Green plants make their own food by a process called photosynthesis. They also use nutrients and water from the soil to grow. Primary consumers (insects, chipmunks, mice and deer) eat green plants.

Alligator weed is a non-native species of plant in the United States that can damage waterways by clogging them and reducing water flow. Also, it grows in a way that reduces light penetration into the water. Alligator weed is being reduced by a few different insects that were released as biological control agents, such as the alligator weed flea beetle.

This series of animations depicts the results of a computer simulation of the effects of deforestation on the surface temperature and precipitation in the Amazon region. Six animations are shown - a control simulation, a deforestation simulation, and the difference between the two for both surface temperature and rainfall. The period simulated is the second half of 1987.

This video segment from the Race to Save the Planet teaching module "Saving the Diversity of Life" describes the ecological value of tropical rainforests and explores some of the causes of their destruction.

This kit is aimed at teachers and their pupils at the end of primary school education living in areas affected by or under threat from desertification.

Students will choose one rainforest animal to research using print and electronic resources. They will work cooperatively with a partner to create a Hyperstudio card with the following information: photograph of the animal, the layer of the rainforest it inhabits, sound the animal makes, and an interesting fact about the animal.

This reference list has a dozen kid-friendly books on a wide range of biodiversity topics. For each title, the author, publisher, and publication date are included along with a brief description of the book.

Deer are herbivores, meaning they graze on plants. Deer are consumed by coyotes, which use their keen eyesight and speed to attack the deer.

An animation of the progressive deforestation in Bolivia from 1984 to 1998, from Landsat data

An animation of Bolivian deforestation from 1984 to 1998 from Landsat imagery

Fires release nutrients, reduce parasites, and open space for animals and smaller plants needing sunlight. Many pine trees need the intense heat from fires for seed release.

Owls sit high in trees and use their head-turning ability to search for food such as snakes, spiders, and small rodents (skunks, mice, and chipmunks). They do not eat plants and are considered carnviores.

Chimpanzees are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and plants. They have been known to use a stick as a tool to get ants or termites out of a hole for a snack.

Chimpanzees are native to the tropical forests of Africa. Chimps need a lot of space to play and exercise in and places to hide when they are scared.

Chimpanzees are very intelligent and play with toys often if given the opportunity. They are also known for creating tools out of natural items.

Chipmunks stuff small plants and insects into their cheeks when they feed. Skunks and coyotes hunt the small mammals.

Toads eat spiders, insects, and earthworms by hiding in burrows and attacking at night. However, they are hunted by snakes and coyotes.

Coyotes are top consumers in any food web, meaning they eat primary producers (plants) and consumers such as insects, spiders, toads, small mammals (chipmunks, skunks, and mice), and large mammals (deer). No animals eat coyotes, except maybe the occasional human.

Throughout much of the 1980s, deforestation in Brazil eliminated more than 15,000 square kilometers (9000 square miles) per year. That pace has only increased through the 90s and into the 21st century. Brazil is also home to more than a quarter of Earths tropical forests. Considering that the band of lush green that circles the globe through many equatorial nations is fundamental to the overall health of the whole planets environment, careful monitoring of forest health in the tropics is essential. Tropical forests act as major carbon sinks, places where ambient carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be absorbed by growing things and sequestered for years. Definitive evidence shows that excess carbon dioxide can contribute to the greenhouse effect and speed global warming. Similarly, tropical forests also act as a primary producer of oxygen. In the respiration process that absorbs gaseous carbon dioxide, trees and other plants give off oxygen. It is for these and a host of other reasons why scientists and policy makers need to monitor and forestall wholesale deforestation. This sequence shows how profligate clear cutting can influence that trust. Data gathered over time by several in the Landsat series of spacecraft shows enormous tracts of forest disappearing in Rondonia, Brazil. This territory underwent an enormous rise in population towards the end of the twentieth century, buoyed by cheap land offered by the national government for agricultural use. As you see the visualization progress, it is useful to note how the human phenomenon of deforestation generally works, especially in the dense tropical forests of Brazil. Systematic cutting of a road opens new territory to potential deforestation by penetrating into new areas. Clearing of vegetation along the sides of those roads tends to fan out to create a pattern akin to a fish skeleton. As new paths appear in the woods, new areas become vulnerable. The spaces between the skeletal bones fall to defoliation, and another inch of the Earths biological rudder is no longer reliably steering the planet into the future.