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The characteristics of tropical rainforest ecosystem
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An Overview of Indonesia's Soil Sickness
The proper utilization of the world's soil to provide food for the world's increasing population is becoming an increasingly more important issue. In the tropical rain-forests, especially, the depletion of the natural ecological system has caused massive destruction to the rain-forests' soil, thereby impeding agricultural development. One of the stereotypes which is fostered by a concern for the proper use of the rain-forest habitat is that all slash and burn agriculture -- or swidden agriculture -- is detrimental to the rain-forest habitat, and should be halted completely. While swidden agriculture has caused large amounts of damage to the rain-forest as a whole, the problem lies not with swidden agriculture itself, but rather with the circumstances under which it is carried out. Tropical soils are able to survive, and indeed thrive, when swidden agriculture is executed properly.
In Indonesia, examples of both correct and incorrect swidden agriculture methods can be found. The Indigenous peoples, who have been utilizing slash and burn methods of agriculture for centuries, properly burn and farm small plots of land, while letting soils regenerate plots which have recently been farmed. The peasant population of Indonesia, on the other hand, has turned to swidden agriculture by default, and utilizes the land only for short-term gain. The result is the depletion of the soil to an extent where it may never be utilized again. Two different methodologies of the same agriculture can have drastically different effects on the soil; why this is, and the specific processes involved in the soil which either deplete or enhance its quality will be examined in the following pages. In conclusion, ...
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...k to colonize new, agriculturally marginal lands. Severe environmental disruption results..." (Goodland, 1984; 183).
In order to save its soils, Indonesia needs major land reform policies, or social contracts which will give peasants an alternative to swidden agriculture. Until then, no amount of terracing, placing fertilizers in the soil, reducing slope, or irrigation can undo the damage to tropical soils. Unless something is done quickly, tree cover in the rain-forests may be replaced altogether by imperata savannah grass which threatens to turn Indonesia into a "green desert" (Geertz, 1964; 24). On a larger scale, failure to address the issue of soil depletion in Indonesia may result in the insufficiency of foodstuffs for the Indonesian people. As Edmund G. Brown, Jr. said, "Many past civilizations have fallen with their forests and eroded with their soils."
Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Due to the populations’ spartic increase population expansion became an issue. Humans were forced to take land from surrounding habitats in order to create their own. The destruction of forests and greenlands caused deforestation, animal endangerment, and extinction, “Agriculture is estimated to be the direct driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide” (Wageningen University). While this occurred crops gradually depleted almost all the nutrients from the soil leaving areas bare and unable to unable to sustain plant life. Making acres useless to humans or animals and in return humans had to reach farther into inhabited areas in order to find fertile land. The sudden environmental burden in carbon dioxide from increased population and decrease in forest a plants to convert the high carbon dioxide levels produced an environmental issue which affects climate and the seasonal cycles. Recent research shows that “In Latin America, commercial agriculture is the main direct driver, responsible for 2/3 of all cut forests, while in Africa and tropical Asia commercial agriculture and subsistence agriculture both account for one third of deforestation”(Wageningen University).When viewing the change from hunter-gathering to farming from a global perspective the transition was very selfish of
The cultivation of rice has had an enormous impact on the natural biome. Rice has affected the natural biome that it is grown in, in a devastating way. It has caused the natural biomes to deteriorate and caused the natural way of life to collapse leaving no place for the native animals and plants. But what would happen if the cultivation of rice stopped and the natural biomes returned to their former glory? What would happen to all those people depending on rice for the next meal? Those who depend on rice to pay for and keep their families alive? This report looks at the where, effects, who and how of rice cultivation.
The beginning of the play shows Claudio, on numerous occasions, as gullible and paranoid that everyone is against him. When Don John tells Claudio that Don Pedro has wooed Hero for himself he responds by saying, ““But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio. Tis’ certain so. The Prince woos for himself” (Shakespeare 24.) This quote shows that Claudio often puts his trust in the wrong people. He takes the word of an enemy, who he has already defeated in battle, over someone who fought along side him and is supposedly his best friend. It also shows how naïve Claudio can be and how easily he will take what others say as the truth without using his better judgment. In this quote, Claudio proves how fast he can turn against someone, even one of his best friends, when he hears they have wronged him. When Don John accuses Hero of being unfaithful to Claudio he says, “If I see anything tonight w...
