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Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale. Their distribution patterns are strongly correlated with regional climate patterns and identified according to the climax vegetation type. However, a biome is composed not only of the climax vegetation, but also of associated successional communities, persistent subclimax communities, fauna, and soils.

The global distribution pattern: Where each biome is found and how each varies geographically. A given biome may be composed of different taxa on different continents. Continent-specific associations of species within a given biome are known as formations and often are known by different local names. For example,the temperate grassland biome is variously called prairie, steppe, pampa, or veld, depending on where it occurs (North America, Eurasia, South America, and southern Africa, respectively). The general characteristics of the regional climate and the limitations or requirements imposed upon life by specific temperature and/or precipitation patterns. Aspects of the physical environment that may exert a stronger influence than climate in determining common plant growthforms and/or subclimax vegetation. Usually these factors are conditions of the substrate (e.g., waterlogged; excessively droughty, nutrient-poor) or of disturbance (e.g., periodic flooding or burning). The soil order(s) that characterize the biome and those processes involved in soil development. The dominant, characteristic, and unique growthforms; vertical stratification; leaf shape, size, and habit; and special adaptations of the vegetation. Examples of the last are peculiar life histories or reproductive strategies, dispersal mechanisms, root structure, and so forth. The types of animals (especially vertebrates) characteristic of the biome and their typical morphological, physiological, and/or behavioral adaptations to the environment.

The global distribution pattern: Where each biome is found and how each varies geographically. A given biome may be composed of different taxa on different continents. Continent-specific associations of species within a given biome are known as formations and often are known by different local names. For example,the temperate grassland biome is variously called prairie, steppe, pampa, or veld, depending on where it occurs (North America, Eurasia, South America, and southern Africa, respectively). The general characteristics of the regional climate and the limitations or requirements imposed upon life by specific temperature and/or precipitation patterns. Aspects of the physical environment that may exert a stronger influence than climate in determining common plant growthforms and/or subclimax vegetation. Usually these factors are conditions of the substrate (e.g., waterlogged; excessively droughty, nutrient-poor) or of disturbance (e.g., periodic flooding or burning). The soil order(s) that characterize the biome and those processes involved in soil development. The dominant, characteristic, and unique growthforms; vertical stratification; leaf shape, size, and habit; and special adaptations of the vegetation. Examples of the last are peculiar life histories or reproductive strategies, dispersal mechanisms, root structure, and so forth. The types of animals (especially vertebrates) characteristic of the biome and their typical morphological, physiological, and/or behavioral adaptations to the environment.

The arts of ancient Greece have exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture.

There were several interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Greece. Due to their technical differences, they underwent somewhat differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are equally well represented in the archaeological record.

The most respected form of art, according to authors like Pliny or Pausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden boards, technically described as panel paintings. The techniques used were encaustic (wax) painting and tempera. Such paintings normally depicted figural scenes, including portraits and still-lifes; we have descriptions of many compositions. They were collected and often displayed in public spaces. Pausanias describes such exhibitions at Athens and Delphi. We know the names of many famous painters, mainly of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, from literature (see expandable list to the right). Unfortunately, due to the perishable nature of the materials used and the major upheavals at the end of antiquity, not one of the famous works of Greek panel painting has survived, nor even any of the copies that doubtlessly existed, and which give us most of our knowledge of Greek sculpture. The most important surviving Greek examples are the fairly low-quality Pitsa panels from circa 530 BC, and a large group of much later Graeco-Roman archaeological survivals from the dry conditions of Egypt, the Fayum mummy portraits, together with the similar Severan Tondo. Byzantine icons are also derived from the encaustic panel painting tradition.

Because there are so many creatures living in the rainforest, there is a great deal of competition for food, sunlight and space. Some animals became very specialised. This means that they adapted to eating a specific plant or animal that few others eat. For example, parrots and toucans eat nuts, and developed big strong beaks to crack open the tough shells. Leafcutter ants climb tall trees and cut small pieces of leaves which they carry back to their nest.The leaf pieces are about 50 times their weight.The ants bury the leaf pieces, and the combination of the leaves and the ants' saliva encourages the growth of a fungus, which is the only food these ants eat. Sometimes there are relationships between animals and plants that benefit both. Some trees depend on animals to spread the seeds of their fruit to distant parts of the forest. Birds and mammals eat the fruits, and travel some distance before the seeds pass through their digestive systems in another part of the forest. One problem with specialisation is that if one species becomes extinct, the other is in danger too unless it can adapt in time. The dodo, a flightless bird of Mauritius, became extinct in 1681. Today there are just 13 calvaria trees left on the island, each over 300 years old, and nearly at the end of their life. Scientists realised that the seeds had to pass through a dodo's digestive system before they could germinate. It seemed that the tree species would also become extinct, but scientists tried domestic turkeys and have successfully managed to germinate some seeds.Many rainforest animals use camouflage to 'disappear' in the rainforest. Stick insects are perfect examples of this. There are some butterflies whose wings look like leaves. Camouflage is of course useful for predators too, so that they can catch prey that hasn't seen them. The Boa Constrictor is an example of a camouflaged predator. The South American three-toed sloth uses camouflage and amazing slowness to escape predators. Green algae grows in the sloth's fur, which helps camouflage it in the forest canopy. Sloths are among the slowest moving animals of all (inside too, as it takes about a month to digest food). They hang from branches in the canopy, and are so still that predators such as jaguars don't see them. Some animals are poisonous, and use bright colors to warn predators to leave them alone. There are several species of brightly colored poison arrow frogs. Native Central and South American tribes used to wipe the ends of their arrows onto the frog's skin to make their arrows deadly

