Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The A-Z Challenge Day 5 "E" = Ecosystem Daintree Rain Forest.

A Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) being fell...Image via Wikipedia
A-Z Challenge day 5 . 

E = Ecosystem
Daintree Rainforest. 
Location. The far Northeast Coast of Australia.

The tropical rainforest ecosystems are one of the most important ecosystems on earth. There are literally thousands of different species of plants and animals that inhabit the tropical rain forests.
Unfortunately, what you know about rain forests may be limited to movies that you have seen, with hundred foot snakes and large tropical plants devouring people in one fell swoop.

Rainforest Ecosystems Plants

One of the first misconceptions about rainforest ecosystems is that the foliage consists of only plants that are densely packed. Tropical rain forests are also filled with an abundance of tall trees. These trees work together to form a "tropical ceiling," also know as a canopy, that covers the smaller plants from the heat and brightness of the sun. In areas where this covering occurs, the plants do not grow to a very large size. Yet, in areas where the sunshine is allowed to reach the plants, there are many different types of exotic plants that grow.
The forests are filled with an abundance of organisms such as herbs, trees, shrubs and other foliage. These plants, along with other factors, such as dead and decaying animals, add organic matter and alter the soil in the forest. This process increases the rate at which water is retained and infiltrated.
Tropical rainforest ecosystems are under the umbrella of constant cloud cover. This fact, along with the rainfall that the rain forest receives and other circumstances, is the reason why there is continuous moisture there.

Rainforest Ecosystems.... Trees

The large trees that form a canopy in the rain forest go through what is known as transpiration. 

This is where the leaves of plants and trees experience water loss. While to those who are not familiar with rain forests, it may not seem like transpiration itself could result in a large amount of water, it does. Each tree in the rain forest that forms a canopy over the area is responsible for losing almost 200 gallons of water on a yearly basis.

There are many different types of relationships that exist within rainforest ecosystems. Whether it is the relationship between the canopy trees and the moisture in the rain forest, the insects that help with the pollination of plants or the fertilization of soil from the decomposition of plants and animals, they all work together to promote the survival of the ecosystem.

Another key to survival is ecosystem management and stopping the process of directly destroying the rain forest. If we do what we can to prevent bio-networks, such as rain forests from being destroyed, then we are fighting for the protection and survival of mother earth.

The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest near Daintree, Queensland, on the coast, north of Cairns in tropical far north of Australia. At around 1200 square kilometers the Daintree is the largest continuous area of rainforest on the Australian mainland.






Named for Richard Daintree, part of the forest is protected by the Daintree National Park and drained by the Daintree River. The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 20% of bird species in the country can be found in this area. All of this diversity is contained within an area that takes up 0.2% of the landmass of Australia.


The Daintree Rainforest's addition to the World Heritage List in 1988 in recognition of its universal natural values highlighted the rainforest. 

The Daintree is an outstanding example of the major stages in the earth's evolutionary history, an example of significant ongoing ecological and biological processes, and an example of superlative natural phenomena. It contains important and significant habitats for conservation of biological diversity.






The Daintree Rainforest is over one hundred and thirty-five million years old – the oldest in the world. Approximately 430 species of birds live among the trees, including 13 species that are found nowhere else in the world. The primitive flowering plant Idiospermum australiense is also endemic to the Daintree.


Environmental threats to the Ecosystem and its Fauna and Flora.


Logging
  Logging is an industry that put the Daintree Rainforest on the map decades ago, and remains a force in the area. 


Parts of the rainforest are controlled by the Queensland Forestry Department, who could fell ancient trees and sell the timber for high prices. From the mid-late 20th century, logging has been a major factor contributing to the vulnerability of the Daintree. 


After World War 2, Australia’s economy began to expand rapidly and the demand for timber was high. Numerous timber mills were built to log trees from the Daintree and transport infrastructure was built by such firms to make logging more rapid and efficient. 


Not only did logging become more rapid but this infrastructure also burnt fossil fuels to fuel the production and transportation which contributed to greater carbon based pollutants in the biosphere and hydrosphere in the surrounding area. For example, in 1945 a steel punt barge was built to carry large logs. However, due to a greater global awareness of logging (especially in large rainforests such as the Amazon) logging has curbed in recent decades and government policies and organisations (such as the Queensland Forestry Department) have aided this. 


However, on a global scale logging in the Daintree is minor compared to larger rainforests such as the Amazon in Brazil and the Borneo Rainforest in Indonesia.
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E="Empty Chairs" on a different topic.


If I may take a moment to share something dear to my heart here. I am donating the profits from all sales of my biography “Empty Chairs” for the month of April to ISPCAN the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Read a little about Ispcan here:   http://www.ispcan.org/?page=About_Us


My wonderful publishers {Night Publishing} have also joined in and are donating all profits from sales of my book for the 12 months April thru April 2011-2012.  My Biography is written under my Pen Name of Stacey Danson


My book is about my early years of abuse from age three, and my survival living on the streets alone from age eleven.


This is an excerpt from the latest review of my book…

"There is no sentimentality, no attempt to rouse the reader's pity, in the words on these pages. What you get is the simple truth of a life damaged and abused. Yet, through it all, the spirit of the writer rises and grows to become aware of the greater world and, as the book ends, to begin to wonder if there are, after all, some good people in the world, after all.

Stacey wrote this account to alert the world to the reality of child abuse; to tell those complacent souls who blind themselves to facts, by blaming victims, that sometimes children have no choice; to educate those in authority about the reality of life on the streets for the abused. But she has achieved something more than that. She has made a work of such integrity that the reader emerges from the experience both wiser and more compassionate. And she has earned the unbounded admiration of this reader for telling it exactly as it is."


*I would love to be able to support this wonderful charity in other ways and will be looking into that throughout the year.
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2 comments:

  1. I'm all for protecting the rain forest so long as I never have to visit. If there's one thing I've learned from watching nature programs, it's that everything in Australia wants to kill me.

    Sounds like you lived through a real hellish childhood. It's inspiring that you've gotten to where you are now and are reaching out to help others. Sounds like an excellent charity.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you my new friend. I appreciate the kindness of your remark.

    Trust me, not everything here on Oz is out to kill you...but we certainly have more than our fair share of "Hazards" With an Aussie as a guide you should be safe, as long as you don't try and match us drink for drink.

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