Deforestation
Kayla, Rachel, Hailey, Arielle
What is Deforestation?
The cutting down and removal of all or most of the
trees in a wooded area. Deforestation can erode soils,
contribute to desertification and the pollution of
waterways, and decrease biodiversity because it is
destructing numerous habitats.
Problems of Deforestation

Deforestation is a big problem arising today in our world. Some examples
of places being affected by this are the Amazon of Brazil, South America,
Sabah and Sarawak, and East Malayyia. A problem that is happening in
these places is a reduced plant biomass. A reduced plant biomass leads to
other problems in the habitat such as a broken food chain, animals
leading to extinction or endangerment, reduced ecosystem stability and
loss of valuable species of economic and medicinal value. Deforestation
has other effects like increased soil erosion, silting and flooding, increased
aridity and desertification, depletion in soil nutrients, rise in sea level, and
global warming. Deforestation is responsible for 20% of total CO2
emissions, and if world really plans to drastically reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world’s
rainforests will vanish in the next 100 years. One of the functions of
forests is to absorb and store great amounts of water quickly when there
are heavy rains. When forests are cut down, this regulation of the flow of
water is disrupted, which leads to alternating periods of flood and then
drought in the affected area. Leading to disruption of human settlements
and loss of life in thousands. Deforestation also leads to the topic of illegal
logging.
Problems of Deforestation
(continued)
Trees are cut down indiscriminately by logging companies,
to fulfill the demands of the wood market. This does not
give a chance to the local wildlife and trees to regenerate
and sustain themselves. This ends wildlife forever. In our
town, as people go through their daily schedule, they can
see that more construction is happening around town. That
means that trees are being cut down around our area.
Deforestation is not only happening in forests around the
world, but in Scotch Plains and Fanwood. It affects our
town, our country, and our world.
 video
Affected Cycles
Disruption of the Water Cycle
Trees are a big contributor in maintaining the water cycle. They draw up
water in their roots, which is then released into the atmosphere. A large part
of the water that circulates in the ecosystem of rainforests, for instance,
remains inside the plants. When these trees are cut down it results in the
climate getting drier in that area. The groundwater tables are affected and
soon get depleted. The trees help in prevention of running off of water and
help the soil absorb the flowing water. When there are no trees, water just
runs off, leaving no chance for the groundwater tables to absorb more water.
This ultimately leads to reduction in water resources.
Disruption of the Phosphorus Cycle
Trees contribute majorly to the phosphorus cycle as well. Deforestation
affects the how the cycle works and the process as a whole. Since the trees are
being removed, the level of decomposing plant matter will decrease. This
causes the phosphate levels in the soil to decrease as well. This means, as
time goes by and deforestation continues, the rocks in the soil will have less
and less amounts phosphates.
Deforestation of the
Brazilian rainforest
Biotic and Abiotic factors that
are affected by deforestation
Abiotic
pH
-soil
-water (aquatic area)
-carbon dioxide/oxygen
-temperature
Biotic
trees
-plants
-deer
-birds
-foxes
-owls
-skunks
-bears
-snakes
-bunnies
-frogs
-fish (aquatic area)
-insects (spiders,
-parasites (ticks, leeches)
Symbiotic Relationships
Deforestation is linked to all biotic and abiotic factors in New Jersey.
There are many symbiotic relationships in the environment/ habitat.
1. Deer, bunnies and insects compete from the same food that is grass,
trees, and other leafy organisms.
2. An example of predation is birds eating worms and feeding them to
their babies. In that case only the bird benefits.
3. Leeches can attach to turtles and such thier blood. The turtles may
become sick but may not die because the leeches need to feed too. This is
an example of parasitism.
Tress supply the food for all different kinds of animals. The animals that
eat the trees, get eaten by bigger animals. If deforestation continues and
the amount of trees decreases, then animals will have less food and could
eventually die off. In that case, the other animals would have nothing to
eat. Through many years, animals can become extinct
Ways Deforestation is
Being Reduced
 Some ways that deforestation is being reduced are as follows:
1) Educating the public (our solution), friends, family and peers
about the effects of deforestation. This is also to teach them about it if
they are unsure about what this ecological issue is. Less than half of a
freshman homeroom couldn’t give a definition of deforestation. Most
freshmen cannot give an example with a sufficient answer because
they are not comfortable with the topic because of the lack of
knowledge on deforestation.
2) Conservation policies are being enforced and becoming
worldwide. Stronger policies need to be put into action to prohibit
deforestation. If communities want to provide a higher level of
protection of their forests and wooded areas, financial resources have
to be a major part of the conservation strategy.
3) Restore & Re-Grow. By taking this action, communities can grow
trees throughout their communities eventually having grown back
the trees that we had lost. Even though this may take years to regain
the trees that had been lost, every year we will still begin to see more
evidence that the idea to Restore & Re-Grow is indeed working.
Ways Deforestation is
Being Reduced
 4) Support Ecotourism. This is tourism in exotic, often
threatened, natural environments to support
conservation efforts and observe wildlife. This will bring
tourists that want to travel, to places where they can see
that deforestation is harming the organisms that are
living there. A once beautiful and natural area can be
completely destroyed and turned into a man-made area
for homes, or tourist attractions. Things that the world
needs no more of.
5) Forest Reserves. By creating my reserves, you are
assuring that hundreds, maybe thousands of trees in
widespread areas can be kept safe.
Affecting the Community
“My house was the first built on the street I live
on. All the trees that were in the open area where my
street is now were cut down in 2005-ish. There are
about 10 new house around me”(Jordan Stein).
Jordan lives in a very wooded area that has been
continuously cut down for the past 15 years. Her
neighborhood is just one of the hundreds in the state
of New Jersey that has been going through
deforestation for homes and backyards.
Google Maps
"Google Maps." Google Maps. Web. 03 June 2012.
<https://maps.google.com/>.
Ash Brook Golf Course
Terrill Middle School
http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=qiHuSelQKb%2fNlX
uXjD%2bCgSMZyQqjrvMeHTGGoWLMSNM%3d
Food Web
Biomass and Trophic
Levels
Solution
 Education: The main goal of
our solution is to bring the
education of deforestation into
schools and homes. When
people learn more about a
topic and they learn different
ways that they can participate
and help that is when they
begin to take action. By
educating those who are
unfamiliar with the topic of
deforestation, this will help to
start the renewal of our forests
and wooded areas not only in
our community of Scotch
Plains - Fanwood, but the
entire world.
Timeline

