Center for Global Study and Engagement

SFS Tropical Rainforest Studies

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Rainforests are one of the world's most important and diverse ecosystems, yet thousands of acres disappear each day. Along with the loss and fragmentation of rainforest areas, global climate change may be playing an important role in influencing the loss of plant and animal species. Predictions for many endemic species and some vital ecosystems are indeed quite bleak.

For thousands of years the tropical rainforest of Queensland has been home to about 18 indigenous tribes, along with numerous primitive plant species, birds, and marsupials found nowhere else in the world. Giant strangler figs, abundant vines and epiphytes, large pythons, colorful parrots, giant cassowary, bandicoots, and tree kangaroos fill these forests with color, sound, and complexity. Northeastern Queensland's ancient rainforests preserve millions of years of evolutionary history, though sadly, these repositories have been greatly affected by habitat loss, fragmentation, and climate change. The eastern seaboard of northern Australia once supported extensive rainforests, but logging, mining, and extensive agricultural production have destroyed and disrupted rainforest habitats and the traditional land of Aboriginal people. Today, over much of the area, only fragments of the original forests remain.

Australia confronted the threat of rainforest loss much faster than most tropical countries, but the integrity and survival of these rainforests hinge upon developing solutions that consider larger-scale impacts, including global climate change, yet also provide economic benefits for the local community.

RESEARCH IN A TROPICAL RAINFOREST AMID AN AMAZING VARIETY OF UNIQUE PLANTS, BIRDS, AND OTHER WILDLIFE

Work with local tree-planting groups and research organizations and learn from members of the indigenous community to manage forest resources. Learn about the current condition and dynamics of a tropical rainforest ecosystem, including what might be happening to this system as a consequence of global climate change. Participate in research and community projects to restore tropical rainforests. Explore some of the most exciting natural wonders of Australia.

Australia Program Description

While representing only a small percentage of the world's rainforest, the astonishing biodiversity of Australia's rainforest and the country's dynamic conservation efforts make Queensland an extraordinary laboratory for studying rainforest management and restoration. Recent cyclones have further disturbed the remaining rainforest fragments, raising questions on how to manage these hyper-disturbed areas. Conservation challenges and cutting-edge management strategies developed here will likely serve as a model for conserving the rest of the world's tropical rainforests.

The ecological and economic benefits of rainforests are increasingly well-understood, but much less is known about rainforest ecosystem dynamics and the ability to restore a rainforest once it has been cleared. Our goals are to help understand the dynamics of rainforest ecosystems, including potential impacts of global climate change, and in turn develop rainforest restoration strategies that benefit both ecosystems and human communities.

Student research work addresses a critical local and regional environmental problem, loss and fragmentation of once extensive rainforests, and the environmental policies that are currently under consideration by the local and Commonwealth governments. SFS staff and students, in collaboration with local landholders and stakeholder organizations, focus on enhancing the condition of tropical rainforests, as well as determining how and why we should regenerate and restore the rainforest on the Atherton Tablelands. Students collect data on potential responses to global climate change, habitat use and animal behaviors, resilience to cyclonic events, land use, local resident involvement in restoration projects, and cost effective and ecologically beneficial methods of restoration. Student work represents a vital contribution toward larger studies on global climate change, biological integrity of rainforest fragments, and developing restoration practices to maximize rates of plant growth and colonization by fauna. Students are actively involved in either rainforest replanting or site maintenance with local landcare groups.

Field Research, Lectures, and Exercises

• Chillagoe: camp in the Outback and explore caves, rock formations, remnant dry rainforests, and eucalypt savannah. Learn firsthand about the history of the Barbaram people.
• Cape Tribulation: hike through lowland rainforests, giant sedges with peppermint stick insects, mangrove forests, and palm forests; traverse the Daintree River, notorious for its crocodiles; visit the canopy tower at the Daintree Environment Centre; sample and examine an array of forest types across the landscape.
• Visit the TREAT nursery.
• Learn about the geology of the Atherton Tablelands.
• Seedling recruitment of restored tropical rainforest at revegetation sites.
• Examine growth and mortality of tropical rainforest species.
• Sample plant functional traits and their effect on drought and cyclone resistance.
• Examine fauna in endangered plant communities.

