Cloud Rainforest

Biological Issue. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://averillbiology.blogspot.com/2011/01/redwood-trees-devastating-deforestation.html CHAPTER FOUR: ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS: THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT. (1998). Environmental Management Handbook, 177-192.

An article on NPR titled, Landmark Deal Protects over 9 Million Acres of Canadian Rain Forest by Merritt Kennedy is considered a victory for the environment. After 10 years, a deal protecting over 9 million acres of Canadian rain forest is now permanent. The area is located on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and it is about the size of Ireland. It is a vast piece of land named “The Great Bear Rainforest,” and according to the report, “represents the largest tracts of intact temperate rainforest on Earth." The forest has a complex mixture of oceans, mountains, fjord, old forest, and salmon streams. A rarity amongst rain forest on Earth, therefore it took several years of negotiation before reaching a deal.

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

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns. Deforestation undermines this important carbon sink function. It is estimated that 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the

The mountain yellow-legged frog is declining due to the introduction of trout, contaminants, increased levels of ultraviolet radiation, and the fungal disease, chytridiomycosis. David Bradford, one of the first witnesses to the decline in the late seventies, noticed the species dropping because of the red-leg disease. Because this is a secondary infection, the frog’s immune system was weakened before the disease became existent. The chytrid fungus was first cited in the Sierra Nevada in 2001, brought here from African clawed frogs, but studies have suggested that the disease has been evident since the mid-‘70s. Nearly three decades later, the mountain yellow-legged frog is still declining. Currently, with a ninety-eight percent decline, there

Chapter One details the ancestry of frogs and examines the timeline of amphibians on Earth, as well as the increase in frog extinction rate. Kolbert argues that the observed extinction rates which are exceeding expected background extinction rates suggest that catastrophe is ahead for Earth. Humans are key to the extinction of Panamanian frogs due to their spreading of the Chtrid fungus, which is not native to Panama. Thus, Kolbert sees humans

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History details the continued loss of biodiversity that has occurred since the rise of mankind. Elizabeth Kolbert claims that we are now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, and that, if precautionary measures are not taken, the loss of biodiversity would be catastrophic. Chapter one begins by describing the golden frogs in the town of El Valle de Antón, and how they were beginning to disappear. The frogs disappeared due to a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus has spread around the world at a lightning-quick rate, killing all sorts of amphibious organisms at an unnatural rate. The cause of the rapid spreading of the fungus has been theorized to be due to humans inadvertently spreading

In the beginning of the book “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, she mentions a species of a frog that is going extinct because of a fungus that has been brought over by humans and has been spread around by water. It is attention-grabbing for the majority of people to find out what is happening to these frogs and for people who share an interest with frogs it is concerning. Either its interesting or concerning it is important to know how these fogs are dying if humans seem to not be bringing harm to them on purpose, most would assume the fungus occurred naturally. However, in the book Kolbert mentions “Without being loaded by someone onto a boat or a plane, it would have been impossible for a frog carrying Bd to get from Africa to Australia or from North America to Europe” (Kolbert 18). Since Humans have altered the way we live and it is constantly changing it was only a matter

As you are reading this, sixty seconds from now approximately over 100 acres and roughly about 2,000 trees are being destroyed at an alarming rate worldwide. As a result an estimated 140 species of rainforest plants and animals go extinct every day. That is the equivalent of at least 42 million acres of tropical forests in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are lost each year, an area the size of the state of Washington (RFA). Now some may say in a geographical perspective the continents listed above are not in correlation to North America’s natural resources, but it is of vital importance to take swift precautionary methods to help reduce this process before it is too late. Even the most conservative estimates project

The Asian gypsy moth is an extreme defoliator, however there are other disturbances that it causes to threaten biodiversity by affecting native population dynamics and carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling (Jankovic and Petrovskii, 2013). The gypsy moth is one of many invasive species that has assaulted the deciduous trees found in eastern North America (Vitousek et al., 1996). The gypsy moth has a wide plant host range, which can be abundantly found in the American forests (Vitousek et al., 1996). Certain species such as beech, dogwood, and super maple trees are on a severe decline while the American elm and beech trees have been almost completely eliminated from the eastern forests by the gypsy moth (Vitousek et al., 1996). Defoliation

Influence on ecosystems range from human causes like the bulldozing of a forest to natural causes like a fire or a flood.  In recent times, the introduction and spread of invasive species has transformed native communities rapidly and, in some cases, created irreversible damages.  In the Earth’s history, changes have often occurred in the ecosystems.  For example, glaciers and the retreat of glaciers cause wide-spread changes.  However, although change is a constant in ecosystems, animals and habitats often cannot adapt to the rapid alterations of non-natural stresses.  Harm to the environment from the introduction of invasive species occurs through changes in the habitat and declines in the native species.  Invasive species

The biodiversity effects of non-native invasive species have been described as “immense, insidious and usually irreversible” (Veitch and Clout, 2002). There is significant evidence proving that invasive species can cause severe economic, environmental and ecological damage (Mack et al., 2000). A lot of time and research has been devoted to dividing the world into regions with distinctive habitats and species. Numerous pathways, mostly anthropogenic, are breaking down these realms and facilitating the ecological and biological invasion of non-native species.

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.

The health of the earth degrades with the destructive activity of human beings. A recent study by a group of scientists looked at twenty four different services that the earth’s ecosystems provide for humans, ecosystem services, and found that fifteen of them are in need of desperate help (Gazette 31 March 2005). These services are vital to the survival of both human and nonhuman life and include filtering water and providing nutrient rich soils and ocean waters. Many of the members of these various ecosystems are also decreasing in numbers. In a British survey of bird populations found that in the 200 birds of Britain tracked there was about a 54% population decrease between the 1968-1971 tacking period and the 1988-1991 tacking period. In two other surveys of 254 native plant species from the same area there was a decrease of about 28% during the past 40 years. Humans are pushing the sixth mass extinction (Gazette March 19, 2004).

Deforestation around the world has not only affected the forests in which species live in but now is being recognized as one of the main causes of climate change. Since the destruction of the rainforests has sped up in recent years, a cooling band around the equator forms and those emissions can outweigh any