Communication Plan Final Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communication Plan Final Proposal - Essay Example In either way, the customer will be disappointed if the bug is removed and if it will be ignored (Best Game Productions, 2015). From the motto of the CEO â€Å"An ethical company is a thriving business†. To maintain the ethics of the company and to retain the consumer loyalty, the video game has to be released containing the bug. Eventually, the company will implant some measures to employ a technician who will work on complete removal of the threat. The stakeholders are requested to comply with the decision made by the management. Once they release the game in the planned period, the future games will be developed in a more advanced manner that bug will have no room. According to the ground rules of the company’s ethical code, it states explicitly on how to deal with the consumer and also upholding the business’s name (Best Game Productions, 2015). To instill honesty and integrity, the consumer has to know the truth about the effect that will result if they buy a product containing a

Banning the Guns Essay Example for Free

Banning the Guns Essay Banning guns on campus Concealed carry vs. colleges is a story about don’t allow guns in campus. The gun control and gun rights is becoming a more and more popular topic after few gun shooting tragedies happened in schools, people are starting to worry about the security in schools. This story is part of editorials and debates in USA TODAY, and this story is published on September 27, 2012. There is no exactly author’s name in the story. In the beginning, the story has an introduction about students in Colorado are allowed to carry guns about anywhere after summer break because in 2008 ,public colleges can no longer ban guns on campus in Colorado. Then the author writes some opposing views about allowing concealed-carry on campus, and tells people it is dangerous that allow students carry guns in campus. In the story, the author effectively and persuasively employs the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos to support author’s point which is universities should allow banning the firearms. This article is written by an author without name in USA TODAY, because this article has obvious political tendency, the author may don’t want other people know his political thoughts, so that’s why author didn’t put his name in the article. USA TODAY newspaper is one of the biggest newspapers in USA, and this newspaper doesn’t have particular audience, it faces to many different people all over the world, so this newspaper has very big influence and it is very convinced, the author chooses this newspaper to publish his article is a very good idea. The intended audiences for this article are teachers and stu dents in universities; people who support gun control and most of them are mid-age and educated people. The purpose for this article is telling people that it is dangerous that allow students carry guns in campus, universities should ban the firearms and give some advises to people on how to stop gun shootings in campus. The author’s article effectively provide ethos by using the historical reference and relating to audience’s thinking of ban carrying guns in campus. According to the article â€Å"Massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, when a deranged student killed 32 people in a matter of minutes. Pro-gun groups insist that an armed student or professor might have saved the day. But that notion is as far-fetched as it is alluring.†(Editorial) The author uses a historical reference of the Massacre at Virginia Tech as his ethos to tell audience that professors and students cannot stop the shooting happened  in campus. Many people believe that armed students or professor might have saved the day. But actually, students and professors in Virginia Tech didn’t stop the shooting in the school. Students or professors, they are not professional security who can keep the safety in school. So it is not necessary for students or professors to carry guns in the campus. On the other side, if students carry guns on campus and the shooting really happens in the school, then they try to use guns to protect themselves, it will become more risky. The author claims â€Å"In New York City this summer, when police shot and killed a gunman on the street near the Empire State Building, they also wounded nine innocent bystanders. Imagine what might happen with armed amateurs firing away in a darkened theater, or a barroom brawl.†(Editorial) The author uses another historical reference to remind audience that it is very risky for untrained students to carry and even shot guns to protect themselves, it may cause more injuries and deaths, because students or professors are not good at s hooting, so if they try to shot, it may hurt innocent people. Even well trained polices would wound innocent bystanders. It must be very dangerous when students have guns even they just want to protect themselves. In addition, the author also provides some suggestions to stop the gun shooting in schools by using ethos to advice people how to avoid dangerous people to get guns. The author mentions â€Å"Background checks are designed to keep the mentally ill, like the Virginia Tech shooter, from buying guns, but many states are lax in reporting mental health records to the federal system†. (Editorial) The author suggests the background checks are necessary, because most of the shooters are mentally ill people, so if those people cannot get guns they couldn’t kill students in schools any more. But because many states are lax in reporting mental health records, so those mental ill people can get guns very easily, they could kill students by guns in just few minutes. So the author suggests that the mental ill reports are very important, it is a good way to stop the gun shootings in school. The other advice is training gun owners about how to use guns correctly and safely. The author argues â€Å"In many states, including Colorado, a gun permit and a single training course, often lasting a day or less, are all you need to legally carry a concealed weapon. Many courses dont include live firing.† (Editorial) The author wants every states have a strict gun training courses. In some states, people just need  only take a day or less, it is not enough for a gun o wner to understand and practice how to use the gun in a right and safe way. Many courses even don’t include live firing, it means many people don’t know how to fire the gun since they get gun permit. The author is very worrying about this kind of situation, people cannot use guns in a correct may not protect themselves and even make a big tragedy. Lastly, the author’s article succeeded in employing the rhetorical appeal of pathos to catch audiences’ emotion, and show the intense stage on banning guns on campus. According to the lecture, Colorado, of course, was home to this years Aurora theater shooting and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. It doesnt need any more tragedies. Some Colorado professors and students, upset by guns on campus, are pushing for a new law to bring back the ban.† (Editorial)The author’s success in grabbing her audience’s emotion is the use of powerful words. Colorado doesn’t need any more tragedies, it shows that the most of the people in Colorado hate the gun shootings, and they will try their best to stop tragedies in Colorado. This also can have strong emotional effect on people in other states to support the gun control policy. The word like pushing shows how the people in Colorado want the new law which brings back the ban guns as soon as possible. This can also press more people to think about the gun control. The argument between gun control and gun right is becoming more and more drastically. The people in United States start to think about this argument after few gun shootings in schools because they don’t want to see tragedy any more. The author presents his ideas very well in the article and his ideas seems have powerful persuasion for audience. Author’s ideas push people to think more about whether universities should allow banning the firearms. His rhetorical appeals of ethos have powerful historical references to persuade people and achieve his goal in the article which is banning the firearms in campus, and the author also provides some suggestions to stop the gun shootings in schools by advising people how to avoid dangerous people to get guns very easily in United States. Finally, the author’s rhetorical appeals of pathos grab people’s emotion by using powerful and strong words. This article is strongly presents author’s thought which is gun control is very necessary, because this can save many people’s life. Work Cited â€Å"Editorial: Concealed carry vs. colleges.† Editorial. USA TODAY 27 Sept. 2012. Print.