Student Directed Research Project Examples

• Using plant functional traits to predict drought and cyclone resistance
• Micro bat use of rainforest fragments
• Use of restored and natural rainforests by rainforest birds.
• Patterns of colonization of restored rainforest by vertebrates.
• Determining carbon sequestration values of rainforest restoration.
• Monitoring the Peterson Creek revegetation project.
• Evaluating policy instruments that are used to tackle environmental problems.

Student Research Contributions

• Understanding local views on the ecological and socioeconomic challenges facing the community of North Queensland is key. Our on-going research and close ties with community stakeholders allow students to make meaningful contributions including:
• Assisting community members with planting more than 15,000 trees over the last few years, some of which were grown from seed at our field station, to restore degraded forests, improve water quality and sequester carbon, through plantings around watersheds.
• Assessment of tree seedling recruitment and growth working towards recommending best practices for achieving a successful restoration.
• Assisting community members with restoration of more than one mile of rainforest from grassland along the lower Peterson Creek.

Get Involved with the Local Community

Conservation, resource use, and rainforest restoration are extremely important to local farmers, resource managers, and concerned community groups. With the results of our research, we offer advice to local decision-makers and create linkages between our staff and the stakeholders involved in rainforest restoration and management. SFS students enjoy getting involved in community volunteer projects and social activities such as:

• Meeting with Aboriginal elders of the Yidinji, Ngadjon Jii, and Barbaram tribe to learn more about their culture and their effort to reclaim their role in land management.
• Learning how to make and play their own didgeridoos with an Aboriginal family, who share their perspectives on Aboriginal culture with students.
• Community service trips to help local conservation groups and communities plant rainforest seedlings.
• Participating in annual community fauna surveys such as the crane count (October) and spectacled flying-fox counts (November).
• Attending special lectures on tree kangaroos, spectacled flying fox, rock wallaby, cassowary, and other local wildlife in conjunction with local conservation groups.
• Hosting community dinners and participating in short home stays.
• Bush dances, community festivals, visiting the Malanda theatre, socializing at the local pubs and sporting competitions, such as lawn bowling with Aussies.

Program Prerequisites

Applicants for semester programs must be at least 18 years of age, in good academic standing, and have completed at least one college-level ecology or biology course and at least one semester of college prior to the start of the program.

Applicants for summer programs must be at least 16 years of age, in good academic standing, and have completed at least their junior year of high school prior to the start of the program. For more information on our summer program in Australia.

OUR FIELD STATION IN AUSTRALIA

The Center for Rainforest Studies lies at the southern end of the Atherton Tablelands in the heart of the traditional land of the Yidinji people. Protected World Heritage forests and farmland surround the rolling, tropical site. A third of the property's 153 acres is mature rainforest within which the student cabins are nestled. Sightings of tropical birds, bandicoots, pademelons, primitive musky rat kangaroo, amethystine pythons, and other unique rainforest species are common. The site is alive with the sounds of the rainforest. Students share comfortably furnished eight- person cabins with adjacent shower and bathroom facilities. The main building has a fully equipped computer laboratory, 24-hour Internet access, up-to-date scientific library, and a student common room. Our kitchen and cook provide nutritious, healthy menus to suit all tastes.

Visit our Web site for a photo tour of our field station: www.fieldstudies.org

Read about student experiences:http://www.fieldstudies.org/pages/829_news_from_the_field.cfm

COURSES

Semester students are registered in four academic courses accredited through Boston University

Course No.                Name                                                                    Credits

BI/EE (NS) 369          Rainforest Ecology                                                   04

BI/EE (NS) 370          Principles of Forest Management                               04

EE (SS) 302              Environmental Policy and Socioeconomic Values        04

EE 491 or 492           Directed Research                                                    04

tuition and fees
room and board
pre-departure and on-site orientations
academic excursions

The program fee does not include primary health insurance, airfare, optional travel, personal expenses, books or supplies.

Special Requirements

2.8 GPA

For more information, contact:

Professor Carol Loeffler
On-Campus Coordinator
P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013-2896
Phone: (717) 245-1360
E-mail: loeffler@dickinson.edu