Since the mid 1990s, Malaysia
has been losing its rainforests at a rate of 2.4 percent a
year to logging, agriculture, and resort development; and
with the rainforest, Malaysia is losing bats. Rainforest bats
are adapted just for forest living: Their short, rounded wings
allow them to weave in and out of dense vegetation and their
sophisticated echolocation allows them to home in on insects
in the dense vegetation. Today, 31 species in Malaysia are
listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened and endangered species.
Not only are bats a key component of Malaysian biodiversity,
but they also provide valuable pollination and seed-dispersal
services and do a booming business in insect-removal.
From
the Journal
April
17, 2005
Directly after the meeting we put on our jungle clothes and
went out on our introductory �grid lesson.� While we are in
the field, we will be using a sheet of paper with a grid on
it. The grid is of a one square kilometer area that is designated
for us to do the trappings in. Each line on the grid is a
path through the jungle that leads to the specific intersections.
Read more of the EB3 journal>>
Click here for classroom activities and resources, Q &
A, and team journals. This supplemental site is developed
and hosted by Robin Steele, Halifax Elementary School, MA.
