CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Tropical rainforest and its challenges
Tropical rainforest can be found near the the equator, the average rainfail is over 110 inches per year and consistently in warm temperature at about 25°C to 27C° and vary little from month to month (Molles, 2005). This warm temperature creates suitable condition for plant growth and variety of animal species to live there. The condition of rainforest made it can harboured higher diversity of organism than any other terrestrial biome. Even it only cover over two percent of earth surface but at least half of plant and animal species has be recorded from all over the world in tropical rainforest (Corlett and Primack, 2008).
Besides that, rainforest also contribute to human economy by provide raw material, timber, foods and so on. A single rainforest may support several thousand species of insects. Most rain forest plant species depend to animal, from bats, bird, butterflies and bees for pollination of flower. According to Molles (2005), rainforest soils are often nutrient-poor, acidic low in organic matter. However, rainforest plants are adapted at conserving (Corlett and Primack, 2008).nutrients by beneficial partnership call mycorrhizae.
Nowadays, tropical has been threatened, anthropogenic activity such as deforestation rainforests cause disappearing of tropical rainforest at an alarming rate, more than half of rainforest has been cut for the last century, there is about 2,000 trees per minutes are cut down in rainforest from all over the world (Corlett and Primack, 2008). . The increasing industrialization and human population densities are so worrisome, this will place additional pressure on both the physical environment and on biodiversity of remaining rainfore...
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...es was noted as new record in Peninsular Malaysia. Moreover, there is also few species of uncertain status.
1.5 Significance of this study
Odonata is one of the bio indicators of the environment that show us which one of the habitat that contain the good environment. By studying the temporal changes in Odonata community, it gives information about the health of ecosystem. Moreover, this study also gives information relationship the Odonata community and factors that influence it. Thus, helping in monitoring and managing the environment and conservation of Odonata community.
1.6 Objective of this study
The major aim of this study
I. To compare the diversity of Odonata community between previous study (2005/2006) and the present study (2012/2013).
II. To study the relationship between temporal changes of Odonata community between 6 years and environments factors.
The next topic for discussion in this paper is ecology. This will include, preferred habitats and interactions with abiotic and biotic elements of the environment.
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 28 July 2011. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showFile&rep=file&fil=SMURF_otter.pdf. Community Ecology.
Tropical rainforests are an extremely unique and diverse ecosystem that are located around the earth’s equator. They once covered roughly 7% of the world, but due to human encroachment that has dwindled to just 2%. It is a highly moisture rich environment that typically receives anywhere between 60 and 400 inches of rainfall annually and average humidity ranges from 70 to 90%. A high average year round temperature, coupled with the moisture rich environment, creates an ecosystem that allows for a level of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. This also results in a specific type of layering design that allows the system to survive and recycle its nutrients.
Landscape fragmentation contributes to loss of migratory corridors, loss of connectivity and natural communities, which all lead to a loss of biodiversity for a region. Conservation of biodiversity must include all levels of diversity: genetic, species, community, and landscape (CNHP 1995). Each complex level is dependent upon and linked to the other levels. In addition, humans are linked to all levels of this hierarchy. A healthy natural and human environment go hand in hand (CNHP 1995). An important step in conservation planning, in order to guarantee both a healthy natural environment as well as a healthy human environment, is recognizing the most endangered elements.
the rainforest are about 70% of plants.the trees are very important and the trees actually give us
The ecosystem I have chosen is tropical rainforest. In the following paragraphs, I am going to firstly introduced the structure of tropical rainforest in brief, with the second part of the plant ecology and last the diversity within this ecosystem.
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be feral, increase of greenhouse gas emissions which may lead to global warming and consecutive catastrophes, destruction of home for indigenous residents which is considered as violation of human rights. Some people can argue with these drawbacks telling that deforestation have more valuable benefits such as growth of economics, production of food and providing better opportunities for life for poor families. However, these benefits are quite temporary and government of that countries and world organisations tries to halt deforestation proposing several solutions. Deforestation problem is especially acute in the Brazilian Amazon, where its rate is much high comparing with other regions. This paper will describe world-wide rainforests, causes and effects of deforestation, and evaluate possible solutions of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
They provide a habitat for plants and animals. Tropical rainforests took between 60 to 100 million years to evolve and are believed to be the most complex and the oldest ecosystem on the earth, containing over 30 million species of plants and animals. That is half the world’s species and 2/3 of its plant species. Most tropical rainforest grown in warm and steamy environments. One hectare of lowland may have around 100 trees with up to 300 species. If we compare this to UK, where the UK forests have 5-10 species per hectare. That’s 30 to 60 times less species in UK than a hectare of
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on the planet. They occupy most of the habitat in the world. Insects have served as a model group of organisms for tackling many biological queries. Butterflies (Class: Insecta; Order: Lepidoptera) have been used as a model for studies on ecology, development and population dynamics. Most of the species are highly seasonal and some have very restricted habitats. Butterflies are good indicators of climate and help us understand fluctuations in seasonal changes. They require specific ecological conditions for their growth and development. Monitoring butterflies helps us understand the overall diversity of a habitat as they are directly dependent on other factors such as availability of host plants and nectar plants. They also play a very significant role in
The Human Impact on Rainforests Human Impact on Rainforest is it a necessity? Rainforest are the beautiful gift of Mother Nature. It consists of the most magnificent species and plants in the world. 4.2% of the world’s animals live in the rainforest. This statistic it self shows how bad it would be to destroy such essential part of the worlds biodiversity.
Thesis: Forests provide the earth with a regulated climate, strong biodiversity, and good nutrient rich soil for plants to strive on.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).
Tropical rainforests have many species of plants and animals. They are very interesting and many scientists today study it. Rainforests are an important part of our environment and it is important for us to protect it. That’s why we have to stop global warming.