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43-468: The mission of Gorgas Science Foundation is to provide the highest quality educational opportunities, to foster greater awareness and understanding of ecological issues, and to encourage conservation of critical natural resources. The foundation was started in 1947 and incorporated in 1983 by Texas Southmost College biology professor Barbara T. Warburton. The name honors pioneering research scientist Dr. William Crawford Gorgas who served at Fort Brown in

86-629: A large loss of Amazonian rainforest around 2050 due to drought , forest dieback and the subsequent release of more carbon dioxide. Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided. Many foods originally came from tropical forests, and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. Also, plant-derived medicines are commonly used for fever, fungal infections, burns, gastrointestinal problems, pain, respiratory problems, and wound treatment. At

129-423: A more open canopy layer than other rainforests, and are found in areas of lower rainfall (630–1,100 mm (25–43 in)). They generally have two layers of trees. A tropical rainforest typically has a number of layers, each with different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area. Examples include the emergent, canopy , understory and forest floor layers. The emergent layer contains

172-513: A small net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, though they may have other climatic effects (on cloud formation, for example, by recycling water vapour ). No rainforest today can be considered to be undisturbed. Human-induced deforestation plays a significant role in causing rainforests to release carbon dioxide, as do other factors, whether human-induced or natural, which result in tree death, such as burning and drought. Some climate models operating with interactive vegetation predict

215-407: A small number of very large trees called emergents , which grow above the general canopy , reaching heights of 45–55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70–80 m tall. They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas. Eagles , butterflies , bats and certain monkeys inhabit this layer. The canopy layer contains

258-797: A study by Colin Turnbull , The Forest People , in 1962. Pygmies who live in Southeast Asia are, amongst others, referred to as " Negrito ". There are many tribes in the rainforests of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Sarawak is part of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. Some of the other tribes in Sarawak are: the Kayan, Kenyah, Kejaman, Kelabit, Punan Bah, Tanjong, Sekapan, and the Lahanan. Collectively, they are referred to as Dayaks or Orangulu which means "people of

301-437: A trend towards declining populations in rainforests, for example, reptiles that feed on amphibians and reptiles. This trend requires close monitoring. The seasonality of rainforests affects the reproductive patterns of amphibians, and this in turn can directly affect the species of reptiles that feed on these groups, particularly species with specialized feeding, since these are less likely to use alternative resources. Despite

344-436: A very broad array of fauna , including mammals , reptiles , amphibians , birds and invertebrates . Mammals may include primates , felids and other families. Reptiles include snakes , turtles , chameleons and other families; while birds include such families as vangidae and Cuculidae . Dozens of families of invertebrates are found in rainforests. Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on

387-423: A warm and wet climate with no substantial dry season: typically found within 10 degrees north and south of the equator . Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year. Average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm (66 in) and can exceed 1,000 cm (390 in) although it typically lies between 175 cm (69 in) and 200 cm (79 in). Many of

430-781: Is a public junior college located in Brownsville, Texas , United States. Texas Southmost College was established in 1926 under the name of The Junior College of the Lower Rio Grande Valley , as a subsidiary of the local school district in Brownsville . On September 21, 1926, 84 students began classes, meeting in the old Brownsville High School. From 1928 to 1948, it was located in Brownsville High School and Brownsville Elementary School on Palm Boulevard between Washington Street and Jefferson Street. Despite hard times during

473-503: Is abundant. Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are present in the understory. Only about 5% of the sunlight shining on the rainforest canopy reaches the understory. This layer can be called a shrub layer , although the shrub layer may also be considered a separate layer. The forest floor , the bottom-most layer, receives only 2% of the sunlight. Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Away from riverbanks , swamps and clearings, where dense undergrowth

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516-419: Is found, the forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration. It also contains decaying plant and animal matter, which disappears quickly, because the warm, humid conditions promote rapid decay. Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste. More than half of the world's species of plants and animals are found in rainforests. Rainforests support

559-546: The Cameroon to the Congo ( Congo Rainforest ), South America (e.g. the Amazon rainforest ), Central America (e.g. Bosawás , the southern Yucatán Peninsula - El Peten - Belize - Calakmul ), Australia , and on Pacific Islands (such as Hawaiʻi ). Tropical forests have been called the "Earth's lungs ", although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to

602-464: The Great Depression , the college continued to maintain nominal levels of enrollment. The name of the college changed in 1931 to Brownsville Junior College , then to Texas Southmost College in 1950. During World War II , due to wartime mobilization, enrollment dwindled, with the number of graduates halved between 1943 and 1945. A major improvement came in 1948 when the city of Brownsville acquired

