A biodiverse area under threat BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREAT

A bio-diverse area under threat BIODIVERSITY UNDER THREAT Learning Intentions: To begin to build up a case study on the Daintree Rainforest To identify the key aspects of the region To evaluate the biodiversity of the region

Why worry about me? Surely there are more important things in the world This is a CASSOWARY it’s my height - about 1. 75 m tall!!! It can ONLY be found in the Daintree forest It is severely threatened close to wild extinction- only 500 left Vital to ecosystem as scatters seeds of over 100 species of plants Without this bird eating seeds and then dropping them further away seeds would not spread through large areas of forest It is a protected species and since 1999 numbers have increased from 54 to 500 in wild!

Where? The Daintree forest lies on the North East coast of Australia in the area called Queensland, it's a part of the larger area known as the wet tropics. It runs parallel to the other Australian wonderland the Great Barrier Reef The wet tropics are a world heritage site, covering an area of 900, 000 hectares (1/2 size of Wales)

Where?

Why is the Daintree so special? 135 million years old- oldest in world Has plants there older than human life on Earth Home to greatest no. of plant/ animal species that are rare, threatened anywhere in world Of world’s 19 primitive plants 12 are found here

Vegetation Deciduous tress, but look evergreen, as year round growing season means trees shed leaves at different times 1% of sun reaches floor- shrubs etc adapt to lack of light About 200 species of tree in an area size of football pitch Soil has thick litter layer, as leaves continuously fall, but humus is thin due to rapid decomposition in humid conditions Nutrients are rapidly leached (drawn down into and lost in soil) Reddish in colour due to high concentration of iron and aluminium

Vegetation Has Australia’s largest range of ferns Highest no. of ENDEMIC mammals anywhere in Australia Has near ½ Australia’s bird species- 13 ENDEMIC ¼ of Australia’s frogs- 20+ of which are ENDEMIC Greater diversity of freshwater fish in Australia Has 65% of Australia’s butterfly and bat species 28 of 36 mangrove species

Ecosystem services Provisioning- things that can be obtained. Timber, food, medicines, commodities like rubber, pets, clothing, fruit, species Regulating- benefits obtained by regulating the ecosystem- Climate regulation, intake of Carbon, prevention of soil erosion, waste treatment, protection of water quality Cultural- non material benefits Ecotourism, local cultures, traditional lifestyles Supporting- necessary for all other services provided Level of photosynthesis, water cycle impacts, nutrient cycling

Services provided by the Daintree Carbon Sequestration- Daintree plants and trees store carbon in leaves which reduces pollution and regulates climate Medicine- 25% of drugs are from rainforests, including chemicals to treat diabetes, heart disease, malaria, arthritis and traditional headache tablets. Many Daintree plants are identified as containing cancer fighting properties People of the rainforest- rainforest aborigine people are the original owners of the forest- the natural rainforest and its processes are integral to these people and the way they live Tourism- ½ million tourist visits a year from home and abroad, come for scenery- unique combo of forest, coast and mountains and the GBR all together- nowhere else like this on Earth Logging- began in 1930 s in the 80 s arguments ensued between conservationists and timber industry- decided continued logging at then rate UNSUSTAINABLE.

Over to you How would the following view the Daintree Rainforest Tourist Logging company Conservationist Local government from Douglas Shire Council Local person Which of the above mentioned conflict with each other? In what ways?

Over to you I would like you to begin to create a case study of the Daintree Rainforest It is your choice how you present it (poster, fact file, etc) There is information in the parrot textbook to help