Rainforest in South Africa - Coursework Example

Rainforest of South Africa, including its biological diversity, its destruction, its climatic changes and its formation. The rain forest symbolizes the world’s most prosperous treasury of earthly biodiversity and plays an important part in adjusting the world wide climate and atmosphere. They help in the incomes of a considerable quantity of the world’s population and are the cause of various internationally traded products. The rain forest still is growingly endangered to decay and removal, with great though usually unknown future disadvantages to the international society. Comprehending the preservation of these various and distinct habitats, and the reliance of the humans on them is primary to their later administration and preservation (Ghazoul and Sheil, n.pag). I the past few years, there have been a rise of charm and interest in the tropical rain forest. The risen admiration and recognition of the rich biological diversity they hold and the various kinds of roles that they play in the performance of the Earth’s system at domestic, provincial and international standards. The world’s second largest rain forest area is the tropical forests of the Central and West Africa (Malhi, Adu-Bredu, Asare, Lewis and Mayaux, 31). Africa is the home to almost half of the continents animal species. The wide rain forests of Africa are not being cut down and are falling quietly. The rain forests are being cut down on a very wide scale for the construction of roads, for the use of land for small and large scale farming, for the wood of the trees to be used as timber and for making fires, for the grazing of cattle and livestock, for the inner pulp of the tree to make paper and for the extraction of mineral resources. Around ninety percent of the West African rain forests have been cleared due to these reasons (Public Broadcasting Service, n.pag). The left over Central African rain forest is also under the danger as people have started to cut down trees from this forest. In the past, only a few distributed bunches of locals and small scale farmers used to trouble the forest. But in the nineteenth century, the European wood cutters came and one of the worst exhibition of rain forest manipulation occurred (Public Broadcasting Service, n.pag). Africa is rich in trans-boundary ecosystems which mean that these areas of land and seas transcend borders and continue into different African countries (United Nations Environment Program, 6). This is why African countries including South Africa exhibit much variation in their ecological habitats. Because areas across Africa greatly vary in terms of their habitat, African countries like South Africa are very important for biological diversity of animals, plants, and other organisms (Stuart, Adams and Jenkins, 5). The rain forest lies on the equator. In the past few decades, there has been a rise which means that they have great variety of species of organisms and micro organisms. For the sustenance of such diverse set of creatures the South African habitat has and maintains a well balanced ecological environment that is fit for the survival of diverse species of animals and organisms. Africa holds a very extensive variety of habitations and ecosystems. Many various approximations of the biological varieties of this planet have been made but very little of them have been scientifically expressed. Around 1.5 to 1.8 million species of insects, animals, plants and trees have been estimated. Even after examining the discussed breeds solely, we only have cautious studies of only 1 percent of the total species. Very little authentic and dependable biological diversity and variety information and knowledge has been found. Even the different species descriptions about many of the bacteria, invertebrates, fungi, and nonvascular plants have still not been made. We do not know but there can be millions and millions of species prevailing today. The tropical forests have the most kinds of biological diversities on the face of this planet. In the tropical forest the regions wealthy in the different kinds of species are the rain forests. It is approximated that the tropical rain forests, even though covers only 6 percent of the world’s surface area accommodates one half of the species of the Earth’s plants and three quarters of the species of the Earth’s animals (Rainforest Conservation Fund a, n.pag). The tropical rain forests in Europe in the north have around 50 different species of trees and in the Eastern North America it has around 171 distinct species of trees. The tropical rain forests are the wealthiest in the range of species in the South East Asia while the poorest in Africa. This poverty in the range of species has a very big reason behind it. This can be because Africa has generally seasonal forests with comparatively little rainfall and an extensive past of human interference. The human interference like the one which we earlier discussed, the entering of the European wood cutters and loggers who massively damaged the rain forests by the large scale chopping down of the tress for their various reasons. In the African tropical rain forests there are fewer species of palm trees around 100 while there are around 1400 kinds of palm tree species in Australia. There are around 403 different kinds of species of orchids that have been found in the African tropical rain forests while there are around 5000 types of species of orchids in Malaysia. The other various kinds of species of plants and trees like the epiphytes and lianas are comparatively found lesser in number in the African tropical rain forests than in the various tropical rain forests areas. In the African continent the West Central African rain forests have the richest and most biologically diverse animals, plants and organisms. The older forests are even more varied in the species that inhabit the areas as compared to younger forests. These are also the ones that are the richest in terms of presence