The Rhythm of Life

"It's obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life - for 8 billion or more people - without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt." - E.O. Wilson
There’s a rhythm to life in the tropics rooted in seasons that are measured by differences in rainfall not variations in solar insolation. Tropical forests flourish year round. Trees lack the growth rings that record seasonal changes in temperate climates. 
The dawn chorus of birds in the forest is triggered by the first rays of sun brushing the treetops. With little variation from day to day in the time of sunrise, the birds of the forest are a dependable alarm clock.
In the symphony of the forest, the songbirds are the flutes and reeds, the wind in the trees the strings, and the rain the percussion. And the brass and bass sections? There are howler monkeys, toucans, and frogs who punctuate and enrich the acoustical improvisation of the forest orchestra.
Humans are edge species. We visit the interior of the forest as tourists, scientists, hunters, and scavengers. Our way is marked by paths as naked as the lahar of the volcano. Humans mark their territory not with pheromones, but with fences, cultivated fields, and tree stumps. 
When no plain or field exists, we clear the forest for open space converting the trees to shelters of our own design. We engineer a world apart from the natural world. Our food web is designed and controlled by our human enterprise. Finding the balance between the natural world and the human engineered world is a slack-line balancing act that requires practice and careful, deliberate planning. 
Costa Rica, a nation the size of West Virginia, claims nearly 5% of the world's biodiversity. Prior to the 1950s, Costa Rica had contiguous forests with well-developed biological corridors that encouraged genetic diversity within species. A growing human population and demand for cheap  fast food beef in North America fueled deforestation to establish cattle ranches. 
The maps below show the dramatic change in forest cover that occurred between the 1950s and the 1970s.  Changes in agriculture and public policy reversed the deforestation trend. By 2005, reforestation rates were outpacing deforestation. The challenge of re-establishing biological corridors remains. 

source: EOSL/CCT/FONAFIFO 2002; FONAFIFO 2007, Weblink

Conservation efforts are focused on preservation and reforestation. However, the forest that was is lost forever. Although the secondary forest will be a different forest, reforestation is a step toward ensuring a future planet that is habitable for our species and other species. In the end, we may live on the edge, but we are part of  the natural world and responsible for our individual and collective impact on all the species with which we share the planet.
. 
Consider the Following
School children in Costa Rica are required to participate in conservation service projects to preserve and improve the environment. Should U.S. schools be required to have similar service projects for students? What types of projects would improve the environment in your school, community, state, or region?


Up next: A Day at the Plantation, a Night at the Finca