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.  

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Affected Cycles

Disruption of the Water CycleTrees 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 CycleTrees 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 BioticpH-soil-water (aquatic area)-carbon dioxide/oxygen-temperature

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 Schoolhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=qiHuSelQKb%2fNlXuXjD%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-rainforests-deforestation/>.

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”