Welcome to Mission 2006: Fauna Group

An effort to save the rainforest under the supervision of MIT

Group Goals: 1) Catagorize the fauna of the rainforest and develop exemplary case studies
                            2) Define the basic requirements for fauna population health and identify appropriate indicators for health
                            3) Identify threats to fauna populations and develop strategies to lessen the effects of such threats
                            4) Develop strategies for monitoring population health

Personal Expectations for Mission 2006: By the end of the semester I expect to:

Have gained a greater understanding of the nature of the rainforest and the factors that pose threats to its preservation and growth

Be able to martial the resources available to me in an organized and efficient manner and to better use those resources to accomplish my goals

Gain an educated sense of my own personal ability to solve complex problems

Improve my ability to work closely with others

Have improved my webpage composition skills to the point where this becomes the most visited webpage of all those produced for mission 2006 and is unanimously hailed as "excellent."

NEW STUFF!!!!

I've added comments that reflect my thoughts on my research and its relevence to the project as a whole.
These comments appear in Yellow after the intro of each section, and are preceded by an *.

I've also added an entirely new section of research under the final segment entitled "Ultraviolet Radiation Effects" as well as some new chemicals to my Fowler's Toad page.
CHECK IT OUT!!

Current Agenda:

Reorganize webpage for integration into the team webpage

Completed Work (Updated last on 10-30-02):

Research into the nature of the environment for ground-dwelling animals

* Here I'm trying to figure out what life is like on the ground level of the forest. The group is trying to find out as a whole how to divide up the fauna of the rainforest so that we might better monitor them. Through my research I found that, due to the semi-aquatic nature of much of the rainforest, it could be advantageous to monitor low-order animals such as rodents or amphibians, since they would be plentiful and represent a large segment of the fauna of the Amazon.

Floodplains:

Can be characterized by amplitude, frequency, predictability and source

Large river floodplains: Monomodal flood pulse, large flood amplitude (eg Amazon River and its major tributaries, the Orinoco and Parana-Paraguay Rivers)

Large depression floodplains (or insuffuciently drained areas flooded in rainy season): Predictable monomodal flood pulse, small flood amplitude

Small creek/river floodplains: Unpredictable polymodal floodpulse

Medium depressions or savannas flooded by rain: Unpredictable, polymodal flood pulse

Mangroves/Coastal Wetlands: Predictable, polymodal flood pulse (tidal influence)

Behavioral Adaptations to Flood Pulse:

Example given in flowchart form of typical evasion behaviors for terricolous invertebrates

(see Junk, Wolfgang J. The Central Amazon Floodplain: Ecology of a Pulsating System. pub. Springer-Verlag. c1997, p 300, Fig 14.1)

Typical behaviors include:

1)Migration: Horizontally along high water line, Vertically up tree trunks, Vertically to upland forests
2) Nonmigratory Behavior: Dormant stages underwater (natural retreats, sel-made retreats, as eggs), Active stages underwater
General Ground Characteristics:

Very poor soil fertility

Due to lack of forest floor dessication, many animals seen in the rain forest are rarely seen elsewhere outside of caves or strictly aquatic habitats

Many large animals are adapted to semi-aquatic life (eg the Tapir's extended trunk to keep air passageways open while swimming)

Food chain on ground typically begins with fruit or other debris that falls from the trees: Foragers include birds, rodents, insects, etc. and they in turn provide ample food source for higher-order animals

Mangrove swamp specialists are an example of adaption to ground life (eg the scarlet ibis' long beak)

Resource for ground-life info: Newman, Arnold. Tropical Rainforest. Checkmark Books: An Imprint of Fact on File, Inc. New York, NY. c2002.

Research into specific species of ground-dwelling animals

* Okay, so I've decided to look into rodents as prospective animals to monitor. It seems that they constitute a much larger biomass than I had previously expected. Some of them are also hard to monitor due to their nocturnal nature. In addition, the fact that they travel in large groups and are the subject of much hunting and predatory activity makes their population shifts relaitvely unpredictable and, perhaps, unsuitable as representatives of overall Amazon fauna health. As a complete sidenote, ants are apparently the most numerous animals in the Amazon, as well as being the hardest to catalog on a grand scale, save bacteria.