Animals that live in the tundra have special adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme temperatures and conditions that are present in a tundra.  A good example of an animal with special adaptations is the Arctic Fox.  The Arctic Fox has short ears and a short, round body with a thick coat to minimize the amount of skin exposed to the frigid air.  There is a low amount of biodiversity in the tundra so fluctuations in one animal population will effect populations in another.  An example of this would be that if in a certain year there is a lower amount of Lemmings than usual, then the population of Snowy Owls, who feed mostly on Lemmings, will also decrease.

Why Do We Need To Conserve?One answer is very simple. We need to conserve to make certain we have resources for ourselves and for people in the future. Conservation will allow future generations to enjoy natural resources such as clean rivers and lakes, wilderness areas, a diverse wildlife population, healthy soil, and clean air. Resources Are Necessary for Life! Many natural resources are necessary for our survival. It may be difficult to imagine that we could ever run out of fresh water, clean air, and good soil for growing food. But in some places this is already happening.

Using less paper, reusing paper, and recycling paper saves trees and water. Recycling aluminum cans will save money, resources, and prevent pollution. For example, it takes much less energy to recycle an aluminum soft drink can than it does to make a new one. Making energy uses up resources like oil and coal. So just by recycling the aluminum cans you use, you become an instant conservationist!

Using less paper, reusing paper, and recycling paper saves trees and water. Recycling aluminum cans will save money, resources, and prevent pollution. For example, it takes much less energy to recycle an aluminum soft drink can than it does to make a new one. Making energy uses up resources like oil and coal. So just by recycling the aluminum cans you use, you become an instant conservationist!

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. More broadly, it is a movement whose object is "a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers."[1] Those who promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty

Traditionally, banks have not provided financial services, such as loans, to clients with little or no cash income. Banks incur substantial costs to manage a client account, regardless of how small the sums of money involved. For example, the total profit for a bank from delivering 100 loans worth $1,000 each will not differ greatly from the revenue that results from delivering one loan of $100,000. But the fixed cost of processing loans of any size is considerable as assessment of potential borrowers, their repayment prospects and security; administration of outstanding loans, collecting from delinquent borrowers, etc., has to be done in all cases. There is a break-even point in providing loans or deposits below which banks lose money on each transaction they make. Poor people usually fall below that breakeven point. In addition, most poor people have few assets that can be secured by a bank as collateral. As documented extensively by Hernando de Soto and others, even if they happen to own land in the developing world, they may not have effective title to it.[2] This means that the bank will have little recourse against defaulting borrowers. Seen from a broader perspective, the development of a healthy national financial system has long been viewed as a catalyst for the broader goal of national economic development (see for example Alexander Gerschenkron, Paul Rosenstein-Rodan, Joseph Schumpeter, Anne Krueger ). However, the efforts of national planners and experts to develop financial services for most people have often failed in developing countries, for reasons summarized well by Adams, Graham & Von Pischke in their classic analysis 'Undermining Rural Development with Cheap Credit'.[3] Because of these difficulties, when poor people borrow they often rely on relatives or a local moneylender, whose interest rates can be very high. An analysis of 28 studies of informal moneylending rates in 14 countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa concluded that 76% of moneylender rates exceed 10% per month, including 22% that exceeded 100% per month. Moneylenders usually charge higher rates to poorer borrowers than to less poor ones.[4] While moneylenders are often demonized and accused of usury, their services are convenient and fast, and they can be very flexible when borrowers run into problems. Hopes of quickly putting them out of business have proven unrealistic, even in places where microfinance institutions are active.[citation needed] Over the past centuries practical visionaries, from the Franciscan monks who founded the community-oriented pawnshops of the 15th century, to the founders of the European credit union movement in the 19th century (such as Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen) and the founders of the microcredit movement in the 1970s (such as Muhammad Yunus) have tested practices and built institutions designed to bring the kinds of opportunities and risk-management tools that financial services can provide to the doorsteps of poor people.[5] While the success of the Grameen Bank (which now serves over 7 million poor Bangladeshi women) has inspired the world, it has proved difficult to replicate this success. In nations with lower population densities, meeting the operating costs of a retail branch by serving nearby customers has proven considerably more challenging. Hans Dieter Seibel, board member of the European Microfinance Platform, is in favour of the group model. This particular model (used by many Microfinance institutions) makes financial sense, he says, because it reduces transaction costs. Microfinance programmes also need to be based on local funds. Local Roots Although much progress has been made, the problem has not been solved yet, and the overwhelming majority of people who earn less than $1 a day, especially in the rural areas, continue to have no practical access to formal sector finance. Microfinance has been growing rapidly with $25 billion currently at work in microfinance loans.[6] It is estimated that the industry needs $250 billion to get capital to all the poor people who need it.[6] The industry has been growing rapidly, and concerns have arisen that the rate of capital flowing into microfinance is a potential risk unless managed well.[7]

