Stage 1 Habitats- Forests

- Oceans Nina Vara

Rainforest Habitats

A 25-acre plot of rainforest in Borneo = more than 700 species of trees

A single rainforest reserve in Peru = home to more species of birds than are found in the entire United States.

One single tree in Peru was found to harbor 43 different species of ants

The Amazon Rainforest = "Lungs of our Planet“

More than 20% of the worlds oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest.

Its bountiful gifts to the world include many fruit, vegetables and spices

At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of which are in rainforests

Some more facts...

ONCE rainforests covered 14% of the earth's land surface NOW they cover a mere 6%

Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century

Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day

121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources

If current rates of deforestation continue, some of the last areas of ancient forest could be lost within our lifetimes

But these ancient forests are under threat. A staggering 80 per cent have already been either destroyed or degraded, and half of that has been in the last 30 years.

Vitally important

Deforestation- THE CAUSE

Used for Urban and Construction Purposes

- Furniture- Paper products- Materials

To Grow Crops

To Create Grazing Land

Used for Fuel- Cooking- Heating

So fast is the rate that an area the size of a football pitch is lost every two seconds.

Image aboveAccessed at http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/diary/january_2010.html on 14/06/2010

Deforestation in Borneo 1950-2005 (bottom right)

Image aboveAccessed at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/forests/4690299/Trees-absorb-a-fifth-of-carbon-emissions-pumped-out-by-humans.htmlOn 14/06/2010

Global deforestation 2005- 2010 Accessed at http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2010/03/graph-of-day-global-deforestation-rate.html on 14/06/2010

There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.

Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down

In fewer than fifty years, more than half of the world's tropical rainforests have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw, and the rate of destruction is still accelerating.

It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year.

If nothing is done to curb this trend, the entire Amazon could well be gone within fifty years

Extinction threatens many species of wildlife, particularly larger animals : Tigers Grizzly bears Gorillas

Effects

TOP 10 ENDANGERED SPECIES1.Black Rhino Plight of rhino’s. Of the dozens of species of rhino that once roamed the earth, only 5 exist Poaching- 5 times price of gold

2. Giant Panda Within a few short years, Giant Pandas could be facing extinction.

3. Tiger

4. Beluga Sturgeon

5. Goldenseal

6. Alligator Snapping turtle

7. Hawksbill turtle

8. Big Leaf Mahogany

9. Green Cheeked Parrot

10. Mako Shark

What happens if you do nothing!

Species will become extinct

Decrease in systems in exchange of co2 & o2

Forests are lost therefore animals lose their homes

Stability of temperature and climate change

Such habitats afford humans valuable services such as:- erosion prevention- flood control- water treatment- people who rely on natural resources for their everyday survival. - forest loss also reduces the availability of renewable resources like

timber, medicinal plants, nuts and fruit, and game. 

Next step... What can we do?

Ocean Habitat

Ocean Habitat

Dramatic increases in the human population size had led to overexploitation of fisheries.

70% of the world’s population rely on fish for a protein source

0.003% of the worlds water is freshwater. The rest is either pollute, trapped in soil or underground.

71% of the earths surface is water

A single pond in Brazil can sustain a greater variety of fish than is found in all of Europe's rivers.

The number of species of fish in the Amazon exceeds the number found in the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Our oceans - the world's last great wilderness - are IN CRISIS.

Destructive fishing, polluting industries and climate change are threatening the survival of fish species, whale and dolphin populations and whole marine ecosystems.

Oceans cover more than two-thirds of earth's surface, and ocean life comes in an incredible array of shapes and sizes - from microscopic plankton to the largest of the great whales.

Effects

Picture below: A Chinese fishing boat that was arrested in Kalimantan, Indonesia for being in possessions of 397 dead sea turtles. (296 Hawksbill turtles, 90 Green turtle, 1 Olive Ridley turtle ect)

Effects

Stocks of many commercially fished seafood species are projected to collapse within 40 years.

And loss of fish from the oceans has harmful knock-on effects, including a deterioration of water quality, oxygen depletion, and higher numbers of toxic algal blooms (rapid temporary increases in microscopic plankton levels which can poison other marine life).

A single pass of bottom trawl removes up to 20% of the seafloor fauna and flora

Bottom trawling has the same devastating impact on the oceans bottoms as clear cutting forests has on the earth’s surface

Biologists estimate that somewhere between 500,000 and 5 million marine species have yet to be discovered these species may be gone before we even know they exist