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What is or is not unique to tropical human-

forest landscapes?

How do people adapt to dynamic riverine

landscapes?

How hard is it to find or grow food?

What are western European fallacies of

tropical forests & people who live here?

Case study - ‘Debt-for-Nature-Swap’

What are current international drivers of

tropical forest health and sustainability?

Today’s THREADS - WET Tropical Forests [interconnected

stories of rivers, fish, forests, soils and humans]

Where are the tropics on this map??

Are there any rain forests in the temperate zone?

What is one thing that is unique to this region of the

world?

NOTE: where is the equator & what does this tell you?

Equator

2

What if temperatures increase in the tropics? What

do you think will happen to these ecosystems?

SPECULATE: What type of climatic factor change

will make these ecosystems less resilient?

NOTE: High amount of forest area in tropics

Unique in tropical forests

• High hot spots of biodiversity in plants & animal biodiversity [but not microbial biodiversity]

• Poor Soils: Practice shifting agriculture in forests since soils nutrient poor, food quality poor & contains toxic chemicals

• Plants toxic to eat: High level defensive chemicals produced by plants so they are not eaten by insects, mammals including humans

NOT Unique in tropical forests

• People - short life span, high incidence of disease (even though many newly emerging diseases globally originate from the tropics)

• Human populations mostly survive by extracting/ collecting resources from forests (e.g. medicine, building materials, game animal, etc )

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Tropics - Hotspots of biodiversity for

insects, birds, plants, animals

BUT NOT hotspots of biodiversity in MICROBES

So which biome has microbial biodiversity hotspots??

Would you believe - Boreal zones (these are cold places)

Unique: Biodiversity

Plants are well protected to

keep grazers or herbivores

from eating them:

Thorns or chemical warfare

Unique: Diversity of chemical warfare by plants

increased biodiversity of organisms because they

adapt to chemicals that make food unpalatable

IF YOU ARE SMART: You do not grab a plant

when you start falling down a slippery hill

Comocladia – toxic

defensive chemicals

High chemical defensive compounds - Don’t eat just any plant in

the forest (defensive compounds linked to high biodiversity - many

grazers eating plant tissues)

BUT 3/4th world population dependent on folk medicine from these

plants - great source of pharmaceuticals

Sapium laurocerasus - native, Puerto

Rico – if human male [not female]

don’t stand under tree during a

rainstorm, will end up in hospital


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PARADOX:

Human life span short, many

incurable diseases, few medicinal

cures

BUT

High number of plants with

secondary chemicals with high

medicinal values

The angel's trumpet

(Brugmansia sp.) leaves

are used for skin

problems, to help coughs

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobo

tany/medicinalplants2.shtml


Curare = fast-action poison,

doesn't kill but causes paralysis.

Death due to asphyxia when the

victim's lungs become paralyzed

After 1935, curare was

introduced to modern medicine

as muscle relaxant during

surgery

No single curare formula, each

Amazon tribe has its own blend,

jealously guarded by shamans/

medicine men who pass it from 1

generation to the next

Curare Leaf

Amazon Rainforest

Blowgun

using

curare

to hunt

http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/curare.html

http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/blowgun-hunting.html


mosquito breeding in flower parts, malaria incidence high

Heliconia

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobo

tany/medicinalplants2.shtml

Tropics:

Conditions ideal

for carriers of

human diseases

but this is not

unique to tropics

[will learn about

later in quarter]

NOT Unique: Disease Outbreaks

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtml

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Danum Valley Conservation

Area in the Malaysian state

of Sabah

Photo: Mattias Klum

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/04/20/travel/0420-

borneo_2.html

Big Trees not

unique to tropics

NOT Unique: Large, old trees

Big tree in Old Growth Forests

of Washington, Oregon

Big tropical tree

picture in Malaysia

http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/050-Segundo-tree-roots.html

http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/153-Monkey-Ladder-Vine.html

Lots vines in canopy that

go down to the ground;

NOTE: Rattan furniture is

made from vines

Big trees with multiple

canopies (Tropics & PNW

Old Growth) have lots more

habitats because of species

diversity)

NOT Unique: Large, old trees

Sloth – climbing

back up after

weekly bathroom

visit on forest

floor

NOT Unique: Large, old trees with multiple habitats but

Unique animals (remember last Friday video)

http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/index.htmlhttp://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/index.htmlhttp://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/050-Segundo-tree-roots.htmlhttp://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/index.htmlhttp://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-rainforest-jungle/index.html

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A view of the

sloth swimming.

