...Deforestation of Tropical Rainforests Gabriel Corbeil ENV/GEO 120 March 20, 2015 Introduction: Tropical rainforests represent an important percentage of the globes biodiversity. This ecosystem is estimated to house 50% of all plant, insect and animal life. Covering less than 7% of Earth’s surface, it nonetheless is attributed with producing 20% of our oxygen supply. This unique biome arcs like a green arrow along the equatorial line. Its primary locations are South America, Central Africa and South-East Asia. Each region is facing varying degrees of serious deforestation. The result being widespread loss of humid tropical forest “Between 1990 and 1997, 5.8 ± 1.4 million hectares of humid tropical forest were lost each year, with a further 2.3 ± 0.7 million hectares of forest visibly degraded.” (Achard et al. 2002) The heart of the problem lies beneath a tangled mess of socio-economic growth resulting in massive deforestation chiefly for the land. Commercial farmers using the land for cattle, soybeans, palm oil and monoculture tree farms take advantage of loose government regulations. The most common tactic for land for forest removal is “slash and burn” where existing vegetation is cut down and burned for fertilizer. This technique has major impacts on multiple cycles key to forest health. Most notably the hydrological cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the carbon cycle. If this trend continues there will be major changes in precipitation and air quality, both locally and globally...
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...Even though rainforests cover only 7% of the Earth’s dry land, they harbor about half of all species on Earth. Many species are so specialized to microhabitats within the forest that they can only be found in small areas. Their specialization makes them vulnerable to extinction. In addition to the species lost when an area is totally deforested, the plants and animals in the forest that remain also become increasingly vulnerable, sometimes even vulnerable to extinction. The edges of the fragments dry out and are buffeted by hot winds; mature rainforest trees often die standing at the margins. Cascading changes in the types of trees, plants, and insects that can survive in the fragments rapidly reduces biodiversity in the forest that remains. People may disagree about whether the extinction of other species through human action is an ethical issue, but there is little doubt about the practical problems that extinction poses (Lindsey, Rebecca .2007). Deforestation also disturbs the carbon cycle and the production of fresh...
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...The effect of human interaction on Shannon diversity along the organic horizon Craig Michael Hansen Department of Botany, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater Ok 74078 ABSTRACT This study aims to ascertain information on diversity of invertebrates in samples gathered from both near a trail and 1.5m away from the trail on a preserve in Payne County, OK. Samples are examined for invertebrates. Diversity, evenness, and richness are calculated using the number of each taxonomic order found and then compared using a t test. I found that there is not a large difference in mean diversity values between the two samples. I also found that there is not a correlation to human interaction at this study site. Keywords Species Diversity, Richness, Disturbance, Evenness, INTRODUCTION Diversity of invertebrate populations varies with the habitat or niche inhabited by the organism. For example, the differences between grass-dominated fields and cultivated fields affect species diversity because of the different conditions and amount of disturbance in the area. Having an understanding of the importance of soil invertebrates is important to understanding the purpose of the study. Soil invertebrates play a large role in maintaining soil nutrients, and therefore the plant life in the area. This correlates to oxygen in the ecosystem and affects us directly. This also provides a necessity for research of invertebrate species in the organic horizon. Studies conducted to find the...
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...by Stephen Oppenheimer In all our cells we have genes. Genes are made up of DNA, the string-like code of life that determines what we are, from our fingernails to our innate potential for playing the piano. By analysing genes, we can trace the geographic route taken by our ancestors back to an ultimate birthplace in Africa, at the dawn of our species. Further, if we take any two individuals and compare their genes, we will find that they share a more recent ancestor - living, in all probability, outside Africa. What is more, I believe that we can now prove where those ancestors lived and when they left their homelands. This remarkable proof has become fully possible only within the last decade, as a result of pioneering work by a number of people. Many of us have wondered what we would find if we could perhaps board a time machine and travel back through the generations of our ancestors. Where would it take us? Would we find ourselves to be distantly related to some famous or notorious person? How many generations would we pass through before we arrived at the first humans? Does our line continue back to monkeys, and beyond to worms and single-celled creatures, as Darwin maintained? We know from dry biology lessons at school that this ought to be so, but as with the uncertainty of what happens to us after we die, it is hard to fully grasp. We are now so used to the pace of technical advances that the sense of wonder fades with each new one. Yet, until very recently,...