The communist ideology

The communist ideology The main events of the latter half of the 20th Century remain a topic of intense debate with the reasoning behind these events still a source of speculation. This essay will examine the key events in Soviet Foreign policy through the four leaders of the period between 1945-1991; Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev and will be contrasted against the teachings of Communist ideology in an effort to determine whether ideology had greater influence in the foreign policy decisions made by said leaders or if state interests played a more significant role. Marxism-Leninism was the ideology of the Soviet Union. Thus, Marxist-Leninist ideas influenced foreign policy. For a Marxist-Leninist, the world is divided into classes rather than individual states and in strict Communist doctrine, the key objective of foreign policy was the ultimate achievement of world revolution by the proletariat. As a result, Marxist-Leninism has no theory of international relations. It was well expressed by Trotsky[1] when he was appointed Peoples Commissar for Foreign Affairs in 1917, I will issue a few revolutionary proclamations to the peoples of the world and then shut up shop. Revolution would displace the state system and end the need for diplomacy. On the other hand, failure of a world-wide revolution to take place meant that the sate interests of the USSR quickly acquired great importance for Soviet foreign policy-makers. The Soviet Union increasingly turned to building a Communist society at home, believing that strengthening Communism within the USSR was the way to ensure a Communist society outside of its borders: Socialism in One Country, and that once strengthened, the Soviet Union would prove strong enough to lead the whole world to Socialism. There are other Marxist-Leninist ideas that strongly influenced foreign policy, one of which was the necessary antagonistic nature of Communism towards Capitalist states, which Stalin strongly believed would inevitably lead to war[2]. Related to this idea was the concept of correlation of forces the Russian equivalent to our balance of power- where the overall strength of capitalism was measured against communism. The idea that capitalism suffered from such profound contradictions; states competing for resources, economic problems, led Communists to believe that their system would prevail and therefore were always on the look out for the correlation of forces to change in their favour. It also reinforced the effect of the Leninist conception of imperialism. Lenin held the view that war would bring the prospect of revolution as the ruling classes became demoralised by the burdens placed by war on the states concerned and the working classes plummeted into misery. As previously mentioned, communism was not adverse to war if the outcome would be revolution. This was a belief strongly held by Lenin. Alternatively, Stalin, was more interested in war that served his interest. An example of which is the Second World War officially known in the Soviet Union as The Second Great Patriotic War. He reasoned that World War I was brought about by capitalists, who inflicted damage and destruction on each other, but is seen as positive as it led to the emergence of the USSR. After the Second World War, the USSR was left absolutely devastated, the class struggle also had to be balanced with the desire of the Soviet population for peace so that they and their country could recover. Soviet leaders were aware of this desire, which tempered any revolutionary ardour they may have felt. Nevertheless the years to follow were also years of great triumph for the USSR. The destruction of the German army meant the USSR was the only great European military power, had b ecome a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and it had broken out of the capitalist encirclement of having allied states on its borders. Stalin sought to increase Soviet power beyond what the Tzars had accomplished now that he had Communist ideology driving him. He was the dominant creator of Soviet foreign policy, the subject of which remains under dispute by several historians. One such historian, LeFeber entertained the notion that (Stalin) displayed a realism, a careful calculation of forces, and a diplomatic finesse that undercut any attempt to explain away his actions as paranoia[3], while another criticises Stalins foreign policy as inexplicable in its parts as incoherent in its whole[4]. It has been argued that Stalins foreign policy from 1945 onwards was a direct result of material interests and power play with the United States of America, that the USA was now perceived as Glavny Protivnik (greatest adversary) and that Stalin was scared of war because of its strength. The exact origins of the Cold War remain under dispute, even with new archival evidence from former Eastern-bloc states. The role to which Stalins foreign policy played in the build up to the Cold War can be categorised in a small number of groups. The orthodox view, which entertained Stalins aggressive and expansionist policy, his desired expansion along all of the USSRs borders from the Pacific to the Atlantic, which can be argued to be in following with Marxist-Leninist theories of expansion[5], even though he permitted discussion on what governments could be formed within newly acquired states. It is interesting to note that Stalins aggressive and expansionist policy has been attributed to his own declining mental health. He had even been diagnosed, albeit incorrectly, in 1927 as a paranoid schizophrenic nevertheless this diagnosis was proved to be inaccurate. The revisionist view, perceived by Marxist and Marxist-Leninist historians, depicted the USA as an aggressive power, to t heir own people and others around the globe, imposing its empire on an unwilling world, ignoring the security interests of the Soviet Union and conforming to the classic Leninist model of Imperialism.[6] This view gained credibility later in the 1960s, partly owing to the Vietnam War. Other historians, not Marxist in inspiration, claim that the USA wanted to establish an economic system across the globe which would promote trade and economic growth from which the USA would benefit. Separate to the ideological views is the notion that the conflict was inevitable and thus both superpowers were responsible for it. That the Cold War was the natural result of a situation in which two superpowers with differing ideologies remained. Tactically speaking, the USSR had only three strategic enemies, of which Japan and Germany had been defeated and China was embroiled in a civil war. In addition, the Soviet Union had the largest army with mobilised resources, it was also geographically the larg est country in the world. The USA on the other hand was a massive economic power and its population had not been morally exhausted by recent war nor were they at odds with their own government. The resulting clash between the two would turn into a global disaster. At this time, it appears Stalin preferred to avoid a military confrontation with the USA and having determined that military probes into Europe would be too hazardous, Stalin sought to expand Soviet influence into regions where there would be less risk of confrontation with the USA and so he turned to Asia[7]. After repeatedly denying approval of North Korean leader Kim Il Sungs proposed military attack of South Korea, the Soviet Union unexpectedly began secretly providing large technological and military assistance to North Korea. This U-turn decision has been cited by both Gaddis and Westad to support their assertion that Marxism-Leninism was of crucial importance in Soviet foreign policy[8]. Westad also provided another theory to Stalins unexpected decision change in that Stalin had seen Mao Zedongs Chinese Communist victory and had been unnerved by it. Stalin therefore gave approval for the attack on South Korean when he realised his rival in Mao would support North Korea with Stalin or without and Stalin did not want to appear less revolutionary than Mao[9]. Regardless of the ideological reasons, be it enthusiasm in response to Maos ambitions or jealousy and an attempt to outmanoeuvre Mao by condoning North Korea, even an avoidance of the USA to prevent a catastrophic war, it is indic ated that ideology was a factor in Stalins foreign policy involvement in Asia. Stalin died in March 1953. He was succeeded by a collective leadership with Nikita Khrushchev soon emerging as the main figure. The new leaders quickly realised that changes in foreign policy were necessary; the main reason for this being the arms race which was now becoming more prominent in world events. In 1952, the USA had detonated the worlds first thermonuclear device followed in 1953 with the USSR testing its first hydrogen bomb. In the years that followed, both powers created and tested various delivery systems for these new weapons that resulted for the USSR in the creation of Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) which had the range to strike the USA. Khrushchev called these weapons the Gods of War[10]. The realisation of the enormous power of these new weapons caused Stalins successors to abandon key principles of Marxist-Leninist ideology. The precept of the inevitability of war between capitalism and communism, which in Stalins eyes, would be won by communism, had t o be discarded as a conflict would result in the mutual assured destruction of both the capitalist and communist states. In addition, the principle of revolution that, although perceived as inevitable and the only way to a Communist society according to Marxist-Leninist doctrine, could now be the cause of a war that would also end in complete devastation for the warring states and thus it was at the 20th Party Congress in 1956 that a set of initiatives were launched which came to be known as destalinization which established a policy of long-term peaceful cooperation with the capitalist world. The superpowers had inadvertently become partners, with the incentive to prevent thermonuclear war. Although there initially appeared to be a change of direction from Marxist-Leninist doctrine there were still elements of it that were pursued even with the new initiatives in place. The Party leadership was quick to introduce the idea that a peaceful transition to Socialism was still very much possible. The changes to foreign policy included the commencement of armistice talks in areas of conflict, for example, the Korean war. The Soviet regime also attempted to strengthen its satellite states in the bloc and draw them closer to the USSR. This all culminated in 1955 with the