Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
seen easily on nighttime satellite photography of the region. The forest recovers
slowly. Increased fires alter the microclimate because the forest is no longer capa-
ble of maintaining an internal water balance. This can lead to regional climate
changes, such as decreased precipitation, which make the forest even more suscep-
tible to fire. Other localized impacts include gold mining and the consequent poi-
soning of waterways related to unsustainable mining practices. This threatens the
health and lifestyles of indigenous people, as well as the forest. Oil and natural gas
developments also have been increasing.
Forest destruction leads to widespread fragmentation of habitat, which causes
such ecological damage as species loss, interruption of ecological processes, disrup-
tion of pollination, loss of carbon storage, and reduction of nutrient recycling. As
human populations continue to grow and increase the demand for land and resour-
ces, continued destruction of the rainforest is predictable. Governments hoping to
build dams and create hydroelectric facilities; to build highways, railroads, and
power lines; and to channel rivers to expand economic development further
threaten the survival of the forest. Scientists are concerned that forest loss could
also escalate in the Amazon as the climate becomes increasingly dry—in part
because of forest clearing.
Without a concerted effort by local communities, governments, and interna-
tional organizations, only a small fragment of the rainforest will survive. These
fragments cannot hold the type of diversity we presently find within the Neotropi-
cal rainforest and the loss of diversity seems inevitable.
The Afrotropical Rainforest (Africa and Madagascar)
The African expression of the Tropical Rainforest Biome occurs in two main areas,
across the lowlands of Central Africa and along the coastal regions of West Africa.
A fragment of rainforest persists in a strip on the eastern coast of Madagascar. The
Afrotropical rainforest or African tropical rainforest is concentrated between 8
N
and 8
S latitude. The Afrotropical rainforest includes 18 percent of the world's
Tropical Rainforest Biome. Currently, about 0.72 million mi 2 (188 million ha) of
rainforest are left in Africa, where, especially in West Africa, they have been
depleted by commercial logging and conversion to agriculture. In the past, the Afri-
can tropical rainforests formed a more or less continuous forested area along the
west coast of Africa from Sierra Leone through the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (the DRC, formerly Zaire) and east into Uganda. Fragments of montane
rainforest still exist in western Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The rainforests in
West Africa and Central Africa are separated by the Dahomey Gap, an area of sav-
annas and dry woodlands in Togo, Benin, and eastern Ghana. Rainforests cover
the lowlands at elevations below 3,300 ft (1,000 m); most areas are less than 700 ft
(200 m) above sea level. Rainforest is present in the countries of Cameroon, Cen-
tral African Republic, Congo, the DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Gambia,
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