The clearance of land for timber or agricultural purposes threatens the stability and sustainability of ecosystems

• Ecosystem stability represents an environment’s capacity to resist change, while sustainability reflects its capacity to be renewed
  

Deforestation impacts climatic variables within an ecosystem – including temperature and rainfall

• Rainforests generate large amounts of atmospheric water vapour by transpiration
  

• This water vapour has a cooling effect and also influences air flow and rainfall patterns

• Water vapour is also a significant greenhouse gas and hence plays an important role in regulating global temperatures

It is posited that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could reach a tipping point beyond which the ecosystem is no longer stable

• The removal of large areas of trees will cause temperature and rainfall patterns to change significantly
  

• Temperature and rainfall are key factors in the rates of photosynthesis and nutrient cycling, which are critical processes within an ecosystem
  

• There is uncertainty over the minimum area of rainforest that is sufficient to maintain these processes
  

Deforestation Map (2015)