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The Importance of Rainforests

By Maria Ximena Arteaga, Daniella Blanco, Carolina Fuchs, Marie Claire Garnier and Maria Itziar Aguilar

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Biodiversity and impacts in rainforests

 Biodiversity has become a major environmental issue this last decades since environments are being degraded at an accelerating rate.

 In many parts of the world much diversity is being lost by the destruction of natural habitats  The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List (animals in danger) stated that a third of amphibians, 23% of mammals, 12% of birds and around 20% of plants and fish are threaten with extinction.

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Causes

Some of the reasons researchers have found are:  Habitat loss  Overexploitation  Destruction by invasive alien species  Climate change Living dead species are reffered to the species which are low in numbers in which they cannot maintain a viable populatio Current species loss has been about 1000 times the ‘background’ rate experienced before the Industrial Revolution Predictions that alarm everyone is that as many as a half of all current species could be lost.

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Biodiversity hotspots

 This are areas of particularly high biodiversity within countries.

 It has been estimated than 25 land-based hotspots which only cover 1.4% of the Earth’s surface is distributed this way: - 25% of all birds - 54% of amphibians - 30% of mammals - 44% of plants

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Ecological value

 Makes ecosystems more stable and less vulnerable to extreme events  Strength of natural cycles: energy, water, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen cycle.  Help to maintain humid environment and more variety of species.

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Example: Amazon rainforest

 provides essential environmental service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen.

 20% of world’s oxygen  Known as the lungs of the planet.

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Economic value

 bologically diverse natual environments prodive human population with the necessities of life and forms the basis for the economy (food, primary goods, etc.)  evrything we use and trade comes from the natural world

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Crops and plantations

 1650 known tropical forest plants have the potential grow as vegetable crops, which increments the varitety of crops grown now a days.

 30 crops supply about 90% of the calories in the global human diet

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Health and Medicine

 rainforest flora is an important resoure of medicines and drugs.

 25% of western pharmaceiticals are derived from rainforest ingredients  3000 plant species are active combaters against cancer cells and 70% of them are found in the tropical rainforest  25% of the active ingredients in cancer-fighting drugs come from the tropical rainforests exclusively.

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Cultural Value

 most people feel connected to nature in varying degrees  some people feel strong spiritual bonds thant may be rooted in our common biological ancestry  the cultural diversity in inextricably linked to Earth's biodiversity  thousands of cultural groups around the world each have distinct traditions and knowledge for relating to the natural world

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 in rainforests indigenous people who have lived in these environmentt for thousands of years usually place very different values on the rainforest envoronment in contrast to outside groups coming into the biome  because of its intrinsic characteristics, many people from other environments now visit or want to visit areas of rainforest

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Rainforest Uses…

 direct use values( goods): food, medicines, building materials, fibre and fuel  indirect use values (servieces): atmospheric and climate regulation, pollination, nutrient recyclying. cultural, spiritual and aesthetic.

 non-use values: potential value ( future value either as a good or a servie), exitence value (value of knowing something exists), bequest value ( value of knowing that something will be there for future generations)