Note 3 claws on

hand – this guy

lives in

mangrove

forests and is a

really good

swimmer.

Photo courtesy of Bryson

Voirin

“Sloths, which move extremely

slowly when they move at all, don't

require the sense of balance that a

swift, agile creature such as a

primate needs.

ScienceShot: The

Unbalanced Sloth

by Sid Perkins on 31 July

2012, 7:01 PM |

http://news.sciencemag.org

/sciencenow/2012/07/scien

ceshot-the-unbalanced-

sloth.html?ref=em

NOT Unique: Large, old trees with multiple habitats but

Unique animals (remember last Friday video)

Sloths' bizarre 'toilet habit' recorded in Amazon, PeruBy Matt Walker; Earth News; 4 May 2010 11:53 UK

NOTE: Feeding out of a human toilet. They are mainly

eaten by eagles and jaguars, not humans http://addiesrainforest.weebly.com/herbivores.html

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amp

eople/ethnobotany/cocoapod.shtml

ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Organic coffee: Why Latin America's farmers are abandoning it

NOTE: Have you noticed many of our

food/dessert vices come from the tropics?

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany2.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany2.shtml

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http://away.com/travel_photo_gallery/brazil/gallery06.html?thisS

peed=9000

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/aerialview.shtml

In Amazon, >80% people

live along the river [in the

riparian zones] and grow

their food crops in these

areas

http://www.ddbstock.com/amazon2.html

Acai palms

People Adapted to Dynamic Riverine Landscape

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16840


Family on a tributary of the Amazon – this family was very unusual

because run by mother, 3 daughters & not male family members

Became leader for the Rubber Tappers, left

all kids with last boyfriend; 13+ children/family


http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/river.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/river.shtmlhttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/ISS010-E-13029_lrg.jpghttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/ISS010-E-13029_lrg.jpg

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http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-people/440-woman-doing-laundry.html

RIVERS provide

all human

survival needs:

•Drinking water

•Bathing water

•Wash clothes

•Where get food

•Where go to the

bathroom

•Where live, have

a house


Inia geoffrensis

(Pink Dolphin) http://www.isptr-pard.org/dolphin.html

Difficult human survival so folklore used

to explain unexpected events

Locals folk tales - Some people think Botos

turn into handsome young men and carry off

young women of the tribes or get them

pregnant (the baby being born part dolphin

which is when you know Botos was involved)!

This

guy!!



http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-people/index.htmlhttp://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-people/index.html

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http://www.ddbstock.com/amazon2.htmlhttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/images/pink-dolphin-copia.jpg&imgrefurl


“Once a year ..Amazon .., rivers/streams

overflow their banks,

flooding ..forests ..

creating a new habitat

where fish munch on

tree fruits and birds

dive to escape danger.

Water levels rise ….

triggers migrations of

birds, fish, and other

animals … creates ..

unusual home for pink

river dolphins, giant

otters, uakari monkeys,

...” http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/amazonriver/a

mazonriver.html

5 - 50 feet to get

to the ground

level

[all under water]

Flooded Forests

NOTE Tree tops

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/aerialview.shtml

In Amazon, humans build

houses on stilts

Keeps you close to your food

production areas

Also helps to keep alligators

from coming into your house

http://www.ddbstock.com/amazon2.html

Acai palms


http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/images/pink-dolphin-copia.jpg&imgrefurlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/river.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/amscenery/river/river.shtml

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Red Uakari Monkey

Poison Dart Frogs

Animals Adapted to Dynamic Riverine Landscape

What happens to all

the animals & FISH

when floods occur??