Kinematics refers to the motion of objects without taking note of the forces that act upon that object, while projectile motion is a form of movement where an object is thrown from the surface and travels along a curved path that is just controlled by gravity. As a result of neglecting air resistance, gravity would be the only force affecting the system and thus, the acceleration due to gravity would only affect the vertical displacement and vertical velocity of the object. The horizontal component of the velocity remains unchanged throughout its motion. In this experiment, the time of flight and range of the object were investigated by using a projectile launcher. The ball was either launched by short range or medium range, which is more powerful than the short range (ball travels
How Shakespeare Presents the Character of Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing and How Interpretations of His Character Can Vary
“In the time you can read this sentence, eight acres of tropical rain forest will have been bulldozed and burned out of existence” (Bloyd 49). However, this destruction has been neglected and overlooked for years. Many people do not understand the long-term consequences of losing the earth’s rain forests. The rain forests have provided people with many natural resources and medicines. The benefits that rain forests provide to people will be destroyed if the depletion continues to be disregarded.
A rainforest is an area of high, mostly evergreen trees with a high amount of rainfall. The biome is the earth’s oldest living ecosystem, being incredibly complex and diverse. The importance of the rainforest, is the huge biodiversity of the place due to the 80 – 90% of species that can be found there, even when it only covers 6% of the Earth’s surface. It is also often called the lungs of the planet, by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen upon which many species depend on. Rainforests also help stabilize the world’s climate and maintain the water cycle by producing rainfall all around the planet. Every year humans are cutting down more and more rainforest all around the globe. The reasons for this deforestation are to have grazing land for cattle, contraction of roads, extraction of energy and minerals and many more. Yet this report will focus on the monoculture of rubber tree plantations on previous rainforest land.
Soil is a natural resource that is vital for living things. Soil is defined as an incoherent mineral and organic material that works as a natural element for the survival of living things. Retallack et al. (1984) proposed that soil is a “material at the surface of a planet or similar body, altered in place by physical chemical or biological agencies, or by a combination of them” (p. 7). Malaysia’s average temperature ranges from 20 degree Celsius to 30 degree Celsius with rainfall generally distributed throughout the year. Lim and Samah (2004) mentioned that soil is formed efficiently in Malaysia due to Malaysia’s climate and temperature. Tay (1969) supports that efficient rainfall distribution contributed to soil weathering throughout the year (p. 59). It is important for mankind to differentiate the varieties of soils, in order for sustainable management as soils take years to form. Shamshuddin J. (2010) identifies the major types of soil order in Malaysia are Histosols, Ultisols and Oxisols. (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
He illustrates that in many example, such as, Baba, however, never calls Ali, Hassan’s father, his friend, because of their ethnic and religious differences. Also the culture can play an important part in this novel. For an example, when Hassan is getting raped by Assef and hi friends, Amir refers to the sacrificial act of the lamb because Amir is Pashtun and Hassan is Hazara (Pashtan is Sunni Muslim, but Hazzara is Shi’a Muslim). At that time, Assef says Amir is part of the problem for being friend with Hazara. For another example, when Amir and baba moves to America, they communicate with the Afghan group there because the search about people look like them, and behave with the same
The institution of slavery has played a major role in the history, and the shaping of the Caribbean. Therefore, in order to truly understand the Caribbean one must completely understand slavery itself.
Political skill was introduced as a construct roughly three decades ago and yet research on the topic remains less than robust. Broadly, political skill is seen as the ability to evaluate situations and understand others effectively in the work environment. Individuals who are adept at maximizing their political skills also have the ability to influence others in such a way that appears sincere in order to meet an end goal, whether that is personal or professional.
Although subsistence activities have dominated agriculture-driven deforestation in the tropics to date, large-scale commercial activities are playing an increasingly significant role. In the Amazon, industrial-scale cattle ranching and soybean production for world markets are increasingly important causes of deforestation, and in Indonesia, the conversion of tropical forest to commercial palm tree plantations to produce bio-fuels for export is a major cause of deforestation on Borneo and Sumatra.
Timber and especially hardwoods like mahogany and ebony are being felled at an alarming rate to satisfy the needs of the swiftly developing world. Another problem for the forest areas of the world is the type of agriculture used by some peasant farmers known as "slash & burn". This method of farming involves the burning of trees to add to the initial supply of nutrients in the soil. Over time this supply slowly wares down and so the farmer once again moves onto another plot of trees to slash and burn.
The philosophy of agriculture to live harmony with nature is deeply rooted in ancient agriculture and still practiced in India, China and the Andes. Organic agriculture reflects this philosophy, but the recent history of concepts such as organic, bio dynamic, natural farming and other related concepts, can be traced back to early in the 20th century. Conventional agriculture differ from organic farming in terms of usage of chemical fertilizers which increase the nutrient of the soil, usage of genetically modified seeds for better crop production as well as the use of antibiotics and hormones in animal farming. In Malaysia, the major agriculture crop productions are rice, fruits and vegetables (including palm oil production). China is in the first ranking for agriculture sector followed by India and United States of America. Since organic farming is practiced by many countries, without further ado, let’s take a look on how it can affect the environment and its implementation.