...Madagascar Rainforest Madagascar, located approximately 400 kilometers east of Africa is the world's fourth largest island. Because of its isolation it is occupied by some of the most unusual and rare species of plants and animals on earth. Madagascar was at one time formerly an independent kingdom; became a French colony in 1896 and regained independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free presidential and National Assembly elections were held ending 17 years of single-party rule(Science 1990). The main historical problem with international trade has been the correlated destruction of the environment. This is especially true when it comes to the issue of deforestation. In Madagascar, (Economic Geography, 1993) people have been cutting down the forests for decades. Throughout the past century, much of the rainforests of Madagascar have disappeared. People have begun moving out of the cities, industries have started to expand, and the use of land for farming (particularly coffee) has dramatically increased. All of these phenomenons have led to the destruction of the forest of Madagascar. Many plants and animal species have been severely endangered due to the deforestation (New Scientist 1990). With a current population near 14 million and growing at roughly 3% yearly combined with a per capita income of $230 per year, the major threats to the remaining forest are driven by subsistence needs and cutting for fuel. This has become a major issue, not only because of the value...
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...Madagascar Associate Level Material Lemurs in Madagascar Assignment View the “Lemurs in Madagascar – Surviving on an Island of Change” video. Using the information found in this video, and in Ch. 5 and 6 of Visualizing Environmental Science, answer the following questions in 25 to 100 words each. 1. What are Madagascar’s biomes? Discuss the major features of at least one of these biomes. Use the textbook for biome examples. The biome of Madagascar is a tropical rainforest. The first layer is the top of trees. The second layer is where you find lots of leaves that block most of the sunlight. The last layer is the ground of the forest. 2. Which types of lemurs are adapting to the changes? Which types of lemurs are not adapting well? Why? What changes happening in Madagascar are posing challenges for lemurs? Give details about the sources, time scale, and types of change. Human destruction, such as logging, is happening at a much faster pace than evolutionary change. The amount of change occurring in Madagascar as a result of human activities is happening at such a rapid pace, in fact, that the environment and evolutionary process just can’t cope. 3. What behavioral and physical traits are being favored in lemurs in the changing Madagascar environment? The types of lemurs adapting to changes are the ones who are able to adapt well to secondary habitats (habitats altered by humans). One example is the ring-tailed lemur. They are incredibly adaptable....
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...Lemurs in Madagascar Melissa Cotham SCI/275 September 8, 2013 Stacey Laub Lemurs in Madagascar 1. What are Madagascar’s biomes? Discuss the major features of at least one of these biomes. Use the textbook for biome examples. Madagascar’s biggest biome is a tropical rainforest. A tropical rainforest biome primarily consists of warm weather, wet plants, and fungi ridden soils. There are three important layers of a tropical rainforest. The emergent layer, 50 m up; where vegetation grows in full sunlight. The canopy (middle) layer, 3-40 m up; provides protection of too harsh of sun to low light plants below. Finally the understory (ground level) where plants and animals only receive 2-3 percent of light from above. 2. What changes happening in Madagascar are posing challenges for lemurs? Give details about the sources, time scale, and types of change. Changes happening in Madagascar that are posing threats are the rapid environmental changes caused by humans. The changes that which humans are making are for the ‘sake-of-human-kind’. Although these changes may benefit humans, we are depleting the resources of the lemurs. For example the bamboo lemur (that eats only bamboo); will no longer be in existence, once all of the bamboo tress has been destroyed. 3. Which types of lemurs are adapting to the changes? Which types of lemurs are not adapting well? Why? The lemurs that are adapting well are the lemurs with the ability to thrive in secondary habitats...