of greater number of species. The geographic and climatic conditions of older rainforests actually encourage the sustenance of richer habitats and provide a suitable environment for various species of organisms to dwell in. This is why older rain forests particularly those situated around Africa including South Africa are so biologically diverse. The organisms range from plants to animals to birds and to micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and prokaryotes. Tropical rainforest, due their climatic and ecological benefits, house a rich biome comprising of natural envir4onments and organisms. Trees in the African rainforests are also extensively diverse in their genetics. The Neotropics consist of huge areas where the tree species, Inga, covers large areas of land and area widely spread. The occurrence of speciation in these tree species over the course of thousands and millions of years ago produced even more diverse set of closely related species. This fact is confirmed by studies investigating the ribosomal and chromosomal DNA of these plant cells (Rainforest Conservation Fund b, n.pag.). The DNA is a critical instrument in determining the genome of species and is used by scientists in order to trace the genealogy and possible events of speciation. The DNA contains key information regarding the identification of species and many scientists use DNA to trace down the origin of species and other questions. Studies carried out on the Inga plant using their DNA extracted from cellular ribosome and chloroplast suggests that they are only about six million years old. In geological jargon and context, six million years is relatively recent while old encompasses an event that took place more than thirty million years ago. Hence, the speciation that occurred in the Inga plant is relatively new in terms of numerical years. The Inga covers great areas in the Neotropical area however they may not be that highly represented in the habitat due to its relatively recent speciation. Another concept which determines the biological diversity of a rain forest is an organism’s genus and family apart from species. Over the course of years, organisms also undergo a diversification process which involves a change in the genus and family of that organism. When one considers the speciation process which occurs among organisms, it is important to understand that a variety of factors affect speciation and that this probably occurs over long periods of years. Two ways in which speciation occurs is allopatric speciation and sympatric speciation (Jones, Fosbery, Taylor, and Gregory, 254). Allopatric speciation occurs mainly due to geographical isolation and involves a central role of a physical barrier that prevents mixing of organisms of a particular species. Sympatric speciation, on the other hand, occurs due to a gametic isolation and most commonly occurs through polyploidy. The most well documented case of polyploidy is with a species of cord grass called spartina. While sympatric speciation is more common among asexually producing plants, Allopatric speciation can help explain the speciation of the Inga tree species found in Africa. The presence of a large area in African tropical rainforests that spanned over wide areas provided a great opportunity for the species to separate geographically thereby being isolated by a physical boundary typical in Allopatric speciation. Coupled with this is the fact that the climate had also been changing over the years with great changes in temperatures and humidity levels. Thus, climate change and the presence of huge tropical areas help to explain the speciation of the Inga plant which happened as a result of Allopatric speciation. There are many other factors that contributed towards the geographical separation and hence the Allopatric speciation of Inga tree as well as other plant species. Over the years, the changes in climate along with changes in glaciations caused changes in the sea levels. Rising of the sea level as well as sinking of the sea level may have created a geographical boundary that separated species of plants and other organisms. It is thought that many speciations which happened in Amazonia and other tropical regions were the result of rising sea level. The increase in the sea level was the result of warmer temperatures due changes in climate and humidity levels. All the natural forces worked to introduce a natural geographical barrier that isolated these organisms in order to create different species over the course of the next years. Thus, various ecological factors functioned in order to introduce natural, physical barriers thereby isolating the organism geographically. Over the course of perhaps thousands of years, the two isolated species became so different in terms of their morphology, physiology, and behavior that it could safely be said that they had transformed into a new species. Little scientific work can be done in the present time in order to determine whether earlier distributions of species can match those of the present times in their biological and geographical make-up. The physical environment surrounding an organism’s habitat is critical to the process of speciation. Also, diversification of a region involves a great role by the proximal habitat of the native region. Rainforests are typically rich in their biological diversity due to their climatic history and various other physical factors that work to change the ecology while maintaining a balance. Climatic changes as well as physical changes in the land structure create geographical barriers that eventually lead to allopatric speciation. Thus, changes in the genus, family, and species of an organism results in a biologically diverse groups of species that are different in their morphology, physiology, behavior, and bio-chemical makeup-up. The African tropical rain forest has been the victim of massive deforestation. The ratio at which the trees are being brought down in Africa do not have a particular