645-695: The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College . After 1991, UTB/TSC continued to grow, eventually boasting over 10,000 students. On November 2, 2004, voters in the Texas Southmost College district voted yes to a $ 68-million bond package so the college could do a number of building projects. On November 10, 2010, the University of Texas System Board of Regents voted to end the University of Texas at Brownsville's educational partnership with Texas Southmost College as it stood. On February 17, 2011,

688-680: The atmosphere through photosynthesis . Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in a few regions around the world. Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions. They occur in North America (in the Pacific Northwest in Alaska , British Columbia , Washington , Oregon and California ), in Europe (parts of the British Isles such as

731-654: The 19th century. In collaboration with the Audubon Society , the foundation operates the Sabal Palm Sanctuary in Brownsville, Texas . In 1994 the Gorgas Foundation produced the 18 volume "Treasures of the Rio Grande Delta" documentary that focused on the history and habitat of the region. In 2010 the foundation published the bilingual Spanish and English El Valle: The Rio Grande Delta an exploration of

774-400: The 20th century and the area covered by rainforests around the world is shrinking. Biologists have estimated that large numbers of species are being driven to extinction (possibly more than 50,000 a year; at that rate, says E. O. Wilson of Harvard University , a quarter or more of all species on Earth could be exterminated within 50 years) due to the removal of habitat with destruction of

817-465: The Earth, but one to two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles." A true exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows . Exploration of the canopy is still in its infancy, but other methods include the use of balloons and airships to float above the highest branches and

860-659: The TSC Board of Trustees voted 4-3 to separate from UTB. On August 31, 2015, UTB was officially dissolved and UTPA's name was changed to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley . Rain forest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy , moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests , but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to

903-847: The TSC athletic program experienced a great decline and many competitive programs did not survive into the 1970s. In the 1960s, despite the declining competitive situation of the sports programs, the college gained the Rancho Del Cielo research center, located 300 miles south of Brownsville, in Mexico. This few acre research center has abundant plant life and rain forest climatic conditions. In 1973 Texas Southmost College began offering its first bachelor's degree programs and graduate courses in cooperation with Pan American University (later known as University of Texas–Pan American and located in Edinburg, Texas ). This

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946-495: The biodiversity and culture of the region. In 2016 the foundation published Hummingbirds , by John C. Arvin. the first volume of the two volume set book on Hummingbirds . In cooperation with the University of Texas at Brownsville , the Gorgas Foundation has operated two biology field stations in the cloud forests along the eastern escarpment of northeastern Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental . The foundation's work at Rancho del Cielo and Rancho el Cielito research stations laid

989-464: The building of cranes and walkways planted on the forest floor. The science of accessing tropical forest canopy using airships or similar aerial platforms is called dendronautics . The understory or understorey layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor. It is home to a number of birds , snakes and lizards , as well as predators such as jaguars , boa constrictors and leopards . The leaves are much larger at this level and insect life

1032-805: The coastal areas of Ireland and Scotland , southern Norway , parts of the western Balkans along the Adriatic coast, as well as in Galicia and coastal areas of the eastern Black Sea , including Georgia and coastal Turkey ), in East Asia (in southern China , Highlands of Taiwan , much of Japan and Korea , and on Sakhalin Island and the adjacent Russian Far East coast), in South America (southern Chile ) and also in Australia and New Zealand . Dry rainforests have

1075-417: The decomposing remains of plants and animals. The great diversity in rainforest species is in large part the result of diverse and numerous physical refuges , i.e. places in which plants are inaccessible to many herbivores, or in which animals can hide from predators. Having numerous refuges available also results in much higher total biomass than would otherwise be possible. Some species of fauna show

1118-667: The groundwork for the creation of the 360,000 acre El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in Tamaulipas . The Gorgas Foundation supported years of field work in the Western Ghats of India that culminated in a 60-minute documentary by prizewinning cinematographer Sandesh Kadur titled "Sahyadris – Mountains of the Monsoon." This article about a scientific organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Texas Southmost College Texas Southmost College ( TSC )

1161-422: The growth of vegetation in a tropical rainforest, soil quality is often quite poor. Rapid bacterial decay prevents the accumulation of humus . The concentration of iron and aluminium oxides by the laterization process gives the oxisols a bright red colour and sometimes produces mineral deposits such as bauxite . Most trees have roots near the surface because there are insufficient nutrients below

1204-468: The increasing deforestation rate, especially in Indonesia, is the expansion of oil palm plantations to meet growing demand for cheap vegetable fats and biofuels . In Indonesia, palm oil is already cultivated on nine million hectares and, together with Malaysia , the island nation produces about 85 percent of the world's palm oil. Several countries, notably Brazil , have declared their deforestation

