A bio-diverse area under threat

BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREATLearning Intentions:

To begin to build up a case study on the Daintree RainforestTo identify the key aspects of the regionTo evaluate the biodiversity of the region

This is a CASSOWARY it’s my height - about 1.75 m tall!!!

It can ONLY be found in the Daintree forest It is severely threatened close to wild

extinction- only 500 left Vital to ecosystem as scatters seeds of over

100 species of plants Without this bird eating seeds and then

dropping them further away seeds would not spread through large areas of forest

It is a protected species and since 1999 numbers have increased from 54 to 500 in wild!

Why worry about me?Surely there are more important things in the

world

The Daintree forest lies on the North East coast of Australia in the area called Queensland, it's a part of the larger area known as the wet tropics.

It runs parallel to the other Australian wonderland the Great Barrier Reef

The wet tropics are a world heritage site, covering an area of 900,000 hectares (1/2 size of Wales)

Where?

Where?

135 million years old- oldest in world

Has plants there older than human life on Earth

Home to greatest no. of plant/ animal species that are rare, threatened anywhere in world

Of world’s 19 primitive plants 12 are found here

Why is the Daintree so special?

Deciduous tress, but look evergreen, as year round growing season means trees shed leaves at different times

1% of sun reaches floor- shrubs etc adapt to lack of light About 200 species of tree in an area size of football pitch Soil has thick litter layer, as leaves continuously fall, but

humus is thin due to rapid decomposition in humid conditions

Nutrients are rapidly leached (drawn down into and lost in soil)

Reddish in colour due to high concentration of iron and aluminium

Vegetation

Has Australia’s largest range of ferns Highest no. of ENDEMIC mammals anywhere in

Australia Has near ½ Australia’s bird species- 13 ENDEMIC ¼ of Australia’s frogs- 20+ of which are

ENDEMIC Greater diversity of freshwater fish in Australia Has 65% of Australia’s butterfly and bat species 28 of 36 mangrove species

Vegetation

Provisioning- things that can be obtained-

Regulating- benefits obtained by regulating the ecosystem-

Cultural- non material benefits

Supporting- necessary for all other services provided

Ecosystem services

Timber, food, medicines, commodities like rubber, pets, clothing, fruit, species

Climate regulation, intake of Carbon, prevention of soil erosion, waste treatment, protection of water quality

Ecotourism, local cultures, traditional lifestyles

Level of photosynthesis, water cycle impacts, nutrient cycling

Carbon Sequestration- Daintree plants and trees store carbon in leaves which reduces pollution and regulates climate

Medicine- 25% of drugs are from rainforests, including chemicals to treat diabetes, heart disease, malaria, arthritis and traditional headache tablets. Many Daintree plants are identified as containing cancer fighting properties

People of the rainforest- rainforest aborigine people are the original owners of the forest- the natural rainforest and its processes are integral to these people and the way they live

Tourism- ½ million tourist visits a year from home and abroad, come for scenery- unique combo of forest, coast and mountains and the GBR all together- nowhere else like this on Earth

Logging- began in 1930s in the 80s arguments ensued between conservationists and timber industry- decided continued logging at then rate UNSUSTAINABLE.

Services provided by the Daintree

How would the following view the Daintree Rainforest Tourist Logging company Conservationist Local government from Douglas Shire Council Local person

Which of the above mentioned conflict with each other? In what ways?

Over to you

I would like you to begin to create a case study of the Daintree Rainforest It is your choice how you present it (poster,

fact file, etc) There is information in the parrot textbook to

help

Over to you