Our main goal of bringing education on
deforestation into the school systems in
the state of NJ would take about 1 to 5
years. Eventually lowering the rate of
deforestation could take anywhere
from 10 to 20 years. Even though this
seems like a long amount of time, the
overall effects would be worth it. We
would need to write a letter to the
Board of Education stating our plan
and how we would be funded. They
would then need to go through
evaluations, and writing the curriculum
for the schools to follow. Each grade
would learn about deforestation
starting in the 5th grade through the
high school years. This would then give
future generations the chance to take
action and fight back towards
deforestation eventually lowering the
amount that is taking place, possibly
extinguishing it all together.
How will this plan be
maintained?
 Once this plan is obtained and enforced, the
generation newly educated will conduct our future.
This meaning, they will be the ones who can further
research, and educated the up and coming future
generations, as we have done to them. They will be
the ones who can continue our efforts and continue
to be supportive of the topic, stand the grounds,
and keep building reservations. In addition, they
will be the ones who will be able to further the
research and come up with greater plans and more.
Pros of Our Plan
 Simple (easy to follow)
 Considers economic limitations (not
expensive)
 Community support
 Collaborative with other community
issues
 Introduction into a greener
community
Citations

"Environmental Problems Caused by Deforestation in TRF." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 01 June
2012.

"PlanMyGreen.com." Tropical Rainforests - 4 Ways to Stop Deforestation. Enviornmental News and Articles, 5
Apr. 2009. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.planmygreen.com/conservation/tropical-rainforestsdeforestation/>.

http://www.mikebaker.com/animals/index.html Animals of the Pine barrens

"Deforestation." National Geographic. 06 June 2012
<http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/>.

"Deforestation." Deforestation. 06 June 2012
<http://www.bcb.uwc.ac.za/envfacts/facts/deforestation.htm>.

Anonymous. "Deforestation." National Geographic. Web. 06 June 2012.
<http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/>.

Farlex. "Deforestation." The Free Dictionary. Farlex. Web. 06 June 2012. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deforestation>.

"Deforestation." National Geographic. Web. 06 June 2012. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/>.

http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/Green_Celebrities_&_Green_Speakers.php
“Environmental Friendly Celebrities”