Wealthy Waste » tropical rain forests http://www.wealthywaste.com Waste Management Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:40:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Forests in the Ocean http://www.wealthywaste.com/forests-in-the-ocean http://www.wealthywaste.com/forests-in-the-ocean#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 01:51:22 +0000 Dr. Yashpal Singh http://wealthywaste.com/?p=7 more »]]> Existing for over 500 million years, the coral reefs, are the marine equivalent of the tropical rain forests. Inhabiting less than about 0.17 % of the total ocean floor, they harbour more than 25 % of all marine species and are responsible for 12 % of the global marine fish catch. Found mostly in shallow, warm and clear water, the coral reefs serve as a giant carbon sink and also a source of oxygen. Reefs are built up by coral polyps, to which are animals so tiny that it takes about 80,000 animals to make one  kilogram of coal reef.

The colourless animals secrete an exoskeleton of Sodium Carbonate and live in close association with a kind of algae called zooxanthallae. The algae impart the beautiful colours to the corals and through photosynthesis build their own food and nourish the coral polyps in exchange for shelter in their bony skeletons. Apart from other predators the starfish  is a major threat to coral reefs. One Star fish can devour atleast one sq. metre of coral reef in a day. It sits on a reef and discharges its gastric juice to digest the coral polyps before devouring them.

The discharge of gastric juice is likely to damage more reef than required by the star fish. Even if the star fish were to be damaged, each cut piece has the capacity to grow into an adult star fish. This compounds the problem. Living corals and ornamental fishes from the reefs are in demand in the international aquarium trade.

Coral reefs are an extremely beautiful manifestation of the supreme creator. A living reef inhales and exhales with sucking, grasping, filtering animals. Coral variety is magnificent. Whip corals, mushroom corals, brain corals, fan corals present a beautiful array of colours and shapes. Within these gracefully play the periwinkles, sea slugs, star fishes and sea urchins. Sea anemones add to the parade by gracefully waving their transluscent wands. Above the corals are the free swimmers – colourful seaworms, octopuses, crabs, feather stars, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, a huge variety of sponges, shrimps, other crustaceans.

A host of colourful fishes , hundreds of species, including the parrot fish, the puffer fish and the beautiful butterfly fish add myriad colours to this world.

The Interdependence of Species 

All these species in the universe live together in an intricate pattern of interdependency. In no case do individual species live in a vacuum. All these interrelation ships are means of capturing and conveying the energy from the sun, which drives all of life processes on the planet. We the human species have been dependant on other species since the beginning of our time, estimated at about 500,000 years. Human development is very deeply linked to the capacity of mankind to derive benefits from the use of wild species. The natural environment is too important for us. At stake is our own survival. Transnational gene pools have been proved to be of immense global benefits. Conservation of nature’s energy system is also critical to world stability. Sustained economic and social development throughout the world depends on how we manage these renewable world resources.

]]> http://www.wealthywaste.com/forests-in-the-ocean/feed 0 The Wealth of the Forests http://www.wealthywaste.com/the-wealth-of-the-forests http://www.wealthywaste.com/the-wealth-of-the-forests#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 08:09:50 +0000 Dr. Yashpal Singh http://wealthywaste.com/?p=6 more »]]> Of all the species known to mankind, more than 40 to 50 % are harbored in areas covered by just about 7 % of the world’s area – the tropical rainforests – a region also of heavy rainfall. Tropical rain forests are spread through north eastern India ( Khasi Janitia hills and the lower Himalayan slopes embracing areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura) and the Western Ghats region in the South including the Malabar coast. Many of the plant and animal species are common to both the areas. Rain forests consist of very dense and lofty trees with a multitude of species appearing in the same area.
Hundreds of species of trees can be identified in a hectare of land apart from a rich diversity of mosses, ferns, epiphytes, orchids, lianas, vines, herbs and shrubs and fungi etc.
Altogether they make this area the most diverse habitat. Giant trees spread up towards the sun. Buttress roots support the smooth straight trunks, which rise 30 meters or so before branching out. The spreading crowns effectively block off most of the light from the ground beneath.
Dipterocarpus spp predominate in this area. Other small plants gain access to the life giving sunlight by climbing to the branches of the giant trees. Many of these epiphytes have roots and tubers adapted for collecting and storing moisture from their host when there is rain. The emergent trees constitute the top canopy which absorbs most of the sunlight. This is followed by the middle storey of shade tolerant species and the young siblings of the taller dominants. The lowest storey is almost bare with only a few seedlings of palms, cardamom and ginger. The ground is strewn with a carpet of fallen leaves and decaying wood with occassional tangles of cane. It is in this environment that live a host of animals of all kinds. On the ground only big herbivores like elephants, the Tahr ,the barking deer can survive. Most of the species are tree dwellers. Over millions of years animals have evolved in the tropical rain forests as specialised climbers and fliers, spending all their lives in the canopy and specialist feeders always eating fruits from a limited range of plant species. Amongst the tree dwellers the most prominent are the primates, the gibbon, langurs, monkeys and the macaques. The south is inhabited by the Lion Tailed Macaque that is now regarded as endangered, the Nilgiri langur and the Slender Loris are other primates of this region.
A host of bats, flying mammals inhabit the region apart from giant squirrels, civets and the striped neck mongoose. A number of climbing animals have evolved gliding mechanisms which are very characteristic of the tropical rain forests. The flying squirrel is one of them.
The flora and fauna of these evergreen regions have not been fully explored. Being a storehouse of a large variety of plants and animals, these forests represent one of the richest genepool resources of flora and fauna in the country.

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