Rodents:

Excess of 300 species of rodents in Amzon

Hard to observe due to nocturnal behavior and relatively small size

Common species include the capybara and black agouti

Capybara: Largest rodent, partially aquatic

Black Agouti: Smaller version of capybara, non-aquatic, total of five species in Amazonia, low population density throughout much of Amazon, responsible for dispersal and subsequent germination of seeds

Other Ground Mammals:

Tapir: Largest land mammal, uniquely S. American, officially endangered, heavily hunted due to size

Peccary: Large and pig-like, most widespread of Amazon mammals, live in large herds of up to 50 individuals, among most widely hunted animals, forage for seeds, fruits, leaves, and small animals

Ants:

Most numerous animals in the Amazon

Serve as herbivores, scavengers, soil conditioners, predators

Source: Harris R. 2002. Jungle Photos. www.junglephotos.com

(Capybara image to right is provided courtesy of Jungle Photos (junglephotos.com), just click on the image to see other Amazonian animals ====>)

Research into exotoxicity of chemicals to amphibians

* So, rodents didn't quite pan out the way I expected, so I turn now to amphibians. Sure, they aren't as cute and cuddly, but they die easily and often when exposed to harsh chemicals in the environment. This is of course bad for them and everyone else who depends on them, but it's good for us as monitoring scientists. I found quite a bit of hard data, which can be accessed through the link below to a second page of my creation, regarding at which concentrations of dangerous chemicals amphibians begin to die. My hope in all of this is that we (fauna: team 4) will be able to corroborate the results from the other groups dealing with chemicals released into the environment. For instance, if someone is using a certain pesticide, we can monitor the frogs of the area and test them to see conclusively if a decrease in population is resulting from exotoxicity. This proves that the pesticide is having a negative effect and should be removed. Similar experiments may be done to determine pollution by industries, such as mining or logging, or any other poissible source of contamination.

Amphibians General Characteristics:

Glandular skin, lack of hair, scales, claws, and feathers

Amphibian originates from the Greek word amphibios meaning a creature that lives two lives -- a larval and an adult stage that are commonly very different from each other

3 currently living groups: Frogs (includes toads), Salamanders, and Caecilians (legless, worm-like animals native to tropic regions)

Use skin as well as the wet linings of the mouth and throat for gas exchange

Resource for General Characteristics: Tyning, Thomas F. Stokes Nature Guides: A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles. Little, Brown and Company. c1990.

Exotoxicity of Chemicals to Amphibians:

Resoucre used: Devillers, J. and Exbrayat, J. M. Exotoxicity of Chemicals to Amphibians. Garden and Breach Science Publishers. c1992.

The text details research done on many species of ambhibians, yet only two indigenous to S. America were used, Bufo woodhousei fowleri being the more common one (aka Fowler's Toad)

CLICK HERE for a summary of mortality rates of Fowler's Toad (Bufo woodhousei fowleri) as a result of chemical exposure

Research into large primate populations as indicator species

* Now I feel like I've got a solid base and a strong argument for amphibians as indicator species. While I wrap that up, I've done some extra research into the possible use of the other end of the biological spectrum as an indicator species: primates. I found that they're inherently hard to monitor on a large scale since they move around so much, but they are incredibly useful as mascots for conservation efforts (remember the cuddly rodents I was talking about earlier?). Anyway, these "charismatic megafauna" are already being used by several foundations to gain local support for conservation efforts. Although this is not incredibly useful to us, as a group concerned primarily with monitoring, I'll pass this along to the PR group as an FYI kind of thing in case they need ideas for promotional campaigns. I was thinking of something along the lines of a cute and sad monkey hanging from a tree as a logo to be placed on commercial products whose sale goes towards sponsoring some Amazonian preserve. It's kind of like dolphin-safe tuna, where the company gets good press and the public gets that warm, fuzzy feeling inside for doing something wholesome for once.