creation of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation. In addition, a massive amount of economic and technical assistance was given to the communist nation of the Peoples Republic of China. This assistance has been described as the greatest transfer of technology in world history[11]. The regime also encouraged trading and other forms of communication with the Western world, it opened up to tourism, Soviet citizens were pe rmitted for the first time to visit other states not in the Eastern bloc of which the reverse was also the same. Stalin, would have avoided this as, in his view, it would have potentially opened up the USSR to hostile foreign influences. Competing ideological tendencies and institutional interests allied with Khrushchevs own over-ambition in foreign policy were the prime factors resulting in his fall from power in 1964[12]. During the Khrushchev years, Brezhnev had supported the process of destalinisation but as soon as he became leader, Brezhnev changed direction and reverted to a more regressive, Stalin-type attitude, even taking the title General Secretary, which Stalins held until 1952. Brezhnevs overriding aims were to ensure the primacy of the USSR in the world communist movement. Establish strategic parity in the US and on that basis, to secure western acceptance of the post-war order in Europe while extending Soviet power in the developing world[13]. The first foreign policy crisis of the Brezhnev regime occurred in 1968 when reforms began sweeping through Czechoslovakia, initiated by leader Alexander Dubcek, that posed the reduction of importance of the ruling Communist party. The Soviet leadership attempted to limit the impact of Dubceks reforms through negotiation but their efforts proved in vain. Soon after, Soviet and Eastern bloc troops invaded Czechoslovakia tasked with restoring it to Marxist-Leninist doctrine. This became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.[14] The doctrine was used to justify the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and also used to put an end to liberalisation efforts that had the potential to disrupt Soviet control within the Eastern bloc. The concerns of the Soviet Union fit an ideology based explanation of Soviet actions. It is interesting to note that while the western states heavily criticised the invasion, they were unable to challenge the Soviet military force in Europe without risking nuclear war. The events surrounding the collapse of Communism and the relatively quiet dissolution of the Soviet Union can be attributed to the euphemistically named Sinatra Doctrine. It was the name that the Soviet government of Mikhail Gorbachev used to describe his new policy of allowing the eastern bloc Warsaw Pact nations to determine their own affairs. This was a complete change of direction from the Brezhnev Doctrine which tightly monitored and controlled the internal affairs of the satellite states. For Wohlforth, once Gorbachev was in office, his perception of the USSRs relative decline grew steadily more pessimistic. He had to accept retreat after retreat from the Soviets great power commitments, which let to the sudden end of the Cold War[15]. Gorbachev had many issues facing him, one of which was the prevention of anti-Soviet violence from breaking out. Previously, any dissident uprising would have been resolved by military intervention, however if a crisis erupted now, then a massive amount of military intervention would be necessary. It was decided that Soviet policy should aim to achieve two basic goals: avoid direct military intervention at any cost[16] and for the rapid transition to a new political order to be achieved peacefully. Gorbachev obviously could not see that the changes he initiated would lead to the demise of the Soviet bloc, it can be argued that he was depending on like-minded leaders to emerge from the Communist groups in Eastern Europe.[17] The question of whether communist ideology played a role in the transformation of Soviet policy still remains. If Gorbachev had decided to maintain the orthodox Communist rule in the Soviet bloc and enforce the Brezhnev doctrine, the Soviet army would have ensured his success. It appears that it was Gorbachevs own choices, on domestic priorities and a desire to lay to rest all remnants of Stalinism'[18] that led the Soviet Union down the path to disintegration. While it is undeniable that the ideological differences of Capitalism and Marxism-Leninism provided the Cold War with a catalyst, it is not outside the realm of possibility that differences between the two superpowers left in the power vacuum after the Second World War would not have provided the fuel to ignite the conflict themselves. Some of the specific policies adopted by the Soviet leaders could have just as easily been pursued by a non-communist government responding to a tense global situation, however that does not mean ideology had no relevance. It appears that the USSRs state interests were themselves influenced by Communist ideology and thus influenced the foreign policy decisions of the leadership. Bibliography Craig Nation, R. Black Earth, Red Star: A History of Soviet Security Policy, 1917-1921 (1992) Fink, C., Junker, D. Gassert, P. (eds) The World Transformed :1968 (1998) Gaddis, J.L. The Emerging Post-Revisionist Synthesis on the Origins of the Cold War (1983) Khrushchev, S. N Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev Volume 1: Commissar, 1918-1945 (2000) Kramer, M. Ideology and the Cold War Review of International Studies (1999) Kramer, M. (ed.) The Collapse of the Soviet Union (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, (2000) LaFeber, W America, Russia and the Cold War, 1945-1992. Rosser, R.F. Introduction to Soviet Foreign Policy (1969) Taubman, W, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (2003) Tompson, W. The Soviet Union under Brezhnev (2003) K zasedaniyu Politbyuro 6/X-88 g. 6 October 1988 (secret), reproduced in Tsena svobody: Refornatsiya Gorbacheva glazami ego pomoshchnika (Moscow: Rossika-Zevs, 1993) Westad, O.A. Cold War and Revolution: Soviet-American Rivalry and the Origins of the Chinese Civil War, 1944-1946 Wohlforth, W. Realism and the End of the Cold War. International Security, 19:3 (1994/5) Craig Nation, R. Black Earth, Red Star: A History of Soviet Security Policy, 1917-1921 (1992) p.1 Rosser, R.F. Introduction to Soviet Foreign Policy (1969) p.74 LaFeber, W America, Russia and the Cold War, 1945-1992. p.20. Westad, O.A. Cold War and Revolution: Soviet-American Rivalry and the Origins of the Chinese Civil War, 1944-1946, p.55 Rosser, Introduction p.80 Gaddis, J.L. The Emerging Post-Revisionist Synthesis on the Origins of the Cold War (1983) p.172 Kramer, M. Ideology and the Cold War Review of International Studies (1999) p.542-543 Kramer, Ideology p.541 Kramer, Ideology p.542 Khrushchev, S. N Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev Volume 1: Commissar, 1918-1945 (2000) Taubman, W, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (2003) p.337 Tompson, W. The Soviet Union under Brezhnev (2003) p.28 Tompson, W. The Soviet Union under Brezhnev (2003) p.28 Fink, C., Junker, D. Gassert, P. (eds) The World Transformed :1968 (1998) p.163-8 Wohlforth, W. Realism and the End of the Cold War. International Security, 19:3 (1994/5) p.109 K zasedaniyu Politbyuro 6/X-88 g. 6 October 1988 (secret), reproduced in Tsena svobody: Refornatsiya Gorbacheva glazami ego pomoshchnika (Moscow: Rossika-Zevs, 1993) p.368 Kramer, Ideology p.569 Kramer, M. (ed.) The Collapse of the Soviet Union (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000)

bioremediation of explosive contaminated soil :: essays research papers

Bioremediation of explosive contaminated soil â€Å"It has been estimated that there are thousands of explosives-contaminated sites within the United States, and even a greater number in Europe and the Soviet Union.†(2) TNT (2,4,6- trinitrotoluene) is one of the most popular explosives used by military forces, and due to improper handling and disposal techniques TNT and its derivatives, have polluted environments to levels that threaten the health of humans, livestock, wildlife and, entire ecosystems. TNT is known to have many health effects on animals as well as humans. As stated by The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, â€Å"Workers involved in the production of high explosives experienced many harmful health effects as a result of exposure to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene at their jobs. These effects included disorders of the blood, such as anemia, and abnormal liver function.† (1) Treatment of the contaminated soil has usually been handled through incineration, which is costly and does not always guarantee that the pollutants have been completely destroyed. Therefore new techniques such as bioremediation have been developed as a safe cost effective alternative to treating pollutants such as TNT. (3) Fundamentals of Bioremediation Bioremediation is a new, efficient, environmentally friendly, and low-cost technology, which uses microorganisms to clean up soil contaminated with heavy metals and organic contaminants such as solvents, crude oil, explosives, and other toxic compounds from contaminated environments. Mechanism: Bioremediation works by taking complex organic compounds such as TNT, which are made up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. When combined with regular compost ingredients such as manures, sawdust, straw, and fruit and vegetable processing wastes, the explosives become broken down into harmless chemical forms.(3) Bioremediation methods are classified into two categories: Composting, and bioslurries. Composting:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the EPA’s Fact Sheet on Composting of Soils Contaminated by Explosives, the process of composting operates as a result of naturally occurring microorganisms breaking down the explosive contaminants in the soil. Using the contaminants as â€Å"food,† the microorganisms convert them into harmless substances consisting primarily of water, carbon dioxide, and salts. In addition to this food source, microorganisms require nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, in order to thrive, digest, and reproduce. To provide these nutrients in sufficient quantities, soil amendments, such as manure and potato waste, are added to the contaminated soil.(3)The most common type of composting used for bioremediation of TNT contaminated soil is Windrow composting. The US Army Environmental Center report on Cleanup Technology: Bioremediation of Explosives-Contaminated Soil, describes windrow composting as the following.