birds live in the canopy (upper leaves of the trees) and in the emergents (the tops of the tallest trees). Large animals (like jaguars) generally live on the forest floor, but others (like howler monkeys and sloths) are arboreal (living in trees). Insects are found almost everywhere.

Some animals try to convince predators that they are bigger and more fierce than they really are. For example, the larva of the lobster moth (Stauropus fagi), whose larva looks like a scorpion, but is in fact completely defenseless. Many butterflies have large "eye" designs on their wings. This makes them look like the head of a very large animal instead of a harmless butterfly, and scares many predators away.

The creation of national parks has undoubtedly helped to protect rainforests. Yet, as national parks are open to the public, tourism is damaging some of these areas. Often, national parks are advertised to tourists before adequate management plans have been developed and implemented. Inadequate funding is allocated for preservation of forests by government departments. Governments see tourism as an easy way to make money, and therefore tourism is encouraged whilst strict management strategies are given far less government support. Ecotourism, or environmentally friendly tourism, should educate the tourists to be environmentally aware. It should also be of low impact to its environment. Unfortunately, many companies and resorts who advertise themselves as eco-tourist establishments are in fact exploiting the environment for profit. In Cape Tribulation, Australia, for example, the rainforest is being threatened by excessive tourism. Clearing for roads and pollution of waterways are two of the major problems in this area. The Wet Tropics Management Authority which oversees the surrounding World Heritage Area is promoting tourism to the area before any management plans have been formulated, before any effective waste management strategy has been devised and before any ecofriendly power alternatives have been fully explored. Solutions: The rights of indigenous forest dwellers and others who depend on intact forests must be upheld. In instances where there are campaigns opposing specific tourist developments, they should be supported. Genuine ecotourism should be preferred to other tourist enterprises.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is a small, hairy rhinoceros which survives in limited numbers in pockets of Indonesian and Malaysian rain forests. In the early 1900s it ranged over most of Southeast Asia from the Himalayas in Bhutan, eastern India through Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Now they are only found in little forest pockets on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.

The smallest living rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros has a gray-brown leathery hide. Its deep folds around the neck, behind the front legs, and before the hind legs give the rhinoceros an armor-plated appearance. It has a short, stocky body and stumpy legs which are covered with coarse reddish-brown hair. Its body length is from 8 to 8.5 feet and stands 4.5 feet at the shoulders. A mature rhino weighs from 2200 to 4400 pounds.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only Asian rhinoceros with two horns. Both sexes of rhinos have horns, the front horn being larger, averaging 15 to 20 inches. The male's horns are usually bigger than the female's, whose second, smaller horn is often absent. The upper lip curves down and can move around to grasp objects.

Infectious diseases unwittingly brought by the Europeans or transferred from the Bantus are taking their toll amongst the pygmies: in a typical community about 20% of the population is ill. They suffer particularly from malaria, eye diseases such as endemic river-blindness, intestinal worm diseases, framboesia, lung- and viral infections and from wounds which easily go septic in this tropical environment. Many children catch measles and suffer from polio and their mortality rate is very high. Adequate health care is expensive and local resources are extremely limited. The unique pygmy people need our support. With the help of the many friends of the pygmies around the globe we provide essential health-care and assistance in education and agriculture - but with more funds we could do so much more. A little money goes a very long way. For example, for only Euro 30, -- you can send a pygmy child to school for a whole year. We can pay the teacher and provide educational materials and medical care for the pupil. We need your support

Pygmies - page 2

The immediate causes of rainforest destruction are clear. The main causes of total clearance are agriculture and in drier areas, fuelwood collection. The main cause of forest degradation is logging. Mining, industrial development and large dams also have a serious impact. Tourism is becoming a larger threat to the forests.

