Author: Marcelo Teixeira
Published: October 21, 2014
URL: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brazil-protects-giant-swathe-of-amazon-rainforest/
Summary: On October 21st, the Brazilian government set aside a new reserve in the Amazon rain forest called the Alto Maues. This reserve is larger than the U.S. state of Delaware (almost 1.65 million acres), and is environmentally rich and practically untouched by humans. Putting that much land under government control is a very big deal because it means that hunting and forest-clearing are forbidden there. This has many positive effects on the environment: not only will protecting the rain forest reduce deforestation, it will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike most other countries, the main cause of the release of greenhouse gases in Brazil is due to deforestation rather than the burning of fossil fuels. Though this reserve will undoubtedly protect many species of birds, primates, and other mammals, the complete protection of the ecosystem is not guaranteed. Last year, illegal logging increased in the Amazon, destruction rising 29 percent from the previous year. Therefore, despite the fact that creating the Alto Maues reserve is a positive step for the Amazon, no one can be sure that deforestation of the area will disappear altogether.
Connection: This article is related to what we studied at the end of Chapter 36 about how human activities can alter ecosystems. Before the Brazilian government set up the reserve, deforestation of the amazon had negative effects on the surrounding environment, ultimately reducing the diversity of species. When humans cut down trees and burn them, they release carbon into the air, adding it to the atmosphere and therefore allowing more sunlight to reach the Earth. Another effect is that the lack of trees makes transpiration more difficult, altering the water cycle. Finally, if humans keep cutting down trees, we will reduce the number of species in that area and change the entire ecosystem. However, creating the Alto Maues reserve is a type of conservation biology (which we learned about in Chapter 36.5), which will hopefully prevent all of these negative effects and keep the Amazon diverse and more stable.
What types of specific species would be most impacted, if humans continue their acts of deforestation? Would the entire ecosystem be impacted? Or would only portions of the forest and certain parts of the food chain be messed up?
ReplyDeleteIf humans continue their acts of deforestation, the entire ecosystem will be impacted, because many of the organisms in the Amazon use trees in some way. Tree-dwellers include two-toed sloths, pygmy marmosets, tamarins, and Goeldi's monkeys. Many kinds of bugs, snakes, and birds live in the trees as well. Any organism that lives in the trees or obtains food/water from it would be directly impacted by deforestation. As a result, anything that relies on these organisms to maintain a healthy population would be impacted as well. On a more long-term scale, deforestation eventually results in climate change, leading to intense droughts, which would also affect organisms of the river as well. Overall, if the humans continue deforestation in the rain forest, the entire biome would be severely affected.
DeleteDo you think the government should continue reserving more land or do you think the cons of reserving the land out way the pros? Why?
ReplyDeleteThere are several pros to reserving more land in the amazon: once again, it would decrease the amount of deforestation, which would reduce the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere. It would also protect the species currently living there and maintain biodiversity. However, there are some cons to protecting even more land. There are some indigenous groups who live in the Amazon, and conserving the land would mean making them leave, because they use the land for resources. Overall, I think that the government should continue to protect the land, because the Amazon is so diverse with tons of species humans haven't even discovered yet, and deforestation could cause these to go extinct.
Deletehttp://www.academia.edu/1188780/Biodiversity_as_an_environmental_service_in_Brazils_Amazonian_forests_Risks_value_and_conservation
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