Impacts Of Conversion Of Tropical Forests To Small-Scale Agriculture Essay

Impacts Of Conversion Of Tropical Forests To Small-Scale Agriculture - Essay Example From a biologist perspective, tropical forests are the richest and most exciting areas on earth sheltering a diverse wildlife. Tropical forests are differentiated from another type of forests due to their gigantic trees amazingly diverse fauna of colorful birds, millions of brightly hued insects, and a variety of fascinating mammals. It is widely accepted that tropical lowland forests are the most species-rich type of terrestrial ecosystem, for example, a hectare of Malaysian tropical rainforest may contain 180 kinds of trees. Tropical rainforests are generally concentrated near the equator in Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and on many of the Pacific Islands. According to WWF’s biome classification, tropical rain forests are considered a type of tropical wet forest and may also be referred to as lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests. All five layers of tropical rainforests i.e. emergent layer, canopy layer, understory layer, shrub layer, and forest floor are enriched with different plants and animals. Tropical deforestation, desertification, decreasing biodiversity, climate change and the scarcity of fresh water are issues of recent global conflict. This paper makes a conclusion that tropical forests are the richest and most exciting areas on earth sheltering a diverse wildlife. Small-scale agricultural practices, though considered safe by many scientists and ecologists, have been proved to be having detrimental effects on the health of tropical forests. These agricultural practices are facing the burden of huge population growth and unhealthy practices.