Causes for Large Primate Population Decreases:
    1) Deforestation
    2) Hunting- Hunting has been intense enough for larger primates (Lagothrix lagotricha especially) to cause local extinctions even where suitable habitats remain
            - Hunted as food source and as bait for trapping big cats for sale of hides on the black market
    3) Live Capture- Particularly bad for the cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) in Columbia where they are used for research and pets
            - Also a problem for the woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagrotricha), which is prized as a local pet
            - Live capture usually entails two deaths: the mother is killed and the baby is taken since it is easier to capture and handle
Conservation Efforts:

Atlantic seaboard of Brazil contains a unique forest ecosystem distinct from the rest of the Amazon rainforest

This area once stretched from the nose of S. America Rio Grande do Sul (southernmost Brazilian state)

Since colonization and urbanization, forest have been cleared for raw materials, plantations, cattle pastures, and industry

Only about 1-5% of the original area of this unique forest ecosystem remains (as of publication of refernce listed below)

The two most spectacular species of primate in the Amazon live in this area and are also the two most endangered; these are the golden lion tamarin (Ceontopithecus rosalia) and the muruqui (Brachyteles arachnoides)

World Wildlife Fund is currently running a grassroots campaign to save this rare ecosystem in conjunction with the Brazilian Conservation Foundation, The Federal University of Minas Gerais, and the Rio de Janeiro Primate Center

It has been shown that use of these charismatic and relatively large fauna as conservation mascots is an effective way to gain support

Resource used for primate info: Almeda, Frank and Pringle, Catherine M. Tropical Rainforests: Ecology and Conservation. California Academy of Sciences. San francisco, CA. c1988.

Ultraviolet radiation effects

* Here's where it gets good. So I stumbled across this book that details all the synergistic effects of UV light with other factors on AMPHIBIANS of all creatures! What's even better is that it references to specific chemicals on my Fowler's Toad page that provide conclusive evidence to back up the book's conclusions! It's really tying together now, since I've managed to tie in the air, water, and land groups as well as whichever ones end up dealing with polluting industries. I can now show correlations between decreasing amphibian (mostly frog) populations and lack of ozone, deforestation, chemical dumping, acid rain, and a whole slew of other things like pesticide and insecticide use by local farmers. I've included links to my Fowler's Toad page for easy reference.

Ultraviolet radiation causes the eggs of some amphibian species to hatch at lower rates as well as causing sublethal effects.
These include decreased growth and developmental rates, increased rates of developmental and physiology
Behavioral Abberations Across Several Species of Amphibians:
1) Hampering of anti-predator activity: Animals exposed to low levels of UV-B responded more slowly to chemical cues, specifically exhibiting

decreased swimming activity

erratic swimming behavior

Developmental Abnormalities:

Edema

Skeletal abnormalities

Eye damage

Synergistic Effects:
    It's possible that UV-B exposure weakens the disease defense mechanisms in developing embryos based on experiments done with the fungus Saprolegnia ferax, UV-B light, and Rana cascidae and Bufo boreas. Both species of frog experienced significantly higher mortality rates in the presence of both factors than when exposed to only one of the two. The case may be the same with pH variances, where greater mortality results from the combination of pH factors and UV light. Synergistic toxicity effects occur when:
1) UV directly alters a chemical to become more toxic, as in the case of the insecticide carbaryl (see summary of mortality rates of Fowler's Toad above)
2) Bioaccumulated toxins react directly with UV light, an example being polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's)
    "PAH's are multiple-ringed hydrocarbons that contaminate ponds and streams via road runoff, direct industrial discharge, or atmospheric deposition." (Cockell)
    "PAHs absorb UV (320-400 nm) and are acutely toxic by causing singlet oxygen to form within the cell." (Cockell)
    "In the presence of sunlight, some PAHs like flouranthene can be highly toxic to aquatic animals at environmentally realistic levels." (Cockell)
UV light also increases the toxicity of anthracene.
Specifically, the UV combination with:
1) flouranthene caused abdominal edema and gut malformations in Xenopus laevis
2) carbaryl caused significantly increased mortality rates in experiments showing irradiated carbaryl to be more greatly toxic than nonirradiated carbaryl

Increases in UV exposure, and hence, increases in embryonic mortalities, deformities, and behavioral abberations, result largly from a reduced ozone layer and the lack of canopy cover from deforestation.

Resource used for ultraviolet radiation effects info: Cockell, Charles S. Ecosystems, Evolution, and Ultraviolet Radiation. Springer-Verlag. c2001.