Deforestation

BREAKING NEWS:

There has been a huge increase in deforestation. Last week a new timber company came and cut down large sections of the boreal forest in Canada. One major effect this had is known as the “edge effect”. This creates edges of the forest in area that were previously deep forest. This causes an increase of sunlight in those areas and a rise in temperature. Organisms that previously could live in these deep forest areas are unable to survive once they become edges.

Photo credit to Think Global Green

Another effect would be major habitat destruction. Many animals, such as squirrels, burrow in trees in the boreal forest, so this loss of habitat would be devastating.

Birds, however, would have a major increase in numbers, as it would be easier for them to find food without the cover of the trees. The birds can also easily build new nests in different trees, while the journey to another tree may be impossible for a small ground squirrel or other rodent. The bird population would thrive, likely causing a population overshoot and die out. 

Another devastating impact would be the loss of genetic diversity. Because areas of boreal forest are separated in ways they never have been before, animals will not be able to move from one area to the next, which causes a decrease of genetic variation. This decrease is devastating because it doesn't allow a population to rebound from disaster quickly.

Deforestation also releases a huge amount of CO2 which causes global warming. This warming would be disastrous for the boreal forest because the animals have developed to resist the cold conditions they live in. For instance this warming could melt all the snow, if it becomes very extreme, and the snowshoe hare population would quickly die back because when their fur changes color to white in the winter, that would no longer provide camouflage. Only the hares with a mutation in their genes so that their fur won't change colors would survive.

Photo credit to National Geographic

Works Cited                                                                                                          http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/relevance/IIIA2Lowvariation.shtml