Ecosystem Services & Human Impacts
Regulating Service: Climate Regulation
Rainforests play a vital role in carbon emission and removal. Peat soil found in rainforests contains a vast amount of single-store carbon of about 440 Pg. According to a study by Plos Climate, in terms of carbon removal, tropical rainforests remove about 29% of carbon dioxide emissions yearly; trees are able to soak up terrestrial carbon from the atmosphere. This image was provided by Mongabay.
Provisioning
According to a study conducted by the University of Calabar, and published by the Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, provisioning services are services that can be derived from tropical rainforests. They provide habitats, food, water, and wood among other resources. Medicinal supplies can also be obtained from rainforests. The supplies taken from rainforests are the root of economic growth from the businesses and fields that arise from them. This image was provided by Amazon Conservation.
Soil Biodiversity
Once again, the Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection found that the rich soil found in rainforests enforce the fertility of the soil and its ability to provide provisioning services. These services include nutrient and wood production. This image was provided by Wikimedia Commons.
Water Cycle/Purification
Micro-organisms in soil aid in water purification and the trees and other plants in the ecosystem influence water movements. An example mentioned by Inesad states that the Amazon rainforest makes 50 percent of its own rainfall. Plants and trees use humidity that is brought in to grow and expel it through transpiration, canopy trees can transpire hundreds of liters of water. This image was provided by Pixnio.
Common Human Impacts
According to a study conducted by Rebecca J. Morris and published by The Royal Society, there are many factors that have detrimental effects on the biodiversity of tropical rainforests.
Deforestation/Fragmentation: By clearing out trees, habitats and biodiversity suffer a huge loss. By destroying their habitat, they make it difficult for species that are limited in where they can survive to live. It also fragments areas and can leave a species with too little of a habitat to prosper in or can split its habitat making it far apart limiting its movement.
Overexploitation: The overexploitation of rainforest species is a prevalent problem that has been leading to the extinction and endangerment of many species. In reference to NCBI, an example of this would be over-exploiting large mammals for bush-meat, driving the species to near extinction and threatening their survival.
Invasive Species: Invasive species threaten communities by their consumption of resources as well as their ability to introduce new diseases that the native organisms have no defense against. Invasive species can also target rainforests that are recovering, slowing their rate of recovery.
Climate Change: Borders of habitats can be affected as species change where they reside to suit the climate they are acclimated to which is altered by climate change. By this, climate change affects habitats and erases them or decreases their area, leading to the extinction of species. Phenology and tropical epotherms are affected. An example of the impact climate change has on species would be central Panama, climate changes that led to a 25-year-old drying period have resulted in a decrease in the number of plants that are used to more humid environments.
This image was provided by NPR.