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...Glossary Abrasion – waves erode coastline by throwing pebbles against cliff faces Adventure holidays – more active with more risk, off the beaten track, in more unusual destinations Ageing population – increasing percentage of old people (aged 65 and over) Agri-business – type of farming that is run as a big business (no longer a way of life) Aid – money, goods and expertise given by one country to another, either free or at low cost Anticyclone – area of high pressure Appropriate technology – level in terms of size and complexity that makes it suitable for local people to use Arch – rocky opening through a headland formed by wave erosion Arête – sharp-edged two-sided ridge on the top of a mountain Bar – ridge of sand or shingle across the entrance to a bay or river mouth Beach – sloping area of sand and shingle between the high and low water marks Biodiversity – level of plant and animal variety in an ecosystem Birth rate – number of live births per 1000 population per year Boulder clay/till – all materials deposited by ice, usually clay containing sharp-edged boulders of many sizes Brown earth – uniform brown-coloured soil that forms under deciduous woodland Brownfield site – area of previously built-up land that is available to be built on again Carbon credits – each one gives the buyer the right to emit 1 tonne of carbon into the atmosphere Carbon footprint – emissions of carbon dioxide left behind by burning fossil fuels Carbon trading – companies...
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...UNIT I DEFORESTATION CHAPTER 1 What is deforestation? Deforestation is the removal or damage of vegetation in a forest to the extent that it no longer supports its natural flora and fauna. In other words, deforestation can be defined as the transformation of forest land to non-forest uses where forest land includes lands under agro-forestry and shifting cultivation, and not simply closed canopy primary forests (FAO/UNEP, 1982). However, this definition does not include “logging”. More inclusive was Myers’s 1980 definition, where deforestation refers, “generally to the complete destruction of forest cover through clearing for agriculture … [so] … that not a tree remains, and the land is given over to non-forest purposes … [and where] very heavy and unduly negligent logging … [result in a] … decline of biomass and depletion of ecosystem services … . So severe that the residual forest can no longer qualify as forest in any practical sense of the world.” Alan Graigner (1980, AS quoted in Saxena and Nautiyal, 1997) asserts that selective logging does not “lead to forest clearance and does not constitute deforestation”, whereas Norman Myers (1980, 1993) thinks that logging is crucial because, although it may only affect a small proportion of trees per hectare, it damages wide areas and is the precursor of penetration by the forest farmers. For the purpose of this study, the FAO’s latest definitions (1993) will be used. The FAO defines forests as “ecosystems with a minimum...
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...Natural environment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Environment. See also: Nature and Environment (biophysical) Land management policies have been developed to preserve the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia while allowing ample access for visitors Bachalpsee in the Swiss Alps; generally mountainous areas are less affected by human activity. A satellite image of the Sahara desert; the world's largest hot desert and third-largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species.[1] The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components: * Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries * Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human activity The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans belonging to a civilized (i.e. hierarchically structured, agricultural, densely populated...
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...Professor Name Title Date Due The Technology Essay Introduction Technology entails applying the scientific knowledge practically especially in industries. Technology is an item made by man to help with accomplishing some objectives. A technology is a collection of human information that can be gone along starting with one spot then onto the next and starting with one era then onto the next. Technology is an effective compel in our world today. It helps us to create more food than sometime recently, developing building and houses are speedier by cutting edge instruments, successful in communication with better flag and more extensive secured ranges, go to any place in the world. A human will have a great world if innovations do not habitually have adverse reactions. In any case, technology has affected positively to our societies and the risks are worth taking. This paper will give a thorough argument in support of the fact that technology is beneficial and worth taking any risk for it. Technology is Beneficial Technology brings people numerous approaches that ease communication between one another. Communication should be possible through area line telephone, mobile phone, instant messages, email and visit on PCs. Communication technology (rapid web) additionally contributes to medicinal services, working at home, trade, diversion, group, exploration, and instruction. . Mass communication medium is the procedure of conveying and imparting to loads of individuals utilizing...