arrangement as no specific or particular tree species is being cut down over there. The national investigation ability of Africa has been considerably small as compared to the other countries and continents. The deforestation that takes place in Africa is mainly small scale by the subsistence farmers. By using modern techniques during investigation, it has been estimated the deforestation rate of forests in Africa have been 0.59 million hectares per year during the years between the 1990s and early millennium. However, this rate decreased over the next decade perhaps due to efforts to curb the rate of deforestation. In Latin America, the Amazon, and Asia, the rate of deforestation was several times higher and presented a worse case as compared to its counterpart in Africa. So if looked at from a relative perspective, African rainforests have undergone a comparable lower rate of deforestation as opposed to other continents. The rate of deforestation is particularly high among areas containing transport networks which are quite apparent. Building roads and pathways requires clearing of vast areas of land which ultimately implies cutting down of trees. Also, wood is used as a fuel in many regions of Africa so trees are cut down to supply fuel for burning. Considering the trends of deforestation throughout Africa, there are many economic factors that have to be taken into account. South Africa being relatively better in terms of its economy has a lower rate of deforestation as compared to other states in the African continent. Deforestation rates point out that they are mostly concentrated along urban areas where trees are cut down to meet the urban requirements for wood and fuel. Rainforests are home to various different organisms including animals, birds, insects, microorganisms, plants, and trees. Rainforests provide a suitable habitat for these organisms that supports their survival by providing them the required environment and means of sustenance such as food and shelter. Biodiversity, in terms of variations in species, organism communities, and gene pool, is quite high in rainforests because it provides them with the necessary means of survival. However, various reports from the UNEP suggest an ecological damage that is being caused by human beings that is destroying the natural habitat of wild animals. The rainforest is no exception where deforestation as well as other human interventions are causing great harm to the natural environment surrounding these areas home to a diverse community of organisms. Our use of wood as a precious resource is harming the habitat of animals and other organisms living in rainforests. As the ecological loss occurs at an alarming rate, many institutions have realized that there is a need to conserve biodiversity of these areas. The consequences of habitat destruction can be enormous. The African rainforests including South African rainforest contain numerous trees that are used for medicinal purposes or for the production of medical drugs. Also, the need stems from the fact that maintenance of a stable environment necessitates the conservation of biodiversity in order to keep the whole ecosystem balanced. Each year, the list of endangered animals increase and these species need to be protected before they become extinct. Such species are particularly important to conserve because their death rate shows an alarming lead over their birth rate meaning that if the rate continues to progress at the same pace, these species will soon be extinct. Fortunately, there are efforts being carried out by countries in order to rescue endangered species. One of them is the oryx. In South Africa, oryx are also known as gemsbok (oryx gazella) and are currently in the endangered species list. Captive breeding programs in the wild operate so that they are protected and their numbers soon grow to a normal rate. Usually, educating people about conserving biodiversity helps to inform the people about the need for preservation and the importance of such efforts. This also helps campaigns rake in more funds so that they can support such efforts. However, what is more relevant to rainforests is the conservation of the diversity of trees. While animals and birds can be protected by means of in-vitro fertilization and breeding programs, trees and plants are harder to rescue. However, today with the efforts of the Royal Botanical Gardens, it is possible to store the seeds of plants and trees in seed banks. This is because a seed carried the necessary genetic information specific to a particular species of plant or tree. Thus, by saving the seeds, the species can said to be protected. However, there have been some problems with storage which can germinate seeds while they are in the bank thereby rendering them useful for future plantation. Despite this, a large number of seeds are being stored in seed bank located in the UK which can later be germinated in order to grow the plant. Works Cited Ghazoul, Jaboury, and Douglas Sheil. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, And Conservation. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Jones, Mary et al. AS And A Level Biology. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Malhi, Yadvinder et al. African Rainforests: Past, Present And Future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 368.1625 (2013): 20120312. Print. Public Broadcasting Service,. Rainforest. N. p., 2014. Web. 4 Aug. 2014. Rainforest Conservation Fund (a),. How Much Biodiversity Is Found In Tropical Rainforests?. N. p., 2010. Web. 4 Aug. 2014. Rainforest Conservation Fund (b),. Why Is There So Much Biodiversity In Tropical Rainforests?. N. p., 2010. Web. 4 Aug. 2014. State Of Biodiversity In Africa. 1st ed. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Program, 2010. Web. 4 Aug. 2014. Stuart, S. N, Richard J Adams, and Martin Jenkins. Biodiversity In Sub-Saharan Africa And Its Islands. 1st ed. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 1990. Print. Read More