Teacher and Lesson Plan

Write a Lesson Plan Guide How to Develop a Lesson Plan We have received several questions regarding how to write a good lesson plan. We went ahead and asked our experts, did some research, and have included some tips and guidelines below. To begin, ask yourself three basic questions: Where are your students going? How are they going to get there? How will you know when they've arrived? Then begin to think about each of the following categories which form the organization of the plan. While planning, use the questions below to guide you during each stage.Goals Goals determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your students will engage in during class time. Use this section to express the intermediate lesson goals that draw upon previous plans and activities and set the stage by preparing students for future activities and further knowledge acquisition. The goals are typically written as broad educational or unit goals adhering to State or National curriculum standards. What are the broader objectives, aims, or goals of the unit plan/curriculum? What are your goals for this unit?What do you expect students to be able to do by the end of this unit? Objectives This section focuses on what your students will do to acquire further knowledge and skills. The objectives for the daily lesson plan are drawn from the broader aims of the unit plan but are achieved over a well defined time period. What will students be able to do during this lesson? Under what conditions will students' performance be accomplished? What is the degree or criterion on the basis of which satisfactory attainment of the objectives will be judged?How will students demonstrate that they have learned and understood the objectives of the lesson? Prerequisites Prerequisites can be useful when considering the readiness state of your students. Prerequisites allow you, and other teachers replicating your lesson plan, to factor in necessary prep activities to make sure that students can meet the lesson objectives. What must students already be able to do before this lesson? What concepts have to be mastered in advance to accomplish the lesson objectives? MaterialsThis section has two functions: it helps other teachers quickly determine a) how much preparation time, resources, and management will be involved in carrying out this plan and b) what materials, books, equipment, and resources they will need to have ready. A complete list of materials, including full citations of textbooks or story books used, worksheets, and any other special considerations are most useful. What materials will be needed? What textbooks or story books are needed? (please include full bibliographic citations) What needs to be prepared in advance? (typical for science classes and cooking or baking activities)Lesson Description This section provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts, experience, and advice with other teachers. It also provides a general overview of t he lesson in terms of topic focus, activities, and purpose. What is unique about this lesson? How did your students like it? What level of learning is covered by this lesson plan? (Think of Bloom's Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation. ) Lesson Procedure This section provides a detailed, step-by-step description of how to replicate the lesson and achieve lesson plan objectives.This is usually intended for the teacher and provides suggestions on how to proceed with implementation of the lesson plan. It also focuses on what the teacher should have students do during the lesson. This section is basically divided into several components: an introduction, a main activity, and closure. There are several elaborations on this. We have linked to some sample lesson plans to guide you through this stage of planning. ! Introduction How will you introduce the ideas and objectives of this lesson? How will you get students' attention and motivate them in order to hold their attention?How can you tie lesson objectives with student interests and past classroom activities? What will be expected of students? ! Main Activity What is the focus of the lesson? How would you describe the flow of the lesson to another teacher who will replicate it? What does the teacher do to facilitate learning and manage the various activities? What are some good and bad examples to illustrate what you are presenting to students? How can this material be presented to ensure each student will benefit from the learning experience? Rule of Thumb # 1: Take into consideration what students are learning (a ew skill, a rule or formula, a concept/fact/idea, an attitude, or a value). Choose one of the following techniques to plan the lesson content based on what your objectives are: Demonstration ==> list in detail and sequence of the steps to be performed Explanation explained Discussion discussion ! ==> outline the information to be ==> list of key questions t o guide the Closure/Conclusion What will you use to draw the ideas together for students at the end? How will you provide feedback to students to correct their misunderstandings and reinforce their learning? ! Follow up Lessons/ActivitiesWhat activities might you suggest for enrichment and remediation? What lessons might follow as a result of this lesson? Assessment/Evaluation This section focuses on ensuring that your students have arrived at their intended destination. You will need to gather some evidence that they did. This usually is done by gathering students' work and assessing this work using some kind of grading rubric that is based on lesson objectives. You could also replicate some of the activities practiced as part of the lesson, without providing the same level of guidance as during the lesson.You could always quiz students on various concepts and problems as well. How will you evaluate the objectives that were identified? Have students practiced what you are asking th em to do for evaluation? Rule of Thumb # 2: Be sure to provide students with the opportunity to practice what you will be assessing them on. You should never introduce new material during this activity. Also, avoid asking higher level thinking questions if students have not yet engaged in such practice during the lesson. For example, if you expect students to apply knowledge and skills, they should first be provided with the opportunity to practice pplication. Sample Lesson Plans from the Educator's Reference Desk Collection Subject Sample Lesson Plan from the Educator's Reference Desk Collection Arts A Line is a Dot That Went For a Walk Computer Science SimCity and PowerPoint Foreign Language Minimal Pairs Bingo! Health SunSmart Information Literacy Teaching Internet Library Instruction Sessions in the Electronic Classroom: The Adult Learner, the Internet, and Training Skills & Teaching Styles Interdisciplinary Who am I? Language Arts The Sounds of â€Å"EA† Mathematics Find a Pattern with â€Å"One Grain of Rice† Philosophy Plato's Allegory of the Cave Physical EducationBasketball Golf Science The Notion of Motion Social Studies Crisis in the Balkans Vocational Education Theme Meal Please note that there are many other exemplary lesson plans that could not be included here due to space limitations. However, you may access them at the Educator's Reference Desk home page. General Rule of Thumb: Your plan should be detailed and complete enough so that another teacher knowledgeable in your subject matter could deliver the lesson without needing to contact you for further clarifications. Please do not forget to edit and spell check your work before submission to the Educator's Reference Desk Collection.Resources for Lesson Plan Ideas The GatewaySM Collections List http://www. thegateway. org/collections. html PBS TeacherSource A large collection of lesson plans, teacher guides, and online student activities correlated to 90 sets of state and nationa l curriculum standards. http://www. pbs. org/teachersource/ Discovery Channel School http://school. discovery. com/ Best of Education World ® 2002 http://www. education-world. com/best_of/2002/ Education World ® – Lesson Planning Center http://www. education-world. com/a_lesson/ Education World ® – National Standards http://www. education-world. com/standards/national/index. html This guide was written by Manal El-Tigi, Ph. D. , Department of Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation – Syracuse University. She was one of the principal editors and reviewers of the AskERIC Lesson Plan Collection from 1996 – 2000. References Teacher Education Module Series. Develop a Lesson Plan, Module B-4 of Category B–Instructional Planning (1977). Ohio State Univ. , Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education. ED149062 – An ERIC Document Created December 1, 1999; Last Updated December 20, 2003 Created December 1, 1999; Last Updated December 20, 2003

South America

Introduction The continent of South America has about one-eighth of the Earth's land surface, situated between latitudes 12 °N-55 °S and longitudes 80 °-35 °W; no other continent has a greater latitudinal span. Eighty percent of its land mass is within the tropical zone, yet it extends into the subantarctic. The extensive zones of temperate and cold climates in the vicinity of the Equator, in the Andes, are unique. The land area of about 17,519,900-17,529,250 km? is under the jurisdiction of 13 countries (Table 49); French Guiana is governed as an overseas department of France.The region's 1995 population of c. 320 million people is estimated to reach 452 million people in 2025. Three of the world's 21 megacities are in South America: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro (WRI, UNEP and UNDP 1994). Geological setting Although the neotropics may be conveniently considered as a single phytogeographic unit, the region is geologically complex. The neotropics include not only the South American continental plate but the southern portion of the North American plate, as well as the independent Caribbean plate (Clapperton 1993).The complicated geological history of the region, for example as these plates intermittently separated and collided through the Cretaceous and the Tertiary, provides the milieu within which plant evolution has been superimposed. South America has been an island continent during most of the period of angiosperm evolution, whereas Central America constitutes one of the two tropical parts of the Laurasian â€Å"world continent†. Both South America and North America have been moving westward, roughly in tandem, since the breakup of Pangaea in the Mesozoic.In contrast, the Antillean plate with its flotsam of Antillean islands formed only during the Cenozoic and has moved in a retrograde eastern direction, at least with respect to its larger neighbours. Whereas South America and North America have been widely separated through most of their geological histories, there has been generally increasing contact between them through most of the Cenozoic, culminating in their coalescence with formation of the Isthmus of Panama c. 3. 