1247-469: The interior". About half of Sarawak's 1.5 million people are Dayaks. Most Dayaks, it is believed by anthropologists, came originally from the South-East Asian mainland. Their mythologies support this. Tropical and temperate rainforests have been subjected to heavy legal and illegal logging for their valuable hardwoods and agricultural clearance ( slash-and-burn , clearcutting ) throughout

1290-506: The island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups. The tribes are in danger because of the deforestation, especially in Brazil. Central African rainforest is home of the Mbuti pygmies , one of the hunter-gatherer peoples living in equatorial rainforests characterised by their short height (below one and a half metres, or 59 inches, on average). They were the subject of

1333-408: The lands formerly comprising the decommissioned army base known as Fort Brown , which had been closed in 1946. By 1948, when the college had an enrollment of around 1,250 students, its own campus, and a generous budget, talks had started within the school district about creating a separate district for the college. It was decided that the new district would cover southern Cameron County . In 1950, on

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1376-437: The majority of the largest trees, typically 30 metres (98 ft) to 45 metres (148 ft) tall. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species. Epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches , and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on

1419-473: The poor soil quality. First is that the soil is highly acidic. The roots of plants rely on an acidity difference between the roots and the soil in order to absorb nutrients. When the soil is acidic, there is little difference, and therefore little absorption of nutrients from the soil. Second, the type of clay particles present in tropical rainforest soil has a poor ability to trap nutrients and stop them from washing away. Even if humans artificially add nutrients to

1462-703: The rainforests. Another factor causing the loss of rainforest is expanding urban areas . Littoral rainforest growing along coastal areas of eastern Australia is now rare due to ribbon development to accommodate the demand for seachange lifestyles. Forests are being destroyed at a rapid pace. Almost 90% of West Africa 's rainforest has been destroyed. Since the arrival of humans, Madagascar has lost two thirds of its original rainforest. At present rates, tropical rainforests in Indonesia would be logged out in 10 years and Papua New Guinea in 13 to 16 years. According to Rainforest Rescue , an important reason for

1505-420: The rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the " world's largest pharmacy ", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation ,

1548-581: The resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere . Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of leaf litter, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. The largest areas of rainforest are tropical or temperate rainforests, but other vegetation associations including subtropical rainforest , littoral rainforest , cloud forest , vine thicket and even dry rainforest have been described. Tropical rainforests are characterized by

1591-482: The same time, rainforests are usually not used sustainably by non-native peoples but are being exploited or removed for agricultural purposes . On January 18, 2007, FUNAI reported also that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition, Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes. The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in

1634-487: The silver anniversary of the college, the Brownsville Independent School District handed over the deed to the college over to the newly formed Southmost Union Junior College District. The Texas Southmost College athletics program flourished in the 1950s: the school had football, basketball, boxing and track teams and many of these teams won accolades for their performance. In the mid- to late 1960s,

1677-421: The soil, the nutrients mostly wash away and are not absorbed by the plants. Finally, these soils are poor due to the high volume of rain in tropical rainforests washes nutrients out of the soil more quickly than in other climates. A natural rainforest emits and absorbs vast quantities of carbon dioxide . On a global scale, long-term fluxes are approximately in balance, so that an undisturbed rainforest would have

1720-443: The supporting plants. The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer but more diverse. A quarter of all insect species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, but have only recently developed practical methods of exploring it. As long ago as 1917, naturalist William Beebe declared that "another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon

1763-433: The surface; most of the trees' minerals come from the top layer of decomposing leaves and animals. On younger substrates, especially of volcanic origin, tropical soils may be quite fertile. If rainforest trees are cleared, rain can accumulate on the exposed soil surfaces, creating run-off, and beginning a process of soil erosion . Eventually, streams and rivers form and flooding becomes possible. There are several reasons for

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1806-764: The world's tropical forests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough , also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone . The broader category of tropical moist forests are located in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn . Tropical rainforests exist in Southeast Asia (from Myanmar (Burma) ) to the Philippines , Malaysia , Indonesia , Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka ; also in Sub-Saharan Africa from

1849-544: Was the origin of the entity known as Pan American University at Brownsville, which worked independently from Texas Southmost College. In the late 1980s, Pan American University created a partnership with the University of Texas System and the entity in Brownsville became known as The University of Texas–Pan American at Brownsville. Texas Southmost College and The University of Texas–Pan American at Brownsville combined their educational functions as The University of Texas at Brownsville on September 1, 1991. This created

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