Human Impacts!

Effects of Humans.... 
(http://depositphotos.com/3697757/stock-photo-Cassowary-Sign---Queensland-Australia.html)

Humans have had a huge impact on the Daintree Rainforest. About 25% of the original Daintree canopy has been removed and much of the biodiversity has been destroyed.  The main reasons for this removal include logging, road building, clearing vegetation for various agricultural, residential, and tourism areas, previous mining sites, and fires.  The clearing of trees for building of roads and other various purposes leads to fragmentation.  Fragmentation makes it difficult for certain animals to move from one area to another because they live in the canopy of the trees and rarely go to the ground.  It confines the animals to a smaller area which leads to sub-divisions of certain species and the extinction of others.  The removal of the trees and the canopy exposes the sediment on the rainforest floor to the sun.  Sunlight warms the sediment and when the sediment goes into the streams because of runoff, the higher temperature of the sediment raises the temperature of the stream, which harms the ecosystem.  Another inevitable process that harms the rainforest is global warming.  The animals have adapted to a certain temperature.  If the temperature changes even slightly it throws off the balance and the animals are in trouble.  This causes many of the animals to go on the endangered species list and eventually go extinct.  (Stork and Turton, pg 16) 

This chart shows the effects of human settlement on the size of rainforests in Australia. 

(Stork and Turton, pg 6)

These two charts from Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape show the level of impact that different human activities have on the rainforest.

This pie chart gives a picture of the causes of deforestation 
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0803.htm

Certain non-human factors have also greatly affected the ecosystem.  Invasive species have played a huge part in the destruction of the biodiversity in the Daintree.  When the Europeans came over, they introduced pigs, rabbits, cattle, cats, deer, foxes, and various bird species.  These species pose a huge threat to the existing animals and out compete them.  Along with the animals, invasive species are also wiping out indigenous plants.  When fragmentation occurs, creates an open ecosystem and allows non-native plants to take root and grow.  They outcompete the native plants and take over the ecosystem.  With nonnative plants and animals come nonnative diseases.  One disease that is causing a problem is called Phytophthora cinnamomi.  This disease is known to cause forest dieback, which is when a tree or shrub dies from the tip of the leaf inward.  These issues are hard to manage and pose a huge threat to the biodiversity and biological integrity of the rainforest. (Stork and Turton, pg 16)