Rainforest
I have chosen the Rainforests of
Atsinanana to write about, which comprise six National Parks distributed along
the eastern part of Madagascar. Madagascar geologically separated from
Africa about 60 million years ago, so plant and animal life has evolved in
isolation. The rainforests are important to both the ecological and
biological processes as well as to their biodiversity and the threatened
species they support. Rainforests generally have an abundance of plants
and animals due to their tropical climate and the forest canopy.
Three-quarters of the animals of Madagascar can be found nowhere else in the
world, among the most unusual rain forest creatures on the island are the
various types of lemurs. The Madagascar tops the list as home to the most
threatened primates. In particular the lemurs are now one of the world’s
most endangered groups of mammals. An incredible 91 percent of the
world’s lemurs (out of 103 species and subspecies) are currently classified as
threatened with extinction by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of
Nature) Red List. Madagascar is also the home to about half the world’s
150 or so species of chameleons. This chameleon community is not only the
world’s largest; it is also the world’s most unique, with 59 different species
existing nowhere outside of Madagascar.
Madagascar’s lowland rainforests
have been preserved generally better than the high central plateau, presumable
due to historically less population density and longer distance to the capital
city via marginal highway. There has been widespread slash-and-burn
activity in the lowland rainforests, together with illegal logging, reducing
certain forest habitat and applying pressure to some endangered species.
Slash-and-burn is a method sometimes used by shifting cultivators to
create short term yields from marginal soils. When practiced repeatedly,
or without intervening fallow periods, the nutrient poor soils may be exhausted
or eroded to an unproductive state. These habitat loss impacts are
especially significant because of the inherent biodiversity and high endemism
of these rainforests. It is estimated that only a third of the original
lowland forest remains intact. Seven percent of the lowland forests that
remain are protected in national parks and reserves
Opposing View to Wolf
Re-introduction
In 1914 the U.S. Biological Survey
was founded and federally funded, with their main goal being to eradicate the
wolves in Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas. By 1926 the
last two wolves in Yellowstone were shot and it is documented that the wolves
were almost wholly eliminated from all of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho by 1927.
By 1935, biologists were reporting an imbalance in the ecosystem, thus
creating the need for “Wildlife Management”. As a result of the removal
of the wolf, overpopulation of the elk was causing a significant decline in the
new growth of native plants and trees, and this, in turn, was causing erosion
and a population reduction in birds, beavers etc. In 1966 wolf
reintroduction was presented to Congress by biologists and after much
controversy, in 1995 wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone.
Of course, not everyone missed the
wolves. Hard working livestock owners, battled one less obstacle, and
hunters loved the new abundance of game animals. Paradise Valley in
Montana became an elk hunting mecca. Now recent opinion seems to be that
the wolf population has recovered to the point that they, like other wildlife,
need to be “managed”. These scientists admit that wolves have had a
minimal impact on the elk populations. Overall, a mess was created when
we took it upon ourselves to “manage” Mother Nature.