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...Since the island of Madagascar has always been of great interest to me because of its exclusivity and biodiversity I was drawn to the vignette in Chapter 9. The fourth largest island in the world, situated in the Indian Ocean; Madagascar is home to an extraordinary variety of plants an animal species. As the text states, 85% of plant species and 90% of animal species are endemic to the island. Home to 21 million people, Madagascar’s numerous ethnic and religious groups only embellish the nation’s vivid diversity. We must take into account the islands geographic history to understand its biodiversity today. Madagascar was stuck between what we now know as Africa and South America and what we now know as India on the Gondwanaland supercontinent....
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...Who here has ever been on an island? How about the island of Madagascar? Well those of you who haven’t been I’m with you but I have heard of a strange animal called an Aye-Aye. Do anybody knows what’s an Aye-Aye? Well that’s why I’m standing in front of you today to show and tell you about this strange creature and where it came from. II. I will inform you about the information I picked up from my 12th grade teacher, national geographic, and from bbc. III. The Aye-Aye is an amusing animal that is an educational topic to study and tell others about. IV. First I will explain what’s an Aye-Aye, its behavior and lifestyle, and then its habitat and superstition. What is an Aye-Aye? Are they dangerous or an effect to our surroundings? Why does it look like that? Well I’ll tell you why. I. An Aye-Aye is a related to the lemur and is a standout amongst the most abnormal primates on the planet, to such an extent that it was initially named a rodent. A. An Aye-Aye are related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans. Aye-Ayes are dim tan or dark and are recognized by a ragged tail that is bigger than their body. They additionally have huge eyes, slim fingers, and vast, delicate ears. Aye-Ayes have pointed claws on all their fingers and toes with the exception of their opposable enormous toes, which empower them to dangle from limbs. B. The Aye-aye can be found in a number of locations including Madagascar. It has an average life span of 20 years and is now protected...
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...Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar (Malagasy: Repoblikan'i Madagasikara [republiˈkʲan madaɡasˈkʲarə̥]; French: République de Madagascar) and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the southeastern coast of Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world), as well as numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from India around 88 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90 percent of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population. Initial human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BCE and 550 CE by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around 1000 CE by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel. Other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is often divided into eighteen or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by a fragmented assortment of shifting socio-political alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century...
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...Today Madagascar has lost about 90% of its forest due to logging, burning, and other commercial practices (5).These Madagascan animals are becoming extinct because of deforestation, being hunted for food, and being sold in illegal pet trade market. The animals also lose their habitats because they live in poor areas that log for money. Some animals became extinct when carnivorous fish were introduced to the ecosystem. Deforestation has caused the loss of the Fossa’s hunting territory. This has also cut off one of the animals main food sources i.e. fruit from the trees. Many other animals are threatened to be extinct because of human interaction, which has created pollution, which is slowly killing all the fish. Out of all the different 52%...
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...“Islands are fragile” (O’Riodan, 2009). The delicate and sensitive entities of islands need to be managed by the stakeholders in a sustainable way in order to maintain the natural and cultural environment. Sustainable tourism is defined as “tourism that is economically viable but does not destroy the resources on which the future of tourism will depend, notably the physical environment, and the social fabric of the host community.” (Brent, R., 2003). Islands suffer from special problems such as their limited carrying capacity, their lack of product diversity, their history, their peripheral and isolated nature, as well as having large endemism in regard to species. These problems can have diverse and wide ranging effects on stakeholders’ abilities to set up sustainable tourism projects. Space or carrying capacity is a major constraint on the creation of sustainable tourism projects. There is, as Bramwell (2004) suggests, an absolute restricted resource base which should act as a restrictive band on development and prevent sprawling unsustainable development. Developers and tour operators are at loggerheads with environmental agencies over this, as they are seeking quick short term profits with disregard for the future of the islands. This is shown in Bali, Indonesia on ‘Rama Beach’ the sea is littered with dead fish, oil and litter from the Rama beach hotel (personal obvs., 2010). This detracts from the selling points of an island resort (sun, sea and sand). Butler’s (1980)...