Jaquar

Pink dolphins

- Swim along

tree tops in

forest

RED-

BELLIED

PIRANHA

Piranha eat fruit of

forest trees &

disperse seeds to

other locations –

regeneration of trees

Flooding, Tree Regeneration

Flooded

Forest video

comment:

“If you lose

the forest,

you lose the

fish”

What happens to the

livelihood of the

people who live in

these forests?

WHY?

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/jaguars/jaguars-photographyhttp://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/jaguars/jaguars-photographyhttp://junglephotos.com/amazon/amanimals/amfishes/amfishes.shtmlhttp://junglephotos.com/amazon/amanimals/amfishes/amfishes.shtml

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Flooding is good for plant - disperses its seeds during floods

Camu-camu (Myrciaria sp.) fruit with 10 times Vitamin C content

of lemon; shrubby tree grows on riversides, lake edges

Good food for piranha's

Flooding, Tree Regeneration

When the Amazon

floods forests:

• Local people manage them,

eat fish for several years –

River families feast on

protein-rich food

• During the dry season

fruit-eating fish live on

stored fat; swim away,

spread seeds of flood-plain

trees (allows new trees grow)

People, Food, Dynamic Riverine Landscapes

Few food

options high in

protein

http://www.explorationsinc.com/photogallery/amazon-tours-

wildlife/capybara.html


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Cabybara

http://www.arkiv

e.org/capybara/h

ydrochoerus-

hydrochaeris/vid

eo-16.htmlCabybara (a rodent) – Venezuela

classified a fish by church, herded

like cattle in savannas

When the Amazon floods forests, big fish carried into what used to

be Lakes and then are left stranded when waters of Amazon recede

Lake


Pirarucu, Arapaima gigas,

largest, exclusively fresh

water fish in world

Reach lengths of 15 ft/4m &

weigh up to 40lbs/200kg


How about hanging

this one over your

fireplace as a trophy?

EcologicalConstraintsTropics_10_15_14.pptxEcologicalConstraintsTropics_10_15_14.pptxhttp://www.arkive.org/capybara/hydrochoerus-hydrochaeris/video-16.htmlhttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ikar.radom.pl/obrazki/pangasianodon_gigas.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2030&h=73&w=133&sz=50&tbnid=qGCbBly7UrsJ:&tbnh=73&tbnw=133&prev=/images?q=picture+of+big+fish+in+Amazon&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ikar.radom.pl/obrazki/pangasianodon_gigas.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2030&h=73&w=133&sz=50&tbnid=qGCbBly7UrsJ:&tbnh=73&tbnw=133&prev=/images?q=picture+of+big+fish+in+Amazon&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=1

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Villager takes once-a-year catch of pirarucu, a living

fossil; Date: 24-Sep-12

Country: BRAZIL; http://planetark.org/wen/66647

Author: Bruno Kelly

A villager from

the Medio Jurua

nature reserve of

Brazil's Amazon

rainforest paddles

in his canoe with

pirarucus, the

largest freshwater

fish in South

America


In Nepal, 40% of

annual feed of

buffalo is leaves,

25% for a cow

In dry tropical

forests, livestock

not survive

without forest

grazingRef: Patel-Weynand & Vogt

1999

Dependent on forests for animal food

Charcoal production from wood,

vegetables significant energy

source

Northern Brazil

ANSWER: Wood made into

charcoal has a higher heating

value therefore get more

energy from each piece of

wood

-Important since not enough

fire wood in forests to meet

demand by local people

Dependent on forests for energy

QUESTION: Why

would you convert

wood into charcoal??

14

The Soil Link to Low Food Quality & Production??

RIPARIAN ZONES – right next to the river

• People live along riparian zones because the most productive soils are found here

• Dependent on river flooding to deposit sediments from the mountains that more nutrient rich & restore soil nutrients on lands being farmed along the rivers

NON-RIPARIAN ZONES – not receive river flood waters, sediments from the mountains & not right next to rivers

• Non-riparian areas: Soils low in nutrients (low in P, Ca, N, K) needed for plant growth, have toxic heavy metals (high Aluminum or Al which is toxic to most plants)

• Despite these nutrient limitations, non-riparian areas still used for food crops since need food to eat

Why Food Production Difficult & Food Not Nutritiously Balanced

NEED TO PRACTICE

shifting agriculture

Non-floodplain soils –

not next to rivers:

- high in clay

- high in toxic elements

(aluminum)

- low in nutrients

Amazon

Why Food Production Difficult & Not Nutritiously Balanced

PROBLEM: More than 1,000 years of continuous rain

Nutrients WHAT ARE THE

IMPLICATIONS

FOR Humans who

eat PLANTS

growing in these

soils??

