1. Describe the biodiversity present in the jungle.

Compared to other ecosystem, jungles such as tropical rainforests have the richest
habitats on earth. They have billions of species, many of which are only found in certain
forests. Jungles covers only about 7% of the earth’s entire land area but they serve a
vital role in the planet. They capture more carbon than any other habitat on earth. They
have high humidity that is very conducive for vegetation growth. Molds, fungi, and other
decomposers recycle the scarce chemical nutrients back to the soil. Plants and animals
interact with each other, thus making each of the species important for the ecosystem.
Some of the biodiverse species that we have learned about are the lowland gorillas
found in the heart of Africa, Congo. The dominant male, known as the silverback,
protects his family from other predators in the forests. They climb live and climb trees.
Elephants are also part of this biodiversity. They commune to a place called Mbeli Bai
where they usually look for the mineral of salt, vital for their survival. This place is a
refuge for them since it has a minimum number of disturbances from the human
poachers.
Animals in New Guinea are bizarre. To name a few, they are the 12 wired bird of
paradise where it has a tail ornament to tickle the face of its mate, the sicklebills who
are able to morph into unusual forms and the western parotias who have a unique way
of attracting a mate by a choreographed routine.
Borneo in South-East Asia, due to its old age, has a unique geographic landscape. It
has limestone mountaintops towering up to 40 meters. It also houses the oldest
predators to be known on Earth, the red velvet worm found on its ocean floor. It spits
some kind of slime to its prey that will trap the insect. Then the velvet worm would inject
it with digestive saliva and suck its insides. Some other species are slime molds, fungi,
39 species of pitcher plants, mountain tree, shrew, and bats.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, the biodiversity is less than what it has been for a couple
of years ago. It has already lost 90% of the primary sources. The world’s rarest bird of
prey can be found here but there are only 400 pairs remaining.
The biggest rainforest in the world is over 3000 km across and is home to half of our
planet’s remaining forest. Species that are found here are the black spider monkeys,
jaguars, a thousand species of frogs that are indicators of a healthy forest, leafcutter
ants, a mischievous fungus called cordyceps and among others. It manipulates its host
animal until its death. When the host animal dies, it will carry out a bulbous container
that will carry spores into the air, finding way to a new host animal. The more numerous
the species, the likely it will destroy the jungle so the cordyceps help in protecting the
jungle’s biodiversity.
The jungle in Sumatra, Indonesia is falling in an alarming rate because people are only
planting a single species of trees, the palm oil. This led for the population of other
species to decrease, the orangutans. It is estimated that 100 orangutans are being
killed every week due to human activity.
2. How do different species interact in the jungle.
3. How important is biodiversity in the jungle.
4. Share your thoughts, feelings and reactions to the biodiversity present in the jungle.