Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
millipedes can be quite long. One species in Borneo has been measured at 8 in (200
mm) long.
A rainforest would not be complete without leeches. They are prevalent in the
lowland rainforest, where they hang from the leaves or twigs waiting to drop on an
unsuspecting host. When it finds a host, a leech injects an anesthetic and an antico-
agulant into the bite, so the victim does not feel the leech attach itself. The anticoa-
gulant allows the blood to flow. The leech gorges itself and then drops off. The
tiger leech does not have an anesthetic, so its bite hurts. Most leeches are up to
about 2 in (60 mm) long, but the Kinabalu giant leech of Borneo can reach 12 in
(300 mm) in length. Fortunately for most animals, including people, it feeds exclu-
sively on the blood of large earthworms.
Human Impact on the Asian-Pacific Rainforest
The animals and plants of the Asian-Pacific rainforest have evolved together under
the influence of the physical environment. Changes in rainfall or temperature can
greatly affect their chances for survival. The destruction of the forest for forest
products or conversion to agricultural land exacerbates the situation that tropical
rainforests faced with global climate changes. With continuing growth of the
human population forcing people to migrate into the rainforest and practices such
as unsustainable forestry and illegal poaching of trees and animals, the Asian-Pa-
cific rainforest is in jeopardy.
Asian-Pacific rainforests are the main source of tropical hardwoods for the
global market. Many areas, once cleared of their trees, are converted to agricultural
land for food and plantation crops such as oil palm and rubber.
Rainforest destruction has accelerated in the last few decades, mostly due to
unsustainable timber extraction and agricultural conversion. In many areas, the
primary forest has been completely lost. The rainforests of Vietnam are down to 20
percent of their original acreage. In Indonesia, government-sponsored migration
into less-populated forested areas has led to the destruction of rainforest for the cre-
ation of towns and agricultural lands. Agricultural attempts on infertile forest soils
often have led to crop failure and abandonment of the area.
Explosive population growth and the need for land as well as revenue have
led to the massive exportation of timber. Unsustainable and illegal logging
throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar has contributed to
rainforest loss. Civil unrest is an additional factor in forest destruction in some of
these areas.
Although Borneo has some intact rainforests, population pressure and timber
interests have recently encroached upon the last large remnants of primary forest,
leaving their future existence questionable. Intense pressure to clear forests for its
valuable timber as well as to plant oil palm plantations pose serious threats to the
remaining forests.
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