1 million years ago (Keigwin 1978).The date of this epochal event in neotropical geological history has been gradually estimated to be younger, with estimates of 5. 7 million years ago giving way to as recently as 1. 8 million years ago (Keller, Zenker and Stone 1989). In addition to their Pleistocene connection via the Isthmus of Panama, South America and North America apparently were more or less directly interconnected via the protoAntilles for a short time near the end of the Cretaceous, prior to formation of the Caribbean plate (Buskirk 1992).The outstanding geological feature of South America is the Andes, the longest mountain range in the world, which extends in a nearly straight line of over 7000 km from the north to the southern tip of the continent. The Andes have the highest mo untain in the Western Hemisphere, the highest mountain in the world's tropics, and as measured from the centre of the Earth (rather than metres above sea-level), the highest mountain in the world.The most important break in the north-south sweep of the â€Å"cordillera† is the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru, where the eastern chain of the cordillera is entirely ruptured (by the Maranon River) and even the western chain dips to 2145 m (at the Abra de Porculla). The existence of this massive mountain range has had profound effects on plant and animal evolution in South America, and consequently has profound effects on essential conservation priorities.In essence, the Andes represent a classical plate tectonic upthrust of continental rock, as the leading edge of the westward-moving South American plate collides with the oceanic Pacific plates. The Southern Andes are the oldest, with significant uplift already present in early Cenozoic times, prior to the Oligocene. Most of the uplift of the Central Andes was in the Miocene or later, whereas most of the uplift of the northern portion of the cordillera has been Plio-Pleistocene (van der Hammen 1974).To the north the Andes become more geologically complex, breaking into three separate cordilleras on the Ecuador/Colombia border. Much of the north-western margin of South America, including Colombia's western and central cordilleras, appears to be amassed â€Å"suspect terrane† rather than an integral part of the South American continental plate (Juteau  et al. 1977; McCourt, Aspden and Brook 1984). Much of the rest of the South American continent consists of two great crystalline shields that represent the western portion of what was once Gondwanaland.The north-eastern portion of the continent constitutes the Guayana Shield, whereas much of Brazil south of Amazonia is underlain by the Brazilian Shield. These two major shields were formerly interconnected across what is today the Lower Amazon. They consist of a Precambrian igneous basement overlain by ancient mucheroded Precambrian sediments. The Guayana region has been the most heavily eroded, with basement elevations mostly below 500 m interrupted by massive flattopped table mountains, the fabled â€Å"tepuis†, typically rising to 2000 m or 2500 m.The peak of the highest of these, Cerro Neblina or Pico da Neblina on the Venezuela/Brazil border, reaches an altitude of 3015 m and is the highest point in South America outside the Andes. The tepuis and similar formations are highest and most extensive in southern Venezuela, becoming smaller and more isolated to the west and east where La Macarena near the base of the Andes in Colombia and the Inini-Camopi Range in French Guiana respectively represent their ultimate vestiges.The quartzite and sandstone of the Guayana Shield erode into nutrient-poor sands, and much of the Guayana region is characterized by extreme impoverishment of soils. The rivers draining this regio n are largely very acidic blackwater rivers, of which the Rio Negro is the most famous. The Brazilian Shield is generally higher and less dissected, with much of central Brazil having an elevation of 800-1000 m. The Brazilian Shield is mostly drained by clearwater rivers such as the Tapajos and Xingu.In contrast to these ancient shields, the Amazonian heartland of South America is low and geologically young. Prior to the Miocene most of Amazonia constituted a large inland sea opening to the Pacific. With uplift of the Central Andes, this sea became a giant lake that gradually filled with Andean sediments. When the Amazon River broke through the narrow connection between the Guayanan and Brazilian shields near Santarem, Brazil, Amazonia began to drain eastward into the Atlantic.Nevertheless, the region remains so flat that ocean-going ships can reach Iquitos, Peru, which is only 110 m above sea-level, yet 3000 km from the mouth of the Amazon and less than 800 km from the Pacific Ocea n. Most of Amazonian Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia is below 200 m in elevation. The process of Amazonian sedimentation is continuing, as the sediment-laden white-water rivers course down from the Andes, continually changing their channels and depositing and redepositing their sediments along the way.About 26% of Peruvian Amazonia shows direct evidence of recent riverine reworking (Salo  et al. 1986). With the lack of relief, it is not surprising that rather fine nuances of drainage, topography and depositional history are often major determinants of vegetation. Like Amazonia, some other distinctive geological features of the South American continent are relatively low, flat and geologically young, such as the chaco/pantanal/pampa region to the south, the Venezuelan/Colombian Llanos to the north and the trans-Andean Choco region of Colombia and Ecuador to the west.Large portions of these areas have been inundated during periods of high sea-level in the past, and large portions of all o f these regions are seasonally inundated presently. One aspect of the geological history of Latin America that has received much biogeographic attention is the series of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and their effects on distribution and evolution of the present neotropical biota. It is clear from the palynological record that major changes in vegetation were associated with the cycles of Pleistocene glaciation (e. . van der Hammen 1974), although to what extent lowland Amazonia was predominantly drier (e. g. Haffer 1969; van der Hammen 1974), colder (Colinvaux 1987; Liu and Colinvaux 1988) or both, and how this affected the Pleistocene distribution of tropical forest, remain hotly contested (Colinvaux 1987; Rasanen, Salo and Kalliola 1991). Although most of the corroborative geomorphological evidence for dry periods in the tropical lowlands during the Pleistocene is now otherwise interpreted (Irion 1989; Colinvaux 1987), some new data look promising.There are also several other theories that attempt to explain aspects of present biogeography on the basis of past geological events, including river-channel formation and migration (Capparella 1988; Salo  et al. 1986; Salo and Rasanen 1989), hypothesized massive flooding in south-western Amazonia (Campbell and Frailey 1984), and the formation of a putative giant Pleistocene lake in Amazonia (Frailey  et al. 1988). Mesoamerica For its size, Middle America is even more complex geologically than South America (see Central America regional overview).Nuclear Central America, an integral part of the North American continent, reaches south to central Nicaragua. The region from southern Nicaragua to the isthmus of Darien in Panama is geologically younger and presents recent volcanism, uplift and associated sedimentation. Like South America, the northern neotropics have a mountainous spine that breaks into separate cordilleras in the north. In general the Middle American cordilleras are highest to the north in Mex ico, and lowest in Panama to the south-east.In Mexico, the geological picture is complicated by a band of volcanoes that bisects the continent from east to west at the latitude of Mexico City. This â€Å"eje volcanico transversal† is associated with the Mexican megashear, along which the southern half of the country has gradually moved eastward with respect to the northern half. In southern Central America, volcanism has been most intensive in Costa Rica, which has two sections of its Central Cordillera reaching above treeline. In northern Costa Rica and adjacent Nicaragua the volcanoes become gradually reduced in size and more isolated from each other to the north.Similarly in Panama the Central Cordillera is over 2000 m high to the west near the Costa Rican border but only about 500 m high in most of the eastern part of the country. In central Panama, the Panama Canal cuts through a continental divide of only 100 m elevation, and in the San Juan River/Lake Nicaragua area of Nicaragua the maximum elevation is even less. For montane organisms, these interruptions in the cordillera represent major biological discontinuities. The Yucatan Peninsula area of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize represents a geologically anomalous portion of Middle America.It is a flat limestone formation more like the Greater Antilles or Peninsular Florida than the mountainous terrain and volcanic soil of most of Middle America. Limestone is otherwise relatively rare in the continental neotropics, in contrast to many other parts of the world, with small outcrops like those in the Madden Lake region of central Panama or the Coloso area of northern Colombia being associated with peculiar floras. These areas, like the Yucatan Peninsula, tend to show distinctly Antillean floristic affinities, paralleling the geological ones.Caribbean The Antillean islands constitute the third geologic unit of the neotropics (see Caribbean Islands regional overview). The Antilles make up in geological co mplexity what they lack in size. The most striking geological anomaly is Hispaniola, which is a composite of what were three separate islands during much of the Cenozoic. In addition to being completely submerged during part of the midCenozoic, the southern peninsula of Hispaniola was probably attached to Cuba instead of Hispaniola until the end of the Cenozoic.Jamaica too was completely submerged during much of the mid-Cenozoic, and has a different geological history from the rest of the Greater Antilles, with closer connections to