I think this is a common problem, not just for the Amazon. A nature conservancy I have visited in a mangrove area claims that 95% of all primary production comes from mangrove swamps. It would help to have a reliable source for the general questions of where regeneration of oxygen occurs, where pharmaceuticals come from, and so on.
Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "SUBSCRIBE ECOLOG-L Jacob Lowe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 4:16 PM Subject: Amazon Rainforest "facts" > Greetings everyone, > > As many of you know, I've spent the last year speaking at schools across > Texas on work that Projects Abroad is doing in the Peruvian Amazon at the > Taricaya Research Center. During my presentations, I like to give a quick > "overview" of some of the encyclopedia-style "facts" about the Amazon, > like > biological diversity estimates, deforestation estimates, "tropical > pharmacy > to the world", etc at the beginning of the presentation. These statements > have included the following "facts" that I've retrieved from websites like > www.rain-tree.com, which does not cite any sources: > > 1. The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" > because it provides the essential environmental world service of > continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of > the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. > > 2. Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from > plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are > derived > from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and > plants > have been tested by scientists. > > 3. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are > active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the > rainforest. Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's > cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest. > > The more I read these claims, the more uncomfortably I am repeating them > to > students without any assurance of their accuracy. Can anyone here > elaborate > on some of these claims? For example, I've read where statement (1) is a > myth, and rainforest plants don't actually contribute any significant net > increase in atmospheric O2. For claim number (2), I'd like to know > specifically which drugs come from the Amazon. Number (3) I'm having > little > luck from the U.S. Cancer Institutes's website. > > Most importantly, I'm having little luck getting sources from > www.rain-tree.com.