RESULT: Nutrients leached

from soils so plants do not

provide a nutritious meal for

humans


15

Soils may lose

all fertility

Within 4 - 5 yrs

After trees cut

and get pulse of

nutrients, people

leave & find

another area to

cut trees and

repeat the cycle


Banana from abandoned farmers

fields from shifting agriculture

Shifting

cultivation

and Home

Gardens

One family moves

around in an area

about 200-300

acres in size


Manioc or cassava most widely eaten staple food in Amazon

plus many places in Africa. It is a starchy root - contains

poisonous cyanide compounds so careful preparation before

eating required. Tapioca is manioc. http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/manioc.shtml

What is

the food

mostly

eaten??

Is it good

for you??

Plants that Grow in Poor Soils: Toxic & Not Nutritiously Balanced

No Protein

http://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtmlhttp://www.junglephotos.com/amazon/ampeople/ethnobotany/ethnobotany4.shtml

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Retting cassava in the river to

get rid of cyanideshttp://museum.agropolis.fr/english/pages/expos/aliments/racines/usage/rouissage.htm

Harvesting

cassava - field

Processing in

river – cleaning

off skin

1

2

3Cassava use

in the

CONGO

To get rid of Cyanide – minimum 4-5 days fermentation

process in river before can eat safely (or not get paralyzed)

http://museum.agropolis.fr/english/pages/expos/aliments/racines/usage/recolte.htm

FOOT NOTE: Post-

Spanish Conquest:

Cassava or manioc

replaced maize as

important food.

Few crops tolerant of high

soil Al & low soil nutrient

levels like Cassava

Plants that Grow in Poor Soils: Toxic & Not Nutritiously Balanced

Brazilian Amazon;

Photo: D Vogt

Now you know the answer to:

Why eat something high in cyanide

which is toxic to eat?

Why not just eat something else??

Plants that Grow in these Soils: Toxic & Not Nutritiously Balanced

Brazilian Amazon;

Photo: D Vogt

17

Tropical Ecological Fallacies held by Western

European Until last 20 years

• Lush, highly productive forests

• Forests, soils ‘virgin’ – not human footprint or impacted

by human activities

• High plant diversity is natural, no management by

indigenous people

• Forests fragile, highly susceptible to degradation with

any human use

• No fires in wet tropical forests

Western European Ecological Fallacies of Wet Tropics

Past, biologists/ecologists viewed Amazon

as fragile so native foragers would

destroy them

Past, biodiversity viewed as entirely

natural

RESPONSE: Remove people, free of

humans best, sustainable development only

possible when remove local people

PAST MYTH - Virgin/non-human impacted forest fallacy


D = Deforested

I = Introduced new tree species

C = Created large garbage dumps along rivers in

late pre-history (produced rich soils where poor

normally) – Terra preta

E = Encouraged weeds

NOW accept humans actively managed these forests for a long time:


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CASE STUDY: International

Impacts on Tropical

Conservation, Land-use

Changes and Deforestation

Bolivia: Debt-for-Nature Swap (DNS)

IN Readings

• World’s first DNS created BeniBiosphere Reserve in 1987

• Bolivia government debt bought by international conservation groups or other organizations to incentivize Bolivian government to establish the Reserve

