WHAT MAJOR WAYS BIOMES ARE BEING DEGRADES/DAMAGED/ DESTROYED/ REPLACED
- Naturally occurring forest fires are part of the overall plan for keeping a forest healthy. As human development pushes further and further into wildlife habitat, people interfere with this natural cycle. Homes need to be protected from fire. Measures are taken to prevent fires and in the event that one occurs, it is extinguished immediately. Some plant species depend on fire as a seed release mechanism. Without fire the renewal of the forest does not take place.
- Dutch elm disease wiped out millions of trees in the US and Canada.
- Today, American chestnuts survive only as isolated stumps, with a few sprouts. In the early l900's, a fungus called chestnut blight spread in the forests, leaving dying and dead chestnut trees all over the Eastern United States.
- The introduction of non-native plant and animal species to the Deciduous forest can destroy the balance of the forest. Introduced non-native species compete for food and habitat often resulting in the endangerment of native species.
- Global warming has definite effects on the Earth's Deciduous forests. As the Earth's temperature gradually increases, less and less precipitation falls on the deciduous forest. Less precipitation means less growth. The ability of the temperate deciduous forest to regenerate itself is severely impaired