Central America via the nowsubmerged Nicaraguan Rise. Possibly a collision of the western end of the Greater Antilles island arc with Mexico-Guatemala fragmented its western end to form Jamaica. Also phytogeographically and conservationally important, some of the Antilles have extensive areas of distinctive substrates.In addition to large areas of limestone, most of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico) have significant areas of serpentine and other ultrabasic rocks formed from uplift of patches of oceanic crust during the north-eastward movement of the Caribbean plate. The Lesser Antilles are small and actively volcanic. Most of the other smaller islands are low limestone keys with little or no geological relief. These patterns are clearly reflected in the Antillean flora. The most striking concentrations of local endemism occur in areas of ultrabasic rocks or on unusual types of limestone on the larger islands.The Lesser Antilles, Bahamas and other smaller islands have only a depauperate subset of the generally most widespread Antillean taxa. Vegetation The neotropics include a broad array of vegetation types commensurate with their ecological diversity. Along the west coast of South America are both one of the wettest places in the world – Tutunendo in the Choco region of Colombia, with 11,770 mm of annual precipitation, and the driest – no rain has been recorded in parts of the Atacama Desert of Chi le.The largest tract of rain forest in the world is in the Amazon Basin, and Amazonia has received a perhaps disproportionate share of the world's conservation attention. While the forests of Upper Amazonia are the most diverse in the world for many kinds of organisms, including trees as well as butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, other vegetation types have equal or greater concentrations of local endemism and are more acutely threatened.In particular, the plight of dry forests and of Andean montane forests are beginning to receive increased attention. Some isolated areas of lowland moist forest outside of Amazonia also have highly endemic floras and are currently much more threatened than Amazonia. In the following paragraphs are sketched the major neotropical vegetation types, followed by a conservation assessment of each. At the very broadest level, the lowland vegetation types of South America and the rest of the neotropics may be summarized as: 1.Tropical moi st forest (evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forest)  in Amazonia, the coastal region of Brazil, the Choco and the lower Magdalena Valley, and along the Atlantic coast of Central America to Mexico. 2. Dry forest (intergrading into woodland)  along the Pacific side of Mexico and Central America, in northern Colombia and Venezuela, coastal Ecuador and adjacent Peru, the Velasco area (Chiquitania) of eastern Bolivia, a broad swath from north-west Argentina to north-east Brazil encompassing chaco, cerrado and caatinga, and with scattered smaller patches elsewhere. 3.Open grassy savanna  in the pampas region of north-eastern Argentina and adjacent Uruguay and southernmost Brazil, the Llanos de Mojos and adjacent pantanal of Bolivia and Brazil, the Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela, and the Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna in the Guayana region. 4. Desert and arid steppe  in northern Mexico, the dry Sechura and Atacama regions along the west coast of South America between 5 °S a nd 30 °S, and in the monte and Patagonian steppes of the south-eastern part of the Southern Cone of South America. 5. The  Mediterranean-climate region  of central Chile. 6.The  temperate evergreen forests  of southern Chile with an adjacent fringe of Argentina. More complex montane formations occur along the Andean Cordillera which stretches the length of the western periphery of South America, in the more interrupted Central American/Mexican cordilleran system, in the tepuis of the Guayana region and in the coastal cordillera of southern Brazil. Moist and wet forests In general, forests receiving more than 1600 mm (Gentry 1995) or 2000 mm (Holdridge 1967) of annual rainfall are evergreen or semi-evergreen and may be referred to as tropical moist forest.In the neotropics, lowland tropical moist forest is often further subdivided, following the Holdridge life-zone system, into moist forest (2000-4000 mm of precipitation annually), wet forest (4000-8000 mm) and pluvial fore st (over 8000 mm). Nearly all of the Amazon Basin receives 2000 mm or more of annual rainfall and constitutes variants of the moist forest. There are also several major regions of lowland moist forest variously disjunct from the Amazonian core area. These include the region along the Atlantic coast of Central America (extending into Mexico), the lower Magdalena Valley of northern Colombia, the Choco egion along the Pacific coast of Colombia and northern Ecuador, and the coastal forests of Brazil. Lowland moist forest is the most diverse neotropical vegetation type, structurally as well as taxonomically. In most lowland moist-forest and wet-forest regions around a quarter of the species are vines and lianas, a quarter to a half terrestrial herbs (including weeds), up to a quarter vascular epiphytes and only about a quarter trees (Gentry and Dodson 1987; Gentry 1990b).To the extent that smaller organisms such as herbs and epiphytes may demand different conservation strategies than lar ge organisms like trees (or top predators), this habitat diversity assumes conservation importance. Diversity patterns are also important for conservation planning. There is a strong correlation of plant community diversity with precipitation – wetter forests generally are more botanically diverse. For plants the most speciesrich forests in the world are the aseasonal lowland moist and wet forests of Upper Amazonia and the Choco region.For plants over 2. 5 cm dbh in 0. 1-ha samples, world record sites are in the pluvial-forest area of the Colombian Choco (258-265 species); for plants over 10 cm dbh in 1-ha plots, the world record is near Iquitos, Peru (300 species out of 606 individual trees and lianas). Concentrations of endemism do not necessarily follow those of diversity. Local endemism appears to be concentrated in cloud-forest regions along the base of the northern Andes and in adjacent southern Central America (cf.Vazquez-Garcia 1995), and in the north-western sector o f Amazonia where the substrate mosaic associated with sediments from the Guayana Shield is most complex (Gentry 1986a). Overall regional endemism in predominantly moist-forest areas is greatest in Amazonia, with an estimated 13,700 endemic species constituting 76% of the flora (Gentry 1992d). However many of these species are relatively widespread within Amazonia. The much more restricted (and devastated, see below) Mata Atlantica forests of coastal Brazil have almost three-quarters as many endemic species (c. 500) as Amazonia and similarly high endemism (73% of the flora) (Gentry 1992d). Moreover a larger proportion of the Mata Atlantica species probably are locally endemic. On the other side of South America, the trans-Andean very wet to wet and moist forests of the Choco and coastal Ecuador are also geographically isolated and highly endemic (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982). Estimates of endemism in the Choco phytogeographic region are c. 20% (Gentry 1982b). Probably about 1260 or 20% of western Ecuador's 6300 naturally occurring species also are endemic (Dodson and Gentry 1991).For the northern Andean region as a whole, including both the coastal lowlands of western Colombia and Ecuador and the adjacent uplands, Gentry (1992d) estimated over 8000 endemic species, constituting 56% of the flora. Moreover this is probably the floristically most poorly known part of the neotropics, perhaps of the world, surely with several thousand mostly endemic species awaiting discovery and description. Dry forests There are seven main areas of dry forest in the neotropics, and by some estimations this may be the most acutely threatened of all neotropical vegetations.The interior dry areas of South America are outstanding in their regional endemism, estimated at 73%. Two of the most extensive neotropical dry-forest areas represent manifestations of the standard interface between the subtropical high pressure desert areas and the moist equatorial tropics. In Middle America, th is area of strongly seasonal climate occurs mostly along the Pacific coast in a narrow but formerly continuous band from Mexico to the Guanacaste region of north-western Costa Rica.There are also outliers farther south in the Terraba Valley of Costa Rica, Azuero Peninsula of Panama, and even around Garachine in the Darien (Panama), partially connecting the main Middle American dry forest with that of northern South America. These western Middle American dry forests are made up almost entirely of broadleaved deciduous species. In addition, the northern part of the Yucatan and large areas of the Antilles are covered by dry-forest variants. Most of the Caribbean dry forests are on limestone, and their woody species tend to be distinctively more sclerophyllous and smaller leaved than are the Pacific coast dry-forest plants.In the driest areas, both these types of dry forest tend to smaller stature and merge into various kinds of thorn-scrub matorral. In South America, only the extreme n orthern parts of Colombia and Venezuela reach far enough from the Equator to enter the strongly seasonal subtropical zone. Floristically and physiognomically this northern dry area is very much like similarly dry areas of western Middle America. The strongly seasonal region of northern South America also includes the open savannas of the Llanos extending from the Orinoco River west and north to the base of the Eastern Cordillera of he Colombian Andes and the north slope of the Coast Range of Venezuela. Large areas of the lowlying, often poorly drained Llanos are seasonally inundated, especially in the Apure region. The main area of tropical dry forest in South America is the chaco region, encompassing the western half of Paraguay and adjacent areas of Bolivia and Argentina, south of 17 °S latitude. The â€Å"chaco† is physiognomically distinctive in being a dense scrubby vegetation of mostly smallleaved, spiny branched small trees interspersed with scattered large individua ls of a few characteristic species of large trees.To the south, the chaco gives way to the desert scrub of the Argentine monte. There is a distinctive but generally neglected area of dry forest at the interface between the chaco and Amazonia in Bolivia. The names Chiquitania and Velasco forest have been used locally in Bolivia to refer to this vegetation, which extends from the Tucuvaca Valley and Serrania de Chiquitos in easternmost Santa Cruz Department interruptedly westward to the base of the Andes and along much of the lower Andean slopes of the southern half of Bolivia.This region of closed-canopy dry forest is physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, with tall broadleaved completely deciduous (caducifolious) trees. Although it has been locally regarded as merely representing the transition between the chaco and Amazonia, it is a floristically and physiognomically distinctive unit that should be accorded equivalent conservation importance to the other major dry-forest vegetation types (Gentry 1994).The chaco is adjoined to the north by two large and phytogeographically distinctive areas of dry forest, the cerrado and caatinga, which cover a small portion of easternmost Bolivia and most of the Brazilian Shield area of central and north-eastern Brazil. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"cerrado† region consists of wooded savanna with characteristically gnarled sclerophyllous-leaved trees with thick twisted branches and thick bark, widely enough separated to allow a ground cover of grass intermixed with a rich assortment of woody-rooted (xylopodial) subshrubs.The cerrado also includes areas where the trees form a nearly closed canopy (â€Å"cerradao†), and large open areas of grasses and subshrubs with no trees at all (â€Å"campo limpio† and â€Å"campo rupestre†). Although the cerrado is appropriately considered a kind of dry forest, some cerrado regions actually receive more rainfall than do adjacent fores t regions; excess aluminium in the soil may be as important as the climate in determining its distribution. The even drier forest of the caatinga of north-eastern Brazil extends from an appropriately subtropical 17 °S latitude farther north to a surprisingly equatorial 3 °S.Why this region should have such low rainfall remains poorly understood. Another climatic peculiarity is the irregularity of its rainfall, not only with low annual precipitation, but also with frequent years when the rains fail almost completely. The typical vegetation of the â€Å"caatinga† – relatively low, dense, small-leaved and completely deciduous in the dry season – is physiognomically similar to that of the chaco. The final major South American dry-forest area is the coastal forest of north-western Peru and south-western Ecuador.Even more anomalous in its geographical setting than the caatinga, this dry-forest region is positioned almost on the Equator. The occurrence of dry fores t so near the Equator is due to the offshore Humboldt Current. While similar cold-water currents occur along mid-latitude western coasts of other continents, the Humboldt Current is perhaps the strongest of these and is the only cold current reaching so near the Equator. The dry forest of coastal Peru and adjacent Ecuador is (or at least was, see below) physiognomically similar to that of western Central America, tall with a closed canopy of broadleaved completely deciduous trees.There also are a number of scattered smaller patches of tropical dry forest and/or savanna in various interAndean valleys, around Tarapoto, Peru, the Trinidad region of Bolivia, Brazil's Roraima area, the Surinam/Brazil border region, on Marajo Island, and in the pantanal region of the upper Paraguay River. Grasslands and deserts Grasslands and deserts occupy smaller areas of the neotropics than they do in Africa or most higher latitude continents. The main grassland region of the neotropics is the pampas r egion between about 39 °S and 28 °S and encompassing most of Uruguay as well as adjacent eastern Argentina and southernmost Brazil.The other major grassland area is the llanos region of Colombia and Venezuela. Smaller predominantly grassland regions occur in north-eastern Bolivia (Llanos de Mojos) and the south-eastern Guayana region (Gran Sabana and Sipaliwini savanna). There are also areas with few or no trees and dominated by grasses in the cerrado and pantanal regions of Brazil, and scattered outliers associated with local edaphic peculiarities elsewhere. None of the major grassland regions has many endemic species, in contrast to the campos rupestres of the Brazilian Shield and the Guayana area whitesand savannas, which have many endemics.This contrast is especially marked in southern Venezuela where some savanna patches have clay soils and a llanos-type flora of widespread species, whereas others have sandy soils and a flora of Amazonian affinities with many endemic specie s (Huber 1982). The desert regions of Latin America are confined to northern Mexico, the monte (Morello 1958; Orians and Solbrig 1977) and Patagonian steppes of Argentina, and the narrow Pacific coastal strip of northern Chile and Peru. The 3500-km long South American coastal desert is one of the most arid in the world – most of it is largely devoid of vegetation.This region is saved from conservational obscurity, however, by the occurrence of islandlike patches of mostly herbaceous vegetation in places where steep coastal slopes are regularly bathed in winter fog. Although these â€Å"lomas† formations are individually not very rich in species (mostly fewer than 100 spp. ), they have a very high degree of endemism due to their insular nature. The overall lomas flora includes nearly 1000 species, mostly annuals or geophytes. Diversity and endemism in the lomas formations generally increase southward, where cacti and other succulents are also increasingly represented (M uller 1985; Rundel  et al. 991). Montane vegetation The main montane-forest area of the neotropics is associated with the Andes. A major but more interrupted montane-forest strip is associated with the mountainous backbone of Central America. Venezuela's Cordillera de la Costa phytogeographically is essentially an Andean extension, although geologically distinct from the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. The tepui summits of the Guayana Highlands, though small in area, constitute a highly distinctive and phytogeographically fascinating montane environment.The Serra do Mar along Brazil's south-eastern coast is mostly low elevation but has a few peaks reaching above treeline with a depauperate paramo-like vegetation. The Andes may be conveniently recognized in three segments: northern – Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador; central-Peru and Bolivia; and southern-Chile and Argentina. In general the northern Andes are wetter, the central and southern regions drier. The main biogeographic discontinuity in the Andean forests is associated with the HuancabambaDepression in northern Peru, where the extensive system of dry interAndean valleys of the Maranon River and its tributaries entirely bisects the Eastern Cordillera and is associated with a topographically complex region having unusually high local endemism. Treeline in the tropical Andes occurs around 3500 m, depending on latitude and local factors. Above treeline, the wet grass-dominated vegetation of the Venezuelan, Colombian and northern Ecuadorian Andes is termed â€Å"paramo†; this drier vegetation, occurring from Peru to Argentina and Chile, is the â€Å"puna†.Colombian and Venezuelan paramos are characterized by  Espeletia  (Compositae) with its typical pachycaul-rosette growth form. The vegetation above treeline of most of Ecuador and northernmost Peru, locally called â€Å"jalca† in Peru, is ecologically as well as geographically intermediate; although generally cal led paramo in Ecuador, this region lacks the definitive  Espeletia  aspect of the typical northern paramos. While individual high-Andean plant communities are not very rich in species, many different communities can occur in close proximity in broken montane terrain.Thus the several high-Andean sites for which Florulas are available (Cleef 1981; Smith 1988; Galeano 1990; Ruthsatz 1977) have between 500-800 species, approaching the size of some lowland tropical Florulas. The moist Andean slopes generally show a distinctive floristic zonation, with woody plant diversity decreasing linearly with altitude from c. 1500 m to treeline. Below 1500 m Andean forests are generally similar both in floristic composition and diversity to equivalent samples of lowland forest. There are also structural changes at different elevations.For example hemi-epiphytic climbers show a strong peak in abundance between 1500-2400 m, epiphytes are usually more numerous in middleelevation cloud forests, and the stem density of woody plants is usually greater at higher elevations (Gentry 1992a). While the northern Andes have cloud forest on both western and eastern slopes, increasing aridity south from the Equator limits cloud forest to an ever narrower band on the Pacific slope. South of 7 °S latitude, forest on the western slopes of the Andes is restricted to isolated protected pockets, and the predominant slope vegetation becomes chaparral, thorn scrub and desert.One of the most striking features of the Andes phytogeographically is the high level of floristic endemism. In part this is associated with the discontinuity of high-altitude vegetation types, which are strongly fragmented into habitat islands. In addition to microgeographic allopatric speciation related to habitat fragmentation, it seems likely that unusually dynamic speciation, perhaps associated with genetic drift in small founder populations, may be a prevalent evolutionary theme in Andean cloud forests (Gentry and Dod son 1987; Gentry 1989).The combination of high local endemism (Gentry 1986a, 1993a; Luteyn 1989; Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991) with major deforestation makes the Andes one of South America's conservationally most critical regions. As with the dry forests, the Andean forests have recently begun to receive greater conservation attention (Henderson, Churchill and Luteyn 1991; Young and Valencia 1992). Estimates of deforestation for the northern Andes as a whole are generally over 90%.Some areas are even more critical – perhaps less than 5% of Colombia's high-altitude montane forests remain (Hernandez-C. 1990) and only c. 4% of the original forest persists on the western Andean slopes of Ecuador (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Most of the northern Peruvian Andes are similarly deforested (cf. Dillon 1994). Although relatively extensive forests still remain on the Amazonfacing slopes of Peru and Bolivia, much of this area is being actively deforested, in large part to grow  "coca† (Erythroxylum coca) and opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). FloraFrom