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...FERNANDEZ, Sam T401 MWF 330-430 BS HTM TTM 4 10 September 2014 AUSTRALIA 1. Southern corroboree frog - Pseudophryne corroboree IUCN listing: Critically Endangered Inhabiting a small corridor on the New South Wales and Victorian border, the tiny southern corroboree frog - which is the size of a fingernail - is running on the edge of extinction. Fewer than 150 breeding males are thought to survive across 23 sites that were surveyed in 2001. The main suspected threat is the chytrid fungi. Although many studies have been undertaken, the success has been limited, as they have not been able to confirm the critical threat to the frogs. A studying conducted between 1997 and 1999 revealed that the frogs were present in 213 sites around the NSW and Victorian border but this number dropped only 79 sites as of 2001, revealing how quickly these animals were disappearing. A captive-breeding program, led by Sydney's Taronga Zoo, reintroduced 800 eggs into Kosciuszko National Park in 2012. 2. Margaret River burrowing crayfish - Engaewa pseudoreducta IUCN listing: Critically Endangered With only two known populations, the Margaret River burrowing crayfish is highly endangered. Even one of these may no longer exist, as there have been no sightings since 1985. The threats are almost all attributed to human activity. Land clearing is the biggest danger, as crayfish habitat can be eroded or contaminated by farming, mining and urban development. Feral pigs also damage habitat...
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...James Shin Per 7b/8 Ecology Take Home Test 1) In the given info, there were two groups, an experimental and control group of flowers and sagebrush in a desert landscape that were identical except that the experimental group had a fence enclosed around it. Also, there was a predation relationship between the wildflowers and the kangaroo rats because the kangaroo rats eat wildflowers. Assuming that the fence was limiting the space of the experimental plot, competitive exclusion caused the extinction of the 4 other wild flowers. To begin, there was some interspecific competition, which happens when individuals of different species compete for a resource that limits their survival, between the 5 flower species in the experimental plot because they had their space limited to the fence that they were enclosed in. this competition was a density dependent factor in that the death rate rose when population density in the plot rose. Also, some of the specie’s ecological niches (like what nutrients they needed and how many branches would form) would have had to been the same or else they could coexist together. Then, one of the species of wildflower might have had a reproductive advantage like thorns to repel the kangaroo rats which would have allowed them to prosper and the other species to die out. This is the principle of competitive exclusion. On a tangent, the kangaroo rats would have learned to stay away from the wildflower with thorns by classical conditioning because they...
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...TROPICAL MODERNISM KERRY HILL BY: NADIA FAZILLAH MOHD FADZIR BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Kerry Hill is an architect famous for his hotel design in tropical Asia. He was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1943. He studied at Perth Technical College and then pursued his studies in University of Western Australia and graduated in 1968. He was one of the first eight architecture degree graduates of the university. After graduated, he worked for Jeffrey Howlett and Bailey in Perth for three years, from 1969 to 1971. He worked at new Perth Concert Hall and acknowledged Jeffrey Howlett as his important mentor in architecture. Then, he began to apply for jobs in United States but had no luck. He finally accepted to work for Palmer & Turner in Hong Kong and left Australia in 1972, to discover an uncertain journey that would inevitably inform the next 40 years of his practice. His first project as he took up his position in the firm was as a resident site architect for Bali Hyatt Hotel project in Bali, Indonesia. However, the project which supposed took about three months had been extended for more than 30 years. The project was never done, but it led to another project within this region. This is the starting point where he was introduced into a small community of Australian expatriates which included senior architect Peter Muller and the painter Donald Friend, old Asia hands, which then lead mark this an important period in crafting attitude to living and working in Asia, to...
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...S ustainable sourcing and procurement Sourcing and procurement as driving forces for sustainable business b y Helen van Hoeven, Lean & Green Foreword President Obama recently said that there are only two kinds of car companies: those that sell hybrid cars and those that will sell hybrid cars in the near future. The same is true for sustainability in supply chains. There are companies that source and sell more sustainable products and there are those that will do so in the near future. With a world soon populated by nine billion people and over two billion new middle-class citizens, traditional sourcing and selling will simply be a no. You are either on the pathway to sustainable development or you are out of business. The challenge of sustainability is reshaping the relation ship between business and society. Industry needs to better manage natural resources and significantly lower its global ecological footprint. And companies need to engage much better with suppliers and workers in the emerging and developing economies. The mission of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) is to upscale and accelerate the mainstreaming of sustainability in international commodity chains. IDH joins the forces of business, non-governmental organisations, labour unions and governments. We bring diverse stakeholders together in focused and result-oriented sectoral coalitions that implement ambitious improvement programmes. These programmes tackle social, ecological and economical bottlenecks...
