Paradise lost: can Earth's oldest rain forest be spared from total destruction?When ecologist Roman Dial first read about Borneo, he was one amazed middle-school student, eager to hop on Verb 1. hop on - get up on the back of; "mount a horse" bestride, climb on, jump on, mount up, get on, mount move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" a plane and explore the island. "It was portrayed as one of world's wildest jungles," says Dial. The Southeast Asian island houses Earth's oldest tropical rain forest--about 70 to 100 million years old. Like all rain forests, Borneo is wet--receiving about 5 meters (16.5 feet) of rain each year--and rich in biodiversity (the variety of living things Living Things may refer to:
When Dial, now a professor at Alaska Pacific University Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a small liberal arts college located in Anchorage, Alaska, that emphasizes experiential and active learning. The university is a member of the Eco League, a group of six small universities and colleges with strong programs in environmental , first saw the island, the assortment of sights surpassed his wildest imagination. "I saw so many animals and plants found nowhere else in the world," he says. "I saw a bear the size of a pig and millipedes as long as my forearm!" Today, the survival of many of these species is uncertain. Why? Parts of Borneo's rain forest are being deforested (cut down) at an alarming rate. Three countries claim the island. One, Indonesia, which is home to 10 percent of the world's tropical rain forests, has already lost 72 percent of its original forest. Half of what remains is threatened, leaving many animals homeless and hungry. Will the animals go extinct, or can they adapt to a new habitat? Here, Science World talks to Dial to learn how--and why--he's trying to save this endangered ecosystem, (system of interactions between forms of life). What are you researching? I'm studying Borneo's canopy [see diagram, p. 11] to figure out what lives there. There are probably 10 million species of animals and plants on Earth, and about half live in tropical rain forest canopies around the world. I want to learn what's living at the very top of the tree, where the temperature fluctuates because it's airy and closer to the sky. Or what's living closer to the ground, where it's more humid and shady, but with fewer leaves to eat. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sounds like a lot of tree climbing Tree climbing consists of ascending and moving around in the canopy of trees. Tree climbing is safe when done with the proper training and equipment. Use of a rope, helmet, and harness are the minimum requirements to ensure the safety of the climber. ! Yes, sometimes we even spend a few nights up there. We suspend hammocks from a rope in rope in Verb to persuade to take part in some activity Verb 1. rope in - divide by means of a rope; "The police roped off the area where the crime occurred" cordon off, rope off the trees and hang a little stove from the branches to cook our meals. But it's kind of hard to get the nerve to sleep up there. There are giant ants that live on the ground during the day and climb up the tree at night. They're huge--half as big as my pinky. Besides jumbo ants, what animals live in the canopy? A lot of unique arboreal arboreal pertaining to trees, treelike, tree-dwelling. [tree-dwelling] creatures. The canopy is home to the orangutan orangutan (ōrăng`  tăn), an ape, Pongo pygmaeus, found in swampy coastal forests of Borneo and Sumatra. , the clouded leopard clouded leopardsee clouded leopard. , and the greatest diversity of "flying" animals on Earth. Well, the animals don't really fly--they glide. There are flying snakes, lizards, frogs, and squirrels. The lizards have ribs that fold out into wings and they can jump out of a tree and sail around the air before landing on another tree. Many of these endemic (found nowhere else) animals are threatened. Why? The main threat is the loss of habitat. As the world's human population increases, there are fewer places for organisms to live or find food. We are literally crowding them out. We're turning their habitats into agricultural land. And industries extract many of the resources people depend on, like fruit for food and wood for paper, from the rain forest. Also, some creatures are illegally hunted: the clouded leopard for its skin, and the rhino for its horn. How does your work help them? If we learn where the animals are and understand their needs, then we can better manage the forest to preserve its diversity. Also, if people destroy a large section of the forest, we will know what plant species we need to replace it with, so that the animals can come back quickly. Can't deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. be banned? It's complicated: A lot has to do with human survival. There are three countries in Borneo [see map, p. 9]. Brunei is oil-rich, but tiny. It has a small but well-protected park. Malaysia has a stable government, a big middle class, and it more or less tries to keep up with conservation. But the largest part of Borneo belongs to Indonesia. Indonesians living in Borneo are very poor, and many have no choice but to cut and sell trees, often illegally, to survive. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Can rain forest organisms and people living in Borneo be helped at the same time? Beyond strengthening Indonesia's economy, we can help people figure out which trees to select and how to cut them down carefully. Borneo's huge trees have interconnecting vines. Even if you only want to cut one tree, you often wind up bringing down five or six. Careful logging practices mean more of the forest can remain intact. That means more habitat for animals to live in. Why do you go to such lengths to save a habitat from destruction? Humans don't own Earth. We share the planet with many organisms, and we need to respect this diversity. You never know how a missing part may impact the ecosystem. Also, we can learn a lot from rain forest organisms. For example, many animals eat poisonous plants This is a list of plants containing poisonous parts that pose a serious risk of illness, injury, or death to humans. Poisonous food plants
What if humans destroy all the world's rain forests? We're not sure what would happen. Rain forests are like giant lungs: The trees absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. [heat-trapping gas that contributes to global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. ] from the air and "exhale exhale /ex·hale/ (eks´hal) to breathe out. ex·hale v. 1. To breathe out. 2. To emit a gas, vapor, or odor. " a huge quantity of oxygen. Rain forests are also important water recyclers: They soak up moisture and send water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without rain forests, Earth's heat and water cycle would be damaged, affecting global climate. Humans may not be able to cope with the change. BORNEO'S RAIN FOREST RESIDENTS ORANGUTAN: The endangered ape lives, sleeps, and eats in the trees. Fewer than 30,000 orangutans are left in the wild. Many are illegally caught and sold as pets. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TARSIER tarsier (tär`sēər), small, nocturnal, forest-dwelling prosimian primate, genus Tarsius. There are at least three species found in the Philippines, in Sumatra and Borneo, and in Sulawesi. Tarsiers are about 6 in. : The world's smallest primate is 15 cm (6 in.) long and weighs 130 g (4.5 oz). Big eyes help the nocturnal (active at night) animal see in the dark. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LARGE TREE SHREW tree shrew, small, arboreal mammal of the family Tupaiidae, found in S Asia. The 17 known species of tree shrews are classified as the order Tupaioidea or Scandentia. Tree shrews superficially resemble squirrels, and are commonly brown, gray, or olive in color. : Despite its name, this mammal is not a shrew shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding the tail, and the largest are about 6 in. (15 cm) long. and lives mostly on the ground. It is fast moving and eats insects, like this katydid katydid, common name of certain large, singing, winged insects belonging to the long-horned grasshopper family (Tettigoniidae) in the order Orthoptera. Katydids are green or, occasionally, pink and range in size from 1 1-4 to 5 in. (3–12.5 cm) long. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RAFFLESIA rafflesia (răflē`zhə), any of a genus (Rafflesia) of parasitic plants native to the rain forests of the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines. : The world's largest flower can reach 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter. It emits a rotting smell to attract its pollinators: carrion (decaying-flesh-eating) flies. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TROPICAL RAIN FOREST Top to Bottom This ecosystem has four layers, or strata. Each is home to many creatures and plays a role in the water cycle: Top-layer leaves trap rain and filter it to lower layers. Leaves in each layer transpire (release as water vapor) half of the rain back into the athmosphere. Of the remaining rain water, 25 percent evaporates and the rest runs into rivers. * EMERGENT LAYER Here, a rain forest's tallest trees tower over shorter treetops. In Borneo, the tallest trees reach 76 meters (250 ft). This layer experiences the most extreme shifts in temperature, wind, and rainfall. Many birds and insects live in this "high-rise" layer. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * CANOPY This zone is between 18 m (60 ft) and 46 m (150 ft) off the ground. Home to monkeys, bats, and snakes, this dense layer of vines, leaves, and branches collects the most amount of sunlight and rain. Many tree species' smooth, oval, pointed leaves help send rain water to the lower layers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * UNDERSTORY un·der·sto·ry n. An underlying layer of vegetation, especially the plants that grow beneath a forest's canopy. Little sunlight reaches this layer, which extends from the forest floor up to 18 m (60 ft). Plants rarely grow taller than 3.6 m (12 ft). To best absorb the limited sunlight for photosynthesis, most plants boast very broad and dark green leaves. Tree frogs and many insect species reside here. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * FOREST FLOOR The forest floor is very humid and dark, and few plants grow here. Heat, moisture, and fungi help leaves and debris decompose de·com·pose v. de·com·posed, de·com·pos·ing, de·com·pos·es v.tr. 1. To separate into components or basic elements. 2. To cause to rot. v.intr. 1. swiftly into usable nutrients. Plants have shallow roots to easily absorb nutrients and water. Bearded pigs forage the floor for seeds and worms. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lesson Plans Resources This Web site is crammed with great links to more Web sites about Borneo's rain forests: www.rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Regions/Asia/Indonesia/ This companion Web site to PBS's special Borneo: Island in the Clouds includes many interesting rain-forest facts and teaching resources: www.pbs.org/edens/borneo/ To learn about the current rate of rain-forest destruction in Indonesian Borneo, read this press release from Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was : www.yale.edu/forestry/popup/events/spring04/logging.html Did You Know? * Borneo is one of the world s largest islands, third only to Greenland and New Guinea New Guinea (gĭn`ē), island, c.342,000 sq mi (885,780 sq km), SW Pacific, N of Australia; the world's second largest island after Greenland. . The Southeast Asian island has a 746,308 square kilometer (288,150 square mile) landmass land·mass n. A large unbroken area of land. landmass Noun a large continuous area of land landmass . * Borneo is home to the tallest rain forests in the world. "Tropical rain forests tend to be short, about 46 meters (150 feet) tall," says ecologist Roman Dial of Alaska Pacific University. "But Borneo's trees may reach 76 m (250 ft) tall." The tallest trees in the world are redwoods, commonly found in California. They reach up to 92 m (300 ft) tall. Cross-curricular Connection: Geography: There are two different types of rain forests in the world: tropical and temperate. Create a chart comparing the characteristics of the two rain-forest types. Then draw a world map. Research to find out where these rain forests lie on Earth. Use two different color pencils, one representing each type of rain forest, to shade these areas in your map. Critical Thinking: Consider this quote from Roman Dial: "Every living thing values itself; that's why they try to escape damage." For example: An ant will run when provoked. Plants survive by growing roots for water and branches for light. Dial says: "Before humans cut and convert the tropical rain forests, they need to think: Must we take all these lives to satisfy our needs? Or do we have enough?" Evaluate your usage of natural resources. How does your consumption affect the living things in your environment? CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Paradise Lost Paradise Lost Milton’s epic poem of man’s first disobedience. [Br. Lit.: Paradise Lost] See : Epic Directions: Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences. 1. Borneo is claimed by three countries: --, --, and --. 2. Like all tropical rain forests, Borneo is--and rich in --. 3. -- --are species unique to one location. 4. The tallest rain-forest layer is called the -- --. 5. --creatures are animals that live in trees. 6. About half the plant and animal species in the world live in the--layer of tropical rain forests. 7. This human activity is the main threat to Borneo's rain-forest inhabitants
The game is based loosely on the concepts from SameGame. : --. 8. Rain forests absorb large amounts of this heat-trapping gas: -- --. ANSWERS 1. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia 2. rainy or wet, biodiversity 3. endemic species 4. emergent layer 5. arboreal 6. canopy 7. deforestation 8. carbon dioxide |
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