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...The Mascarene martin or Mascarene swallow (Phedina borbonica) is a passerine bird in the swallow family that breeds in Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The nominate subspecies occurs on Mauritius and Réunion and has never been found away from the Mascarene Islands, but the smaller Madagascan subspecies, P. b. madagascariensis, is migratory and has been recorded wintering in East Africa or wandering to other Indian Ocean islands. The Mascarene martin is a small swallow that has grey-brown underparts becoming white on the throat and lower abdomen, dark grey-brown upperparts and a slightly forked tail. The underparts are heavily streaked with black. It nests in small colonies anywhere with suitably sheltered sites for constructing a nest, such as ledges, buildings, tunnels, caves or amongst rocks. The nest is a shallow cup of twigs and other plant material, and the normal clutch is two or three brown-spotted white eggs. The incubation and fledging times are unknown. The Mascarene martin has a heavy flight with slow wingbeats interspersed with glides, and frequently perches on wires. It feeds on insects in flight, often hunting low over the ground or vegetation. In eastern Africa, open habitats such as deforested areas are frequently used for hunting. A number of internal and external parasites have been detected in this species. Tropical cyclones can adversely affect populations on the smaller islands, but the Mascarene martin is a locally common bird with an apparently...
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...John Doe AAS-290 The Magnificent Cake In the 1th century Africa was considered a “magnificent cake”, this phrase was a metaphor for African soil. Africa was divided up into new colonies by Europeans. After the end of slavery in Africa, Europeans wanted to expand their empires for industrialization and trade. This was called the “scrabble for Africa”, which consisted of the France, England, Portugal, Germany, and Denmark and they all wanted a piece of African soil hence the metaphor the “magnificent African cake” because Africa was divided amongst these countries like slices to a cake. The early resistance to European invasion was the early British takeover of southern Africa. The British took the Ashanti nation forcefully. The king of the Ashanti was publicly humiliated after surrendering. He was forced to kiss the British commander's boot. The Portuguese farmers were forced to grow cotton for export to Portugal. The price per unit of cotton was fixed by Portugal. The farmers were forced to sell great quantities of cotton at low prices. So many farmers were forced to produce cotton that there was a shortage of crops in Mozambique. The people began to pressure the government to become more liberal. Stronger demands became common, to the point of requesting a full-fledged democracy. The ideas were not only confined to the elite of the colonies, however, the elite held protests. Farmers face grievances from Portugal because farmers were forced to grow cotton for export...
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...Dr. William Mosley Jensen HCOMM 4350 Nsalu Mbwette Rough Draft Provision of foreign aid to Africa African continent has struggled with chronic poverty and under-development. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been given to African governments. More billions were lent to these same governments. Countless tons of food have inundated the continent, and swarms of consultants, experts, and administrator have descended to solve Africa’s problems. However the state of development in Africa is no better today than it was when all this started. Per capita income, for most of Africa, is either stagnant or declining. For this debate analysis I will address the different types of aids foreign nations give to African countries. I will also discuss the debate of the advantages and disadvantages of the provision of foreign aid to Africa. In the end I will provide a conclusion on what I think should be done. Over the past 6o years at least $1 trillion of development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Yet real per capita income today is lower than it was in the 1970s, and more than 50% of the population over 350 million people live on less than a dollar a day, a figure that has nearly doubled in two decades. Food aid is the source of the international aid system, although it represents only a small proportion of total aid. With the help of international emergency response, famines and other natural and human-made disasters no longer kill...
