like monkeys, sloth and ant-eating tapirs are found here.
Various species of reptiles and snakes like Crocodiles, snakes, pythons, Anaconda and boa constrictor are found here.
Several species of fishes including the flesh eating Piranha fish is also found in the river.
People in this area practice slash and burn method of farming.
Men hunt and fish while women take care of their families by growing crops.
Mainly crops like tapioca, pineapple and sweet potato are grown.
The staple food is manioc, also known as cassava that grows under the ground like the potato.
Cash crops like coffee, maize and cocoa are also grown.
Some families live in thatched houses shaped like beehives while some live in large apartment-like houses called “Maloca” with a steeply slanting roof.
The developmental activities are leading to the gradual destruction of the biologically diverse rainforests.
Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin
The tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin in the Indian subcontinent.
The tributaries of the River Ganga like the Ghaghra, the Son, the Chambal, the Gandak, the Kosi and the tributaries of Brahmaputra drain it.
The region is dominated by monsoon climate.
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people where flat land is available to grow crops.
The main crop is paddy. Other crops grown in this region are maize, wheat, sorghum, gram, millets, sugarcane, jute, etc.
In the Ganga and Brahmaputra plain tropical deciduous trees grow, along with teak, sal and peepal. Thick bamboo groves are common in the Brahmaputra plain.
In parts of Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, coniferous trees like pine, deodar and fir can be seen.
Animals like elephants, tigers, deer and monkeys are common.
The most popular varieties of the fish are the rohu, catla and hilsa.
Fish and rice is the staple diet of the people living in the area.
The cities of Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Patna and Kolkata all with the population of more than ten lakhs are located along the River Ganga.
Tourism is an important activity in the basin.