In chapter 9 of the book, Kolbert talks about the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments or BDFPP, founded by Thomas Lovejoy. This organization works to protects forests from being cut down altogether by isolating a small amount of a forest in a preserve. Lovejoy also studies the rainforest preserves in comparison with the main rainforests. Kolbert visits a small rainforest reserve in Brazil, (Reserve 1202), where she meets with Mario Cohn-Haft, who then go to the forest to listen to bird sounds. Haft and Kolbert conclude that the number of bird sounds have been declining over the years and thus showing that the diversity of bird species in the reserve has also been declining. Later, Haft and Kolbert go to the main forest in order to collect samples to compare with the ones from Reserve 1202, there Haft shows Kolbert the several diverse species in the forest, focusing in on the army ant, an ant that helps give nutrition to more than 300 other species. Furthermore, Kolbert later talks about the great insect biodiversity in the forests, entomologist Terry Erwin estimated 30 million species of insects in forests, however, this also causes a tremendous loss of rainforest species every year because of human interaction with rainforests. Kolbert than writes more about the BDFPP and Lovejoy's attempts at helping the biodiversity in the rainforests. He states that even the biodiversity in the reserves are declining dramatically due to it being cut off from the bigger rainforest all together and being forced to be a smaller one,(R) thus conveying that even though actions are being taken to preserve at least some portions of a rainforest, this doesn't stop the inevitable deaths of animal and plant species, which is all having a bigger backlash on the biodiversity of rainforests all together.
An APES theme that this chapter connects to is that humans alter natural systems and that they’ve had an impact on the environment for millions of years. In the chapter, it states, “A species that need to migrate to keep up with rising temperatures, but is trapped in a forest fragment- even a very large fragment - is a species isn't likely to make it” (pg. 189). Species wouldn't have to move their locations if they were not forced out of their homes due to the destruction that humans have caused. Kolbert includes this passage in the chapter in order to convey the message that humans are what caused forest fragments to be created, unknowingly they have contributed to the destruction of many species, and ruined the potential of new diverse species being created. Additionally, after seeing the destruction that humans have caused, people believed that the issue can be solved by leaving the untouched forests alone, despite ruining most of it. However, this is simply a band-aid for the issue, and in the long term, as Kolbert writes, species won't be successful in migration and ensuring their survival. (P) Based off of what Kolbert wrote in the chapter, as well as the reality of the situation that humans have destroyed the habitats of many species throughout the world in addition to the changing global temperature, I predict that if species did have to migrate to a new environment, it wouldn't be successful and instead would result in numerous species dying out. This is because in order to ensure a species survival the environment the species moves to would have to perfectly match its needs. Therefore, if a species were to successfully mass migrate to a new habitat if that habitat doesn't suit its needs than the species will die out anyway. Also, since the world is changing at such a fast pace, evolution won't have time to take place in order for a species to adapt to its new environment, thus I believe that there is a higher chance of a species dying out first rather than successfully migrating to a new environment.
Image of an Army Ant. 
No comments:
Post a Comment