• List the factors that you think lead to a loss of diversity.
• Do you think the loss of diversity is the same from country to country?
• Why / why not?

• You will all be able to:
– Identify the factors that lead to a loss of diversity
• Most of you should be able to:
– Discuss the value of tropical forests in contributing to global biodiversity
• Some of you might be able to:
– Explain why tropical rainforests are vulnerable to disturbance.

Volcanic eruption
Landslide Avalanche http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3025/aus tralia-threat-volcanic-eruption
Natural fire http://www.preview-risk.com
Tsunami http://www.floridaforestservice.com/publi cations/fires_natural_role.html
http://tsun.sscc.ru/ http://www.uvm.edu
Earthquake http://library.thinkquest.org/

Loss of tropical rainforest http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/15/forests.brazil
Oil Spills http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm

Habitat fragmentation Pollution: (topic 5)
• Spraying of pesticides
• Oil spills
• Factory emissions
• Fertilizer run-off
• Toxic chemical in the food chain
• Climate change http://wildflowerturfblog.wildflowerturf.co.uk/2012/02/16/habitat-fragmentation/
Overexploitation http://my.telegraph.co.uk/blueplanet/page/9/
North
Atlantic
Bluefin tuna http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch56/overexploitation.html

Japanese Knotweed
Introducing non-native species
Black rat (Rattus rattus) http://www.cumberlandcd.com/~amcclain/ccwa/knotweed.html
Grey squirrel
Rhododendron http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/10117 homepages.abdn.ac.ukl
http://www.donnan.com/rhododendron.htm

Red Fox Rabbits http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter/nsf/WebPages/LBUN-5K43KE?open
Cane Toad
Australia
Camels http://animal.discovery.com/mammals/rabbit/ http://www.camelsaust.com.au/history.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9328504/

Modern Agricultural practices:
• GM crops
• Monocultures
• Pesticides
Spread of disease:
• Bird flu
• BSE
• Tuberculosis
• Domesticated to wild and vice versa

• Read the article and try to remember as many of the facts as you can…
• We will have a test!

• If Amazonia were a country, it would be the world.
• More than 20 percent of the world’s
Amazon Rainforest.
largest in the is produced in the
• More than half of the world's estimated plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. species of
• One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of
1500 species of higher plants.
and
• Rainforests once covered of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.

• Individually on the piece of paper provided write down your ideas.
• Think about the following factors:
– Biodiversity
– Climate
– Oxygen

• What do you think “green politics” are?
• What do you think is the relationship between rainforests and “green politics”?

What is it that makes them so diverse in terms of species?
www.tumblr.com
They contain a lot of long-lived species and it has taken thousands of years for them to develop. If they are damaged it will take a long time for them to regenerate. Why?

Read the facts from the National Geographic article “Rain
Forest Threats” and relate this to what we have been looking at on the loss and retention of diversity.
Using this, write down the factors that make rainforests vulnerable to disappearance.
Think about:
– The complexity of the ecosystem
– Soil nutrients
– Human activity http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/rainforest-threats/

• You should be able to do:
– 4.2.1 – identify factors that lead to loss of biodiversity
– 4.2.2 – discuss the perceived vulnerability of tropical rainforests and their relative value in contributing to global biodiversity