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... Up until the eighteenth century, Europeans satisfied themselves with trading posts throughout the vast continents of Africa and Asia as well as brief missionary activity. However, burgeoning industrial economies and competition between nations soon gave way to new imperialism. The abundance of natural resources and significant economic opportunities in Africa made it the perfect prototype for new imperialism (Document 6). European explorers were more than eager to trek through uncharted territories and claim it for their monarchs. Meanwhile, priests believed that they carried the responsibility to educate these "savages" and spread Christianity, all in the name of the Lord. Through direct and indirect rule, European imperialism brought an era of squalor and oppression upon the indigenous people of Africa, forcing the continent to the verge of a great rebellion. The aftermath of European imperialism can only be describe as wide and varied, altering the face and future of Africa. The negative treatment of the people powered the response of the African nationalist movement as retaliation. Direct rule, the system in which representatives from the imperial monarch directly intervenes in local politics, But through tracing the origin of imperialism, it could be found that they sowed seeds of discord and tension among Africans themselves that would lead to eruption of independence movements at the beginning of the twentieth century, through indirect rule (Spielvogel and McTighe 235)...
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...The Drum D’Angelo Tolbert American International University Topics in Cultural Studies September 23, 2012 Shari Manley The Drum and Rhythm When it comes to my culture and people were are people of the rhythm. The way we have kept the rhythm has been the way of the drum. As African American we are lovers of the beat and though we only use the drum entertain we understand that it is something more. Though we as a people have went through many transformations the drum has remain practically the same. The most common a style of drum was called a membranophone (Dean, 2011). The Drum is a basic design being formed out of a hollowed cylinder body normally made out of wood, gourd, or metal. On the top of the cylinder typically a plastic or leather membrane is stretched over each end. As there are different styles of drums you have bongos, steel drums, snares, bass, tom, and so much more. We are not sure when the drum was originally invented but is first recorded in the history books around 6000 BC. Museums actually have drums excavated from Mesopotamia that have dated back as far as 3000 B.C. Even looking at the Aztec and Mynas we see that they recorded on several of their wall paintings showcasing the drum as a vital part of their lives. Looking at my culture and descendants we come to understand that the drum was used in every aspect of their lives. African used the drum as a first telephone communicating in beat several villages away the drum help settle disputes...
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...The Era of Imperialism During the late 1900’s Europe decided it was in the nation’s best interest to expand their territory and bring inferior race’s under its control. The Europeans would not be the first to expand however they did go one step further, choosing occupied areas. Africa, Asia and the Pacific were three of the first areas to be conquered and permanently occupied. Industrial Revolution empowered Europeans in a way they hadn’t been empowered before; industrialization and technology changed the very nature of imperialism. The European’s possessed knowledge of technology and fire power that no one else could compare to. The Europeans felt that it was their duty as well as their right to progress the rest of human civilization by teaching them their own western ways. Because the Europeans reaped the benefits of profit and global power they felt as if they were justified in their actions. Regardless of how powerful the Europeans were, not everyone shared their views. People questioned their motives and claims of everyone benefiting from the European-style colonization. Eventually those who became subject to the Europeans, became aware of the own lost culture and ways, this began the protest of anti-colonial nationalist. Justifications of Imperialism “Something else is needed for France: that she cannot merely be a free country, that she must also be a great country, exercising all of her rightful influence over the destiny of Europe; that she ought...
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...In 2008 African Command began conducting formal operations and from that time to the present much work has been done. However, could we accomplish more lasting results that would benefit Africans by adjusting the method in which we approach the problem? By 10 September 2011 Word count 1885 United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), while unique in nature and mission design, is best suited today to meet the opportunities and challenges it currently is faces with in Africa than any other time in its short four year history. AFRICOM is designed to promote United States national security objectives by working with African Nations and regional organizations in an effort to strengthen stability and ensure security within the continent of Africa. Since becoming operational in 2008, AFRICOM now sits in a prime position from which lasting results can be achieved. After four years of forging relationships and developing trust among its associated partners and working with leading Intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and Non-governmental organizations (NGO), AFRICOM should now adjust its approach to achieving security and stability by taking a new concentrated approach in terms of “One Nation One Year”. Security and stability are directly linked to development. Underdeveloped nations create safe haven areas where terrorist organizations can flourish which is a major concern as it directly has the potential to threaten United States national security and world prosperity...
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