Question

A region of Amazon rainforest has been targeted for deforestation so that the land can be used for growing a single crop–a species of palm that will be harvested for its palm oil. What harm could this cause? A biologist might be expected to give the following answer: Because this land will go from harboring many hundreds of thousands of species to having just one species, it is an example of land that will undergo extreme loss of _______.

Answer 1

Deforestation in the Amazon for palm oil cultivation leads to a dramatic loss in biodiversity, habitat destruction, and changes in ecosystem services that normally sustain a balanced environment and contribute to global well-being.

Step-by-step explanation:

The land undergoing deforestation in the Amazon for the purpose of monoculture farming with palm oil trees would cause an extreme loss of biodiversity. This is because the transformation from a diverse rainforest ecosystem to a single-species crop reduces the richness of species drastically. Tropical rainforests, like those of the Amazon Basin, are home to an estimated 50 percent of Earth's species and the plant species of palm oil does not provide the same habitat that supports the vast array of animal and plant life.

Furthermore, these changes also have a significant impact on climate, affecting local rainfall patterns and temperature, which in turn impacts local and global ecosystems. The switch from rainforest to palm oil plantations not only undermines the ecological balance but also reduces the vast array of ecosystem services that diverse biological communities provide, including carbon sequestration, climate regulation, and the development of new medicines.