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...Deforestation Jason Hennessee Axia College of University of Phoenix Deforestation “Dad! Dad! It’s opening day! Can we please go to the forest to watch the boats race?” Junior, age 10, was very excited about the idea of watching the boats race from the relative quiet and shade of one of the forests to border the river. “Sissy already has the car packed for the trip, and I think she even remembered to grab the charcoal this time!” Dean opened one eye. Seven in the morning was a bit early to leave for the boat races thirty minutes away when they started at nine. But, such was Junior’s excitement that Dean forced himself out of his bed earlier than he planned on. “Ok, son. Let’s check Renee’s packing and we’ll see about weather and conditions. Does Mom have her work finished yet?” Anne appeared framed in the bedroom door. “Yeah. I have some more reading to do, but I can do it at the site. The races are not my favorite thing, but you’ll need my help if the kids want to get wet. However, there is something I need to talk to you about. Junior, honey, please go make sure you have a cooler full of water and juice for us today.” Off like a shot, Junior dashed out of the room and Anne went in, closing the door behind her and lifting Dean’s laptop to the bed. “Dean, I think the forest is gone. Check this out.” Dean read the headlines and cutlines of the pictures and articles that Anne showed him. He shook his head as one by one they all told a devastating...
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...Natural Resources and Energy Paper A forest is a natural resource needed by the earth, humans, and species. There are three types of forests. The three types include “tropical, temperate, boreal forests” (The forest biome p. 1, 2006). Recently forests occupy about “one-third of Earth’s land area, and account for over two-thirds of the leaf area of land plants, and contain about 70% of carbon present in living things” (The forest biome p. 1, 2006). Forests produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and wildlife. Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change. A forest have several management practices for sustainability and conservation. There are several risks and benefits of extracting and using one type of nonrenewable and one type of renewable energy. The growth of human population has affected forest resources in several ways. The affected forests have caused harm to the population of wild species and have majorly impacted agriculture. Impacts associated with agriculture Between 2000 and 2010 about 13 million hectares of forests were lost per year to agriculture and other uses (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013). Agroecosystems are very different from the ecosystems seen in nature. Unlike natural ecosystems, agroecosystems are large areas that have been planted with a single species or single strain or subspecies. This often makes them more susceptible to disease. Also, the agroecosystems are often planted in simple geometric...
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...Ka 'apor Capuchin Cebus kaapori Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Suborder: Haplorrhini Infraorder: Simiiformes Parvorder: Platyrrhini Family: Cebidae Subfamily: Cebinae Genus: Cebus Species: C. kaapori Other names: Untufted Capuchin. For a long time the taxonomy of the Ka'apor Capuchin monkey was (and sometimes still is) strongly argued (Alfaro, Silva & Rylands, 2012). When it was first discovered by Ferrari and Queiroz in 1992 some believed that Cebus kaapori should be classed as a sub species of Cebus olivaceous. However nowadays it is considered by many to be its own individual species. It is also the only species of capuchin with no sub species (Boubli, Rylands, Farias, Alfaro & Alfaro, 2012).The Ka’apor capuchin is a member of the Cebidae family, one of five families that fall under the Platyrrhini Parvorder, classing this species as one of the New World Monkeys. Morphology: Compared to most other primate species, the Ka’apor capuchin is relatively small, growing no larger than roughly 60cm in height and 45cm in length. The species has relatively long limbs compared to its trunk size allowing efficient quadrupedal movement through the tree canopy which is a large benefit due to the species being predominately arboreal, they have also been noted to be bipedal however this is quite a rare occurrence. They possess a semi-prehensile tail that is mainly used during feeding unlike the other New World Monkeys...
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