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Independence, MO —
Last week, I wrote about three new bird species discovered in rain forests in Peru and in the Philippines. Rain forests are vast, diverse ecosystems with thousands of plant and animal species.
The problem is for the indigenous people in and near the rain forests. They need to be able to make a living. Herein lies the problem and why many rain forests today are getting bulldozed, cut, burned – or all three. Sometimes the forests are destroyed so people can try their hand at livestock; other times it is so they can grow crops such as coffee or cocoa beans (what cocoa or chocolate is derived from).
It seems like a good idea at the time. After all, it is what many of our own predecessors in America did – cut down forests to grow crops. However, I am not sure that our American forests hold the medicinal secrets that the tropical rain forests do, and they do not have nearly the amount of species biodiversity. What is significant is that once the rain forest has been cleared, the nutrient-rich soil is quickly depleted and has proven not to be good crop ground.
Additionally, crops like shade-grown coffee, cocoa beans, cardamom, and yerba mate (an herbal anti-carcinogen) grow just as well underneath the trees in a rain forest as they do in a more traditional fashion and have long been recognized as beneficial for birds and tree biodiversity. Recent studies now show that clearing forest for open farmland does not just hurt biodiversity, it also makes it more difficult to control pests and leads to crop losses.
According to Jennifer Hattam of Treehugger.com, a study of 6,093 tropical bird species conducted by Cagan H. Sekercioglu, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah, “found that agroforests are better for bird biodiversity in the tropics than open farms and suggest, they also allow birds to provide a higher level of ‘ecosystem services’ to people.”
Traditional farming methods were less inviting to birds that were insect eaters (providing insect control), fruit eaters (assisting in seed dispersal) and nectar eaters (assisting in pollination) and were more inviting to birds that eat seed and grain. The seed and grain eaters can actually be pest birds – think of all the reasons for scarecrows.
Clearing and urban development affects biodiversity in forests in the Midwest (and throughout the country) just as much as it does in the tropical rain forest areas. I do not mean to say others should not do it, but we can! Urban development, forest fragmentation and “progress” are forever changing the landscape of the United States. Not only are our actions affecting the tree and plant diversity of our forests, wildlife diversity is also affected. Neotropical birds migrate to the U.S. or through the U.S. to Canada to nest and then fly back to the tropics. So much habitat loss is occurring throughout the United States, including the Midwest’s Mississippi flyway, that hundreds of bird species are being negatively affected.
Last week, I wrote about three new bird species discovered in rain forests in Peru and in the Philippines. Rain forests are vast, diverse ecosystems with thousands of plant and animal species.
The problem is for the indigenous people in and near the rain forests. They need to be able to make a living. Herein lies the problem and why many rain forests today are getting bulldozed, cut, burned – or all three. Sometimes the forests are destroyed so people can try their hand at livestock; other times it is so they can grow crops such as coffee or cocoa beans (what cocoa or chocolate is derived from).
It seems like a good idea at the time. After all, it is what many of our own predecessors in America did – cut down forests to grow crops. However, I am not sure that our American forests hold the medicinal secrets that the tropical rain forests do, and they do not have nearly the amount of species biodiversity. What is significant is that once the rain forest has been cleared, the nutrient-rich soil is quickly depleted and has proven not to be good crop ground.
Additionally, crops like shade-grown coffee, cocoa beans, cardamom, and yerba mate (an herbal anti-carcinogen) grow just as well underneath the trees in a rain forest as they do in a more traditional fashion and have long been recognized as beneficial for birds and tree biodiversity. Recent studies now show that clearing forest for open farmland does not just hurt biodiversity, it also makes it more difficult to control pests and leads to crop losses.
According to Jennifer Hattam of Treehugger.com, a study of 6,093 tropical bird species conducted by Cagan H. Sekercioglu, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah, “found that agroforests are better for bird biodiversity in the tropics than open farms and suggest, they also allow birds to provide a higher level of ‘ecosystem services’ to people.”
Traditional farming methods were less inviting to birds that were insect eaters (providing insect control), fruit eaters (assisting in seed dispersal) and nectar eaters (assisting in pollination) and were more inviting to birds that eat seed and grain. The seed and grain eaters can actually be pest birds – think of all the reasons for scarecrows.
Clearing and urban development affects biodiversity in forests in the Midwest (and throughout the country) just as much as it does in the tropical rain forest areas. I do not mean to say others should not do it, but we can! Urban development, forest fragmentation and “progress” are forever changing the landscape of the United States. Not only are our actions affecting the tree and plant diversity of our forests, wildlife diversity is also affected. Neotropical birds migrate to the U.S. or through the U.S. to Canada to nest and then fly back to the tropics. So much habitat loss is occurring throughout the United States, including the Midwest’s Mississippi flyway, that hundreds of bird species are being negatively affected.
Actually, maybe the farmers in the tropics are ahead of the game. Through agroforest practices, they have developed alternate farming methods rather than clearing precious rain forests. I cannot think of any crops we have developed in this country that can be grown in the understory of the forest. Maybe we have not yet thought of the crops that can be grown in an agroforest, but we can support shade-grown coffee, cocoa products and cardamom. They may cost a bit more, but there is a reason. It requires more hand tending, and you are helping to save a forest, too.
