Amazon Rainforest Fragmentation

The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About

Actually, habitat fragmentation occurs when urbanization occurs. Fragmentation is when infrastructure increases and becomes more advanced, biological entities such as forests and plains are broken up. When these areas go from one large being to multiple smaller ones, the population of species splits up. Small habitat patches are usually not able to support the same level of diversity as they were when the area was a whole, and this ends to some species becoming endangered, even sometimes extinct (Kapoor). A study conducted in a Michigan forest that was fragmented due to rapid urbanization showed that predation increased for many bird species and

The rare Daintree Rainforest is one of the forest that has been demolishing slowly because of logging. With this ecosystem fragmentation is occurring (“All about carbon dioxide”). Ecosystem fragmentation is where the forest is separated into smaller pieces over time because of human activity (“The Daintree Rainforest Australia”). With this happening, animals habitats are becoming even smaller (“All about carbon dioxide”). With more habitat space becoming less it is causing more animals to become threatened and an endangered species (“Deforestation”). Smaller amount of habitat is also affecting the animals migration patterns, their ability to collect food, and provides less shelter (“All about carbon dioxide”). This fragmentation also makes it a struggle for animals to move from one part of the rainforest to another and it also affects the limit it has on the animals breeding population. The ecosystem fragmentation is making them become more vulnerable to extinction (“Population in Daintree”). Logging is cutting down one and one-half acres of trees each second and eighteen million acres of forest are destroyed each year. It is estimated that in over the next quarter of a century up to twenty-eight thousand animal species may become extinct all because of logging and human damned for lumber (“All about carbon

However, forests around the world are under threat from deforestation, jeopardizing these benefits. Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This impacts people’s livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species. Some 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year, which is equivalent to 36 football fields every minute.

Deforestation poses an alarming threat to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and it has been a serious concern for over 40 years. For thousands of years, the abundant, valuable resources in the Amazon were familiar only to the indigenous people of the region. In the 1500’s, before European colonization of Brazil, there were an estimated six to nine million individuals part of different cultures that made up a rich Amazonian society (“History”). Surrounded by the luxuriant rainforest and its natural resources, these indigenous tribes were able to thrive by utilizing the resources without destroying their habitat. After European emigration, the government of Brazil exploited the value of the Amazon’s resources in the twentieth century. In the 1970’s, the Brazilian government discovered the “untapped source of boundless potential” hiding in the Amazon and began using incentives to persuade settlers to develop its resources (Casey). Once economists realized the importance of the resources found within the rainforest, European pioneers set out to transform the Amazon into their home. By endorsing colonization, the government could not only boost the country’s economy, but also gain control over Brazil’s vast territory. The government supported migration to the rainforest and campaigned for the construction of infrastructure (“History”). In concurrence, the development of roads such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a 2,000 mile road built in 1972, granted people and machinery entrance to

Our land is mainly used for agriculture, settlement, and industries. We have land for agriculture to produce food for us to eat and to export. Houses and industries take up lots of land, it is used as shelters and production of products. Which the space remained for forests decreases year by year. The forest is a home for many wild animals and a where trees and vegetations grow. As humans cut down the remaining spaces for trees, the biodiversity of animals and the number of trees will drop. Through this, we can see that the use of land planned by humans often limit the amount of space for forests and often expands areas for settlement and

Habitat fragmentation, loss and degradation - fragmentation, loss, and degradation of natural habitats, and has also contributed to habitat and species isolation.

When a habitat is fragmented, the amount of edge habitat increases at the expense of interior habitat. Species dependent on interior habitat suffer, while edge-dependent species, including invasive species and predators, thrive. Highly fragmented forests cannot provide the food, cover, or reproduction needs of interior forest species. Predators such as crows and raccoons and nest parasites like the brown-headed cowbird find target nests more easily

Deforestation of rainforests as such, physically kills of plant species, and these plants and the environment they form are the habitats that are vastly inhabited by all types of living matter, from elephants in the African jungles, to the beetles that live in logs. An approximation of extinct species of mammals would be about 60, since 1600. 125 species of birds have also become extinct since then. Currently, there are around 1000 to 1100 species of birds and mammals that are facing extinction, or on the brink of extinction. Including plants and invertebrates too would bring this number to 20 000. This is solely to do with the fact that Europeans use whatever land available to make way for industrial, commercial and residential use.

On the edge, tree densities were lower than the interior part of the forest. Fragmenting causes land to have more edges, affecting plants and animals in a negative way (Laurance 1-2). A climax species like the White Spruce grows in the northern part of North America. It grows in a variety of conditions with different types of soils and climates (Zasada 1-2). Fragmentation of land negatively effects the reproduction of the White Spruce. A reduction of an area size can reduce the number of seeds in a cone. In order to maintain a healthy site for White Spruce, the key is to make sure there are at least 200 other active reproducing trees in the same area. Fragmentation effects biodiversity in a negative way as well (O’Connell 8). Fragmentation is affecting both edge obligate and climax obligate species in a negative way. The interior part of the forest needs to remain large enough to still have cover. Fragmentation causes edges, which allows more problems to occur due to the open areas surrounding the forests. The White Spruce and the Eastern Cottontail are very similar on the way fragmentation affects

To begin with, habitats are shrinking. The article shrinking habitats from expert space states, “ A study shows that 70 percent of forest grounds are within a half-mile from the forest edge which is causing harmful effects”. These harmful effects are animals dying due to cars and getting lost from where their habitats are. These effects are boosting the rate of extinction.Also, in

As we lose more and more habitats, it could create a domino effect causing many other complications in the world's ecosystem.

The Denver Academy has recently researched and defined some of the important facts surrounding the Amazon rainforest. In 2017, the Amazon rainforest covers 2.1 million square miles of South America. It is a vast ecosystem home to 10% of the world’s known species (The Denver Academy). They go on to say that the trees are so dense, when it rains, it takes 10 minutes for the water to break through the forest roof. The destruction of this habitat could lead to extinction of these species, and have devastating impacts all over the world from the loss of the lungs of the earth. While it is mainly concentrated in Brazil there are also large portions of the rainforest in Peru and Colombia, so many populations and economies are directly affected

The battle for the Amazon rainforest is a daunting task. It's a long going battle between miners, loggers, and developers against the indigenous people who call it home. It's a battle like any battle in a war; it affects lives, families, the economy, politics, and the environment amongst other things. The main topic of this debate is the effects of the Amazon deforestation on the people who live in it, this will be the focus of this research paper. In this paper, I will discuss the history, causes, effects and solutions for the Amazon rainforest deforestation.

The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.