Environmental Constraints and Adaptation to Global Changes

Abstract

The Great Amazonian basin is flat, between equator and 15°S with altitudes not exceeding 200 m with a wet equatorial climate (Strahler 1969). The climate is characterized by a mean monthly temperature of 25–28 °C and abundant rainfall of more than 2000 mm/year. The attributes ideal for rubber cultivation are (a) 2000–4000 mm rainfall distributed over 100–150 rainy days/annum (Watson 1989), (b) mean annual temperature of around ±28 °C with a diurnal variation of about 78 °C (Barry and Chorley 1976) and (c) sunshine hours of about 2000 h/year at the rate of 6 h/day in all months (Ong et al. 1998). In a study with hydrothermal index, Rao et al. (1993) rationalized Senai of Malaysia (1°36’N; 103°39’E) to be the most suitable for rubber cultivation and production.