The creation of national parks has undoubtedly helped to protect rainforests. Yet, as national parks are open to the public, tourism is damaging some of these areas. Often, national parks are advertised to tourists before adequate management plans have been developed and implemented. Inadequate funding is allocated for preservation of forests by government departments. Governments see tourism as an easy way to make money, and therefore tourism is encouraged whilst strict management strategies are given far less government support. Ecotourism, or environmentally friendly tourism, should educate the tourists to be environmentally aware. It should also be of low impact to its environment. Unfortunately, many companies and resorts who advertise themselves as eco-tourist establishments are in fact exploiting the environment for profit. In Cape Tribulation, Australia, for example, the rainforest is being threatened by excessive tourism. Clearing for roads and pollution of waterways are two of the major problems in this area. The Wet Tropics Management Authority which oversees the surrounding World Heritage Area is promoting tourism to the area before any management plans have been formulated, before any effective waste management strategy has been devised and before any ecofriendly power alternatives have been fully explored.

Hornbills are important to the tropical rainforest of Borneo. Their bills help them eat large fruits and carry seeds to new areas of the forest

The island of Borneo started as a single volcano beneath the sea. Millions of years ago, it erupted. Over time, smaller eruptions and earthquakes joined land together to form an island. Today, Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is twice the size of Japan. Three countries share the island: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Over 16 million people live on Borneo. Borneo’s landscape and wildlife are diverse and include high mountains and rugged coastlines. Most of the island is covered with dense, ancient tropical rainforest. Borneo’s rare and endangered wildlife includes the orangutan, Asian elephant, proboscis monkey, flying frog, and many species of rare plants.

Most of the plants and animals in the rainforest live in the canopy. The canopy may be 100 feet above the ground.

species in the rainforest often work together. A symbiotic relationship is a relationship where two different species benefit by helping each other. For example some plants produce small housing structures and sugar for ants. In return the ants protect the plants from other insects that may want to feed on the plant's leaves.

Farmland is made.

The wood cut down is sold as timber and used as fuel.

There are also social reasons for cutting down the trees. Transport links. Roads and railways are needed to move goods and people. Settlements. Modern cities such as Manaus in Brazil and Jakarta in Indonesia have been developed in areas that were once were tropical rainforest.

They regulate global climate patterns and help mitigate negative effects of climate change, specifically, global climate warming, (Service 1), and They serve as storages of global biodiversity, specifically plant and animal diversity (Service 2). Those are the two main factors that have been widely put forward as the arguments which are strong enough for us people to try to do our utmost to “save the rain forests” from their continuous destruction

For example, the deforestation rate of the Amazon rain forest (the largest tropical fain forest in the world) during 2005–2006 was the lowest since 1991. (18)

a choice

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is the most successful center for breeding and caring for endangered giant pandas. The keepers and staff members at the Center take good care of the baby pandas. They care for them from birth until they are old enough to be on their own.©K.Feng/GLOBIO.org The Conservation Center also conducts important research on the surrounding environment. Scientists believe it is important to understand the whole environment and all its species. For example, scientists study the bamboo groves around Wolong. Bamboo is the favorite food

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is the most successful center for breeding and caring for endangered giant pandas. The keepers and staff members at the Center take good care of the baby pandas. They care for them from birth until they are old enough to be on their own.

Some humans benefit from decreasing the size of the rainforest - people who use the electricity caused by a hydro-electric dam, for example. Other humans do not have it so good - people who hunt wildlife for a living may a tougher time finding food. The loss of indigenous culture is kind of sad. Read Tristes Tropique by the anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss to learn more about people who are hurt by the loss of forest. "Under developing the Amazon" by Stephen Bunker is a good look at the costs and benefits, who gains and who loses from the destruction/development of the rainforests.

The jaguar lives in biodiversity-rich regions of Central and South America. It prefers forest habitats and areas close to water sources (such as wetlands, rivers, lakes etc) as it loves water and is a great swimmer. For example, the Amazon River Basin and the wetland area of Pantanal in Brazil are home to important populations of jaguars (1).

The jaguar is a nocturnal animal – it hunts for prey mostly during the dark hours of the day. (3) Though we have heard of some recent evidence of the jaguar’s daytime hunting as well. (4) The jaguar is a very adaptable animal.

jaguars … hunt by stealth, ambushing their prey from dense cover. Long canine teeth and powerful jaw muscles enable them to kill large animals swiftly, often with a single bite to the nape.