Endangered Species Application Assignment #2

 

                                                              Image of a Lau Banded Iguana

                                                             Protecting Lau Banded Iguana

    Lau Banded Iguanas are arboreal lizard's native to the Lau Islands of eastern Fiji. Among the few species of iguanas found outside the New World, this lizard is one of the most endangered. As a result of habitat destruction, the population of this iguana has declined rapidly over the past century. During the day, Lau Banded Iguanas forage and watch over their territories, then rest in the treetops at night. Fiji's government considers the iguanas a national treasure. A male iguana has two or three 2 centimeters wide white or blue bands crossing its emerald green body. Some females have partial bands or spotting, while others are solid green. Undersides of both sexes are yellow. They can grow to a length of 60 centimeters and weigh up to 200 grams, or 0.44 pounds. The leaves, fruit, and flowers of trees and shrubs are all edible to these herbivorous iguanas. A male Lau banded iguana will deepen its green color, intensify its blue spots, bob its head and lunge at the predator when it perceives danger. The iguanas frequently engage in violent combat as well. The male iguana will flick its tongue on the female's back, limbs, and nuchal regions while bobbing its head during reproduction. The breeding season is during the month of November. Up to three to six eggs are guarded by females in their nest and when the babies hatch, they absorb moisture by licking wet surfaces.

 

 Image of a Tropical Rainforest

    The Lau iguanas were introduced to the Tongo Islands 300 years ago, probably after the native Brachylophus Gibbonsi was driven to extinction. Fiji is known to be a tropical rainforest climate that is made up of many volcanic islands. Vegetation communities make up the majority of the biome of the tropical rainforest. The crowns are spaced in threes and interact with one another to form a continuous canopy of plants. The tropical rainforest is widespread. On average, they occupy 7% of the earth's surface. As the name suggest, tropical rainforest get a lot of rain during some seasons, but with pleasantly even distribution all day and night long. Because the water that tropical rainforests produce evaporates and falls as rain in other parts of the world, they are extremely important. The main cause of the tropical rainforest's humid climate is its hot summers and chilly winters. Throughout the year, the temperature stays essentially constant at 77 degrees Fahrenheit on average. The temperatures required for tropical rainforests to thrive. Tropical rainforests typically receive more than 150 cm of precipitation annually. The rainforest can receive 4 inches of tropical rain in a single month. Other climates are different from tropical rainforests. In other climates, evaporation is transported to distant locations where it falls as rain. More than half of the perception in tropical rainforests originates from the rainforest ecosystem and falls as rain there.

    

                                                                          Forest Fire

     The main threats to this iguana's existence are habitat loss brought on by fires, storms, and agricultural development. Due to the smoke and ash that travels for miles after a fire, they can be capable of irreparably damaging entire ecosystems, as well as creating public health crises where people breathe in unhealthy levels of pollutants. To add to the collateral damage of wildfires, the ash from the fires pollutes water sources which then harms animals and marine life. Along with the pollution the fire destroys plant life and deforests land leaving it desolate and inhabitable for animals to live causing them to die or become endangered. Not only are there direct and immediate threats to the iguana from the flames and ash alone, but there is a gravely serious issue in the air that has already endangered us all: climate change. The burning of huge forests lead to enormous amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Being a major greenhouse gas, this pollution plays a large role contributing to the increasingly rapid shift in our weather patterns and climate as we have known it for the last few million years. The rising of temperatures is melting the ice caps and causing sea levels to rise, very much threatening the habitat of the Lau banded iguana and every other living thing on the planet.

    Soultions that we Keene students could is not really anything. Climate change is somewhat us of our control because the government will not take any action to help the earth.

Brachylophus fasciatus - Wikipedia