a conservation perspective, the neotropical region merits very special attention. Just as South America is sometimes called the â€Å"bird continent†, the neotropics might well be termed the â€Å"plant continent† in deference to their uniquely rich botanical diversity (Table 50). If current estimates are accurate, the neotropical region contains 90,000-100,000 plant species, twice to nearly three times as many as in either tropical Africa or tropical Australasia (cf. Prance 1994). The last great places for plant collecting are in the northern half of South America (J.Wurdack 1995, pers. comm. ), which is two to four times less documented by herbarium specimens than elsewhere in the tropics (cf. Campbell 1989). Some of the main relatively unexplored areas (according to Wurdack) are, in Brazil: Serra de Tumucumaque (Tumuc-Humac Mountains), along the border with Surinam and French Guiana; sl opes, especially the eastern slopes, of Pico da Neblina; in north-western Mato Grosso State, along the Linea Telegrafica; in Venezuela: slopes and talus forests of the tepuis; aramos west of Pinango (north of Merida); eastern slopes to Paramo de Tama (State of Merida, near border with Colombia); in Colombia: Paramo de Frontino (west of Medellin); Cuatrecasas' headwater localities of collection in western Colombia, particularly in the Department of Valle del Cauca (cf. Cuatrecasas 1958); upper elevations of the Serrania de La Macarena (Department of Meta); in Ecuador: Cordillera de Los Llanganates (which is east of Ambato) (cf.Kennerley and Bromley 1971); Cordillera de Cutucu (Province of Morona-Santiago); Cordillera del Condor, along the border with Peru; in Peru: elevations above 700 m of the Cerros Campanquiz, which are mostly in the Department of Amazonas; the eastern cordillera in the Department of Amazonas, Province of Chachapoyas (e. g. the Cerro de las Siete Lagunas east of C erro Campanario); portions of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba (which is north-west of Cusco), including the northern Cutivireni region (Villa-Lobos 1995); and in Bolivia: the easternmost Andes and granitic outliers in the Department of Santa Cruz.Floristic diversity is very asymmetrically distributed in South America (cf. Table 51). If the nine phytogeographic regions recognized by Gentry (1982a) for the neotropics are taken as a basis, Central America with Mexico (Mesoamerica) and Amazonia are the richest in species, with each of these two regions having about a quarter of the neotropical total. At the opposite extreme, the Antilles have an estimated 9% of the total neotropical flora and the Caribbean coastal region of Colombia and Venezuela has only 8%.The minuscule area of the Guayana Highlands (above 1500 m) accounts for only c. 2. 5% of the neotropical flora, but has one of the highest rates of endemism (65%) in the region (Berry, Huber and Holst 1995). The three main tropical Sou th American dry areas together include a relatively low 11% of the neotropical species total. Intermediate levels of regional plant species richness are found in the Northern Andean and Southern Andean regions and the Mata Atlantica area of Brazil, which each have between 16-18% of the tropical flora of the neotropical region.Regional endemism is greatest in Amazonia including lowland Guayana (76%), but almost as great in coastal Brazil (73%) and the chacocerradocaatinga dry areas (73%). In contrast, those two Andean subregions, Central America, and the Antilles have endemism levels of 54-60%, and the northern Colombia/Venezuela region only 24%. Farther south in the Southern Cone of South America, the monte of Argentina is estimated to include 700 species with 5% endemism, and Patagonia 1200 species with 30% endemism.Chile as a whole has 5215 species (Marticorena and Quezada 1985; Marticorena 1990), with 1800-2400 in the Mediterranean-climate area of central Chile where endemism is high, perhaps greater than for any of the equivalent tropical regions. The reasons for the unique floristic diversity of the neotropics as compared to Africa or tropical Australasia continue to be hotly debated. A popular theory is allopatric multiplication of species in habitat-island forest refugia during Pleistocene glacial advances (Haffer 1969; Prance 1973, 1982). Africa, which is higher and drier, would have had fewer refugia and more extinction.Tropical Asia was less affected, being buffered by the nearby ocean due to the island status of its components and by its proximity to a rain source from the Pacific (the world's largest ocean). Other theories, not necessarily mutually exclusive (cf. Terborgh and Winter 1982), focus on explosive speciation in the more extensive cloud-forest area of the neotropics (Gentry 1982a, 1989; Gentry and Dodson 1987); â€Å"Endlerian† speciation associated with habitat specialization in the uniquely complicated habitat mosaic of north-wes tern and north-central Amazonia (Gentry 1986a, 1989; Gentry and Ortiz-S. 993); speciation associated with riverine barriers to gene flow in the largest river system of the world (Capparella 1988; Ducke and Black 1953); or biogeographical phenomena associated with the Great American Interchange and stemming from the direct juxtaposition of Laurasian and Gondwanan elements via the Isthmus of Panama (Gentry 1982a; Marshall  et al. 1979). Social and environmental values, and economic importance The indigenous groups (nations) of South America (Gray 1987) are varyingly diverse peoples who often partly depend directly on the natural environment for their biological and cultural well or survival.Their approximate presence is shown inTable 52. As the site of one of the Vavilovian centres of domestication, South America has played an important role in providing plants useful to people. The Andean centre of domestication rivals the Indo-Malayan and Mediterranean areas as the region that has produced the most important crop plants. Tobacco, potatoes, grain amaranths, quinoa, peanuts, lima beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and perhaps sweet potatoes and pineapples all derive from the Peruvian Andes and immediately adjacent egions (Anderson 1952). Based on land-race diversity, western Amazonia was the centre of domestication of a series of less well-known but increasingly important crops, including â€Å"pejibaye† or peach palm (Bactris gasipaes), â€Å"biriba† or â€Å"anona† (Rollinia mucosa), â€Å"abiu† or â€Å"caimito† (Pouteria caimito), â€Å"sapota† (Quararibea cordata), â€Å"araza† (Eugenia stipitata), â€Å"uvilla† (Pourouma cecropiifolia) and â€Å"cubiu† or â€Å"cocona† (Solanum sessiliflorum) (Clement 1989).Of the 86 major crops and their more than 100 species included in a summary of crop plant evolution (Simmonds 1976), 24 crops are neotropical in origin either wholly (19) or partly (5). Also, a host of South American forest plants are used locally but have not reached world commerce. Amazonia is especially rich in wild fruits (e. g. Duke and Vasquez 1994). For example around Iquitos, Peru, 139 species of forest-harvested fruits are regularly consumed, 57 of them important enough to be sold in the local produce market (Vasquez and Gentry 1989).There are a multitude of other uses for neotropical plants. Gentry (1992b) notes that 38% of the Bignoniaceae species of north-western South America have specific ethnobotanical uses and suggests that this could be extrapolated to 10,000 species with uses in this part of the world alone. Many studies have shown that the direct economic value of such products can be very high (e. g. Peters, Gentry and Mendelsohn 1989; Balick and Mendelsohn 1992).In a single hectare of speciesrich tropical forest near Iquitos, 454 of the 858 trees and lianas of dbh 10 cm or more have actual or potential uses (Gentry 1986c), with the hectare of f orest potentially producing US$650 worth of fruit and US$50 worth of rubber per year. If the 93 m? of sellable timber worth US$1000 is included, the net present value of the hectare of forest is US$9000, far more than the net present value of managed plantations or cattle-ranching.Additionally, the major role of forested areas in controlling erosion, recycling rainfall and as a carbon sink are now well known. As the territory with the largest tropical forest remaining in the world, South America plays a major role in providing such regional and planetary environmental services. Return to Top Loss, threats and conservation Although the neotropical region has the most forest, it is also losing more forest each year than any other area of tropical forest (Myers 1982; Reid 1992).In western Ecuador only 4% of the original forest cover remains (Dodson and Gentry 1991). Much attention has focused on Brazil, which includes 48% of the South American area. Perhaps the most definitive satellit e analysis of deforestation in Amazonia to date (Skole and Tucker 1993) indicates that as of 1988 only c. 10% of Brazilian Amazonia had been deforested, but if allowance is made for a 1-km edge effect, fully 20% of Brazilian Amazonia had been impacted. Deforestation in Rondonia alone has been c. 4000 km? per year, reaching almost 40,000 km? r 15% of the state by 1989 (Malingreau and Tucker 1988; Fearnside 1991). In coastal Brazil estimates of surviving forest range from 2% (IUCN and WWF 1982) to 12% (Brown and Brown 1992). Burgeoning populations are the biggest factor in the ongoing losses, although political and economic instability in some areas, and short-sighted â€Å"development† programmes in other areas, also play significant roles. In most of the neotropics, unlike much of the Old World, commercial lumbering operations have played a relatively small role so far.Conservational awareness throughout the region has increased dramatically in the past few years. Not only ar e increasing numbers of National Parks and similar conservation units being set aside, but there is also rapidly growing interest in the possibility of sustainable use of tropical forests as a conservation strategy. Unfortunately many destructive and unsustainable uses of forest can masquerade behind the banner of sustainable use. Making this promising new concept fulfil its potential remains a major challenge.Similarly the growing appreciation of the potential value of biodiversity has been accompanied by too much political preoccupation and posturing about sovereignty over potential genetic resources. Despite such problems, it is clear that the diversity of rain-forest plant life is intrinsically valuable. South America, botanically the richest continent, is also the greatest repository of potentially useful plants. Conservation of South America's plant diversity is clearly a world conservational priority.