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Deforestation In Tropical Rainforests

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The rapid destruction of woodlands or removal of trees from forests is known as deforestation. Every year, vast areas of forests are cleared to make way for agriculture and development.
Tropical rainforests play important ecological roles:
1. Rainforests are the oldest ecosystems on Earth and house almost half of the world’s flora and fauna.
2. They contain many unique species which provide food, medicine and other biological products. Plants from tropical rainforests already provide about one-quarter of today’s pharmaceutical products. According to the National Cancer Institute, 70% of the plants useful in the treatment of cancer can only be found in the tropical rainforests.
3. Rainforests regulate the world’s climate by influencing wind, …show more content…

They also serve as water catchment areas.
Effects of Deforestation
Despite their importance, it has been estimated that more than 50 million acres of rainforests are destroyed or seriously degraded every year.
1. Deforestation causes soil erosion, landslides and flash floods
During the rain seasons and it rains for a long period of time, the top layer of soil loosens and slide down which cause landslides. Landslides may cause the loss of lives and properties. Deforestation causes the soil to lose its stability. Decreasing of trees causes there is lack of tree leaves to protect the soil from the collision of raindrops and also causes the lack of tree roots to hold the soil. Thus, the soil is exposed directly to the raindrop. The top layer of soil is easily washed away by the heavy rainfall. This leads to soil erosion. The water carries away the eroded soil and the eroded soil may be deposited in rivers. Rainwater flows quickly into rivers during heavy rain because there is no reservation of water by plant roots as well as water catchment areas. Due to oozing in the rivers, the water flow is slowed down and become blocked. Thus, water flow interior and causes flash floods in low areas. Flash floods may cause loss of lives and properties. Soil erosion will leads to loss of minerals for the land. The land cannot be used for …show more content…

Deforestation results in the loss of biodiversity
Deforestation is having its most devastating effect on biodiversity in tropical rainforests. The destruction of millions of hectares of forests by human activities means:
• The removal of the bases of numerous food webs
• The loss of habitats for many species of flora and

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