• Reason for DNS is that Bolivia is a hotspot for biodiversity

Conservation Case Study: 1st World Debt-for-Nature-Swap

• When establishing reserve,

no consideration of DNS impacts on

local communities ability

to feed themselves (hunting), get

firewood, build houses etc

• Local communities not involved in

setting boundaries or determining what area off limits


19

In 1990, the

Chimane indigenous

group had March for

Dignity and

Territory that

changed the way

indigenous

communities were

viewed in Bolivia

But not give them

their lands back or

ability to survive on

traditional lands


"Somos Bolivia, Somos TIPNIS"

chanted indigenous and

environmental activists in their 62

day march (Photo: Dani

Gu/Flickr)http://www.indypendent.org/2012/07/02/bolivia-indigenous-vigil-tipnis

Chimane Indigenous

community

Primary Source of

Protein Changed access to

bushmeat since

establishment of parkBush-

meat

Mixed

bush-

meat

/beef

Mixed

fish /

beef

El Cedral – in RESERVE 100% 100% forest hunting,

but hunting more

difficult than before

El Totaizal (Mestiza-

Campesina) – BUFFER zone but isolated from

RESERVE

100% Eat more beef which

have to buy now from

ranchers

San Antonio – in

BUFFER Zone

100% 70% eat more beef

because wild animals

are further away

Puerto Mendez –

outside RESERVE but

close to BUFFER zone

100% 100% no hunting, too

far away from forest


Findings• Economic conditions of communities linked to forest

proximity

• Establishment of parks protected livelihood of the ChimaneIndigenous Communities within the reserve boundary

• Access to forest materials and bushmeat changed– if lived in reserves still had access, in buffer access to forest materials is low to none


20

http://www.amazon-indians.org/

Land tenure rights (ownership of their lands ) is still not given

back to indigenous communities

- lost rights with arrival of European colonialists

Continuing problems: International communities, Indigenous Peoples

QUESTIONS: What valuable products RECENTLY found on these

lands by industrialized countries? What does this imply on whether

these lands will be given back to the indigenous people??

ANSWER: Oil, Natural gas, Gold, etc

QUESTION: Why does gold mining cause mercury poisoning of

people & ecosystems?

Continuing problems: International communities, Resources

& Land-use Changes

ANSWER: mercury used to separate gold from rock/ores and then

gets into river sediments, plants, fish in Amazon (affects human

central nervous systems)

“A gold miner uses a

high-pressure hose to

wash away the earth

and get gold particles,

near Delta Uno,

department of Madre

de Dios, southeast Lima

Peru. (Dan Collyns/AFP/Getty Images)

• …small-scale miners ..

less efficient in their

use of mercury than industrial miners

• 2.91 pounds of mercury are released into waterways for every 2.2

pounds of gold produced.

• estimated …more than 40 tons of mercury have been absorbed into

the rivers of Madre de Dios, poisoning the food chain

• 30% of global mercury used in gold mining (if want to see article, contact me)

International Drivers: Resources & Land-use Changes

http://www.amazon-indians.org/Matis-Video-01.htmlhttp://www.amazon-indians.org/Matis-Video-01.html

21

Gold price USD/oz for April 20, 2014

North Brazil –

forests converted

to pastures to

graze cattle,

burning

encourages

grass growth

needed as food

source for cattle

Markets for meat

are international

Global Markets drive Forest Conversion: Beef Production


http://www.amazonrainforestnews.

com/2011_12_01_archive.html


NOTE: 62% of deforested

lands converted to cattle

pastures in the Brazilian

Amazon (2008 data)

Global Markets drive Forest Conversion: Beef Production

http://photos.mongabay.com/11/0904_brazil_deforestation_fate.jpghttp://photos.mongabay.com/11/0904_brazil_deforestation_fate.jpg

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right - palm oil fruit; left - red colored palm oil (used in cooking, biodiesel production)

ASIA tropical

forests

converted to

palm oil

plantations to

grow Biofuel

Crops:

Former tropical

forests now

terraced palm

oil plantations


Global Markets drive Forest Conversion: Biofuel Production

65

What is or is not unique to tropical human-

forest landscapes?

How do people adapt to dynamic riverine

landscapes?

How hard is it to find or grow food?

What are western European fallacies of

tropical forests & people who live here?

Case study - ‘Debt-for-Nature-Swap’

What are current international drivers

tropical forest health and sustainability?

Today’s THREADS - WET Tropical Forests [interconnected

stories of rivers, fish, forests, soils and humans]

swap’spartanscience.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/8/0/1080122/... · 2018. 9. 27. · camu-camu...

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